The Problems with Fracking Essay Example For Students

The Problems with Fracking Essay No Fracking Way Imagine a world where fresh and clear water was a luxury. Imagine water so contaminated with chemicals that every plant it comes into contact with dies. As the trees begin to die, oxygen levels drop. As the vegetation dies, wildlife begins to die out. The polluted water which flows through the ground into wells causes instant contamination. As the water flows out of the sink, one can strike a match and light the liquid on fire. Showering in these chemicals is out of the question. Fresh water has become a comfort, rather than a given. Could planet Earth survive this existence? If hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking, were deemed legal, this question may be put to the test. Fracking is a process in which chemicals, sand and water are used in â€Å"high volumes†¦ to fracture gas-bearing layers of rock† (Dolesh 2). As the rock breaks, natural gas is released and then collected to be used as energy. We will write a custom essay on The Problems with Fracking specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The United States is currently sitting on a gold mine of natural gas which could stimulate our ever declining economy. The question is what price are we willing to pay for a temporary fix? Fracking is a dangerous process that should be deemed illegal due to its harmful short and long-term environmental effects. Before one can see the devastating effects of fracking, one must first understand how fracking works. As previously stated, the main intent of hydro-fracking is to access and harvest natural gas that lies below the surface of the Earth. Having formed over 400 million years ago by the collision of tectonic plates (Marsa 3), the Marcellus Shale plays host to a gold mine of natural gas, which is currently at the center of the fracking debate in the Northeastern region of the United States. Unfortunately, access. .er, Cyril Josh. â€Å"Fracking Up: New York State Continues The Debate Over Gas Extraction Process.† New York Amsterdam News (2011): 4. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 Nov. 2011. Dolesh, Richard â€Å"Fracktured Parks.† Parks Recreation 46.6 (2011): 56-61. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Marsa, Linda. â€Å"Fracking Nation.† Discover 32. 4 (2011): 62-70. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Morriss III, James C. , and Christopher D. Smith. â€Å"The Shales And Shale-Nots: Environmental Regulation Of Natural Gas Development. (Cover Story).† Energy Litigation Journal 9.4 (2010): 1-23. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. Peltier, Robert. â€Å"Fracking Problems. † Power 155.8 (2011): 6. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. Rahman, Hashim. â€Å"New York Puts Fracking On Hold.† Planning 77.2 (2011): 4. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Nov. 2011.

The Charlotte Riots and the Killing of Keith Scott

The Charlotte Riots and the Killing of Keith Scott Deadly riots broke out in Charlotte, North Carolina, in September 2016. What had been peaceful protests over the police killing of an African American man named Keith Lamont Scott turned into a melee involving both demonstrators and the authorities. The spread of gunfire, vandalism, and smoke bombs during the riots led the North Carolina governor to declare a state of emergency. In the end, neither the city of Charlotte nor the people caught up in the protests were left unscathed. The 2016 Charlotte Riots The Charlotte riots took place in 2016 after a black man named Keith Lamont Scott was killed by police on Sept. 20. Officers said he had a gun, but Scott’s family denied he was armed and suggested he’d been framed. The riots ended by the morning of Sept. 23, but they had resulted in property damage, injuries, and more than a few dozen arrests. Tragically, one man, Justin Carr, died during the violence that broke out in Charlotte after Scott’s killing.The district attorney ultimately decided not to file charges against the officer who shot Scott because evidence suggested the slain man had been armed and did not follow commands. The Killing of Keith Lamont Scott The Charlotte riots took place just one day after a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer fatally shot married father of seven Keith Lamont Scott. The 43-year-old man had parked his car in the lot of the Village at College Downs apartment complex, where police had arrived to serve an arrest warrant to a different individual. The officers said they saw Scott with marijuana and that he’d gotten in and out of his car with a handgun. When they told him to drop his weapon, he ignored their commands, making him an â€Å"imminent threat,† according to the authorities. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Brentley Vinson, who is African American, fired his weapon, wounding Scott. First aid was performed, but Scott did not survive. His wife, Rakeyia Scott, had witnessed his killing and maintained that he was holding a book in his hand, not a gun. Given the history of police shooting unarmed black men, supporters of Scott believed his wife’s account. However, the authorities attempted to verify their version of what happened by stating that they had recovered Scott’s loaded gun from the scene and that he had been wearing an ankle holster. They also said that no book was ever found. Protestors march up Trade St. September 21, 2016 in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina.   Sean Rayford / Getty Images The disparities between law enforcement’s account of events and Rakeyia Scott’s led protesters to take to the streets. The fact that his family suggested that the authorities had planted the gun at the scene only led to more skepticism about the officers involved in Scotts shooting. Several people were harmed during the demonstrations over his death. Riots Break Out in Charlotte Just hours after Scott’s killing, demonstrators poured into the streets. They held the trademark â€Å"Black Lives Matter† signs often spotted in the wake of deadly police shootings of African Americans. The grassroots Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement gained momentum after Mike Brown’s killing in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. The movement raises awareness about the fact that African Americans are disproportionately killed by the police. Protesters affiliated with BLM and other groups chanted â€Å"no justice, no peace!† as they marched through downtown Charlotte. Some members of the public reportedly began to pelt the police officers on the scene with water bottles and rocks. The officers responded by firing tear gas. During the unrest, police, news reporters, and civilians all sustained injuries. Arrests were made when some crowd members didn’t disperse, blocked the lanes of Interstate 85, vandalized vehicles and buildings, robbed an ATM and various shops, and set fires. A civilian named Justin Carr, 21,  lost his life in the violence, and a fellow civilian, Rayquan Borum, was arrested for shooting him and sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2019. Altogether, 44 people were arrested for various crimes in the days following the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott. Police officers face off with protesters on the I-85 (Interstate 85) during protests in the early hours of September 21, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina.   Sean Rayford / Getty Images When North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency in Charlotte after the first night of violence, the North Carolina National Guard and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol arrived in the city to quash the rebellion. In addition, Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts instituted a curfew preventing civilians from being on the streets between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m.  With extra law enforcement patrolling the streets and a curfew, the protests had calmed down considerably on the night of September 22. The mayor extended the curfew one more night, but by September 23, Charlotte businesses were already up and running again. Reaction to the Violence The riots made international headlines and everyone from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump to black activists commented on them. â€Å"Our country looks bad to the world, especially when we are supposed to the world’s leader,† Trump said. â€Å"How can we lead when we can’t even control our own cities? We honor and recognize the right of all Americans to peacefully assemble, protest, and demonstrate, but there is no right to engage in violent disruption or to threaten the public safety and peace.† The North Carolina NAACP issued a similar message, decrying violence and calling on Scott supporters to use their First Amendment rights to call for redress of wrongs,† the group said. â€Å"We understand efforts that undermine the legitimate calls for justice with unjust, random or purposeless acts of violence.   Police stand outside of a vandalized storefront September 21, 2016 in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina.   