The Journal of Critical Thinking is a student run, faculty supported academic journal providing a forum for reasoned argument from students, staff or alumni alike. The purpose behind the encouragement of such critical thinking is to foster the development of intellect in the membership of the student body which the college exists to serve. One issue will be released annually, in both printed and web based formats, and will showcase the best submissions from amongst the collage populous.
The Journal of Critical Thinking is a club and is open to any full or part-time activity fee-paying undergraduate to work as part of the staff. Submissions are accepted from any member of the college community.
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Robert Geib
There is little doubt that Sir Isaac Newton's discovery of the Three Laws of Motion and Law of Universal Gravitation marked the climax of a revolutionary paradigm shift from ancient methodology to the modern scientific method. However, Newton did not work alone in a vacuum. He has, in fact, been attributed with the remark that if he was able to see "further" than others, it was only because he "stood on the shoulders of giants." These giants were the philosophers, astronomers, and mathematicians whose ideas were synthesized and expanded upon to culminate in Newton's own theories and Laws. An argument could then be made that without the aid of Francis Bacon's inductive methodology, Galileo Galilei's principle of inertia, Johannes Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion, and Rene Descartes' analytic geometry, Newton would not have made such progressive discoveries in the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century.
Evgenija Garbolevsky
Man versus woman is an age-old concept. Though only physical form separates the two, centuries of societal standards and ideals have confined woman to an existance riddled with oppression and burdens. This piece argues the fundamental equality in spirit between the two. The author presents man as "self" and woman as "other" to help the reader understand how to overcome these views.
Jeane Ferro
Mutations to three polyphenol oxidase (PPO) genes and the ORE9 gene were investigated in Desert Storm Iceberg and Romaine lettuce due to their suggested improvement to shelf life. Polyphenol oxidases cause browning in lettuce by oxidizing phenolic compounds, which form melanin through non-enzymatic reactions. Inhibition of PPO may lengthen shelf life by preventing melanin formation. ORE9 encodes a protein thought to label other proteins for degradation, some being inhibitors of leaf senescence. PPO, peroxidase (POD), and total phenolics (TP) assays were performed weekly for three weeks on six different lettuce mutants, each homozygous for a single base substitution mutation. The mutants showed significantly less leaf PPO activity during week one, but by week three higher activity occurred. When averaged, none of the mutations resulted in a significant difference in PPO activity, POD activity, or TP, which suggests that the enzymatic effects of these mutations may not alter shelf life.
Ashley C. Arpano
John Adams wrote the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780. The people of Massachusetts, after a failed attempt at a constitution in 1778, demanded a declaration of rights be included in the constitution to preserve their unalienable rights. Adams wholeheartedly agreed and used English constitutional history, his personal experiences, and different philosophers to create thirty rights guaranteed to the people of the commonwealth. Specifically, his influences came from the Magna Carta, the Glorious Revolution and the English Bill of Rights 1689, the American Revolution, his own beliefs, and the works of the Abbé de Mably, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Baron de Montesquieu, and John Locke. The people approved Adamss new constitution, although with some debate, and it has remained the law in Massachusetts for over two hundred years.
Jamie Donovan Urrutia
Globalization is a multifaceted force at work in the world today that is having diffuse repercussions for societies across the planet. In addition to the reckless harvesting of natural resources from the land itself, the dark side of this process is leading to the exploitation of whole groups and classes of peoples. Through acts of biopiracy, the environmental knowledge and images of indigenous communities are being used to make a profit with minimal compensation involved. Even more alarming, globalization has brought with it the abhorrent practice of organ trafficking, which prays on the already voiceless masses of the poor and powerless. Such realities contradict the rosy picture promoted by supporters of the current incarnation of globalization.
Cory Welch
Edith Wharton (1862-1937) is highly regarded as one of the major figures of American literature. Several of her works, among them The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, The Custom of the Country, and The Age of Innocence, rank among the finest American novels ever written. The publication of the hugely popular The House of Mirth, in 1905, launched a successful literary career for Wharton in which she ultimately published over forty books of essays, travelogues, short story collections, and, of course, novels. In 1920, Wharton was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Age of Innocence.
Jason D. Paolillo
This article investigates the relationship between soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the disruption in their personal relationships after returning home from combat as well as the current issue of PTSD in the military. Findings indicate that soldiers who experience symptoms of PTSD are more likely to have poorer personal relationships and marital problems. Additionally it seems that these soldiers are more likely to be abusive, depressed, anxious, and engage in the use of drugs and alcohol.
Kali Clouette
This article discusses how the traditional view of intelligence has been developed throughout history and alternative views of intelligence. The traditional definition of intelligence is based on reading, writing, and mathematic ability. IQ and standardized tests in schools label individuals as intelligent or not. Multiple Intelligence Theory argues that there are many different kinds of intelligence and that all these areas should be recognized. Although educators have accepted this concept little has been done to implement it in the curriculum.
Mellissa Worster
Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway has long been viewed as a social commentary including both classism and sexism. While Woolfs plot does succeed in dissecting the relevancy of the class system, the author falls short of creating an efficient example of matriarchal dominance over her main character Clarissa Dalloway. Mrs. Dalloway has the privilege of conducting her life as she pleases without interference from her husband Richard Dalloway. Clarissas unsupervised lifestyle detracts from what could have otherwise been an effective social criticism of the matriarchal structure.