Summary and Response on Growing Up in America

Amanda Stivala Composition 1030-72 Summary and Response 9/24/12 Growing up in America one doesn’t really question our customs or the daily lives of the people here. Everyone kind of has a precedent for our everyday live and no one really tries to break the mold on that. Poranee Natadecha- Sonsel argues that Americans are unlike many other countries because they have a certain individualism about everything they do in their culture.In her article, â€Å"The Young, the Rich, and the Famous: Individualism as American Cultural Value†, the author reiterates over and over again that the way Americans value their individualism really impresses her. She names a few examples of American individualism such as conversational topics, privacy, and family life. Ms. Sponsel further evaluates each subtopic thus shedding more light on her argument. One of the author’s many arguments about American individualism is how they converse with other people. Associated essay: †On Compassion†She notes that when asked the time old question of, â€Å"How are you? † , Americans most of the time have one set response only and don’t reveal much information about how they really are that day. Ms. Sponsel seems taken back by how Americans don’t really appear to care about how the other person is feeling and just blurt out the automated response of, â€Å"I’m good, how are you? ’. She often references the customs of her culture back in Thailand and how very different it is from American culture.She notes how open they are with everyone they talk to and pretty much tell their whole life story to everyone they meet. America’s individualism set’s them apart from many other countries, not just Thailand and every country has their own way of doing things. Ms. Sponsel is a well educated anthropologist, so it is her job to study a culture and watch how it operates which is why America’ s such individual culture really shocks her. America has a culture unlike any other where privacy is a main component. She emphasizes that even from a young age privacy is introduced into our lives.She points out that unlike other more traditional countries, America is one of the few countries where an infant is given their own room separate from their parents and are progressively taught to become independent emotionally and economically from their families. She once again references Thailand and their family cultures by saying that in Thai families all of the members of the family stick together and take care of each other and the children of the family really aren’t given independency until they get married and move out.Ms. Sponsel tries to show the extreme differences between the two cultures to emphasize America’s individualism. In response to Ms. Sponsel’s article about American individualism, I do agree for the most part with that she has to prove when sh e says that America is very different from the other cultures throughout the world especially the Thai culture she constantly compared America to. What she fails to recognize however, is that America is a cultural melting pot.Most Asian countries are homogenous and really haven’t become integrated, so sure it’s easy to have one steady flow of the same culture there. However, in America we have so many different cultures so it’s really difficult to conform to one specific race’s cultural norms. Some of her sub arguments in relation to her main point are a little far fetched to me though.. One of Ms. Sponsel’s big issue is that Americans are very private especially in the home and with their own families. I don’t understand why she is stunned that American children are taught to become independent at such a young age.The younger you learn that, the better equipped you will be for the real world once you become an adult and then you won’ t have to rely on your parents to help you with everything. The Thai culture that Ms. Sponsel always refers back to seems to not want their children to be independent at all, let alone leave the house and move out when they married adults. Americans have such a busy and fast paced life, being sheltered from that type of individualism would affect their lives in very negative ways.One really prime example of how her culture can show evidence of being overprotective of their children unlike Americans can be is, when Ms. Sponsel said that when she was working at an East-West summer camp one of the supervisors brought their 10 month old child and when the baby tried to walk it fell right down. Naturally the baby started crying, but it wasn’t the baby’s parents that went to go help the baby, it was all the Asian students. The parents knew that the baby would be fine so they left it alone and eventually he got up and started walking again.It’s a perfect example of how American’s individualistic culture norms are just totally opposite of other cultures, we know that one day that baby is going to have to get up and get over it so why not start at a young age so they get used to it instead of coddling them like the Asian culture or any other culture different than our would have done. Overall, I do see some very valid points provided by Ms. Sponsel about Americans and their odd sense of individualism, but also on the contrary she does have some faults where she overlooks some key aspects in her argument.

Lewis and Rostow

Outline the theories of Lewis and Rostow and discuss their relevance in analysing the problems of development in LDC’s In the 1950’s, the two most prominent economists of the Western school were Arthur Lewis and Walt W. Rostow. Their theories had a significant impact on the policies of Western governments regarding development in LDC’s. Arthur Lewis claimed he was a classical economist because he disagreed with the neo-classical school. He argued that the neo-classical assumption of full employment is incorrect in the long-run, and that they therefore had no long-term perspective on development.However, Lewis has been categorised by other economists such as Hollis B. Chenery, as a Structuralist. This is because his famous ‘two-sector model’ focuses in the mechanisms through which LDC’s can change their economic infrastructure from an agricultural to a more modern industrial one. 1 The emphasise on internal modes of production and reform of dom estic infrastructure is a distinguishing feature of the Structuralists. In the mid 1950’s Lewis, in his essay ‘Economic Development with unlimited supply of Labour’ put forward his theory of underdevelopment.He begins with the assumption that the economy of the LDC’s could be split into two sectors; the traditional sector, which is agrarian, and characterised by subsistence wages and a surplus of labour. Lewis referred to this as ‘disguised unemployment’. Because of the large labour force in the traditional sector, much of it unused, this results in zero marginal labour productivity. Wages are therefore kept at subsistence levels, which causes wages in the modern sector to be set at subsistence level. The modern sector is characterised as a highly productive, urban, industrial sector.Lewis argues that surplus labour in the traditional sector can be gradually transferred to the modern sector with no loss to productivity because of the zero marg inal productivity of labour in agriculture. To encourage the flow of labour from the traditional to the modern sector Lewis allows for a 30% differential in income. Once the modern sector reaches full employment output is increased. The increase is determined by the rate of investment and capital accumulation (this is assuming that excess profits are re-invested).Thus the demand for labour will once again increase and with the 30% premium over traditional sector wages, supply curve of labour from the traditional to modern sector is perfectly elastic. The ‘two-sector’ model of development demonstrates the process of labour transfer and the growth of employment and production in the modern sector. The top right diagram represents production in the traditional sector. Total product (TPA) is the function of variable labour (LA), fixed capital (KA) and traditional technology (tA): TPA = f (LA, KA, tA).In the bottom right diagram we have the average and marginal product of la bour curves, which are derived from the total product curve in the diagram directly above it. There are two assumptions made; firstly, the marginal product of labour is zero (MpLA at LA), hence there is surplus labour. Secondly, wages are divided equally in the traditional sector so it is the average, and not the marginal product of labour determines the real wage. 2 ? The diagram on the top left represents production in the modern sector.Again, the total product (TPM) in this sector is a function of the variable input labour (LM), a given capital input (KM), and modern technology (tM): TPM = f (LM, KM, tM). The model demonstrates that at if labour is at L1, and capital stock at KM1, then output will be TPM1. Lewis allows for the re-investment of excess profits in the modern sector, which will increase capital stock from KM1 to KM2 and then to KM3. This results in an increase in the demand for labour (from L1, to L2, then L3), and an increase in output for the sector (from TPM1, to TPM2, and then TPM3).We can see also that the total product curves rise in accordance to the increase in capital stock and labour. The process by which capital stock and total product will increase is demonstrated in the bottom left diagram. WA is the subsistence wage level offered by the traditional sector. With a 30% premium over the traditional wage rate, wages for the modern sector is at WM. Lewis assumes that the supply of labour is perfectly elastic and will remain so throughout the development process, hence the horizontal labour supply curve.Employers will hire at this wage rate without the possibility of wages rising. Because capital stock (KM1) is fixed in the initial stage of growth, demand curve for labour is determined by labours declining marginal product3, the negatively sloped curve D1 (KM1). Employers in the modern sector are assumed to hire to where the marginal physical product of labour is equal to the real wage, so employment will be at L1. Area OWMFL1 represent s wages for this sector, and profits are shown by area WMD1F. Lewis assumes that these profits will be re-invested, so the capital stock now increases from KM1 to KM2.This will increase total product in the modern sector, inducing higher demand for labour. The new equilibrium is now at point G with L2 workers in the bottom left diagram. The same process will once again occur, increasing capital stock to KM3, total product of labour to TPM(KM3), and employment in the modern sector to L3. According to the Lewis hypothesis, this process will continue until all surplus labour is absorbed into the new modern sector. The declining labour to land ratio will increase the marginal productivity of labour above zero, causing the labour supply curves to become positively sloped.So wages and employment will continue to grow, and the domestic structure of the economy is changed, allowing for the growth of a modern, urban, industrial sector. The Lewis two-sector model draws on the experience of ec onomic development in the West, but he makes a number of key assumptions that are not plausible to developing countries in this day and age. Firstly, Lewis assumes that the increase in employment in the modern sector is proportional to its rate of profit. (This is on a further assumption that all profits are infact re-invested).In reality it is a common trend for Trans-National Companies (TNC’s) to employ increasing levels of capital and technology, while keeping labour at the same level. Lewis also assumes that there is surplus labour in agriculture and full employment in the modern sector. This is infact untrue, and the opposite is more common in most LDC’s. Also, research suggests that unemployment is not as high as Lewis estimated (around 50%) but is more accurately around the 5% mark. The assumption of an infinitely elastic labour has also been subject to criticism.Empirically labour will experience some rise in wages, so the labour supply curve will not remain fl at. Lewis makes some politically incorrect assumptions. He argues that farmers will get richer during the development process due to an increasing demand for food from a growing urban population. He suggests that farmers should be taxed and the money should be invested in urban areas. So he advocated the taxing of people on subsistence wage levels, to help the capitalist class! He also advocated the curbing of trade union power during evelopment, and to protect the growth of the capitalists using tariffs (this was undoubtedly very unpopular with the Marxists). The two-sector model emphasises the need to increase money supply in order to kick-start the development process. We know that in the real world this could lead to inflation, speculation and balance of payment problems. Lewis does acknowledge these possibilities in his article, but he does not explain how the loans themselves can be bad. He places a high degree of importance on a capitalist class who would bring about an outfl ow of profits, but does not explain from where the new class will emerge.Despite all of these flaws in the two-sector model, Lewis was nonetheless awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics for his endeavours. In 1960, the US economist and historian Walt Whitman Rostow published his paper ‘The Stages of Economic Development’. He claimed he was providing an alternative to the Marxist view of history, and thus gave his paper the subtitle; ‘a non-communist manifesto’. Rostow analysed the process of development in the West and concludes that it is possible to distinguish development into stages; and all societies can be categorised into one of the five stages he distinguishes.In order to develop LDC’s are required to progress through these stages. The five stages are as follows: The traditional society, transitional (or preconditions to take-off), take-off, maturity and high-mass consumption. 4 A traditional society is the most basic form of society. It does little more than economically survive. Production is used for self-consumption and there is no trade. It would usually have a ceiling on production due to limitations of science and backward production practices. There is generally a high proportion of the workforce in agriculture (>75%), little social change, and large divisions of wealth. In the transition stage agriculture will begin to prevail, mainly due to foreign interests. Rostow argues that the level of investment must be raised to at least 10% of national income, ensuring self-sustaining growth. The bulk of investment should be spent on infrastructure, like transport and communication if society is to progress to the next stage. He states that society must also be willing to operate closer to factory principles and the division of labour, and a new elite must emerge that will drive the factory process. It is generally accepted that entrepreneurs usually appear in commerce.Rostow and others acknowledge that society may be i n this stage for centuries. To propel society from transition to take-off growth must become self-sustaining. Rostow predicts that investment must rise in excess of 10% of national income in order to guarantee adequate levels of future savings and investment. 6 What is significant in this stage is the emergence of major export industries (what Rostow calls ‘leading growth sectors’). In the US and Russia this would have been the grain industry, in Britain the textiles industry, in Sweden, timber etc.So the industry itself differs from country to country, and Rostow makes clear that LDC’s do not have to produce the same goods as developed nations in order to ‘take-off’. In the stage of maturity society will apply a wide range of new technology to most of its resources. In this period a nation will grow confident and exert itself. It will also have to make a choice at this point as to what it should spend its new found wealth on. Either to move towards high-mass consumption, to build a welfare state, or to meet imperialist ends.The stage of high-mass consumption, Rostow argues, applies only to the US, as at the time of writing (1956) no other society had achieved this. Based on his theory Rostow, Rosenstein and Rodon came up with a 5-year plan for LDC’s following the Western ideology of development. The 5-year plans were largely unsuccessful, not to mention controversial. At the height of the cold war the US funded any tin-pot dictator who was not allied with the USSR, under the guise of aid for development. There are several issues in Rostows theory that has received criticism.Firstly, he negates the multiplier process, and refers to it as ‘backward lineage’. He also ignores foreign exchange constraints, like the cost of importing machinery. His single minded pursuit of capital has led to ‘wide elephant’ projects by the UN, which have caused a lot of damage to the environment and brought very litt le benefit to LDC’s. Also, concentration on capital intensive goods makes things worse. It deprives consumption, gives rise to demand, which makes increases in demand for capital goods inevitable. Simon Kuznets points out that there is no distinction between stages 2 and 3, and also 3 and 4.The characteristics that Rostow distinguishes are not unique to those phases. For example, the changes that occur during transition also seem to occur during take-off. In Kuznets own words: â€Å"It seems to me that Rostow defines these social phenomena as a complex that produces the effect he wishes to explain and then treats his identification as if it were a meaningful identification†7 The main problem with Rostow’s theory is his political bias. This is not surprising if we take into account the historical and political conditions in which the theory was created (the cold war, McCarthyism).Rostow wanted to provide a Western, capitalist ideology of development. The neo-Marx ists point out that LDC’s are very different from each other, and we cannot ignore the historical context in which they were created as Rostow does. The centuries of colonialism still have an effect on LDC’s today and to ignore this is wrong. The neo-Marxists argue that the History of LDC’s is littered with aborted ‘take-offs’ and ‘crash landings’, which have left them with distorted development and dependency. Both Lewis and Rostow tend to indicate that development is a purely domestic issue, and that obstacles to growth are all internal.They emphasise on savings and investment, and do not take into account the many external forces that can stimulate or hinder growth, such as political and economic pressure from TNC’s and the WTO. They make no attempt to explain ideas suggested by the Prebisch-Singer thesis, or to reconcile Emmanuel’s theory of ‘Unequal Exchange’. Overall, both economists imply that growth an d development are solely in the hands of the developing countries, trivialising the dominance and significance of the West in the development process.