Sean Rayford / Getty Images Nation of Islam leader B.J. Murphy had a different response to the riots. He called for an economic boycott of Charlotte, a city with a history of police shootings involving black men. In 2013, former college football player Jonathan Farrell, an African American, was fatally shot by Charlotte police after seeking help following a car crash. A jury deadlocked on whether to find the white policeman who killed Farrell guilty. Later, charges against the officer were dropped. In light of police violence against blacks, B.J. Murphy argued that black money shouldn’t matter in Charlotte if black lives don’t.   Restoring the Public’s Trust After the riots, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department attempted to rebuild the public’s trust in its officers. It produced DNA results tying Keith Lamont Scott’s prints to the gun at the scene and turned up evidence indicating that he’d purchased the weapon. The department did this, in part, to offset claims by Scott’s family that he’d been framed in death, but this evidence failed to put an end to the disputes between the family and the police department. Video of the encounter taken by police dashcams and Rakeyia Scott’s cell phone did not end the dispute either because it did not include the actual shooting. The footage also lacked a clear image of what Scott had in his hands when police fired their shots, so the debates about his conduct that fateful day continued. The authorities said he was a threat, while his widow said he walked toward police calmly with his hands at his sides. Residents gather for a vigil and march to protest the death of Keith Scott September 21, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Scott, who was black, was shot and killed at an apartment complex near UNC Charlotte by police officers, who say they warned Scott to drop a gun he was allegedly holding.   Brian Blanco / Getty Images Two months after Scott’s killing, Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray said that no charges would be filed against Brentley Vinson, the officer who fired the fatal shot. Murray reasoned that the evidence indicated that Scott had been armed at the time of his killing. His .380 semiautomatic handgun, according to police, had fallen to the ground after he was shot. The district attorney concluded that Scott didn’t aim his weapon at officers, but he didn’t obey their orders to drop it either. Scotts family expressed disappointment in the district attorney’s findings but asked the public to keep the peace. Sources Gordon, Michael. â€Å"Charlotte protests, riots are the backdrop in the murder trial of Rayquan Borum.† Charlotte Observer, 7 February 2019.Maxwell, Tanya and Melanie Eversley. â€Å"N.C. Gov. declares state of emergency following violent Charlotte protests.† USA Today, 21 September 2016.â€Å"Jury deadlocked in North Carolina officer shooting trial; mistrial declared.† CBS News, 21 August 2015.â€Å"State of emergency in Charlotte amid 2nd night of violent protests.† CBS News, 21 September 2016.

Programming games in C# using SDL.NET

Programming games in C# using SDL.NET One of the problems with open source is that projects sometimes seem to fall by the wayside or take confusing turns. Take SDL.NET. Ignoring the website for sale, a search on the web reveals cs-sdl.sourceforge.net a project that seems to have stopped in November 2010. We dont think it has stopped but just looks like it has. If you dont know C#, you will first need to learn how to program in C#. Looking elsewhere, we came across the Tao framework linked on the Mono website which seems to cover the same area and adding support for sound etc. But looking on sourceforge (again!), it has been superseded by OpenTK but the focus there is OpenGL. However, it also includes OpenAL so installing the two (cs-sdl and OpenTK) seemed to be the way forward. Part of the OpenTk install failed; the NS (shader) because we dont have VS 2008 installed! However, the rest of it was ok. We created a C# Console project and started playing with SDL.NET. The online documentation can be found here. Looking back, we can see that the OpenTK framework wasnt needed as such, that SDL.NET installed everything but that wasnt clear at the time. It still uses the Tao Framework even though development of that has been superseded by OpenTK. Its a little confusing and we hope the SDL.NET team will bring out an OpenTk compatible version in the future. What Exactly is SDL.NET? Its not, as we thought, just a thin wrapper round SDL, but adds considerable extra functionality. There are a number of classes provided to provide the following: TimersProvides Sprites, including animation and TextProvides surfaces for 2D and OpenGlProvides support for Movie loading and playingProvides support for AudioProvides Bezier, polygon (and textures), square, circle, line, pie drawingProvides particle