Brief 2 Socio-Political Blog: April 2013

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Links for Brief 2 Voting

Links

http://www.elections.org.nz/events/meo-2013

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_voting_in_New_Zealand

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_age

http://www.politics.org.nz/webapps/cid/23106/44861/vote/vote-debate.html?questid=429

http://www.elections.org.nz/right-vote/age-reason

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10447072

http://younglabour.org.nz/we-have-an-opportunity

http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/10/should_the_voting_age_be_16.html

Tuesday, 9 April 2013

Voting

Should The Voting Age Be Lowered To 16?

There has been a lot of debate upon the matter of lowering the voting age to 16. Some people have said no to it and some have said yes. Voting is a very serious issue and should be dealt with seriousness.

I personally think no, because some 16 year olds are not matured yet. Their viewpoints will be important but it will be overpowered by the parties who do come in power if it is different. 16 year olds won’t have a say. So it’s not useful.

Yes, a 16 year old teenager might have an idea of how the government works but this still doesn’t have anything to do him/her. They tend not to care because politics is just a subject to them rather than an important process. Voting is an important part of society and giving the decision to youngsters might be a good one but once they mature to an age of 18 where they do understand a bit more of the process will be better I assume. At 18, is when you start paying taxes and you can have ownership of about anything. So it’s better to keep the voting age to 18. That's what I think but other's think otherwise.

People who are with the idea of the voting age being lowered to 16 argue that 16-17 year olds are now more responsible and mature compared to previous years. They say that there is no significant difference between an 18 year old and a 16 year old. Even though 16 to 17 year olds may be responsible and mature, 18 year old voters are mostly out of school and this helps them to possibly make careful decisions because at this stage some of the 18 year olds know that what they decide will be what they will stick with. There is little support for them like when they were under their parents. 18 year olds tend to be more independent and parents allow that so they learn from their mistakes and experiences.

Supporters of lowering the voting age to 16 say that voter turnouts will increase if the 16-17 year olds were allowed to vote.

According to Dr. Therese Arseneau a lecturer lecturing in the School of Social and Political Science, the number of non-voting teenagers are quite low. She goes on to say that in 1935 around 92% of New Zealanders turned up to vote. By the year 1972 it went to 80% and 2002 to 72%. And a large amount of these young voters were young people.

So judging by the statistics, if young people from the age of 18 to 24 don’t bother voting, why would we think that 16 to 17 year olds will vote? How can we be sure that voting numbers will suddenly boost up because the voting age is lowered to 16? It’s absurd.

1 in 4 young people can lose their rights to have their say in the general elections. And nearly 180,000 young people from the age of 18-26 have not signed up to vote.

“Whatever they choose to vote they’re making the decision for New Zealand and for themselves, rather than leaving it to other people to vote for them.” Says Murray Wicks Electoral Enrolment CentreNational Manager

Murray Wicks, Electoral Enrolment Centre National Manager (27^th September 2011), Voting important for youth-EEC
http://www.3news.co.nz/Voting-important-for-youth---EEC/tabid/419/articleID/227419/Default.aspx

Supporters who believe that voting age should be lowered say that voting should start at an earlier stage while 16 year olds have a stable living conditions for example living with their parents might grow some good voting habits and raise the possibility that young voters will be a regular voter as adults. However according to the 1935 elections, voter turnouts generally was 92%, but as the year progressed it went lower to about 72%. If adults cannot turn up to vote because they can’t be bothered then how does this give us assurance that young people will improve their habit if they live in a stable condition? This will actually discourage youngsters from voting. They will react to their parents voting habits and political preferences.

“Declining youth voting is the trend in New Zealand and internationally as well. Figure 1 (below) shows that in New Zealand elections since 1987, 25 – 40% of eligible voters under the age of 25 did not vote. It also shows the sizeable gap between voters under and over the age of 25: voters over the age of 25 are much more likely to vote.”

Dr. Therese Arseneau lecturer in New Zealand Politics and a Senior Fellow in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Canterbury (March 2012), Voting: an important habit.
http://thepulse.org.nz/Me/My-Rights/Political/Voting-Habit/

Some supporters who are for lowering the voting age say that if you’re allowed to die for your county at the age of 17 then 16 year olds should get the right to vote. I think not because you cannot join the army without the consent of your parents. So this goes to say that your parents are the one who make that decision for you if you can join the army or not but you don’t go on to active service until you are 18. So technically you don’t die for your country until you reach 18.