How Music Makes the World Happy

Analysis Memory Cost In the last 30 years, the need for hard drives to be capable to hold more memory has been on a very fast rise. This Is due to our operating systems that are larger and the fact that more people needing or wanting to use computers more. Technology has grown so much. 20 years ago only about half of us had computers in our homes. Today almost everybody has at least 1 desktop and 1 portable. We keep pictures of our children on computers, have more programs to use in everyday life, control our finances, do school work, our Job has a need for computers, and love to play games ND use the internet.Every day these things take up more and more memory storage. The last time researchers hit a limit for expanding memory was 2005. We take this fact, that there are limits, for granted. That every now and then there is a limit that cannot be topped. Researchers say that that limit again Is going to reached somewhere around 2013-2015. There Is a new technology for the HAD (hard d isk drive) called the HAM (heat-assisted magnetic recording). This will bring massive storage growth and raise the Industry way beyond 100 TUB. Currently there is a 100 TUB hard drive. When will it be commercially available?After researching several charts I would say in about 5-10 years. At this point the average person would not even need this much memory and the price would be extremely expensive. So I am going to say in about 5-10 years we will meet supply and demand on a 100 TUB hard drive. Ten years from I am predicting that I could buy a 8 TUB hard drive for around $100 dollars. I cannot get a very educated guess on this because the all the history charts on this vary. But I took what I could buy today and used Morel's law and came up with an 8 TUB hard drive will cost about $100 dollars In the year 2023. And that Is If we even use HAD at that time.

Social Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Social Engineering - Essay Example The term â€Å"social engineering† was coined by Kevin Mitnick, a hacker who spent many years in federal prison for nefarious activities, then became a highly sought-after computer expert, writing books and other journals. (Mitnick, 2002, p. x). The basics of social engineering are simple – a criminal will use psychological and other low-tech techniques to get what he wants, and what he wants is to hack into the secure databases of these companies to steal trade secrets to give to competitors, or other valuable and confidential information. Some of these techniques include â€Å"dumpster diving† to get information about a company that he wants to exploit; impersonating colleagues, management or IT professionals on the telephone to get information that he needs, such as passwords and passcodes; befriending employees; and getting a job a the corporation to get all the information he needs. Social engineers are a huge threat to all corporations, because what they do seems so innocuous. They also are able to exploit very basic mistakes, such as the fact that employees do not always shred sensitive documents, and think nothing of throwing away calendars, employee handbooks, and corporate phone books, all of which are gold-mines to the social engineers who are looking for information to get their foot in the door of a large corporation. And they do a lot of damage. In one study, people using social engineering techniques were able to steal $1 billion of information in one day! One of the new scams involves live â€Å"support† personnel. (Claburn, 2010, p. 1). In this scam, an individual gets a pop-up or other advertisement stating that their computer has been infected with a virus, and that they need to purchase a certain program called Live PC Care to remedy this problem. If the individual is reluctant to buy this Live PC Care program, then they can click on a box to talk with live personnel. What this

Ethics Dealing between Principles of school and Teachers Research Paper

Ethics Dealing between Principles of school and Teachers - Research Paper Example The principal of any educational institute, being the highest in rank has the biggest responsibility in his or her shoulders of being ethical. People on such posts often face many ethical and legal problems which they have to deal with. This paper highlights some of such ethical and legal problems faced by principals of educational institutes and how these problems are being dealt with and what further steps could be taken to handle a situation, it also mentions the impacts of unethical conduct by teachers in schools and their effects on children. In specific it brings to light issues in educational institutes like ethical conduct towards students, their performances and between professional colleagues. Educational institutes are not only a place of education but it is also a place that helps build the personality of a person’ and human development may be one of the most important aspects of any person’s life and educational institutes plays a significant role toward it . ... Since education is closely related to teaching students not only about studies but also about building a better personality, the administration of the school have to think about policies like what things are punishable for students and what kind of punishments should be appropriate in teaching them a lesson while not going overboard. There are many punishments that are suspension from school, being expelled or even corporal punishments. Such punishments can either help students in teaching them a lesson or it could shatter their confidence leading to more rebellious attitude. The question that arises from the matters of punishment is whether punishing students has helped them and to what limits a student should be punished. Corporal punishment is a serious violation of ethics, it is described as any form of physical punishment that involves the voluntary infliction of pain for an offence it may be administered as a punishment or even as a deter, most commonly administered way of corp oral punishment is paddling. Whether corporal punishment should be allowed or not has been one of the biggest questions in the field of education. Corporal punishment has been banned in almost 30 states in America since 1989 which includes states like New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, Ohio and many more (Corporal punishment in public schools, by state). It is still legal in almost 19 states in America, where students are spanked by teachers. In an article on ABC news on corporal punishment the author talks about such incidents where students where paddled and talks about the effects it had on the students. He quotes ‘Tenika Jones says the