support with emitters and sprites and manipulators.Provides interfacing with Windows forms through a shared PictureBox with surface. Preparations There are several things you have to do to get it set up. Here they are: Locate the two SDL.NET dlls (SdlDotNet.dll and Tao.Sdl.dll) as well as the OpenTK dlls, and add them to the project references. After installation, the dlls are located in Program Files\SdlDotNet\bin (on a 32 bit Windows and Program Files (x86)\SdlDotNet\bin on 64 bit Windows. Right click on the References section in Solution Explorer then click Add Reference and select the Browse tab. That opens an Explorer dialog and after locating the dlls select then and click ok. SDL.NET uses the SDL set of dlls and installs them under the lib folder. Dont delete them! One last thing, click on the View\Properties so it opens up the Property pages and on the first tab (Application) Change Output type from Console Application to Windows Application. If you dont do this when the program first runs and opens up the SDL main Window it will open up a console Window as well. Were now ready to start and Ive created a short application below. This blits randomly sized and located rectangles and circles on the Window surface at 1,700 drawn per second at a frame rate of 50 frames per second. That 1,700 comes from setting the number drawn per frame to 17 and displaying the frames per second in the Window caption using Video.WindowCaption. Each frame it draws 17 filled circles and rectangles, 17 x 2 x 50 1,700. This figure depends on the video card, CPU etc. Its an impressive speed. // By David Bolton, http://cplus.about.comusing System;using System.Drawing;using SdlDotNet.Graphics;using SdlDotNet.Core;using SdlDotNet.Graphics.Primitives;public class ex1{private const int wwidth 1024;private const int wheight 768;private static Surface Screen;private static Random r new Random() ;public static void Main(string[] args){Screen Video.SetVideoMode( wwidth, wheight, 32, false, false, false, true) ;Events.TargetFps 50;Events.Quit (QuitEventHandler) ;Events.Tick (TickEventHandler) ;Events.Run() ;}private static void QuitEventHandler(object sender, QuitEventArgs args){Events.QuitApplication() ;}private static void TickEventHandler(object sender, TickEventArgs args){for (var i 0; i 17; i){var rect new Rectangle(new Point(r.Next(wwidth- 100),r.Next(wheight-100)),new Size(10 r.Next(wwidth - 90), 10 r.Next(wheight - 90))) ;var Col Color.FromArgb(r.Next(255),r.Next (255),r.Next(255)) ;var CircCol Color.FromArgb(r.Next(255), r.Next (255), r.Next(255)) ;short rad ius (short)(10 r.Next(wheight - 90)) ;var Circ new Circle(new Point(r.Next(wwidth- 100),r.Next(wheight-100)),radius) ;Screen.Fill(rect,Col) ;Circ.Draw(Screen, CircCol, false, true) ;Screen.Update() ;Video.WindowCaption Events.Fps.ToString() ;}}} Object Oriented Development SDL.NET is very Object Oriented and there are two predefined objects that are used in every SDL.NET application. Video provides methods to set the video mode, create video surfaces, hide and show the mouse cursor, and interact with OpenGL. Not that well be doing OpenGL for a while. The Events class contains events which can be attached to to read user input and other miscellaneous occurrences. Here the Video object is used to set the size and resolution of the game Window (full screen is an option). The parameters for SetVideoMode let you change these and 13 overloads provide plenty of variety. Theres a .chm file (Windows html help format) in the doc folder documenting all the classes and members. The Events object has a Quit events handler that lets you add close down logic and you should call Events.QuitApplication() to make it respond to the user closing the application. The Events.Tick is possibly the most important event handler. It calls the specified event handler each frame. This is the model for all SDL.NET development. You can set your desired frame rate and my reducing the loop to 5 and changing the Targetfps to 150 we got it running at 164 frames per second. TargetFps is a ballpark figure; it puts in delays to get you near that figure but the Events.Fps is what is delivered. Surfaces Like the original non Windowed version of SDL, the SDL.NET uses surfaces for rendering to the screen. A surface can be constructed from a graphics file. There are a large number of properties and methods that make it possible to read or write pixels as well as draw the graphics primitives, blit other surfaces, even dump a surface to a disk file for taking screenshots. SDLNET provides just about everything to let you create games. Well be looking at the various features over the next few tutorials then move onto creating games with it.

