The Non-Proliferation of Weapons Treaties Impact on Today's Environment

Fall 2007

The Non-Proliferation of Weapons Treaties Impact on Today’s Environment

“Nuclear energy was conceived in secrecy, born in war, and first revealed to the world in horror.  No matter how much proponents try to separate the peaceful from the weapons atom, the connection is firmly embedded in the minds of the public” (Dunlap, 79).  The disposal of high level toxic nuclear waste is one unavoidable consequence of the nuclear age: including peaceful “commercial” nuclear technology not just from weapons technology (Dunlap, 291).  The world over has to find a solution to this “potential Achilles heel” of the nuclear industry (Kearney, 20-21).  The United Nations (UN), in particular, has attempted to create some boundaries for this problem in the form of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty which is often and herein after referred to as the NPT in this paper.  Originally this treaty was not created to manage waste disposal but soon after its ratification the safeguards provided by the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) for non-nuclear weapon states had its hand in many affairs, including the management of waste disposal (“Treaty”).  The NPT has served its purpose for the majority of its lifetime by compelling its signers to adhere to it; however, in recent times the treaty no longer is as compelling as it once was and is creating more problems at this point and time than creating solutions to the problems involved with the nuclear age.

The NPT’s objective is to “prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament” (“Weapons”).  The NPT is made up by four main proponents: “the basic treaty, the IAEA, the anti-proliferation guidelines of the East-West Nuclear Suppliers Group, and bilateral agreements and understandings between nuclear exporters and their customers” (Power, 477).  The NPT provides for certain safeguards imposed by the IAEA.  In addition to the safeguards that the non-nuclear weapons states had to abide by, they had to agree to not “receive the transfer from any transferor whatsoever of nuclear weapons or other nuclear devices directly, or indirectly” (“Treaty”).  In order to review the treaty’s operation and make sure that the provisions of the treaty were being realized a committee met every five years until May 11, 1995 (“Treaty”).  On May 11, 1995, the committee extended the treaty indefinitely (“Weapons”).  The reason that the management of nuclear waste disposal is an essential issue is because it is the by-product of the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Radioactive nuclear waste is created in a plethora of ways ranging from medicinal to the creation of nuclear weapons; however, the military still produces the majority of nuclear waste but the commercial industry is still creating the more toxic waste (Kearney, 15).  This toxic waste must be disposed of in a safe and sustainable way to both the environment and the inhabitants of that environment, especially the human population (Environmental Affairs Department, 2).  There are four processes that make up the management of nuclear waste for disposal.  First, the creation of waste occurs and then the waste is collected and transported to the proper facilities.  At these facilities the waste is treated and sometimes stored temporarily.  The final process is the actual disposal of the waste (Environmental Affairs Department, 1-2). 

            Long-lived highly toxic wastes have created the biggest problem in disposal process because they are toxic for nearly 400,000 years and must be isolated from people and the environment for essentially forever (Kearney, 15).  In 1957, the idea of burying this waste into deep geologic formations was proposed and is still to this day being carried out (McCombie, 56).  The problem with this is that this process involves highly complex and generally untried technologies which in combination of working with geological formations (in itself is hazardous because geology is not a predictive science) the potential for mistakes and accidents increase (Cook, 353).  In reality, the models of working with geologic formations and the field tests of the equipment may fail altogether because of the sheer length of time that the waste must be isolated, which neither the field tests nor the models can account for (Cook, 361).  In a survey that was done by the United States’ Department of Energy (DOE), 29% of the 1045 people surveyed said that it was unfair to future generations if today’s generations buried nuclear wastes and we, today’s generation, had a responsibility to tomorrow’s generations (Dunlap, 104).  One potential way that toxic waste can and has contaminated the environment is by having water seep into a repository and then get back into the biosphere thus polluting people’s drinking and rain water (Dunlap, 106).

The United States’ government has various waste policies that coincide with the toxicity of the material and where it came from (Kearney, 15).  It also has four categories of nuclear waste: high level, transuranic, low level (separated further into classes A, B, C, and greater than C), uranium mill tailings (Makhijani, 257-261).  The problematic high-leveled wastes created by the military are the responsibility of the government itself and they store them at federal facilities: Hanford, Savannah River Plant, and the National Reactor Testing Station primarily (Kearney, 15).  Other states, such as France, separate and categorize their waste by radioactivity.  Category A is the least radioactive, B is the middle and is a repository disposal waste, and C is the high-level waste category, some of which is also repository disposal waste.  In many cases the government, ANDRA (National Agency for the Management of Radioactive Wastes), is responsible for the nuclear wastes from both civilian/commercial and military nuclear waste (Makhijani, 466-467).  The United States has a larger problem than most with an excessive amount of commercial reactors in operation, 112, and that was only in 1992 (Dunlap, 6).  More than a decade later the number has grown and the problem is worsening for the present and future generations.

The majority of nuclear waste from the commercial sector is in the form of spent fuel rods which are then stored in a repository (Dunlap, 5).  You would believe that this is fool proof but in the United States nearly every facility (governmentally run or not) has confirmed at one point or another that their groundwater had been contaminated with the nuclear radiation or the hazardous chemical associated with nuclear fission (Makhijani, 102-104).  By the year 2035, there will be about 85,000 metric tons of spent nuclear waste waiting to be disposed of and that is a detrimental waste accident just waiting to happen (Dunlap,65).

Health and environmental problems also depend on what the procedures and polices of a given state are and whether or not those procedures were actually abided by (Makhijani, 28).  In general environmentalists and engineers differ on what they perceive the risks of nuclear waste disposal to be (Dunlap, 107).  One thing that they can come together on is that they are both equally frustrated in the way that the environmental risks from nuclear wastes are being managed (Dunlap, 84).  These toxic wastes threaten the health of the population when they are exposed to toxic waste and radiation for long amounts of time (Peck, 81). 

There are three types of radiation: alpha, beta, and gamma, each increasing in intensity.  Alpha radiation does not penetrate keratin; beta radiation does not penetrate a heavy layer of clothing.  Gamma radiation on the other hand penetrates most things that we would think to wear to protect ourselves.  Another misfortune is that gamma radiation generally accompanies alpha or beta radiation thus making anyone susceptible to the health hazards of radiation (Makhijani, 66-67).