Explain the process for planning and evaluating work-family programs Essay

Explain the process for planning and evaluating work-family programs - Essay Example Prior understanding of the preceded discussion clearly necessitates efficient planning and evaluation of work-family programs. It is imperative to understand that children are the future of tomorrow and whos emotional, physical, and mental wellbeing depends on the care given by the parent. Planning and evaluation of work-family programs requires a survey among workers in all sectors. Information from the survey will enable the relevant bodies create a program that enables the employees who, in this case, are the parents to take care of family matters and have family time. Evaluation of such a program can be achieved through analysis of statistics in daycare and other care services. Also, the productivity of employees can be a good method to evaluate the programs (Poelmans,  2005). Better solution of the situation can be achieved through companies adopting measures to ensure better-working environment for the employees. Companies should be able to enact programs and strategies such as enough maternity leave period to allow a mother to take care of the infant. Care given to an infant is important as it is a foundation to the wellbeing of the individual concerned. Also, companies should review working conditions, hours, and workloads of the employees. Provision of a better situation would ensure parents get enough time and strength to spend and watch over their kids. Furthermore, enough rest would enhance in increased productivity of the employees with families. In conclusion, it is imperative for companies inclusive of private and public companies to review working conditions of the employees in general bearing in mind they have other responsibilities. Quick solution to the quagmire can be having a day care service in a company whereby kids to the parent employees are taken care of as they work. Having ones child close provides the peace of heart increasing

Social policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Social policy - Essay Example Therefore, the social workers carry forward the mission statement of standing against racism or other forms of discriminatory practices on any individual based on their personal freedom of choices, to ensure that individuals in a society are treated equally and fairly, also that every individual has equal access to quality education and health facilities, not to mention the basic right of entry to quality accommodation and justice system. Since social workers take up the mission of eradicating injustice from the society, it would be quite a paradox is they exhibit a character opposite to that expected from them. Though social workers are actively pursuing their causes, yet when it come to the rights of traveller and gypsy communities, the social workers either seem to be uninvolved or in extreme cases biased against them (Lloyd & Joan 2001). The sole purpose of choosing the thematic analysis of social worker`s contribution towards the cause of alleviating issues of the travellers community to identify the discriminatory practices against them, also to point out to the fact that the social workers are clearly violating their mission statement in this context. More so, the new coverage in the UK often speaks of the injustices inducted upon the travellers community. On one hand where the general social indicators of the UK as a whole and the minority`s in specific are getting better off, the case with the gypsies eviden tly points toward the opposite direction (Joanna and Andrew 2012). The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) is quite vocal on the cause and thus, outcry against such practices can often be witnessed on the media. Also, it isn’t a hidden fact that the media is also unbiased towards the gypsies. Recently, The Travellers Movement has become quite vocal on the media over the biased and shameless broadcasting of the

Has New Labour introduced radical changes to health and health care Essay

Has New Labour introduced radical changes to health and health care policy since it came into office - Essay Example This pledge to divert major sums of governmental funds into the health care system was political fodder for Conservatives and was a principle part of the Labour Party’s addition of ‘new’, an act primarily designed to pronounce a new philosophy and proclaim its eagerness to distance the party from past conceptions of socialist leanings. In many cases, the radical changes to the NHS espoused by new Labour followed Conservative concepts. These new policies have proven to be more of a massive evolution rather than a revolution. Still, what had been the most radical change to the organisation of the NHS since its 1948 inception; the 1991 reforms instituted into the NHS Act were eclipsed by the 1997 Act. This was especially true when considering the abolition of the internal market and the creation of Primary Care Trusts (PCT) which, when taken together, embodied an even more radical change than the earlier reform. This discussion examines the similarities and differenc es of New Labour as opposed to Conservative approaches to health care and the changes brought by the NHS Act of 1997. The distinction of ideologies between Conservative and Labour (right and left wing) continues its relevance concerning key philosophical divides and policy making matters in today’s political arena. A description that encompasses the principle divergence between the right and left political ideals is their respective stance regarding the perception of fairness. The right has historically leaned toward favoring policies promoting inequality while the left have a tendency to favor social equality in its policies. New Labour initially promoted itself during the 1997 election as the party for radical change, referring to its movement as the ‘third way’ uniting viewpoints of neo-liberalism and social equality (Mouffe, 2000, p.

Women and poverty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Women and poverty - Essay Example With the poverty levels in women growing at a faster rate than those of men, different authors have sought to look for alternatives to solving the problem. With the governmental agencies seemingly relaxing on addressing the issue, it remains the efforts of researchers to provide the solution to the problem. In Canada, Burkhauser and Sabia seek to offer solutions with the intention of minimizing the high poverty levels among women by bridging the wage gap between men and women. They observe that only men occupy big jobs in organizations, with women assuming the role of support personnel. Although more women now have jobs, the fact that they do not occupy large positions in these firms contributes to the wide poverty gap. According to them, the best way of solving the problem of high poverty levels in women is through increasing the minimum wage levels among women in the society. They argue that despite the fact that people work in big organizations, they have low incomes, which when p assed over to the family, creates a vicious cycle of poverty in the society. The journal addresses on the means available to reduce the level of poverty. While other articles propose on the means of reducing the level of poverty among women in the society, this particular article offers guidelines on how raising the minimum wage levels for women as the most significant solution to the problem. The government, while addressing the problem of poverty in Canada, have even influenced the politics of neoliberalism in Canada.... With the governmental agencies seemingly relaxing on addressing the issue, it remains the efforts of researchers to provide solution to the problem. In Canada, Burkhauser and Sabia seek to offer solutions with the intention of minimizing the high poverty levels among women by bridging the wage gap between men and women. They observe that only men occupy big jobs in organizations, with women assuming the role of support personnel. Although more women now have jobs, the fact that they do not occupy large positions in these firms contributes to the wide poverty gap. According to them, the best way of solving the problem of high poverty levels in women is through increasing the minimum wage levels among women in the society. They argue that despite the fact that people work in big organizations, they have low incomes, which when passed over to the family, creates a vicious cycle of poverty in the society. The journal addresses on the means available to reduce the level of poverty among t he women in the society. While other articles propose on the means of reducing the level of poverty among women in the society, this particular article offers guidelines on how raising the minimum wage levels for women as the most significant solution to the problem. Coulter, Kendra. â€Å"Women, Poverty Policy, and the Production of Neoliberal Politics in Ontario, Canada.† Journal of Women, Politics & Policy (2009): 30.1. Print. The government, while addressing the problem of poverty in Canada, have even influenced the politics of neo-liberalism in Canada. Coulter (24) observes, â€Å"In confronting inadequate social policies and the political terrain on which the policies exist, these women exposed the difficulties of challenging both neoliberal policy and political

Banning of gun ownership in the united states Research Paper

Banning of gun ownership in the united states - Research Paper Example There is a high correlation and strong relationship between higher levels of firearm ownership and higher firearm homicide rates. The states with higher levels of firearm ownership have disproportionally larger number of lethal gun incidents from firearm-related homicides. Gun incidents reported daily through the various mass media channels also accumulate aggressive relationship among hundreds of millions of other Americans. The fear of becoming one of the gun victims acts destructively on society, and people tend to underestimate the risks of gun ownership at home. An idea of self-protection with a gun fails to be successful as a vortex of emotions often doesn’t allow sensibly assess the situation. In addition to the above stated factors, the study reveals that gun ownership right also has oblique economic consequences as governments, companies, and individuals are paying medical expense premiums, escalated due to inflated prices of medical, life, and disability insurance. I n addition to medical and insurance expenditures, firearm also results in increased costs of the work of various regulatory bodies. For today, gun ownership regulation in the United States is relatively lax due to its â€Å"permissive† position and the right for private gun ownership guaranteed by law. There are some obvious gaps and leakage in the gun control regulation and until all the issues are solved and severely regulated, right for gun ownership should be banned. List of illustrations I. Chart 1. Total Number of Gun Deaths in the United States, 1999-2011†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.....10 II. Chart 2. Total Number of Gun Homicide Rates in the United States, 1998-2011†¦...10 III. Chart 3. Handgun Homicides in the United States, 1999-2011†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...11 IV. Table 1. Overview of the Mass Gun Massacres in the United States†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..15 Table of Contents Letter of transmittal†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦....6 The Second Amendment – a Trigger for Gun Violence†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦....7 Lax Gun Regulation in the United States†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..8 Suicide and Homicide Rates†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..9 Correlation between Gun Ownership and Homicide and Suicide rates†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...12 Overview of Mass Gun Massacres†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...13 Negative Impact on Society†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.17 Economic Impact of Gun Ownership Rights†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.....18 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦19 Bibliography†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.20 Letter of transmittal Date: 03/12/13 Professor†¦ Assistant Professor,†¦ Department of †¦ †¦..university (or other organization) Dear Sir: Subject: Submission of research proposal on â€Å"Ban of Gun Ownership Right in the United States† Here is the research proposal that has been completed by the knowledge that had been gathered through the secondary research method of literature review. I