Monday, 8 April 2013

Referencing for brief two

Energy Conservation
Referencing

1. http://www.physics.otago.ac.nz/eman/hew/ehome/energyuse.html
2.http://www.branz.co.nz/cms_display.phpsn=18&st=1&pg=9636&a=1&cat_name=HEEP&cat_id=30&rp=1#shop_top
3. http://www.finda.co.nz/business/ac/auckland/conservation/?gclid=COvH4IjLvLYCFcpbpQodOgsA_w
4. http://www.eeca.govt.nz/sites/all/files/efficient_appliance_results_hero_banner_0.jpg?1339446524
5. http://www.eeca.govt.nz/
6. http://www.eeca.govt.nz/efficient-and-renewable-energy/energy-efficiency-and-conservation
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_New_Zealand
8. http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/assets/PDF/What-we-do/Our-projects/Facts-about-wind-energy-2011.pdf
9. http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/environment/energy-environment/energy-conservation/
10. http://newzealand.govt.nz/browse/environment-energy-conservation/
11. http://www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/
12. http://www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/water/
13. http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/energy/energy-conservation-strategy-sep01.html
14. http://www.energywise.govt.nz/your-home/generating-your-own-energy
15. http://www.branz.co.nz/HEEP-energy-graphs/graphs.aspx

The Importance of Conservation

Energy Conservation

Should we start to think about how we can reduce the amount of Energy we consume?

According to Business Dictionary Energy Conversation is a "Reduction in the amount of energy consumed in a process or system, or by an organisation or society, through economy, elimination of waste, and rational use.

What is energy conservation?

Everyone talks about conserving the energy but what do we mean when we say we have to conserve our energy. It means as the definition describes it, the reduction of the amount of energy a system or process uses. Mainly natural resources that we know are non-renewable. Once gone there is no way we can replace it or even if we can replace it, it will take a long time.

Why is energy conservation important?

Each day we rely on energy to make our lives more comfortable and easier. Our lives are more enjoyable and productive because of energy. For example when the temperature goes low outside, we immediately on our heaters to warm the house. This is using energy for our benefit. But it’s time we realize that we are starting to take the power of energy for granted. We are starting to use it too much that now it’s just like wasting it. Most of us forget that while energy is there in abundance, it is still limited. And if we want to keep our way of life the way it is now, we should stop to think that what we do might just be getting us closer to having no energy, making life harder for us.

Starting to conserve our energy will help us have more energy in the future. Energy conservation is also important because it affects the climate. More use of energy equals more harmful damage to our environment which will basically kill us all including the fauna and flora of our planet earth. So use energy wisely.

Ways to conserve energy

Energy conversation is important so that’s why we should learn about the potential ways that we can help us save our planet and also maintain our lifestyle in the future. It depends on us basically on the types of decisions we make that will help our younger generations in the future. Energy won’t conserve by itself. It can if we don’t use it but we need it so there are some ways where we can help it to save. For example using energy efficient light bulbs instead of tube lights. Energy efficient light bulbs require less energy to perform the same function as a tube light does.

Turning off all electronic devices when they are not is use. Even energy efficient light bulbs. If they are not used when not needed it will save more energy. Also fixing leakages can help greatly because we might think that a little leak is alright but the USGS Water Science School has devised a calculator that can show how much waste leakages can give.

We tend to turn on the air conditioner to accommodate our skin temperature but we should only use it when we really need it. Other things like HVAC and WaterHeating, Kitchen and Laundry Appliances, Lighting and Home Electronics also use up a lot of electricity which we need to consume.

Recent reports from the EECA Energy Efficiency and Conservations Authority has told us that New Zealanders are improving their energy efficiency habits

Accepting a better lifestyle of energy saving will help us live an even better life in the future.

There are various ways where we can help reduce our carbon footprint in New Zealand. New Zealand has devised a plan more like an energy strategy that shows us about what is happening in New Zealand with our energy from the year 2011 to 2021. This gives us assurance that something good is happening for our country.

“The Household Energy End-Use Project (HEEP) was a long-term study with the objective to measure and model the way energy is used in New Zealand households.

Open the HEEP Energy and Temperature Data tool to explore data collected in the Household Energy End-use Project (HEEP) from 1999-2005.

The project was funded continuously by the Building Research Levy and at various times in various ratios by FRST, EECA and others and was the most thorough investigation of the way that energy is used in New Zealand homes since the 1970s.”

http://www.branz.co.nz/cms_display.php?sn=18&st=1&pg=9636&a=1&cat_name=HEEP&cat_id=30&rp=1#shop_top