Unfortunately accidents occur, leaks happen, and people suffer the consequences.  In the United States several nuclear fission sites were shut down completely because of nuclear waste containment and management problems (Kearney, 26).  Various communities have reported toxic waste problems which are the results of the accidents that spawn from the inadequate management and disposal of these toxic wastes (Peck, 81).

Other accidents occur, which the NPT can not help nor control.  Some examples of these accidents are:  Chelyabinsk-65 also know as the Chernobyl incident whose result was the contamination of 15,000²km of land, the evacuation of over 10,000 people and the creation of the most contaminated body of water to date, Lake Karachay which has the lethal dose of radiation in just forty-five minutes of exposure (Makhijani, 588); when the French freighter, Mont Louis, sank while containing 375 tons of Uranium in 30 containers in the English Channel which had the lucky result of being completely recovered (without leaks) in six weeks time (Makhijani, 44); the radiation release in Goiania, Brazil, where 249 people suffered radiation poisoning and where four of them died; or the Three Mile Island incident in the United States (Dunlap, 218).  Accidents such as these have all seriously disrupted the states and the surrounding cities that they occurred in.  The general population sees these events as the consequences of losing control of the nuclear technological process which in turn creates an animosity toward nuclear power, production, and especially waste and its associated radiation (Peck, 83).

Obviously, many states have nuclear technology now.  The NPT allows “the benefits of peaceful applications of nuclear technology, including technological by products…[to] be available for peaceful purposed to all Parties of the Treaty” (“Treaty”).  This means that even the non-nuclear parties that sign the treaty can have commercial nuclear technology.  The problem with this is that in some of these “non-nuclear” states, nuclear power production is essential to their energy strategy but they do not have sufficient funds or technology to have effective nuclear waste management (McCombie, 56).  Some believe that these countries that are producing waste will look to states such as the United States, France, Sweden, and Canada for guidance on the management of nuclear waste (Dunlap, 7). 

The outlook for the nuclear waste problem looks dim because there is no short term solution and there are no “fool proof" or trustworthy processes in which nuclear toxic wastes can be disposed of (Dunlap, 82).  In another survey done by the DOE, 32% of the people said that the fact that the technology of waste disposal was not proven made them worrisome (Dunlap, 103).  The DOE has tried in vain to find an effective and proven way to manage and dispose of nuclear toxic waste (Makhijani, 257-261).

As mentioned earlier the NPT allowed the IAEA to install certain “safeguards” to protect the states and protect the public (“Weapons”).  Spending on these safeguards such as the employment of nearly 160 inspectors to do periodic checks has exceeded any other area of spending and is an essential part of the NPT (Powers, 487).  When safeguards are not met the IAEA does everything within its power to make the violating state comply.  Such a case occurred rather recently in the form of North Korea.  The IAEA was doing its sixth visit to North Korea when the North Korean government would not allow the inspectors to evaluate their waste sites and when the deadline set by the UN came and went, the state of North Korea was found in noncompliance with the NPT.  The state’s repercussions were to be discussed by the UN Security Council; however, before North Korea could be internationally exposed or humiliated they withdrew from the NPT (Albright, 9-11).  The United States, among others, are trying to convince North Korea to reconsider it’s withdraw because it could create an unstable East Asia (Albright, 11).  These waste sites are vital to inspection because if a country is processing more uranium and plutonium then needed or claimed for their commercial usage then they have the potential to be a new nuclear power.  Moreover, they have the potential of losing this excess uranium and plutonium which in turn would be a great health and environmental hazard.

In today’s world, some strategic communities have begun to disregard and/or dislike the policies of the NPT (Lever, 423).  Some feel that there is a lack of leadership globally which is one of the reasons that the NPT is not progressing (Lever, 420).  Such acts, as when the United States withdrew from the Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty, encourage other states to just withdraw from other such treaties.  If states were to withdraw unilaterally then the “rational control of offensive weapons systems would become nearly impossible to encourage” (McCombie, 421-422).  Once the point of weapons control is not able to be regulated, there is essentially no hope for guidelines for the management of nuclear toxic waste.

There are those among academics who believe that the NPT should be either completely redrafted or trashed to allow another treaty to take its place.  One such critic is Michael Wesley and his main reason is that he does not like the structure in which the NPT operates under.  He believes that the NPT creates inefficiency and unfairness within the states which in turn creates a large opportunity cost (Lever, 417).  In fact, some of his claims are founded by the recent failures of the committees.  Some of these committees have failed largely due to the fact that the UN Group of 77 (G-77) has been dissatisfied in the way that the NPT has been affecting their interests (Power, 477).  The G-77 has gone so far as accusing the NPT as “discriminatory”, “hegemonic”, and being a “monopolist” treaty.  There are even states, such as Argentina, Brazil, India, and Pakistan that are publicly anti-NPT (Powers, 483).  The NPT has become so controversial that the 1985 Conference was conducted only after the Soviet Union (President: Mikhail Gorbachev) and the United States (President: Ronald Reagan) agreed to not use the meeting as an opportunity to accuse one another why the worlds nuclear arms control record was unsatisfactory (Power, 478). 

Others just recognize that the NPT has indeed managed to compel the signers to adhere to its provisions (more so than any other arms agreement) but they also see that the past few committee reviews, notably the 1980 committees inability to produce a statement, have not been able to agree on much but the necessity of the general acceptance or, rather, the agreement on the notions promoted by the NPT (Thee, 333; Power, 477).  In addition to this there are some theories floating about in academia that provide temporary and perhaps semi-permanent fixes to the problems created by the NPT and the disposal of nuclear toxic waste.  One such suggestion is to follow Sweden’s lead and use copper containers instead of steel containers because they are believed to be more durable to the “geographic formation” idea put into practice.  Other suggestion has been to transmutate nuclear waste thus transforming it into other elements; the physics of which have been known since the 1960s (Dunlap, 307).

While it is important to rectify the technical and managerial problems that are associated with nuclear technology, it is just as important to clarify and rectify the political and social image associated with nuclear technology (Dunlap, 3).   To accomplish this, there has been a series of suggestions, many of which include involving the public in decisions regarding the clean-up of nuclear wastes, waste management policy (including radiation standards), and anything else that would involve potential health or environmental hazards (Makhijani, 590-591).  Obviously, the suggestions here would cost not only the exuberant amount of money one would imagine, but it would also cost the time of politicians and scientists to actually initiate these measures.