Competency in Information and Technology Literacy Essay Example for Free

Competency in Information and Technology Literacy Essay The dynamic changes in information technology has advocated for nurses highly qualified in nursing informatics. This paper discusses some barricades allied to the employment of essential Nursing Informatics competencies into undergraduate nursing websites. Introduction Information Literacy is the set of skills needed to discover, repossess, evaluate, and use information. The Changes in information technology have led to new changes in the way nurses operate on patients. These nurses have to undergo various competencies. This paper discusses the changes and the required competencies. Discussion Information literacy is important in the nursing researches and practical working with the nursing informatics equipment. It is not just for students to learn but for practicing nurses and other healthcare practitioners as well. The practice of nursing in which the nurse makes medical decisions based on the best existing research proof, his or her own clinical expertise, and the needs and inclinations of the patient is referred to as evident based nursing. The nurses should learn to practice Information system to design and maintain their healthcare information. For instance, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant or Patient Data) could allow nursing scholars to access various decision support systems that would offer them with professional guidance relating to specific care and treatment matters at their patient’s bedsides. There are various sources where one can learn about information literacy and find ideas about relationship between them. These include the website, libraries, journals, electronic full-text for nursing, that is, books, journals, virtual libraries, other articles and databases. To evaluating a website containing medical records, determine the website goal; discover the website objectives; website content description, evaluation questions, sources of evaluation data, methods of data collection. The steps performed are performed systematically. First and foremost, find out if the results have been reproduced in other research laboratory or by other scholars. Next step involves an attempt to conclude the study’s credibility. Look keenly at the material of study that is, if investigators essentially compare two sets of topics or did they just make bservations? If a control was used were the group results comparable? Evaluate the criteria used to conclude this study. Consider the modification and duration of the study. The next step is to look at the conclusions. Consider if they are warranted by the evidence. If one can’t find useful solutions in the website, then it is time to address some questions like: does one have to take illegalized results? How does one know that the product in question is the right one? If the product is or could be the right one, then, what guarantees this? Moreover one must to know more information on the product. Any information that is relevant should be taken into account. If the person still decides to take the product, he or she should be sure to tell the doctor who can make observation on the side effect about the product. Conclusion Nursing informatics is very important in today’s dynamic technological application. It is very important for nursing professionals to have the knowledge of nursing informatics as this will help them to participate fully in the technology enabled nursing.

Integrating different perspectives Essay Example for Free

Integrating different perspectives Essay School violence is a growing concern in our schools at present, and it is a reality that we must deal with if we are ever to find solutions for these situations and how to prevent it form happening again. The world was shocked when the recent killings in Virginia Tech occurred last month and somehow it seemed irrational and illogical for an academically excellent student to have committed. But as the images of horror and violence flashed through the millions of television sets across the world, one asks what may have caused the person to commit such acts and what may explain his behavior. Violence is a form of aggression and it is often an outward or overt expression of anger and hostility which is a product of a perceived emotional affront or sense of persecution (Armistead, 1996). There are several psychological perspectives that have looked into the issue of school violence and it has been observed that most if not all of those that have occurred are extremely violent, with the use of weapons and guns and have resulted to the death of one or more individuals in school. There are also other forms of violence which may have gone unnoticed and unreported to school officials but nonetheless have probably involved bullying in its many forms; from physical, emotional, psychological, racial or even technology based. The cognitive psychology perspective says that violence is the end result of mental distortions and cognitive dissonance that an individual may have experienced in relation to his/her relationships and interactions in class and in school. For example, the Korean student who killed 30 people in Virginia Tech said in his video that he was seeking retribution or revenge from the rich kids in school, because he has suffered much from them. The sense of being insulted and humiliated may be imagined but to the student, it is his reality. He may have experienced or witnessed an incidence where a poor student was bullied and he had identified with the person so much that he claimed the action as targeting him. This mental distortion of what is real and not, of the building paranoia causes the person to behave in ways that may lead to violence. When the individual believes that he has nothing left, or that he has suffered so much that it is time to avenge himself in order to stop the mental anguish thus move the person to violent acts like shooting those he perceives as enemies, to burn the school that he feels have been unfair to him or to poison a class who have ridiculed him (Lowry, Sleet, Duncan, Powell Kolbe, 1995). Another perspective that explains school violence and violence per se is the biological and evolutionary psychology perspective. This approach says that there is a biological basis for violence, and that a child who has been violent early in life and who has parents who have violent streaks will likely become violent. The perspective argues that aggression is coded into the brain of the person and that it is a normal reaction that lesser animals have continued to exhibit as a means of protecting themselves from predators, and since we share the same instinctual drives. Violence is a behavior triggered by survival instincts, for example, a student who has been flunked by every teacher in his school may certainly lose the opportunity to graduate from high school or got to college. Now the school is the world of the student, it is where he/she builds relationships, accomplishes something, learns and thrived on. If the student is flunked, then he may cease his existence in the school, or is in danger of falling out from the group and losing his sense of belongingness (Menhard, 2000). This naturally is a threat to his survival in the school and thus would be moved to protect his existence in the school system; he may come to school and kill those who will prevent him from reaching his goals. Lastly, the social learning perspective says that school violence occurs because it is now becoming a social reality and that each child is exposed to so much aggression and hostility that it has now become a social construct that is almost an accepted aspect of the American educational system (Newman, 2005). Social learning theory argues that a child learns a behavior if it is rewarded and reinforced, it is also learned if it is shared and accepted by significant others in the child life. For example, if a child grew up in a family where violence is a normal occurrence, it may lead the child to believe that there is nothing wrong with violence. Moreover, if after hurting someone, the child is able to get what he/she wants, then the behavior in reinforced, if the child is praised for hitting the next door bully, then he would learn that hitting is not wrong. Media influence if not depicts and glamorizes violence perpetuate its perception as a normal aspect of human behavior. The peer group and the school is the most influential group in a student’s life, if the student is thwarted, punished and humiliated by either his peers or the school in general, his only recourse is to become violent in order to redeem his self because it is what people do when they are oppressed. School violence is painful, it is jolting, it is irrational and sometimes quite baffling, but what is common to all of the perspectives is that school violence is only a result, an end product that is brought about only by certain events and experiences and from which more effective means of preventing school violence can be developed. References Armistead, L. (1996).What to do before the violence happens: Designing the crisis communication plan. NASP Bulletin, 80, p. 31-37. Lowry, R. , Sleet, D. , Duncan, C. , Powell, K. Kolbe, L. (1995). Adolescents at risk for violence. Educational Psychology Review, 7, 7-39. Menhard, F. (2000). School Violence: Deadly Lessons. New York: Enslow Publishers. Newman, K. (2005). Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings. New York: Basic Books.