Movie Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Movie Review - Essay Example Geiger’s death is followed by a trail of other people’s deaths in connection with Carmen’s scandalous pictures. Taylor, the general’s chauffeur is found dead. Marlowe figures out that Taylor was in love with Carmen. He also thinks that Taylor might be responsible for Geiger’s death due to the naughty pictures. However, the blackmail trail continues where Marlowe thinks of a possible solution without success. Initially, the general thought that his Irish friend, Reagan had solved the problem. Reagan had escaped with another man’s wife. The events in the film unfold where Marlowe and Vivian Sternwood fall in love. Towards the end, Marlowe realizes that Reagan had been killed. Marlowe knows about it when Carmen points a gun at him and attempts to kill him. Carmen had killed Reagan from the beginning of the film. Marlowe gets the wind of it and together with Vivian decides not to tell their father because it could break his heart. Marlowe allows Vivian to go as long as she helps Carmen alleviate her insanity. The thoughts of death as ‘the big sleep’ revolve around the mind of Marlowe towards the end of the film. Just like the film â€Å"The Big Sleep†, â€Å"The Long Goodbye† justifies that killing can cause people to go forever. â€Å"The Long Goodbye† implies one cannot play around with death as it makes people disappear from the face of the earth forever. In this film, Terry Lennox runs to Marlowe’s home to seek. Lennox tells Marlowe to drive him to Mexico but does not realize that Lennox is wanted for the murder of his wife. Marlowe gets arrested as an accomplice of the murderer and released after three days. Marlowe wins his freedom after Lennox commits suicide in a hotel. Sometimes later, Marlowe is hired by Eileen Wade to find her missing husband. The missing husband had disappeared several times but ended up in rehab institutions due to his drinking problem. However, Eileen has not been able to find

Chronic fatigue syndrome, dietary and lifestyle changes for Essay

Chronic fatigue syndrome, dietary and lifestyle changes for improvement of health - Essay Example The implication is that all the bodily functions go slow: feeling fatigued. The fatigue discussed here is not the kind that comes from heavy exertion, a busy day or week, or even a stressful event, such as a death of a loved one. Bed rest does not cure the fatigue, and daily functions, along with normal cognitive skill levels, are greatly reduced, such as producing a mental fog. Symptoms can last at least six months and beyond, through a lifetime. This seriously affects the patient’s lifestyle, creating problems at work, within family relationships, any educational and outside social activities (CDC, 2014a; WHRC, 2011). In this paper, we review the diagnosis of a patient who has been determined to have CFS, and what some of the solutions can be, based on the symptoms presented. Notably, women (522) are twice as often to get CFS as men (291) do, within a group of 100,000 people (Logan & Wong, 2001). The patient is a 42-year old male, diagnosed with CFS, a body mass index (BMI) of 32, is obese, and is experiencing fibromyalgia, rheumatism, depression and anxiety, a poor sleep pattern of very little at night, with an 18-hour day. Additionally, there is heretic bowel function with nausea, diarrhoea, alternating with constipation, belching, heartburn and indigestion, along with cravings, all of which suggests potential irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Aside from the lack of energy, the patient presents symptoms of diabetes II. The patient will be checked first for an official diagnosis of diabetes I or II, and will also be tested for muscular oxidative stress (mitochondria), and weakness of satellite cells, along with adrenal fatigue, will also be tested and measured. The patient is currently taking medication for depression, migraine and fibromyalgia. There are two widely-held hypotheses regarding the nature of CFS and associated illnesses commonly found with the overall diagnosis of CFS. The first is that fatigue is caused by psychological

Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain Essay -- Charles Frazier Cold Mountain

Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain Overcast by the gloom of the Civil War, Charles Frazier’s "Cold Mountain" details the growth of his characters as they cope with uncertain times. The two protagonists, Ada and Inman, traverse parallel paths toward redemption. While Ada adapts to an unfamiliar mountainous existence, Inman braves the risk of desertion to return to her. Both characters, however, seek love, spirituality, and an understanding of their disrupted world, and through their kindred courses, Frazier conveys the theme of questioning life. As the story opens, both Inman and Ada survey their unfamiliar situations. Inman nurses a near-fatal wound in a makeshift hospital where he sits â€Å"brooding and pining for his lost self† (23). Ada also grapples with a lost self, the self of city social status she abandoned to accompany her father on a mission. Intellectual and â€Å"educated beyond the point considered wise for females† (30), Ada lacks survival skills. The death of her father, Monroe, lays bare the extent of her incompetence. Though frustrated, Ada refuses to return to Charleston, where â€Å"she could expect little sympathy and much withering commentary† (64), and determines to overcome the challenges presented by her run-down farm. Similarly, as Inman’s wound heals, he cannot resign himself to continue fighting. He steps out the hospital window and into his future. Although under the perpetual threat of the Home Guard, he resolves to waste no more time under the direction of o thers and begins trudging home to Cold Mountain. In both circumstances, the characters embark upon journeys prompted by setbacks of the past. While the two sojourners embark upon independence, they also appraise their feelings towards one an... ...ace, an intricate and â€Å"luminous quiver of life† (138). In this thought process, Frazier exposes Ada’s maturity—whereas previously she relied on books as her primary source of knowledge, Ada now trusts her intuition and casts her own conclusions. The maturity and growth of both Ada and Inman stems from the hardships inflicted by the war. Throughout the novel, Frazier utilizes the introspection of these characters to present the enduring riddle of life. Attempts to decipher its meaning litter history. Various religions and myths resulted, but whom the world will favor over another cannot be predicted. Ultimately, Frazier illustrates that while faith and legends often furnish guidance, each person must interpret the world for himself. In the end, â€Å"all you can choose to do is go on or not. But if you go on, it’s knowing you carry your scars with you† (421).