One may say, based on all of this, that the NPT hold political weight seeing as it has up until recently been able to maintain the level of respect from the states to allow them to adhere to the treaty; however, there has been many discrepancies among states which have nearly altogether halted the progress that is being made by having the NPT.  The environmental and health risks are mounting by the day and nothing more can be accomplished until the states are able to come to an agreement which is “fair” by all accounts.  Until this happens, it is my misfortune to say, there is no way that our society will be able to move forward with peaceful nuclear technologies.  It seems to be virtually impossible to both create waste and not be able to manage it at the speed at which it is and has been created.

Bibliography

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Cook, Brian J., Jacque L. Emel, and Roger E. Kasperson.  “Organizing and Managing Radioactive Waste Disposal as an Experiment.”  Journal of Policy Analysis and Management Vol. 9 (1990): 339-366.  JSTOR.  27 Sep. 2007 < http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0276-8739%28199022%299%3A3%3C339%3AOAMRWD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5>.

Dunlap, Riley E., Michael E. Kraft, and Eugene A. Rosa, eds.  Public Reactions to Nuclear Waste: Citizens’ Views of Repository Siting.  Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1993.

Environmental Affairs Department.  Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines for Waste Management Projects.  Malawi: Environmental Affairs Department, 2002.

Kearney, Richard C. and Robert B. Garey.  “American Federalism and the Management of Radioactive Wastes.”  Public Administration Review Vol. 42 (1982): 14-24.  JSTOR.  27 Sep. 2007 < http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0033-3352%28198201%2F02%2942%3A1%3C14%3AAFATMO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7>.

Leaver, Richard.  “The Failing NPT: The Case for Institutional Reform.”  Austalian Journal of International Affairs  Vol. 59 (2005): 417-424.  Academic Search Premier.  30 Oct. 2007 <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=18739484&site=ehost-live>. 

Makhijani, Arjun, Howard Hu, and Katherine Yih, eds.  Nuclear Wastelands: A Global Guide to Nuclear Weapons Production and Its Health and Environmental Effects/ By a Special Commission of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research.  Cambridge and London: The MIT Press, 1995.

McCombie, Charles.  “Nuclear Waste Management Worldwide.”  Physics Today [00319228]  Vol. 50 (1997). Academic Search Premier.  24 Sep. 2007 < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=14&sid=af116768-5c4f-4e2b-95bf-a7ea39ade1c2%40sessionmgr3>.

Peck, Dennis L., ed.  Psychosocial Effects of Hazardous Toxic Waste Disposal on Communities.   Springfield: Thomas, 1989.

Power, Paul F.  “The Mixed State of Non-Proliferation: the NPT Review Conference and Beyond.”  International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-) Vol. 62 No. 3 (1986): 477-491.  JSTOR.  30 Oct. 2007 <http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-5850%28198622%2962%3A3%3C477%3ATMSONT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-B >.

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Thee, Marek, ed.  Arms and Disarmament: SIPRI Findings.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.

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Gender Roles in the Israeli Military

Fall 2008

Gender Roles in the Israeli Military

            The issue of gender discrimination has been a topic of much discussion and concern in today’s society all around the world.  Nowhere exemplifies that more than in the militaries of the world.  While many of the militaries today do not draft or have mandatory military service for their women, it does not mean that in a society that does have this that genders are treated equally in terms of tasks performed or the powers they can exercise (Yuval-Davis 1985, 649 - 650).  The truth is that volunteer militaries are more likely to treat a woman like a soldier than a “women”.  In Israel’s mandatory military this can be studied.  I will show how the genders are indeed treated differently in the military and how the feminine sex has many struggles that men do not have. 

When a nation-state has armed conflict over long periods of time, as Israel has been since its creation, the military as an institution becomes essential to the existence of that state (Golan 1997, 581).  Since Israel has had such a prolonged conflict the connection between service in the military and complete citizenship are interdependent (Sasson-Levy 2003, 322). For example, roles that male ex-soldiers, ex-combat soldiers, or officers have in civilian life are more luxurious than those that did not serve (Golan 1997, 583).  This “gendered nature of citizenship” is one of the primary reasons that women’s military service has been so controversial (Sasson-Levy 2001, 7).

The Israeli army claims that it has egalitarian principles and that it tries not to discriminate by ethnicity, class, or background (Sasson-Levy 2003, 324).  This, however, is not true in practice.  In practice, the army discriminates by gender, race, class, ethnicity, nationality, and sexuality (Sasson-Levy 2003, 320).  Often these issues of discrimination are considered secondary to the issues of security and peace and thus get pushed to the wayside (Golan 1997, 583).  While each of these discriminations is unwarranted and deserved to be examined in depth, the one that is going to be explored here is the issue of gender discrimination.  To understand all of the unique implications and angles associated with gender inequality in Israel we first need to look at the history of women in the Israeli military (Golan 1997, 581).

The role of women in the Israeli military has been debated even prior to the conception of Israel as a state (Johnson 1989, 10).  The current Israel Defense Force (IDF) is traceable to the early 20^th century beginning with Bar-Giora, established in 1907 (Johnson 1989, 10).  Bar-Giora was a fighting unit that exemplified Bedouin as its warrior (5).  Out of the twelve members of Bar-Giora there were only two women in the unit (Johnson 1989, 10).  Two years after Bar-Giora’s establishment, Bar-Giora turned into Hashomer (Johnson 1989, 10).  Out of Hashomer came the two basic roles for women (Johnson 1989, 11).  The first being the full-fledged participant and the other being the mere wives of the members of Hashomer (Johnson 1989, 11).  Eventually, Hashomer could no longer defend the land that Israel would later occupy (Johnson 1989, 11).  Thus, Haganah was formed and it included all able bodied Jews (male and female) to serve in varying position (Johnson 1989, 11).  From Haganah, Zahal (IDF) was created on May 26, 1948 (Yuval-Davis 1985, 659 and Johnson 1989, 11).

Women helped pre-state Israel when the Roman’s attacked Jerusalem (Yuval-Davis 1985, 649). Then, during World War II, women drove from Cairo to Jerusalem in armored tanks and doing so was not uncommon (Johnson 1989, 12). As one can see, in pre-state Israel women had an active role even though the military had been considered a predominantly male domain (Johnson 1989, 12 and 8, 649).  The point in which women’s roles began to change in the military was in 1948 during the War for Independence (Johnson 1989, 12).  The Israeli War for Independence began with one-fifth of its active soldiers as women in combat positions; however, by the end of the war the positions that the women were assigned were less combat oriented and more secretarial (Johnson 1989, 12).