Was The Bosnian War An Ethnic Conflict Politics Essay

Was The Bosnian War An Ethnic Conflict Politics Essay The process by which one perceives a given situation can be misleading, especially when the information being relayed is moulded in a particular format- to the liking of the transmitter. World views of the war that took place in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995 leave most to conclude that the tension was a classic case of ethnic conflict. This essay will explore the multidimensionality of the conflict in hopes of shedding light on other areas of stress that might have contributed to the forming or outbreak of the war by assessing the general discord in terms of measures set in place by theories of ethnic conflict. After offering definitions of some key terms that will be used in this writing, the essay will provide a brief history of the conflict, single out ethnic and identity entrepreneurs, rediscover roots of any existing particularity or stressors (including polarisation and pillarisation in the conflict), present theories of ethnic conflict, and show a detailed analysis through revi ew of literature before concluding. An analysis of the diverse faà §ades in this conflict will serve as a basis for comparison for points of interest, actors or parties involved, and will highlight how these factors influenced the surge of events that took place. Can the conflict in Bosnia be considered solely an ethnic conflict? This paper will endeavour to challenge the status of this war, as purely ethnic, by showing that there exist dimensions of this conflict which render it impossible to disavow the presence of convincing supporting evidence regarding the role of ethnicity and ethnic diversity as a cause for civil war. Definitions It is important to point out that because of the qualifying large number of loss of life and the nature in which that loss took place in this conflict, it can and will be termed as a war and genocide. For the purposes of this essay, while it is not always the case that ethnic groups share exclusive languages or affiliations, ethnicity, will refer to the existence of a unique set of racial, historical, linguistic, religious, cultural and/or ancestral traits, all shared specifically by a given group of individuals. National and ethnic identity, touch on the borders of a single concept, identity; it would seem fitting to relate them in terms of the conflict to be mentioned, as they both play a part in its history. Walker Connor defines this type of identity as being the self view of ones group, rather than the tangible characteristics, that is of essence in determining the existence or non-existence of ones nation (Qtd in Davis, 1999), while the presence of this type of identity is not always stable or fixed, as ethnicity is dynamic (Feron, Introduction to Concepts of Conflict, War Violence 2009). This essay will highlight four groups involved in this conflict: the Serbs (mainly Orthodox group), the Bosniaks (Muslim group), the Croats (mainly Catholic group), and potential causative foreign actors involved directly or indirectly in this conflict through participation or interest. A key term in this essay, prejudice, is defined by Herbert Blumer as a protective device. It functions however short-sightedly to preserve the integrity and position of the dominant group (Qtd in Kunovich and Hodson, 2002). Lastly, the term ethnic conflict, will indicate a situation of conflict, a clashing of goals among two or more parties or ethnic groups, sometimes depicting ancient hatreds, discrimination or victimisation through the use of media outlets and/or historical account, the possible involvement of ethnic or identity entrepreneurs whose contribution directly or indirectly l eads to a primary form of stress placed on any of the given parties or ethnic groups, differentiating the group in a way which might lead to the birth of a sense of external threat and resulting in a need to preserve the identity itself (Feron, Ethnicity Conflict 2009). History The Former Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) has had a multi-cultural and was always made up of multi-ethnic countries, while always falling under new rule or administration- each guided by different ideologies. This foundation makes for a breeding ground of multiplicity, resentment, gains and losses, and most of all change ever-present. As communism lost is hold on FRY, new, nationalist and separatist ideologies began to grow popular among the territories. Slobodan MiloÃ…Â ¡eviĆ¡ was placed into office in 1989, and quickly amended the Serbia constitution to allow for influence in Kosovo and Vojvodina (Region currently in the North of Serbia, which used to pertain to Hungary), which gave Serbia access to more votes on the federal level of Yugoslavias government. Montenegros vote then meant an additional vote for Serbia, leaving Serbia as the most powerful hand in the government (Ron 2000). Bosnia was considered an exotic country among European nations, due to its inhabitants and rich melange of cultures. Bosnia was a cosmopolitan country where more than a quarter of marriages cut through cultural divides (Lifschultz and Ali 1994). As the new nationalist and separatist mentalities span over the territories of FRY, mainly in Croatia and Serbia, things began to become clear that change was in the near future. After attempts to divide up Bosnia, into administrative and ethnic districts, proved semi-successful, but not without outbreaks for justice, it seemed inevitable that the moment had come for independence. Bosnia was already divided into the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, Republika Srpska, and around the same time, both Slovenia and Croatia gaining independence from FRY. The then unseen yet not unthought-of situation was more evident day by day; if Slovenia and Croatia were to secede from Yugoslavia, Bosnia would quite literally be at the mercy of the Milosevic regime. Problems would then be expected from all sides of Bosnia, not to mention the l arger evil, as seen by Bosnians in that moment- Greater Serbia. Due to the separation of Croatia and Slovenia, even after thoughts to pursue a looser Yugoslavia Serbia would begin feeling its foundation and republic, quickly falling out beneath it, this only caused political leaders to consider preemptive action, in the form of attack. The republic became more unstable than ever when the government in Bosnia made it clear that when Slovenia and Croatia sought independence from FRY, that it would no doubt be forced to seek the same liberty, and Bosnia and Herzegovina began the referendum for independence alike. On March 5, 1992, parliament declared independence for Bosnia and Herzegovina, which shook the throne on which FRYs government had been founded, (Ron 2000). It is this timeline of events that outlines the situation in which Bosnia found itself under attack- both from the outside and the inside, including mass rape, killings, torture, oppression and finally the loss of approxim ately 200.000 lives. It is the identification of these sides which will prove interesting in testing theories of ethnic conflict on the conflict in Bosnia. Ethnic Identity Entrepreneurs In any given conflict there is sure to exist those who somehow find a way to use an existing fear or hate, to pressure or persuade others to feel endangered or moved to act. Franjo TuÄ‘man, of Croatia, and Slobodan MiloÃ…Â ¡eviĆ¡, of Serbia, entered into discussions which are known as the KaraÄ‘orÄ‘evo Agreement, which did just that by claiming rights to parts of Bosnia based on ethnic and demographic make-up (Ron 2000). As mentioned in the history (prior to the outbreak of this conflict) section of this essay, Croatia and Serbia took it upon themselves to divide up Bosnia- favouring ethnic enclaves and creating new republics for which, of course, new influences and/or votes could be easily manipulated, in the great scheme of gaining more and more land and authority. Populations were made to feel that their ethnic identity was externally threatened, and that there was somehow a need to protect it at any cost- first by separation and later t hrough physical battle. Other leaders, nations, entities, had made their views clear, that they would not interfere in this conflict and that they would also not stand for Bosnia to defend itself, without the forced attempt to sway Bosnia toward surrendering and ending up a helpless pawn in the international system, left to be carved or moulded- all the while losing its uniqueness (Kunovich and Hodson 2002). The issue with intervening in this matter, for the United States, and General Colin Powell, in 1992, was the question of deploying ground troops into Bosnia, something that would have held a cost of tens of billions of dollars. That particular point of debate took the panels down another avenue of discussion and of course complicated the situation of helping Bosnia (Lifschultz and Ali 1994). Later, the United States, the European community, and the United Nations, entered into a political huddle in what seemed to last forever. The process took the form of a remarkable policy deb ate, a discourse in search of rationales, while, in Diego Arrias apt phrase, slow-motion genocide was systematically carried out in Bosnia (Lifschultz and Ali 1994). The Serbs and the Croats had taken action to attempt to pull out of the game with more land, more authority and less opposition, but these actions do not directly target an ethnicity, and do not seem to be completely or even mainly ethnically based tactical decisions. After such a disaster, it was evident that life and surroundings echoed the erasing of certain ethnic qualities, but there was always an ulterior motive present. Bosnia as it had existed for six centuries had to be destroyed; the fabric which wove the lives of its many peoples together torn beyond repair; the loyalty of its indigenous Serb and Croat communities to a multi-ethnic Bosnian nation subverted; its native Muslim population terrorised. The objective was to cleanse Bosnia not only of the Muslims but also of the unique and dangerous cosmopolitanism of its cities which clearly had no place in the new pure nation-states emerging from the ruins of Yugoslavia. A cleansed Bosnia could then be carved up and annexed to the national states of Greater Serbia and Greater Croatia (Lifschultz and Ali 1994). These strategies to place pressures on ethnic grounds, as to influence the crowds, came about from already existing tensions in the communities that later witnessed the true results of what they had been convinced to do, all the while perhaps still not aware of the fact that they were being utilised, that their identity was being used as an instrument to gain their numbers, their voices and their force. Particularity Prejudice Genocide of this size could not have taken place without mass involvement of the common man and abuse of already established institutes/agencies, such as the existing military forces and of course the creation of new forces for the purposes of annihilating anyone that stood in their way. All prior events including agreements and discussions, only prepared the grounds for even worse events to come. Many contemporary theories of ethnic and racial prejudice, ethnic political mobilization, and ethnic conflict emphasize structural conditions that provide a context within which attitudes and behavior toward out-groups develop (Kunovich and Hodson 2002). In this way, it is a bit easier to follow the outcome of the events, and to understand how in the midst of such chaotic circumstances, so many windows to malice are opened. The events that followed ran rampant as pretexts of hatred, diversity and fear guided the masses to direct their uncertainties and reactions to those uncertainties towar d all things that seemed to represent the historically recognised Bosnia that Europe knew. Similar conflicts to the Bosnian War arose within the same time, such as the Rwanda genocide, which provide clear examples of particularity. Rwanda was a nation whose marriage statistics, just as pre-conflict Bosnia, showed a harmonious and culturally accepting coexistence. Upon the arrival of the Belgians to Rwanda, local authority was given in exchange for Tutsi collaboration, overturning many previously governed Hutu districts (Sadowski 1998). These types of interactions promote jealousy and fear in environments where such fears had never been so prevalently manifested. Foreign intervention did not come first in the physical form, but in the form of distant involvement, influencing authority throughout ethnic enclaves in Bosnia, although leaving a like scar, to that of the Rwandan example, in the midst of the conflict. Agreements were reached, regarding or involving these particular enclaves by foreign leaders from afar, who attempted to encourage the distribution of administrativ e authority ethnically, as to prevent the nation from sliding into war. This division of Bosnia used the previously existing, or seemingly clear ethnic population divisions that existed in Bosnia in areas where notable enclaves existed, which intended to label administratively as: Bosniak, Serb or Croat. Another point of this doing was to decentralise the Bosnian government by giving ethnic groups a sense of authority in their own land. This was done by assigning districts as pertaining to one ethnic group of another, even though random review showed that certain villages could have been up to 70% Bosniak and 30% Serb and yet still designated as a village or district administrated by Serbs or municipally adopted under Republika Srpska- an example of this type of agreement is the Lisbon agreement, which was drawn up by Lord Carrington and Ambassador of Portugal, Jose Cutileiro (Ron 2000). The agreement was signed on March 18, 1992, by the three leaders of the ethnic groups, although Izbetgovic, leader of the Bosniaks, after meeting with the U.S. Ambassador, Warren Zimmerman, quickly withdrew his signature only ten days after having signed it. It is said that Izbetgovics decision to withraw his signature and renounce the agreement was influenced by the United States offer to finally intervene, viewed that he did so immediately after leaving the U.S. embassy on March 28, 1992 (Ron 2000). Even today, Bosnians ask themselves questions as to the interests behind such decisions, and wonder how their ethnicity was able to be so very discretely instrumentalised in the scheme of something that was obviously very multifaceted. One of the most targeted and still the most visibly affected aspects of that once cosmopolitan Bosnia that one recognised, are the elements of diversity that were once revered as the nations richest social resource- its cultural quality, eccentric and obvious traces of history demonstrated throughout the cities of all Bosnia Herzegovina. The countrys architecture, its buildings, bridges, monuments built by the Ottomans were the most visible, most immediately tangible signs of Bosnias otherness. These became targets of relentless artillery bombardment or straightforward demolition. As if the intent was to destroy all recorded history, libraries housing rare books and priceless manuscripts were deliberately destroyed. Hundreds of delicately designed mosques, large and small, that had stood for centuries unharmed, untouched, disappeared overnight (Lifschultz and Ali 1994). It is in this way that any and all unlikely seeming traits of Bosnia were the targets of particularity in the atro cities that took place throughout the cleansing of Bosnia Herzegovina. The particularities and stressors that factored into this conflict, were perhaps greatly influencing reasons for the masses to be shift into motion but they somehow do not come across as a great enough cause given the history prior to this conflict and the strategically devised agreements that led to the need for independence- much less the outbreaks of violence that followed. Theories of Ethnic Conflict When given a vast amount of information about a conflict, you use a sphere by which you measure the elements and the gravity, logic or even reality of the events occurred. As mentioned before the tool by which we are measuring up the events of the Bosnian Conflict, are theories of ethnic conflict. These theories provide limits and start points for possible patterns to describe a conflict of this genre and are ever growing in that they descend from fruitful tests of hypotheses that have branched from detailed research. There are two sides or clusters, if you will that theories of ethnic conflict provide us with, for views on analysis of this type of conflict: the primordialist and the instrumentalist take on things. The primordialist stance rests on explicitly attributing the cause for the events that took place as a history of ancient hatreds and prejudice. Instrumentalists negate that the direct cause of these types of conflicts could be a clear-cut question of primordial abhorrence (Blimes 2006). These paths help refine a thin line of sight for analysing this type of affair, facts and deeds fight myth and hearsay- in fact, instrumentalist refuse to accept that this could be the direct cause of antipathies. Instrumentalists point out that in many instances, ethnic groups with a history of animosity have managed to live in peace and therefore reject the ancient hatreds argument. After all, interethnic cooperation is the norm rather than the aberration between ethnic groups. Instrumentalists argue that ethnicity is merely a tool that an individual or group uses to achieve an end (Blimes 2006). Scholars have begun combining theories of ethnic conflicts with theories of civil war, in an attempt to view if either incites a greater probability in the other. The analysis proves interesting although no concrete results were extracted through any empirically tested models. Through the mentioned research, there were no greatly solidified demonstrations that ethnic fract ionalisation contributed directly to the onsite of civil war. Other scholars, not related to that particular study, conclude similarly that the link between ethnicity and civil war are relatively evident but, as of now, in no finitely tested way conclusive. The Bosnian war arose out of a familiar set of circumstances: the collapse of totalitarian control of territory producing a political void that, in turn, exposes a deep-rooted rivalry between ethnic groups leading to a struggle for control of territory ending in an attempt at violent resolution. Central to the process are the notoriously ambiguous concepts of ethnicity and nationalism (Doyon and Slack 2001). While opinions may differ, much research shares a relatively similar conclusion in that the roles of ethnicity and civil war are greatly influencing factors in terms of general dispute, and it is through the evaluation of analysis in these two theories that this essay has attempted to clarify the labelling of the conflict in Bosnia in the 1990s. Analysis Ethnicity is definitely a recurring theme in this conflict, and very rightfully so. Some academics, such as Jovanka Stojsavljevic, would say that the war in the Former Yugoslavian Republic was merely an opportunity- that old guard communists took advantage of a vulnerable moment in FRYs history to use the ideology of nationalism as their own personal ticket to increased power (1995). The important fact to remember when dealing with this type of immediate reaction, is to remember that with such a great deal of input to process, and more than enough on both sides of the scale (both supporting and negating), there is not one single response and when there is perhaps a combined answer, even that is difficult to clearly devise into a black or white response. The Bosnian war arose out of a familiar set of circumstances: the collapse of totalitarian control of territory producing a political void that, in turn, exposes a deep-rooted rivalry between ethnic groups leading to a struggle for co ntrol of territory ending in an attempt at violent resolution. Central to the process are the notoriously ambiguous concepts of ethnicity and nationalism (Doyon and Slack 2001). This conflict demonstrates a great deal of multidimensionality and it is clear that such a trait must be taken into consideration when attempting to trace a fault or pin blame. Stojsavljevics conclusion of these events gets directly to the point and immediately cancels out ethnicity as a cause for the war. The one thing it does not do is seek to locate the role of ethnicity in the controversy or to quantify ethnicity as an influence. To do so, it is important to realise the situation that Bosnia Herzegovina was in at the time. With the decentralization of political power following Titos death and trends toward democratization within republics, political leaders on all sides mobilized ethnic enclaves for political gain. Once small-scale conflicts began to develop in these ethnic enclaves, fear spread rapidly , and the mobilization of individuals in more tolerant regions became possible. Thus, regional differences in ethnic prejudice provided a foundation for the emergence and spread of ethnic conflict (Kunovich and Hodson 2002). Misdistribution of power, bad leadership, a lack of checks and balances system and utter greed brought upon by fears for loss of fortune, authority, as well as future livelihood became deciding factors and the people who were not among the few in power, were significant liabilities that needed to be made to cooperate quickly. The decision in Bosnia and Herzegovina to seek independence was one that Serbian leaders anticipated and feared. It is that fear that incited a chain reaction of domestic and international obstacles to aid that would later end in ethnic cleansing, genocide and an immense infraction on human rights. The length, in time, that these obstacles stalled the international community from intervening, would serve as the lifeline for the atrocities that took place. The more divided the nation became; the easier it became to instrumentalise historical accounts and diversity as weapons to fan the flames of fear. Many claim that the simple fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina was so ethnically fractionalised directly affected the probability for the onset of conflict and that it made for a likely place for civil war. Scholars, such as Blimes, would respond that empirical assessment of any such hypothesis, that the very existence of ethnic fractionalisation could directly, much less greatly affect the inception of civil war has not turned out any unassailable conclusions (2006). To attribute ethnic cleansing, genocide, and mass violence to ethnic fractionalisation, or even ethnicity alone, would mean that everything that took place from the late 1980s to 1995 to build up to this conflict somehow all stems from ancient hatreds or that sooner or later all nations where ethnic fractionalisation exists will have a similar fate. This way of thinking suits a primordialist view in the sphere of theories of ethnic conflict. Blimes goes into detail by mentioning that primordialists consider ancient hatreds to be the direct root of these ethnic issues, while instrumentalists view that an explanation or blame on ancient hatreds quite commonly oversimplifies conflicts that are really much deeper than can be simply explained by timeless rancour (2006). The worst genocides of modem times have not been targeted along primarily ethnic lines. Rather, the genocides within Afghanistan, Cambodia, C hina, the Soviet Union, and even, to a great extent, Indonesia and Uganda, have focused on liquidating political dissidents: to employ the emerging vocabulary, they were politicides rather than ethnicides. Indeed, the largest genocides of this century were clearly ideologically driven politicides (Sadowski 1998). This and many similar conflicts are simply much too multifaceted to ascribe all responsibility to one factor or to omit the existence of other very evident agents. Conclusion As one refines the scope of analysis a bit, it becomes more and more apparent that in order to strongly support whether or not this conflict can be looked at solely as an ethnic conflict, indeed lies in isolating and identifying the function of ethnicity and/or ethnic diversity as factors. Of the two clusters mentioned in theories of ethnic conflict, it seems an instrumentalist view is more efficient in meticulously combing through this tumultuous history with a fine toothed comb. This does not indicate that ancient hatreds did not or do not exist or that a primordialist viewpoint is completely erroneous- only that it does not convincingly represent the foundation of motive behind years of strategically planned moves that in turn yielded even more power and riches to those making the decisions (which were not those of the targeted ethnic groups). Ethnicity and ethnic diversity do not compellingly embody a basis for ethnic cleansing, genocide or mass violence. Rather, ethnic diversity serves as natural fault lines on which a society, subjected to other variables that have a direct influence on the likelihood of civil war onset, can fracture or act as a solution to collective action problems that might otherwise prevent a cohesive rebellion from forming (Blimes 2006). While it is true that ethnicity and ethnic diversity are both pervasive in the sphere of this conflict, this essay finds that the Bosnian Conflict cannot justly be labelled and viewed solely as an ethnic conflict.

