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Feb / 14 / 1999
約1ヶ月ぶりのフォヴニ更新です。ずっとさぼっていました。と、いうのもホームページ自体更新することが少なかったんですけどね。そういう今日はバレンタイン・デーですネ♪ Feb / 22 / 1999 今週の水曜日に、US History and Governmentというクラスで、ディベートのプロジェクトがあります。うちのグループは、アメリカの政治における"Seniority System"というシステムを賛成するサイドで、現在その資料集めや、出だしの発言などをまとめています。 "Seniority System"とは、アメリカ政府内の委員長が、その委員での経験が豊富なほど、高い役職につけるという、もう２００年も前から存在するシステムです。この"Seniority System"は実は法律にはなく、"Implied Power"、すなわち見えない力（法律）です。うちのディベートチームは、悪魔でも経験者が強いということを言わなければいけません。一方、相手チームの言い分としては、経験ではなく、知識や専門がある若者の方が強く、もっと若者の要望を多く受け入れられることができるということです。下にあるのは、僕が書いたプロポーザル、つまりうちのチームの最初の出だしの文章（４分間）です。 Proposal We support the seniority system!!! Since 1800s', the positions of authority in the Congress Committee Chairman were given to the members who had served in the institution the longest. This implied power given to the most veteran Committee Chairman is called the seniority system. This system still exists in the Congress today, and it has always been an informal custom or tradition voluntarily observed by the members. Seniority is followed in positioning members on committees, that new members are ranked at the bottom of their committees. If members, even senior members, transfer from one committee to another, they are ranked at the bottom in seniority of their new committees. Seniority on a committee is determined by when a member joined that committee, not when he or she became a member of congress. However, seniority system is a less important factor now than it was in earlier decades in selecting members for leadership positions. BUT!! Seniority system is still the most important factor to choose the Committee Chairman, and it is also the basic concept of the society we live in. This could be explained by many facts. First, it often takes many years for members to master the difficult subjects before their committees. The most experienced members often have more of the political skills needed to provide strong leadership for a committee. The practice of automatically awarding posts according to seniority prevents periodic internal battles for power. Also, the senior members have access to the most desirable office space and they have many other privileges. Several factors led to the development of the seniority system. One was the trend toward longer congressional careers that became evident in the early twentieth century. In earlier times, when most members served for only a few terms, a seniority meant little. But the arrival on Capitol Hill of members who viewed Congress as a life time job tended to emphasize the importance of seniority. The seniority system also developed as a result of conflicts between leaders and the congressional rank and file. In the late nineteenth century, all powerful leaders controlled committee assignments and chairmanships. The revolt against that system led to the use of seniority to fill key posts. Thus, seniority system is an invisible power which is followed by tradition. The point is, why do we need to change this seniority rule? This tradition is now followed in the Congress for more than 200 years. This states that the seniority rule is one of the fixed invisible law in the political system. Everything has been passed perfectly with the seniority system, and people mustn't be changing this perfect model of law. The seniority system is exactly same as what we follow in the society today, such as jobs, teams, and so on. This is why we support the seniority system!!! Feb / 26 / 1999 今日からスキー旅行です。キリントンというところへ行ってきます♪スキーは・・・五年ぐらいやってるのかな？建前は上級者です。・・・・と、いうわけで、またネ。 |