Since “Israel is the size of New Jersey” (T. Pearlman, personal interview, November 6, 2008) one must realize that “When you are in battle you are very close to your house, not to mention the widest you go, unless you are taking the territories, is 15 kilometers, 10 miles.  It is so short you always feel like you are defending your home…it’s natural” (E. Munichor, personal interview, November 6, 2008).  This is the way that Mr. Munichor described being in an officer in the army.  The facets of the military he was a part of and the facets of the military that Ms. Pearlman and Ms. Wald were a part of differed greatly even though there are similarities in the things that happen today between the sexes.

Today, there is mandatory conscription for both males and females in one of the three main branches – the land (army), sea (navy), or air (air force) (Sasson-Levy 2003, 324 and Yuval-Davis 1985, 659).  Military service is seen as a citizen’s minimal duty in exchange for citizenship and civic, political, and social rights (Sasson-Levy 2003, 321).  “Its kinda weird when you’re growing up when you know that you’re gonna have to go to the military. You know it from when you’re born… since you’re a child you know that one day you’re going to be walking around in uniform with an M-16 or an oozy or whatever it is they give you” (T. Pearlman, personal interview, November 6, 2008).  This is the attitude that all young men and women are brought up with because the fact is that when Jewish Israeli citizens reach the age of eighteen they are drafted for two or three years depending on gender (Dar and Kimhi 2004, 433). 

One of the problems with this is that relating citizenship to military service like this creates a differential and stratified citizenship for men and women for reasons which will be explored (Sasson-Levy 2003, 322).  Women traditionally serve two years in the forces while men serve three (Dar and Kimhi 2004, 434).  It was not always like that and women’s service regulations were cut back in 1993 and 1994, to where it is today, at the two year mark (Klein 2002, 671).  Given that military service is mandatory for all able bodied Jewish citizens of age (and non-Jewish volunteers) the vast majority of the Israeli population pass through this institution and as the way that the genders are treated and the messages that the Israeli military is really sending to its soldiers should be carefully examined. 

Differences in the way that the genders are treated by the military begin prior to inscription into the military.  The letters that are sent out to the seventeen year old boys and girls are different and it is much easier for a girl to receive an exemption from military service than it is for a young boy (Golan 1997, 581 – 582). In fact, only 60% of Jewish women are eventually drafted, but about 90% of Jewish men are drafted (Klein 2002, 671). The various branches court the boys from the local high schools by making it a competition but there is nothing like that happening for girls (Golan 1997, 581).  Regardless of this, only about 15% of women complete their statutory two years of service while 80% of men complete their three years (Klein 2002, 671).  The truth of the matter is that at any given time the women in the Israeli military make up only 5-7% of the active or reserve forces (Yuval-Davis 1985, 650)

The entire IDF consists of both the regular armed forces (professional and the recruits) and the reserve army (Yuval-Davis 1985, 659).  In both of these areas of the armed forces there is ethnic and class stratification that mirrors that of the civilian society around the military (Sasson-Levy 2003, 324). The military, in all reality, reinforces the stereotypical role of the man as the warrior fighter and the women as subordinate, sub servant, and all together antithetical to the military role (Golan 1997, 581, Dar and Kimhi 2004, 435, and Klein 2002, 671). Part of the reason that this is the case is because the Israeli society indirectly leans on these stereotypes (Dar and Kimhi 2004, 435). Ms. Dara Wald agrees that women’s roles in the Israeli military are based on stereotypes after her voluntary service, “The gender roles that are there are because of stereotypes as opposed to rules that are written down.  On the flip side, women are the ones that are generally considered the best at training men…those typical gender roles are broken from time to time too” (personal interview, November 6, 2008).

For the reserve military there is a time requirement difference between the genders as well.  Men are kept on reserve service for 20 to 25 years until they are 55 years of age, regardless of marital status (Dar and Kimhi 2004, 434).  The way that they do this is that they complete about thirty days of reserve duty, sixty in times of emergency, a year until they hit their magic age of 55 (Johnson 1989, 13).  Women, however, are only able to be called up for reserve duty until the age of 34 and only if they are single but the vast majority of women are exempted from reserve duty by the age of 25 or not called into reserve duty at all (Dar and Kimhi 2004, 434, Johnson 1989, 13, and Klein 2002, 672).  These differences create differences in civil society that these young adults are subject to such as advantages that young men have that young women do not (Golan 1997, 583).  Such advantages could be something as simple as having families plan their holidays and events around their son’s military service and departure and do not around their daughters (Herzog 2004, 15).

The military has a group called Chen, women corps, in which all women in the military belong too (Yuval-Davis 1985, 660).  In Hebrew “chen” means charm and this is one of the reasons that the women corps was named that, they emphasize charm for women in the military (Yuval-Davis 1985, 660).  This group is considered a goal oriented group in the military and many of the women are still considered only partial members of the military and full members of Chen (Yuval-Davis 1985, 660).

The Israeli military has a system in which one’s status is related to how close they are to combat (Golan 1997, 582).  Combat soldiers always have the highest prestige and the combat units always receive first priority in all aspects of military life (Herzog 2004, 677).  The glorification and relation to the combat soldier is so prominent in the Israeli society that it is nearly impossible to construct a military identity (male or female) that does not relate to it (Sasson-Levy 2003, 327).  The problem with this is that women are almost entirely excluded from the combat position (Dar and Kimhi 2004, 434 and Golan 1997, 582).  Some people oppose women in combat positions because they, as civil society in Israel in general, have a very strong sense of family ties and traditional family values (Johnson 1989, 13).  The entire Israeli society, in general, possesses a protective aura for their women and feels that putting women in these roles would be throwing them in danger (Johnson 1989, 13).

The exception to this is that some women are in combat support positions and in some combat specialties, like antiaircraft corps that have recently been opened up  for women to be included (Dar and Kimhi 2004, 434).  In addition, many of them are allowed into jobs that require further than basic training only if they agree to stay in the military for an extra year than what is required (Yuval-Davis 1985, 664).  The number of women occupying these newly available roles is very low percentage wise compared to those women who occupy classic female roles of civilian labor aka office work (Yuval-Davis 1985, 644 and 662). At one point the government committee on the position of women in Israel suggested that all jobs be open to women save the combat positions at the frontline (Yuval-Davis 1985, 665).