Early Childhood Special Education Roots Essay

Early childhood special education that is practiced today has a varied and sometimes hard won history. Its roots are entangled in cultural, economic, and idealistic influences; each facet tinged by the colored lens of the times and adding a little glint to modern day practices. The conglomeration of historical theories and practices, political actions and enacted laws has paved the way to modern early childhood special education practices and programming. Just like a child learns and builds on his knowledge and understanding of his environment, so too does the practice of early childhood special education. In its infancy ECSE was not labeled as such, and in fact was simply teaching. Throughout history, many educators have had differing perspectives and opinions on how best to educate children. Many of those ideas and practices have popularly endured, and some have become very small portions of our current systems, or faded into obscurity altogether. One of the earliest models on early childhood education was the Montessori model. The Montessori methods and tools are prevalent in classrooms today, from individualized and sensory programming to didactic learning materials. Other early educators realized that even very young children benefit from instruction. Jean Piaget identified stages of development from birth to adolescence that still assist educators in identifying appropriate modes of teaching. Others like Robert Owen, John Locke and Lev Semenovich Vygotsky theorized that a child’s environment had a profound influence on his/her development and education, giving a foundation for current early intervention strategies in impoverished, urban areas. Vygotsky also gifted to forward generations the theories of the Zone of Proximal Development, scaffolding and ideas about special needs students working in least restrictive environments. All the way from these LRE’s, are the ideas of institutions. The residential school model however is still useful in some ways today. Samuel Gridley Howe and Dorothea Dix implemented supportive, residential schools for children with disabilities, but when the First World War had its grips on the country, the schools deteriorated into holding cells that pervaded until throughout the depression era. Politics and societal situations have always been instigators of change for education. Post World War II, many war veterans returned home with disabilities changing the attitudes and urgency in servicing individuals with special needs, spurring a profusion of financial and program support. Moving into the mid-20th Century, civil rights opened a consciousness about not only race, but also a socioeconomic dichotomy. Project Head Start was federally funded compensatory program, with a focus on aiding the impoverished; it would later evolve into a more comprehensive program for seeking and aiding special needs children and families. Many other programs and studies aimed at supporting young children with disabilities and their families began to appear, including Early Head Start, the Carolina Abecedarian Project and the Perry Preschool Project, among others. These programs and research studies aimed at aiding and reinforcing the importance of early intervention for at risk children. Supporting and preemptively averting the struggles brought on by environmental disadvantages made the transition to special education support logical. With the social climate changing and an awareness of human rights, legislation regarding special needs populations was ripe. Perhaps the greatest catalyst to change was the enactment of PL 94-142 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1975. The foundations of this public law and the following amendments are the backbone of all special education as we know it today. This law has 6 main areas of concern. First, the right to a free and appropriate public education is bestowed. Throughout the coming decades, interpretation of FAPE comes up in many court cases, each ruling setting precedence for the future. Second, children with disabilities are given the right to learn in the least restrictive environment (LRE) a practice from centuries prior, but with legal backing, changed the model of public schools in this country. An Individualized Education Plan was written into the body of the IDEA, giving specific protocol for supporting the learning of each individual student. This item is the true workhorse of special education classrooms, bringing the student’s goals, objectives and educational plan, the educators, parents and the other support staff together in one document. The fourth premise of the IDEA is the guarantee to guardians of procedural due process, retaining the guardian’s rights regarding notices, evaluations, placements and other educational plans. Unbiased and multiple assessment criteria is the 5th area addressed in the IDEA. Lastly, part