Army looks to replace their main weapon

Over the years, the U.S. Army has used a variety of guns as their troops' main weapon. Since 1991 the U.S. Army has been using the M4 carbine for almost all of their ground troops, and it has been very reliable. Lately, there have been many difficulties reported by M4 users and the military is thinking of moving forward with another firearm to take the place of the aging M4. Many of its users are annoyed with the frequent jamming (when the bullet gets stuck in the chamber causing the gun not to fire) that occurs with the M4 in sandy and windy conditions. Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are the ones suffering most from this problem as they are in these sort of conditions most of the time. According to a recent survey of soldiers, about 92% of them claim that they are content with the M4, but today's market has much more to offer in terms of higher-caliber, higher-accuracy, lower-maintenance weaponry to better suit soldiers in combat. The M4 has had problems with accuracy at long range and it lacks the power to put down a target from distance because of its small 5.52mm ammo. If they could put down targets at longer range, they wouldn't have to put themselves in more danger by getting closer to the enemy. A few examples of those guns are the FN-SCAR or (Special Forces Combat Rifle), and the Heckler & Koch HK416. The SCAR offers higher caliber 7.62mm ammo and more accuracy while the HK416 performs in all conditions, even underwater! Whatever the Army chooses to replace the M4, I think a change is definitely needed for it. http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Analysis_Army_seeks_to_replace_M4_and_M16_999.html

Year-round Education

There is an idea that kids should be in school all during the year without any summer break, and I believe the idea is both a good and bad thing. The idea is that students will retain more of what they learn and that it will solve most of the problems that the education system presently has. Those who are opposed to the proposal argue that students will forget material anyway regardless of their time off on breaks. The short breaks the students will receive will restrict their ability to seek summer employment as well as the attendance at various summer camps. This will in turn affect businessess that sometimes rely on students coming to work for them because of summer break. Jobs are becoming a precious commodity these days and I think it would be a much better idea to keep the system how it is so that those jobs can be spared. Although there are some problems with this education proposal, there are some benefits that would be brought about by it. The probability that students' retention rate might increase and that the students will not get bored of the long summer break bring some upside to education. The studies on the implementation of the new year-round system are inconclusive and there is no glaring upside or downside to qualify it as a definite plan to move forward with. With all that being said, I am undecided whether the idea of year-round school would be a good idea or not, but I think it is something that should be looked over and following as it is diliberated on.