Basic training for men and women is different as well (Golan 1997, 582).  Women have three weeks, give or take, of basic training but men have a basic training that lasts three months (Herzog 2004, 23).  Not only does a man’s basic training last much longer but it is also much more physically intensive (Golan 1997, 582).  Then women and men must go on to other different “basic” training for their specific jobs. 

Now that these roles have been opened up to include women the military is concerned for the physical well being of their women soldiers in masculine roles (Gam, Goldstein, Karmon, Mintser, Grotto, Guri, Goldberg, Ohana, Onn, Levi, and Bar-Dayan 2005, 710).   The military funded a research project to find out about the high risk of fractures during the basic training for these combat roles and eventually recommended that separate training be done for women that had a “lower level of target strain” (Gam, Goldstein, Karmon, Mintser, Grotto, Guri, Goldberg, Ohana, Onn, Levi, and Bar-Dayan 2005, 710 and 712).  This recommendation came about because they found that man had a 2-3% chance of fracture while women had 10-14% chance of fracture during the antiaircraft basic training (Gam, Goldstein, Karmon, Mintser, Grotto, Guri, Goldberg, Ohana, Onn, Levi, and Bar-Dayan 2005, 710).  The numbers when evaluate show that there are a significantly smaller amount of women in this type of training than men though.  Thirty-three women were found with fractures while forty-two men were found with fractures; however, the percentages were 23.91% and 11.2%, respectively (Gam, Goldstein, Karmon, Mintser, Grotto, Guri, Goldberg, Ohana, Onn, Levi, and Bar-Dayan 2005, 711).  This shows that while they are concerned with the safety of these soldiers they are still not bringing the same amount of women as men into the program.  Then one can be lead to believe that part of the deciding factor in military placement is nearly always gender dependent (Yuval-Davis 1985, 650).

Ms. Dara Wald experienced some of these gender differences and gender roles first hand.  “I was in a role that was typically men. There were 5 women in my class and the rest, of a class of 50 or 60, were men…I remember my first day when I finally got to my base after training…I walked in, I was so excited, into the garage.  And this commander that didn’t know me asked what I was doing there because I was the only women in the unit.  And I said, “I’m here, I’m a mechanic.” And he was like, “No you’re not.” And I was like, “Yeah, I am.”  He was like, “Great, great, can you get me some coffee?”  I wish I could say that was the only time where something like that happened like that in my career but it wasn’t” (D. Wald, personal interview, November 6, 2008).  This situation exemplifies that there were not many women in her typically male job (Army tank mechanic) and that there are gender stereotypes that are dominant in the military.

In addition to these stereotypes, there are more concrete things associated with gender discrimination in the Israeli military as well.  One of the major things is the pay that women and men, specifically married men and married women, receive (Golan 1997, 582).  Women receive only twenty cents to every dollar that a man makes (Golan 1997, 583).  Shimon Peres, the former defense minister, in 1975, went on the record saying, “Of course there is a distinction between married men and the married women soldier.  The reason for this is the man is the head of the household and the main provider” (Johnson 1989, 14).

Men in the military have, as you can see, a long and dominating history that today symbolizes for many Israeli men normality, respectability, and the sense of being “Israeli” (Sasson-Levy 2003, 323 and 328).  A man’s ultimate commitment would be to give his life on the battlefield like a good warrior or citizen and since a woman is prevented from being allowed to give this ultimate sacrifice, then, they are not seen as equals in civil society and thus advantages are given to men that served in the military once they leave active service (Sasson-Levy, 322).  Some would even go as far as calling the three years of military service for men their right of passage into Israeli adulthood (Klein 2002, 671).

Some men do not serve in the military, however (Sasson-Levy 2003, 322).  These men often face some of the same civil oppressions and obstacles that women face in civil society after military service (Sasso-Levy 2003, 322).  Even among men that served in the military there is stratification of the civil societal benefits based on the status in their military service (Sasson-Levy 2003, 322).  Such men are those in blue-collar positions that emphasize responsibility and contribution but they are more responsible to their family or women at home rather than to the nation-state per say thus they are not considered as masculine (Sasson-Levy 2003, 327 and 329). Often these young men entering the military from lower economic or physical fitness, as the military for men is generally a more body intensive experience, know that they will come out of the military unrewarded and older (Klein 2002, 673 and Sasson-Levy 2003, 331).  Part of the reason that this happens is because there are certain skills and qualities, like expertise in security or leadership, that are associated with having a military career are seen as superior to that of the lesser militarized man in a state at war (Golan 1997, 583).  For this reason, the majority of the political actors in the Knesset (Israeli legislation) are ex-generals and ex-officers (Golan 1997, 483).

There are some women that do serve in the military and then do go on to become Knesset members.  However, the roles that men and women have are vary.  For example, a man is highly regarded if they are in a reconnaissance unit and a woman is highly regarded if they have had pre-enlistment courses (Dar and Kimhi 2004, 439).  Other comparable positions are a man’s noncombatant role and a women’s office work, a man working in the artillery, engineering, armor, or aircraft cores and a women in a vocational role (nurse),  and finally a man in the infantry and a women instructor or commander (Dar and Kimhi 2004, 439).  Even with these women’s roles, it is obvious that the closer the role is to combat the more highly regarded the woman is and thus higher their status in and out of the military (Golan 1997, 582).  These huge differences in jobs and significances just show how wide the gender gap is in practice.

The army has taken steps to rectify some of these gender role inequalities though.  In 1977, there were only 200 jobs out of 775 available for a woman to do, none of which were combat oriented (Johnson 1989, 14).  By 1980 there had been some gains and the military offered 270 jobs (Yuval-Davis 1985, 661). Then there was significant gains by 1986, there were 500 jobs available for a woman to do (Johnson 1989, 14).  In the year 2000, the Knesset abolished the combat restriction for women so that they may have the opportunity to have combat related jobs (Klein 2002, 676).  Even though these jobs were opened up to women in 2000 the percentage of women that serve in combat positions is still very small, 5% in 2000 (Dar and Kimhi 2004, 434).  This percentage has slowly been growing though since the year 2000.

This major breakthrough was through achieved compliments of Allice Miller and her case in late 1995, early 1996 (Golan 1997, 582).  This was a Supreme Court case that decided that “the air force must make appropriate arrangements to permit women to become candidates and if qualified, enter the pilot training course” (Golan 1997, 582).  Ms. Miller had a civil aviation pilot’s license and a degree in aeronautics; however, the air force had repeatedly reused to give her permission to take the qualifying exams and courses to become a pilot for them (Golan 1997, 582).  Another thing that happened was that the Border-Guards were opened up to women in 1996 which is a combat-like position (Golan 1997, 582).