of the legislation includes the parents of special needs students, by affording them access to related services that would benefit the student. Related services was and is an area for interpretation, and again, many court cases have been tried and decided creating standards for what qualifies as a related service. Aside from these six main points, the IDEA has outlined much more. IDEA has given us a universal structure for classifying disabilities, and in a 1991 amendment, ruled that an umbrella classification for preschool aged children was acceptable and malleable state to state. This meant that children would not have to be prematurely labeled or stigmatized, when proper assessment was yet to be exacted. This law gave rise to the term â€Å"developmentally delayed†. A preschooler and his/her family could receive services under the classification of developmentally delayed. IDEA has also given individual states the leeway to define and exact methods of determining what developmentally delayed means. While culturally and regionally more specific, this leaves a large range of differences in qualifications across the country. Since its inception, individuals with special needs have reaped many benefits from the laws and boundaries set by the IDEA, but it wasn’t until October 1986 that very young special needs children and their families could be guaranteed services. While grants and incentives for states to serve the preschool population were available, participation in those programs were completely voluntary. The Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments, or PL 99-457, passed in October 1986, mandated that all special needs preschoolers between the ages of three and five be provided with a FAPE . This law was enacted with the purpose of enabling early intervention and a cost effective preventative strategy to serving special populations. Part C of this law also makes services for infants, birth to age two voluntary. Adding preschoolers to the population of compulsory service made the use of IFSP or Individualized Family Service Plans prevalent. These plans are similar to IEP’s except that they comprehensively include the family and give leeway to assigning the role of the service provider, enabling professionals who are most capable of assisting each family to act. Unlike and IEP, the IFSP must be reviewed at least every 6 months, ensuring relevancy with a quickly growing and changing child. Related services including counseling and classes are now extended to family members. By sharing the process and improvement with the preschoolers’ guardians, we are able to see much greater progress with cooperative engagement. Along with the IFSP, PL 99-457 saw the requirement of an Individualized Transition Plan, aiding young adults in making the change into adulthood. Fast forward to 1997, and PL 105-17 made some important amendments to the IDEA. Related services are expanded, developmentally delayed category can be applied up until age nine, parameters and process around discipline is set. Functional Behavior Assessments or Behavior Intervention Plans must be enacted when providing discipline to special education children. Also, assessments for qualifying for special education are expanded, and Child Find reaches into private schools to deliver services to more children. Along with these changes also came a change in funding based on census data versus enrollment data. The percentages served translated to a fixed amount of funding, averting a glut of over qualifying students. Lack of English Language proficiency is excluded as an area of qualification for services. This is important with the rising populations of English language learners. With the number of children from non-english speaking families on the rise, achievement gaps were widening. The No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 was drawn to support impoverished, special needs and English language learners. This act is directly responsible for the Amendments to IDEA that came in 2004. One of the most important changes made was that of aligning the standards of highly qualified special education teachers to the standards of the No Child Left Behind Act. Inclusion of ECE teachers is yet to be enacted, however. The field and study of Early Childhood Special Education is a deeply diverse and ever evolving practice. Past experience has dictated that social climates, politics, events and laws all contribute to the programming of ECSE. The gains have been great, with dramatic increases in the numbers of children and families found and served, but as a nation, we certainly have some more distance to travel. With current legislation and social issues ranging from secure schools to better serving working families, subsidized healthcare, immigration policies or revamping teacher evaluations, the future of Early Childhood Education is unwritten and open to influence.