Metaphors Of The Mind :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites The brain (and, by implication, the Mind) has been compared to the latest technological innovation in every generation. The computer metaphor is now in vogue. Computer hardware metaphors were replaced by software metaphors and, lately, by (neuronal) network metaphors. Such attempts to understand by comparison are common in every field of human knowledge. Architects and mathematicians have lately come up with the structural concept of "tensegrity" to explain the phenomenon of life. The tendency of humans to see patterns and structures everywhere (even where there are none) is well documented and probably has its survival value added. Another trend is to discount these metaphors as erroneous, irrelevant, or deceptively misleading. Yet, these metaphors are generated by the same Mind that is to be described by them. The entities or processes to which the brain is compared are also "brain-children", the results of "brain-storming", conceived by "minds". What is a computer, a software application, a communications network if not a (material) representation of cerebral events? In other words, a necessary and sufficient connection must exist between ANYTHING created by humans and the minds of humans. Even a gas pump must have a "mind-correlate". It is also conceivable that representations of the "non-human" parts of the Universe exist in our minds, whether a-priori (not deriving from experience) or a-posteriori (dependent upon experience). This "correlation", "emulation", "simulation", "representation" (in short : close connection) between the "excretions", "output", "spin-offs", "products" of the human mind and the human mind itself - is a key to understanding it. This claim is an instance of a much broader category of claims: that we can learn about the artist by his art, about a creator by his creation, and generally: about the origin by any of its derivatives, inheritors, successors, products and similes. This general contention is especially strong when the origin and the product share the same nature. If the origin is human (father) and the product is human (child) - there is an enormous amount of data to be safely and certainly derived from the product and these data will surely apply to the origin. The closer the origin and the product - the more we can learn about the origin. The computer is a "thinking machine" (however limited, simulated, recursive and mechanical). Similarly, the brain is a "thinking machine" (admittedly much more agile, versatile, non-linear, maybe even qualitatively different).