While these things are significant and show a greater acceptance of genders into the military there is still the internalized patriarchal order that has been internalized for the military that has been carried over into the state (Sasson-Levy 2001, 7).  The work that Israeli military has done to provide closure between the gender gap in the military has been significant during the last few decades.  The problem lies in how interconnected the military and civil society is.  Since women are very slowly attaining positions of significant the public sector has responded just as slowly.  In the next century, this researcher believes, that these gender differences will eradicated and that civil society will value the daughter just as much as the son.  Women on the military front will be back to where they were 2000 years ago, on the frontlines helping and protecting their home.

Work Cited

 Dar, Yechezel and Shaul Kimhi. 2004. “Youth in the Military: Gendered Experiences in the Conscript Service in the Israeli Army.” Armed Forces & Society, 30(3): 433-459.

Gam, Arnon, Liav Goldstein, Yuval Karmon, Igor Mintser, Itamar Grotto, Alex Guri, Avishay      Goldberg, Nissim Ohana, Erez Onn, Yehezkel Levi, and Yaron Bar-Dayan. 2005. “Comparison of Stress Fractures of Male and Female Recruits during Basic Training in the Israeli Anti-Aircraft Forces.” Military Medicine, 170(8): 710-712.

Golan, Galia. 1997. “Militarization and gender: the Israeli experience.” Women’s Studies                           International Forum, 20: 581-586.

Herzog, Hanna. 2004. “Family-Military Relations in Israel as a Genderizing Social Mechanism.”   Armed Forces & Society, 31(1): 5-30.

Johnson, Barbara E. 1989. “Military roles of Israeli women.” Minerva, 7: 10-18.

Klein, Uta. 2002. “The Gender Perspective of Civil-Military Relations in Israeli Society.” Current Sociology, 50(5): 669-686.

Munichor, Ehud. Personal Interview. 6 November 2008.

Pearlman, Tamara. Personal Interview. 6 November 2008.

Sasson-Levy, Orna. 2003. “Military, Masculinity, and Citizenship: Tensions and

Contradictions in the Experience of Blue-Collar Soldiers.” Identities: Global Studies in                  Culture and Power, 10: 319-345.

Sasson-Levy, Orna. 2001. “Gender performance in a changing military: women soldiers in "masculine" roles.”  Israel Studies Forum, 17: 7-22.

Wald, Dara. Personal Interview. 6 November 2008.

Yuval-Davis, Nira.  1985. “Front and rear: the sexual division of labor in the Israeli army.”  

          Feminist Studies, 11(3): 649-675.

Opinion Paper: How Well is E-Learning Working?

How Well Is E-Learning Working?

            It is no secret that the pace of life today’s society is quicker than ever.  Everyone is constantly in a hurry. Higher education has become a factory spitting out students with “degrees” in whatever they choose because no one has the time or money to devote to truly mastering any given skill.  Thus, the university is stuck with a problem of trying to keep up with the magnitude of students.  The university system has done many things to try to keep up with the growing magnitude of students, graduate and undergraduate.  They have tried to higher more professors, have very large entry level classes, raise the bar to get into the university, and of course online courses (which I refer to as e-learning).  The latter of which has my undivided attention because e-learning is just the opposite.

            At this point in my education I have taken many online classes.  The majority of them have been through the business college and the college of education.  All of them, however, share one distinct quality they are of poor educational value.  I feel that I did learn some valuable things from some of these classes, namely Differentiated Instruction and Economics; however, overall, the education from them are lacking.  In an online class you are often left alone to read on your own, do a “discussion”, do an “assignment”, take a quiz, and perhaps watch a lecture (if you’re lucky). 

In those classes that you do not have a lecture to watch the assignments that are given are essentially glorified book reports.  These book reports then get assessed and unless you did not read or understand the material you get a very good “grade” on that assignment.  The problem with this is that while the book report/assignment shows that you understood a single aspect, it does not get into the depth of your understanding.  The quizzes that are then given often reflect the reading and perhaps the content of the class. At times a professor misjudges how they are teaching.  They feel that they can move super quickly because the students should be able to read and understand everything they get with out question or discussion.  Then when they quiz or give an exam their students do terribly and have to curve their test with up to twenty points (that I have personally seen in Finance).

When these things occur one would think that it sends a message that the online system is not working how it was intended to.  Another issue with the e-learning system is that in some classes there is no difficulty.  At times they can just be e-busy-work.  Instead of learning something every time one “logs in” to a class they are forced to wait for peers to post for the week or wait for a teacher to finally get around to answering a question.  There is such a delay in response and interaction with many of these online classes that they loose intrinsic value.

Imagine a student in a class has a burning question, raises their hand, and then is ignored.  The student goes home to research online in vain.  The next class period they again try to get their question answered; however, the class has already moved on to a new topic and thus the student with the question is now behind.  That is the type of thing that happens daily with an online class. Some students are not engaged in learning when they can not learn using their learning style (in this case interpersonal).  Now, imagine that this is even more complicated because you speak English but the classes are in Korean.  This is how frustrated an ESOL or an ELL student would feel.  Even more complicated would be those students with disabilities (mental or physical).  While there are some things that can be done to help these students (ESOL, ELLs, and those with disabilities) the help that is offered at the university is limited, at best.

Another topic that comes to mind when the subject of e-learning is discussed is the controversy of if internet reading is considered “reading” at all.  I read in the New York Times an article that had both sides of the story.  Many seem to feel that online reading is not real reading and that even if one were to read an academic journal online it was different than reading it as a hard copy.  What I assume from an argument from that is that reading hard copies in their mind uses different cognitive abilities than does reading online.  This leads to my question.  If this is a genuine debate then how can the university system assume that online classes are equivalent to live sections of those classes?  Taking that even further, how can the university system be sure that it does not take different cognitive abilities to complete an online class than a live section of that class?

In my opinion, e-learning is just not functional for what graduates at any level are expected to learn from them.  It does not compete, educationally, with a live section of that class. The only good things about them are that they are convenient and they save the university system money.  Both of these things are nice but do those benefits outweigh the fact that they are lacking educationally? I feel that there are more beneficial ways of dealing with the problem of over population than online classes.

Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction

November 2008

            Differentiated instruction is a revolution and one that can not go unnoticed (Rock, Gregg, Ellis, and Gable 2008, 39).  Differentiated instruction, in a nut shell, allows students to understand and learn the same concepts, how to process information, make sense of new information, and develop diversified products (Tomlinson 2001, 1).  This is a brand new way to approach teaching with diverse learning styles and behaviors (Rock, Gregg, Ellis, and Gable 2008, 39).  This revolutional way of thinking is “indispensible” to accomplish the missions of the public school system to educate our youth (George 2005, 191).

            Differentiated instruction comes about because while students are grouped in classes primarily by age they are all very different in their background, prior knowledge, personalities, likes, dislikes, and hobbies (Tomlinson 2001, 1).   Teachers “proactively plan” for their student’s uniqueness and their leaning styles by offering, managing, and monitoring several activities for their students, simultaneously (Tomlinson 2001, 2-3).  The lessons are student centered in the way that the teacher has to take into account student’s prior knowledge and plan to work in that student’s zone of proximal development (Tomlinson 2001, 5).

            The traditional classroom lacks in many different areas.  The vast majorities of teachers in the traditional classroom teach to the “average” student and as a result many students are either bored or are left behind (Rock, Gregg, Ellis, and Gable 2008, 32).  In addition, the traditional classroom often encourages students to conform; however, non-conformity may be the key to getting students to learn more effectively and allowing them to become better citizens in the world after life as a student (George 2005, 190).  In other words, the traditional classroom emphasized students similarities but their differences can be extremely and possibly more important factors in helping them learn (Tomlinson 2001, 1).

            Traditional teaching strategies in the traditional classroom also have the potential to divide students based on race, ethnicity, and social status (George 2005, 187).  Differentiated instruction, however, allows teachers to be responsive instead of being reactive to the differences in their students (Anderson 2007, 52).  One can be lead to see that the traditional classroom is no longer sufficient and that differentiated instruction is essential to the public education system (George 2005, 186).

            The purpose of differentiated instruction in the classroom is multi-faceted.  In the differentiated classroom all students participate in their own learning and engage in the lessons that the teacher is teaching (Anderson 2007, 52).  Differentiated instruction encourages student’s uniqueness the schools and teachers that employ differentiated instruction enhance their pupil’s gifts and help build their weaknesses (Anderson 2007, 50).  Therefore, one can see that differentiated instruction is much better than the traditional ways of teaching a classroom (George 2005, 186).

            Often teachers are afraid to begin to try to differentiate their classrooms because they are afraid that they will not be able to meet the state and local standards (Anderson 2007, 49).  The fact remains though, that teachers that differentiate their classroom correctly address all of the standards by pushing and leading their students along the way (Anderson 2007, 50).  Some teachers were not addressing the needs of all of their students correctly and schools were subsequently lowering their standards so that all students could reach them (Rock, Gregg, Ellis, and Gable 2008, 32).  As a result the federal government passed the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 and IDEA in 2004 (Rock, Gregg, Ellis, and Gable 2008, 32).  Both of these acts create high expectations for all students (Gregory and Chapman 2007, 4).  Teachers can not just teach to the whole class and hope that everyone understood the concepts any longer (Gregory and Chapman 2007, 4).  By using differentiated instruction in the classroom schools are better able to equally distribute their teaching talent and other valuable resources in most, if not all, classrooms and to get all of their students to reach the higher standards that the government has set for them (George 2005, 187-188).

            Students in need of “special education” services are often, today, incorporated into the regular classroom and receive special services while in the regular classroom by being pulled out or something along those lines (Rock, Gregg, Ellis, and Gable 2008, 32).  This creates a difficult situation for the teacher and student a like if differentiated instruction is not happening.  Differentiating classrooms will allow these students to learn at their own pace and use their individual learning styles and interests to motivate them (Tomlinson 2001, 57).

            Students that are not put into special “gifted” programs and are taught along side their peers are often “overlooked” by their teachers because they can be counted on to do well (George 2005, 189).  Students pulled out and put into “gifted” programs can suffer psychological problems, however, because they often only compare themselves to their other “gifted” peers and not to the abilities of the rest of the student body (George 2005, 188).  This can be a discouragement to students and can, instead of motivating them, disengage students.  By differentiating instruction teachers can challenge their most gifted students and still keep the curriculum dulled down enough for their slowest learner (George 2005, 189).  Differentiating instruction can circumvent many of the dangerous and harmful effects of labeling students as high or low too early and can open the opportunity to students to flourish later on in their academic careers (George 2005, 187). 

            Obviously, differentiating instruction in the classroom has many purposes and all of them are beneficial to both the student and the teacher alike.  Students are better able to express themselves and teachers are better able to assess them in return.  There is no reason why teachers should not differentiate.

 Work Cited

Anderson, Kelly M. (2007). Tips for Teaching: Differentiating Instruction to Include All   Students. Preventing School Failure, 51(3): 49-54.

George, Paul S. (2005). A Rationale for Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom.       Theory into Practice, 44(3), 185–193.

Gregory, Gayle H. and Carolyn Chapman. Differentiated Instructional Strategies: One Size            Doesn’t Fit All (2^nd ed.). California: Corwin Press - A Sage Publications Company.

Rock, Marcia L., Madeleine Gregg, Edwin Ellis, and Robert A. Gable (2008). REACH: A            Framework for Differentiating Classroom Instruction. Preventing School Failure, 52(2):     31-47.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann. How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2^nd ed.).       Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

Twentieth Century Jazz: Big Band Music

Twentieth Century Jazz: Big Band Music

Many of the people in the world today associate jazz music with the United States and in fact, these people are not wrong to do so.  According to Ardley, Arthur, Chapman, and Perry, “Jazz is America’s most important contribution to world music” (1979).  Not only is jazz music North America’s most important contribution, but this researcher would argue that it is the only true American musical art form.  The art form of jazz music has been through many different style periods from New Orleans to swing to bebop to big band music, but all of these periods are distinct and all of the musicians involved in these periods are unique in their own right (Scott 1991)

The jazz music that most people associate with is a twentieth century phenomena; however, the fundamentals of jazz date back to a much earlier time period (Jazz History).  Jazz music has its roots in the African American slaves and Creole songs; although, the music was not the same, or for that matter, develop the same in every place (Jazz History).  In fact, big band jazz is attributed to black folk music of the 1800s also known as ragtime (History of Big Bands).  This folk music was combined with many other things, however, to create the assemblage of the big band sound.  Such things were European music, blues, and New Orleans music.

