Alfonso Lopez, Jr., a 12th-grade student at Edison High School in San Antonio, Texas, went to school carrying a concealed .38-caliber handgun and five bullets. School officials, acting on an anonymous tip, confronted Lopez. Lopez admitted that he had the gun. He was arrested and charged with violation of federal law, the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990. Lopez moved to dismiss his indictment on the grounds that the provision of the Gun-Free School Zones Act with which he was charged was unconstitutional in that it was beyond the power of Congress to legislate controls over public schools. The district court found the statute to be a constitutional exercise of congressional authority. Lopez was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison. He appealed and challenged his conviction on the basis of the commerce clause. The Court of Appeals agreed with Lopez, found the Gun-Free School Zones Act an unconstitutional exercise of congressional authority, and reversed the conviction. The U. S. Attorney appealed. Who should win at the U. S. Supreme Court and why?

What are the functions of wal-mart? are they the same or different from the functions of wal-mart in our individual lives? how do the two type of functions connect? does wal-mart have both manifest and latent functions? what are they? are there any dysfunctions of wal-mart for society? if so, what are they? how might these dysfunctions serve as incentives or catalysts for social change? conflict questions: does wal-mart affect every group in society in the same way? if not, what are the differences? how does wal-mart perpetuate the inequalities (of gender, race, class, religion, age, sexual orientation, etc.) in our society? how does wal-mart contribute to conflict between unequal groups in our society? how might wal-mart contribute to social change or the amelioration of inequalities in society? interactionist questions: what kind of symbolic world are you likely to encounter inside a wal-mart store, and how does that affect the shopper’s experience? how does wal-mart influence our interpersonal interactions? how do interpersonal interactions shape the wal-mart experience for shoppers? for workers? how does wal-mart contribute to our socially constructed reality?