National Debt :: Economy Economics Argumentative Papers

National Debt The national debt has always been a major concern of the american public, whether they truely know what it is all about or not. What most people do know is that the debt that our country has is continualy growing faster and faster at an unbelievable rate, toan amount that many of us can not even imagine. The national debt and it's problem has been an on going issue in today's headlines, and each president is faced with this buring problem. President Clinton tried to install a balanced budget plan during his current term in office, however it lost 99-1. Althought the public was not able to vote on this plan directly, we, or at least I have an opinion concerning the issue. I personally believe that the fact that our nation is constantly growing more in debt by the minute is a major problem. Although that techincally we do not have to pay it, is not the point. What is the point is that we are a nation that is in debt. According to reports, since 1981, our national debt has grown faster than our economy has, which to me seems to be a problem. If this debt was to be spread out among the people it would be more than the average american would be able to pay. We therefore, need some sort of policy that wouldeventurally cut our national debt to some reasonable amount. A new policy would help by lowering the currentinterest rates, which in turn would allow for moreinvestment to occur. This would raise our real GNP of the economy. This increse in investment would also increase our national savings as well, which would lead to an increase in the national income average of our nation's average families. Considering the amount of our debt, this healing process needs to be done over a long period of time. According to research, if done to quickly it would only hurt the current economy. If we are going to cut the governmental sevices it will need to be done in small doses. This will enable the average american to respond and prepare for the cuts. That way the american will not be hit as hard by the governmental cuts if they are prepared, and the effects will not be as harsh.

The Lesson :: Analysis, Toni Cade Bambara

Throughout history knowledge, culture and information has been passed down within communities. Life lesson were often taught by older, wiser or formally educated people within the community. This idea still holds true today, especially in low-income communities as illustrated in the short story â€Å"The Lesson† by Toni Cade Bambara. I am led to believe that story took place in a low-income community in the early to mid-sixties as African-American families moved to find better opportunities, when extended families moved north as groups and then spreading out into their respective community (507). Miss Moore, who had obtained a college education, assumed this role within her community by saying â€Å"it was only right that she should take responsibility for the young one’s education† (507). Initially the lesson of the day was the value of money, but quickly evolved into several different lessons for the children in attendance that day. Miss Moore begins her lesson by planting a seed in the minds of the children in the form of small talk such as; what things cost, how much their parents made, how much they spent on rent and how money was not divided up right in this country (508). This got the children thinking about the money that ordinary people within their community spent on everyday survival. Their field trip brings them to a fancy Fifth Avenue toy store â€Å"F.A.O Schwartz† (512), where they admire toys form the window. The children begin to notice the outlandish prices that the toys were being sold for, which further waters the seed embedded in their little minds earlier. Their eyes settled on a sailboat displayed in the window. Its outrageous price tag read, one thousand one hundred ninety-five dollars (510). Shocked and taken back they could not believe that anyone would pay that much money to entertain a child, one child immediately asked, â€Å"This boat for Kid’s, Miss Moore?† (510 ). This growing seed in their minds sparks the question of, why some people can afford such expensive toys and not others, as they enter the store. As they finish in the toy store and get home, Miss Moore prods the children to see if they had grasped the lesson as she intended. Sugar, one of the children spoke and said â€Å"You know, Miss Moore, I don’t think all of us here put together eat in a year what that sailboat costs† (512). Miss Moore was elated to find that the message of social inequality had been relayed to at least one of the children.

Doggy Care Executive Summary

â€Å"Doggie steps† is a pet business venture, which aims to be set as a leading example in booming business of pet care markets. The operations of the company will be modelled on the basis of innovation, strategic acquisition and brand growth. With a fantastic portfolio of human resources and products which we are intensely passionate about, we will delight growing number of customers in gurgaon with great care every single day. Everything we do will be channelled by the company’s philosophy of care, innovation, customer centricity and intense passion.This report will outline the initial steps to meet the company’s objectives and goals. This report has been formulated after collecting individual insights from key players of the company; which will be instrumental in establishing the company â€Å"Doggie steps†. Our report begins with an overview related to the key events and the developments that has aided the company founders to set up this business vent ure. In this section, the readers will be able to relate the company’s vision to the significant details of the market. Strategic approach to needs and reasons for choosing a location has been summarised in this section.A brief account of the market related figures has been provided in the market analysis section of the report. This section will also broach upon the current gaps in the market that needs proper attention. The next section will explain how the company is going to provide value to the customers. A six step plan, which has been formulated by the company founders, has been provided in this section. The company aims to win market share by practicing the six step plan. Also a detailed marketing mix comprising key characteristics has been explained in detail to complement and help us meet our goals with respect to the six step plan.The following sections- pricing and distribution channels has been supported with facts and figures that will be implemented by the compa ny to start up the operations of our business venture. The next section, planning, is explained in detail to provide a clear view of the strategies that will be executed to abide by our mission and eventually realize our vision. This section will illustrate that the company has a bold ambition to build a national framework by entering new markets, unconquered markets and with service that will be differentiated and practiced on the scale of world class delivery.The planning section has been divided into sales and financial to provide a clear understanding of the amount that will be invested and the consequential return on investment that will be stipulated for the company. The financial planning section has been formulated with the help of well known business strategists in the market of pet care. Accounting records has also been provided in this section to help the reader analyze the probability of profits and minimization of losses for the company on account of the initial expendi tures.The section operational plan has requisite conditions specified for the type of customers that the company is going to cater to. These conditions has been made based on the historical records of the pet care activities which included damages caused by the unruly behaviour of different species of dogs that had been catered to. Health related specifications in the conditions, mentioned in the section have also been provided based on the advice of veterinarians and members of animal council organizations.A schedule for the operational activities has also been provided in this section to help the customers to understand the different services offered at different times. The company aims to deliver exceptional service by employing qualified personnel’s. The report will also identify the reasons, why doggie steps as a company will be embracing talented professionals to provide high class of service in the city of Gurgaon. The section- human resource and human – resourc e policies have been made after indentifying the needs of the company and the goals that the company is aspiring for.A brief explanation of the job profiles of each valuable participant of our operation has been outlined to help the readers understand the amount of care and service that our customer will be given. At the end of the report, policies have been explained in brief to give an account of the codes and conduct that will be practices by our company. Finally, this report is an account of the business operations of a newly formed company that will be looking to enhance its prospects in the coming years.Several key strategies instrumental for the success of our company is formulated on the aspect; a new company entering a growing sector and aspirations to reach new heights in the field of pet-care. The founders of the company are aspiring to build a national brand by focussing on innovation, processes, distribution and people. In each section of this report, the aforementioned characteristics will be the basis to explain the strategies, figures and goals for the company. Through this report, we would like to encourage our business partners and customers to share our vision and join us on our mission.

Factors Contributing the Unplanned Pregnancy Among College Students Essay

Being a mother is the most important and challenging role for a woman. A woman should be financially and emotionally ready to get pregnant, give birth, and raise her child. However, at present there are many risks of unwanted pregnancy among young female university students, as the majority of today’s university students have prematurely engaged in sexual intercourse. Consequently, without preparation, some of them face with unwanted pregnancy while studying. Unwanted pregnancy among university students can cause many serious problems which can affect the body, mind, and social status of female university students who are not yet ready to be a mother. Unwanted pregnancy sometimes forces university female students to face a tragic or dead end in their lives. They are nervous as they can’t solve the problem and their parents may not accept this. Some female students may finally seek illegal abortion which can cause their lives. Even though they do not terminate their pregnancy, some of them are too young to give birth and they may have problems of miscarriages or great pains and difficulties when giving birth. These can affect the health of both the mothers and their children. Pregnant university students in some way are directly or indirectly forced to quite their studies to stay at home until they give birth. These unprepared young mothers often inevitably encounter financial problems. Stress and worries can harm their mentality. Many of them lack knowledge to deal with the problem and don’t know how to take care of their children. The problem can be two-folded. Typically, young people aged 10-20 years are not ready to become parents. Both financial stability and emotional maturity are the problem for parenting or caring responsibilities. Getting back into the education system is very difficult. University female students have to worry about losing the educational opportunities. They have to quit university to escape the pressures of society while university male students can still go to university regularly. Therefore, women are responsible for the problem unilaterally and live in society difficulty. Unwanted pregnancy among university students is caused by sexual intercourse which is they will be pregnant while they are not ready in all aspects. So, they should realize that unwanted pregnancy can cause many serious problems. Despite modern methods of family planning, and idespread information about how to use it, unplanned pregnancy is one of the most common medical problems faced by sexually active women under 45. Abortion, the most usual solution to the problem of unplanned pregnancy, is the most common operation among women in the fertile age range. It is impossible to calculate precisely just how many pregnancies each year are accidental. When medical sociologist, Anne Fleissig, asked a number of women who had given birth six weeks previously about whether their pregnancy was planned, she found that 31 percent of them were not. She concluded in a paper subsequently published in the British Medical Journal that almost a third of births could be the consequence of accidental pregnancies. If this were the case it would mean 310 000 accidental pregnancies in Britain every year. In fact, this is likely to be a conservative estimate. Because Anne Fleissig conducted her research into the circumstances in which women’s new babies were conceived, her sample did not include women who had conceived but ended the pregnancy by an abortion. When these unplanned pregnancies are considered as well, it suggests the real extent of accidental pregnancy is even higher than, perhaps as high as 50 per cent of all conceptions. According to the Olaitan Olukunmi Lanre, 2011, Research Journal of Medical Sciences, 5: 336-339, the findings were that unprotected sexual intercourse and poor parental care are the causes of unwanted pregnancy while termination of educational programme and medical complications for both the mothers and children are the effects of unwanted pregnancy. Abstinence and adequate teaching of sex education have been seen as measures to prevent unwanted pregnancy among the adolescents. It was recommended among others that sex education should taught as a subject at the secondary level and government should enact laws to compel parents to take proper care of their children to avoid all forms of immorality among the adolescents.