Modern jazz began to develop in New Orleans under the Creole influence in the early twentieth century (Parker).  When this type of jazz was first introduced it was slow to catch on because it was completely different from the mainstream music; however, it was not long before the youth of the 1930s began to demand this music (Parker).  During the 1920s jazz music was considered “lower class” music and often was ignored entirely by socialites (Parker).

By the time 1920, rolled around jazz began to take the form of a big band (Ardley, Arthur, Chapman, and Perry 1979).  The big band era is generally noted as beginning in the year 1935 and ending in the year 1945 (Ardley, Arthur, Chapman, and Perry 1979).  In these years, jazz music was the most popular form of music (Parker).  This was due to the fact that the big band was dance music and as such it became integrated into the American culture (History of Big Bands).  The American youth began to dance to this music and others began to use it as a pick me up during the depression (it was some of the only music that radio shows could get).  These bands played in America’s most famous places (such as New York and Chicago) and were broadcast across the country via the radio (Quilty).

            Some of the lure to big bands was the famous people that fronted them.  People like Count Basie and Duke Ellington.  Count Basie received his first job in Kansas City where he played in Walter Page’s and Bennie Moten’s bands (Monceaux).  He soon grew tired of this and formed his own band in 1935 (Monceaux).  He realized that he could gain some footing and popularity if he got into a “hot spot” type of city.  So, he moved to New York in 1936 (Monceaux).  Basie’s band had much success.  His band was the first American jazz band to play for the Queen of England in 1957 (Monceaux).  Count Basie’s music was such a driving force that the band has survived more than fifty years and many of the hit tunes that are associated with the band are played today (Monceaux).

Duke Ellington is another legend among big band front runners.  Duke Ellington has been called by some the greatest of all jazz composers (Monceaux).  Ellington did not hear jazz or blues as a child in Washington D.C.; in fact, he taught himself how to play ragtime after learning the fundamentals of the piano (Monceaux).  Ellington played in New York often and that is where he first heard the sounds of New Orleans jazz (Monceaux).  After this point, Ellington really took off compositionally because he began to incorporate the New Orleans sound into his writings while trying new instrumentation specifically for his band members (Monceaux).  This and the fact that he always had a moving beat in the piano line because it was “dance” music creates the unique sound that is Duke Ellington (Monceaux).

            A big band is composed of at least sixteen players and could reach as many as twenty-five.  The instrumentation of big bands varies, especially in an Ellington piece.  Big bands often relied on saxophones, not clarinets, and sectional playing (Ardley, Arthur, Chapman, and Perry 1979).  By sectional playing it is meant the brass section, the reed section, and the rhythm section (Ardley, Arthur, Chapman, and Perry 1979).  The brass section encompasses trumpets and trombone like instruments depending on the arrangement of the piece of music, the reed section encompasses saxophones or perhaps a clarinet or flute, and the rhythm section encompasses the piano, bass, drum, and guitar (Ardley, Arthur, Chapman, and Perry 1979).

Traditionally, big bands consist of a trumpet, saxophone (alto, tenor, and baritone), trombone, and rhythm section; however, certain arrangements can call for a saxophone player to double on either a flute or clarinet or as a trumpet player to use mutes or cornets/flugelhorns (Ardley, Arthur, Chapman, and Perry 1979).  After the initial up rise of big bands, other instruments such as Latin or acoustic/electric rhythm instruments are often asked for (Ardley, Arthur, Chapman, and Perry 1979).

            Today, musicians still enjoy playing big band music.  Even though it does not have the popularity that it enjoyed during the 1930s and 1940s, it is nevertheless alive and well (Quilty).  A jazz musician can loose themselves in the music unlike any other form of music allows.  The element of jazz allows for improvisation in which a solo player takes a few measures and “shows his soul” for everyone to see.  In this way, some say that jazz music is some of the most intimate and intense music there is.

 Big band and other genres of jazz music is appreciated more in Europe today because their cultures embrace the sprit of jazz music more so than American culture of today does in the streets.  On the silver screen and in theatre is a different story, however (Jazz Today).  Big band jazz music is showing up in shows such as Modern Millie and Chicago which have both enjoyed tremendous success (Jazz Today). 

            Jazz music is part of the roots of another popular form of music: rock and roll.  The original rock music pulls many of its underlying elements, including the original instrumentation, from the big band jazz bands (Ardley, Arthur, Chapman, and Perry 1979).  Many young people in the 1960s all the way up through today enjoy jazz and rock and roll especially for their driving beats and “dance” style.  Rock and roll had a similar childhood to jazz music.  It was slow to catch on because it was unlike the music of the time and many people thought of it as “devil music” especially the more traditional house holds in America.  Although, when the rock and roll crazy caught on it was an unstoppable locomotive, just like jazz was.

            America’s most important contribution to the music world is jazz music.  Jazz music is one of those genres that should continue for a long period to come.  Many critics are debating whether or not jazz music can stay alive in a “popular” and “top 40’s” driven industry.  What the critics have to remember is that this type of music is not only fun to listen to but it is fun to perform and to dance to as well.  This genre is not going out of fashion but is coming back into fashion.  One can see by more modern examples such as Goodwin’s Big Phat Band or even a “solo” artist like Michael Buble.  Both of these groups are doing well and selling out concert tickets wherever they may be. 

Work Cited

Ardley, Neil; Arthur, Dave; Chapman, Hugh; Perry, John.  The book of Music.  New    Jersey: Chartwell Books, inc., 1979.

DeVeaux, Scott .  “Constructing the jazz tradition: Jazz historiography.”  Black  American Literature Forum.  Fall 1991, Vol. 25, Issue 3.

“Jazz History Time Line.”  20 Jun 2008  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/timeline.htm

“Jazz Today.”  19 Jun 2008      http://www.stfrancis.edu/en/student/Monique-Web/jazz_today.html

Monceaux, Morgan. Jazz: My music, My People. NY: Alfred A Knope., Inc., 1994.

Parker, Jeff .  "The History Of Jazz Music - Pre Swing Era."  15 Jun 2008         http://www.swingmusic.net/getready.html>.

Quilty, Susan.  "The evolution of big band jazz music."  16 Jun 2008      http://www.helium.com/items/985848-during-swing-1930s-1940s.

"The History of Big Bands in America."  14 Jun 2008    http://www.otal.umd.edu/~vg/amst205.F97/vj04/p6a.html.