Isolation of Casein From Milk

In this experiment, casein was isolated from milk by means of isoelectric precipitation. A percent yield of 5% was obtained by the group.IntroductionMilk is an opaque white or bluish-white liquid secreted by the mammary glands of female mammals, serving for the nourishment of their young. This liquid, as secreted by cows, goats or certain other animals are used by humans as food and as a source of dairy products such as cheese and butter. Milk composition differs widely among species. Factors causing these variances include: the type of protein; the proportion of protein, fat, and sugar; the levels of various vitamins and minerals; and the size of the butterfat globules, and the strength of the curd. On average, cow milk contains 3.4% protein, 3.6% fat, and 4.6% lactose, 0.7% minerals and supplies 66 kcal of energy per 100 grams. Bovine milk normally contains 30-35 grams of protein per liter. Of which, 80% is arranged in casein micelles.Figure 1. Model of Casein SupramoleculeContaini ng a fairly high number of proline residues, which do not interact and no disulfide bridges, casein has, as a result, relatively minimal tertiary structure. It is comparatively hydrophobic, resulting to its poor solubility in water. Showing only limited resemblance with surfactant-type micellae in a sense that the hydrophilic parts reside at the surface and are spherical, casein is found in milk as a suspension of particles called â€Å"casein micelles.† On the other hand, the interior of a casein micelle is highly hydrated. The caseins in the micelles are held together by calcium ions and hydrophobic interactions.Casein’s isolelectric point is 4.6. It has a negative. The isoelectric point (pI) is the pH of a solution at which the net primary charge of a protein becomes zero. At a solution pH that is above the pI the surface of the protein is predominantly negatively charged and therefore like-charged molecules will exhibit repulsive forces. Likewise, at a solution pH that is below the pI, the surface of the protein is predominantly positively charged and repulsion between proteins occurs. However, at the pI the negative and positive charges cancel, repulsive electrostatic forces are reduced and the attraction forces predominate. The  attraction forces will cause aggregation and precipitation. The pI of most proteins is in the pH range of 4-6.Mineral acids, such as hydrochloric and sulfuric acid are used as precipitants. The greatest disadvantage to isoelectric point precipitation is the irreversible denaturation caused by the mineral acids. For this reason isoelectric point precipitation is most often used to precipitate contaminant proteins, rather than the target protein. The precipitation of casein during cheesemaking, or during production of sodium caseinate, is an isoelectric precipitation.tive charge in milk since milk’s pH is 6.6.1 Results and DiscssionCasein was isolated from milk by means of isoelectric precipitation. A percent yield of % was obtained by the group. Table 1 presents the data and results obtained from the experiment which includes: (1) the weight of powdered milk, (2) the initial pH, (3) the final pH, (4) the volume of the acetic acid used, (5) the weight of casein and (6) the percent yield. In order to compute for the percent yield, the weight of the isolated casein was divided by the weight of the powdered milk, and then multiplied by 100%.Table 1. Data and results of the experiment: Isolation of Casein from Milk. Before autoclaving, the isolate was a white-yellowish solid with smooth texture. After autoclaving, it turned into a brown solution with black precipitate. The filtrate was a yellowish solution. The general principle behind this experiment is that when casein is at its isoelectric point, it is generally at the pH where it is least soluble. As a result, casein precipitates at this pH. To explain further, casein is present in milk as calcium salt, calcium caseinate. It is a mixtur e of alpha, beta and kappa caseins to form a cluster called micelle. These micelles were responsible for the white opaque appearance of milk.The casein, as proteins, is made up of many hundreds of individual amino acids, each of which may have a positive or a negative charge, depending on the pH of the [milk] system. At some pH value, all the positive charges and all the negative charges on the [casein] protein will be in balance, so that the net charge on the protein will be zero. That pH value is known as the isoelectric point (IEP) of the protein and is generally the pH at which the protein is least soluble. For casein, the IEP is approximately 4.6 and it is the pH value at which acid casein is precipitated. In milk, which has a pH of about 6.6, the casein micelles have a net negative charge and are quite stable.During the addition of acid to milk, the negative charges on the outer surface of the micelle are neutralized (the phosphate groups are protonated), and the neutral prote in precipitates. The same principle applies when milk is fermented to curd. The lactic acid bacillus produces lactic acid as the major metabolic end-product of carbohydrate [lactose in milk] fermentation. The lactic acid production lowers the pH of milk to the IEP of casein. At this pH, casein precipitates.2. Experimental5g of powdered non-fat dry milk was dissolved in 20 mL warm distilled water in a 100-mL beaker. The solution was heated on a hot plate to 55 °C. The beaker was then removed from the hot plate. The initial pH of the milk solution was noted. A solution of 10% acetic acid was then added dropwise whole while being stirred by a stirring rod. The acid solution was continuously added until the pH reached 4.6. The volume of the acetic acid used was noted. The solution was left standing until a large amorphous mass was formed.The isolated casein was dried between filter papers. The casein was weighed and the percent yield was determined. The isolated casein was then divide d into two portions. One portion was used for acid/base hydrolysis. The other portion was stored in the refrigerator (to be characterized later using various chemical tests).

Introduction to Personality Paper Essay

This paper will discuss and explain the influences that contribute to personality development. The following paragraphs will include information that examines theoretical approach that is used to study personality development. This paper will also analyze the many different types of environmental and biological factors that play a role in personality development. But first we must know what personality is. As many theorist have tried so hard to define over the years there still is no one answer that everyone can agree on. So what exactly is personality? Although no single definition is acceptable to all personality theorists, we can say that personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior. Traits contribute to individual differences in behavior, consistency of behavior over time, and stability of behavior across situations. Traits may be unique, common to some group, or shared by the entire species, but their pattern is different for each individual. Thus each person, though like others in some ways, has a unique personality. Characteristics are unique qualities of an individual that include such attributes as temperament, physique, and intelligence (Feist, J., & Feist, G. J.2009). So basically personality consists of set of characteristics that manifest into certain behaviors that a person may ordinarily display. Factors that Influence Personality The following paragraphs will include information on the wide variety of environmental and biological influences that contribute to the development of a person’s unique personality. Some argue that heredity plays a significant role in how personality types are developed. Some say that perception is the main influence on personality development. The role of perception and cognitive development plays a significant role in how a young child views themselves in the world. Some children that come from broken homes see the world in a different light because their home life is unstable in some way making them feel insecure about themselves and the people around them. For example, If an impressionable child is constantly told they are stupid or bad then it may become a self fulfilling prophecy if they take on that type of negative thinking thus shaping their pessimistic characteristics. That is why parenting is such an important and critical role to play and in order to raise healthy and well rounded children a parent must needs to be strict yet supportive and loving. Socializing is another important part of child rearing as well. Even though parenting practices all over the world vary in so many ways, the ways in which girls and boys are socialized are always different to some extent. For example, boys are quickly introduced to their responsibilities and roles that they will play as a young man and these learned behaviors will carry on into adulthood. However, regardless of what a child is taught by their parents, in some cases it does not matter what they were taught certain events, experiences, and environmental factors can shape and alter personality development. The Theoretical Approach In order to understand the theoretical approach we must first recognize what makes a good theory. When analyzing personality there are many factors to take into consideration. One of the main two theories circle around personality development theories is the well known debate of nature versus nurture. Some theorists argue that nurturing plays a more significant role in personality development than the nature of a person based on heredity and other biological predispositions. Sigmund Freud is a popular name in psychoanalytic theories because he believed that sex and aggression were the basic motivational forces for human behavior. Freudian theories emphasized how our subconscious desires are contributors to our personality through our egos. All theorist can agree on one thing personality development is a very complex process that is influence by many external and internal factors. Alfred Adler had a significant influence on many theorists that came after him with his theories that mad e a great deal of sense. One of the tenants for the first theory is that the main source of motivation stems from the need to achieve success and even superiority (Adler, 1964). Many people can agree with this because that is what gets them out of bed in the morning even though they are still tired. The second theory was that people perceptions shaped how they viewed the world and themselves. I find this one very interesting as people are defined as normal or acceptable based societal norms or standards. Often teenagers change the way they act when they are around their peers and sometimes these changes are permanent. One perspectives and perceptions of people, places and things contribute to how they feel about the world and how they should conduct themselves in it. Social motives of acceptance also feed this theory as well. Organ dialect is another one of Alders terminologies used when describing body language. For example the elderly man with shaking hands struggling to open a jar may express to someone watching to step in and help him faster than words can say. Adler recognized how the individual personality operates in ways that are consistent with their motives. Observational learning is a critical aspect to learning and teaching and that does contribute to personal growth and understanding. Adler made it clear that as soon as we recognize that the conscious mind is closely linked to the unconscious mind. Adler states that the conscious life becomes unconscious as soon as we fail to understand it. Environmental influences provided by a child’s parents helps to contribute to their social interests which directly influence a child’s early socialization skills. Infancy is an intricate process of social development mainly developed through the relationship between the relationships with the mother or another mother like caretaker who possessed some level of social interest in the infants well being. The seeds of social desires are planted during infancy (Adler, 1964). Conclusion There is no single definition of personality however, all theorist agree that early childhood development contributes to the type of personality that a person develops. Many factors like heredity and environment contribute to ones individual growth and shape their perception as they mature. Overall personality can be identified through behavior patterns and characteristics that are linked to those behaviors. Individual perceptions of what is right and wrong contribute to the development of morale and values that affect personality. Many factors make up the full picture of what is a person’s true personality but overall it depends on perceptions and motives those two factors produce behaviors that become more and more consistent as desires are fulfilled in the lifelong pursuit of happiness. References Theories of personality (Adler, 1964). Retrieved from https://portal.phoenix.edu/classroom/coursematerials/psy_405/20130108/OSIRIS:43747563 Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of personality (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Retrieved from https://portal.phoenix.edu/classroom/coursematerials/psy_405/20130108/OSIRIS:43747563