Criminology Theories-Differential Association and Strain Theory

In criminology, theories play an important role especially in understanding the settings, motivations, assets, behaviors and actions of criminals. These theories serve as their guidelines in order to detect and sometimes read the plans of their enemies. Unfortunately, these theories are not one hundred percent accurate, however, learning these aspects are still essential. Differential Association and Strain Theories are most commonly used in the field of criminology. These theories aim to explain the totality and the instinctive or social development of criminal ideation in a person.The theories mentioned are extremely necessary for authorities to understand and to be familiar with. Criminal Theories – Differential Association Theory vs. Strain Theory Theories in criminology tend to be unclear and lacking in justifiable broadness. The lack of clarity can sometimes end up in apparent inconsistencies, although more attention to the structure of a scientific theory and its requir ements might reveal more agreement among theorists than now recognized. In fact, rarely do available theories offer guidance that does not require heroic leaps of conjecture.Practicality is not a requirement of a valid theory since theories might be void but still of use. However, condition for a theory to be considered certifiable is none other than practicality. Criminology is the scientific study of crime; hence, theories need to have adequate basis in order to prove true and be considered useful. Another denotation of the term Criminology is the study of law making, law breaking and the response to law breaking. This definition of criminology is also a useful way to categorize the theories.Theories of law breaking are the most common and essential in the field of Criminology. The questions that usually come out is â€Å"why do people commit crime? † or â€Å"What makes countries more prone to crime than other? † These theories serve as the guide of practice and a p rotocol to assist the implementation of law and reading of crimes (Vito, Maahs & Holmes, 2007 p. 14). The research paper aims to describe specific theories and analyze its over-all concept as well as comparisons. The main theories highlighted in this paper are Differential Association Theory and Strain Theory.These theories are explained and scrutinized in order to obtain various points of essentials and utilize it in order to come up with a critical analysis of the said theories. The following are questions that are considered objectives of this research work. a. What are the theories of Differential Association Theory and Strain Theory? Discuss the concepts embedded in each theory and obtain the important data present. b. What are the comparisons and differentiations of the following theories? What are the important points to be noted in each theory?The research study does not deal with any under topics except for these theories. By the end of the paper, a conclusion regarding the over-all study is present. Differential Association Theory The Differential Theory has been brought by Edwin Sutherland, and this has been considered as one of the best constitutions in the field of criminology. The evolution of criminology and formation of this theory have started because of this man’s desire to have a new direction in the field of criminology. He has rejected the biological determinism and the extreme individualism of psychiatry, as well as economic explanations of crime.The need for money or resources is never a motivating factor for a person to commit a crime. Due to this curious out-searching, he has arrived in the theory of Differential Association Theory. Another term for this theory is the â€Å"Social Learning Theory†, wherein psycho-cognitive and analytic observations are implemented. Different association proposes that criminal associations and normative conflict vary across community types; hence, this variation is linked in the rationale for varying crime rates (Hoffman 2003). The concept of this theory states that delinquency is learned just as all other forms of behavior are learned.It implies that Different Association Theories are those associated in various factors such as changing community, the individual itself, the environment and family upbringing. These are the things that influence the person’s behavioral concept, and if not guided properly, criminal acts may be produced. Sutherland (1947) proposed that crime and delinquency are learned in small-group contexts through the acquisition of a preponderance of messages defining law-violating behavior as acceptable or appropriate. (Dennis & Neff, 2007)Moreover, this theory emphasizes on the genetic origins of criminal behavior, thus implying biological initiatives in crime control. In contrast to both classical and biological theories, Differential Association Theory poses no obvious threats to the humane treatment of those identified as criminals (Hoff man 2003). The conditions of this theory also suggests that the more frequent, intense, salient, and enduring a youth's exposure to prodelinquency definitions, the more likely they will be to adopt these definitions and to use them to rationalize or justify engaging in delinquent behavior.Delinquency stems from a positive identification with law-violating behavior learned in interaction within primary groups, which is an exact opposite of strain-induced negative emotions (Dennis & Neff, 2007). Testing Theory Validity According to the journal of Van Gundy and Rebellon (2006), differential association theory can be used in tracing out the behavior of crime acts in an individual. A test has been conducted in teenagers who are into use of Marijuana. Specifically, among respondents who reported using other illicit drugs in 1980, only 2.8% simultaneously reported that they had abstained from the use of marijuana in the same year.The researchers gathered these individuals and they obtain a n interview as well as drug sample from this group of people. The focus is too asses the origins of criminal behavior guided by the conditions of marijuana usage. According to the respondents who have been reported using drugs other than marijuana, the presence of moral attachments, commitments or involvements are either fragile, low or absent.It has been noted that these individuals have higher association with substance-using peers than do those who report abstaining from such drugs. These results suggest that variables derived from existing delinquency theory are capable of explaining about fifty percent of the relationship between prior marijuana use and other illicit drug use. In terms of differential association, the results obtained from the two controlled groups lies differently. The presence of reinforcement agents (peers, drug-using community, etc) and negative events are also being examined if these factors can directly affect the said behavior.It has been noted that the individuals who have been using other drugs aside from marijuana have intense negative feelings towards family, difficulties and other personal areas of their lives. On the other hand, the other group also manifests negative feelings; however, the difference is the degree and coping towards these causations. In the end of their experiment, the criminal behavior that develops in a person is not brought by economical needs or the problems itself but with the environment present around the client. Strain Theory Strain theory is another proposed subject in this argument.The theory of Strain suggests that a key motivational factor in delinquency and misconduct is strain, which is some perceived or actual state of discomfort. The strain of pursuing goals within diverse opportunity structures may lead to adaptations such as crime, delinquency, and other deviant behavior (Hoffman 2003). One example in this statement shows when a teenager desires for money, since the things that money can bu y–nice clothes, CDs, movies, and so on—and the lack of money causes inability to obtain such wants. This event now produces strain in the part of the teenager.This strain in turn leads to attempts to resolve the problem through theft (a direct attempt to resolve financial insolvency) or alcohol and drug use (an indirect attempt to deal with the shame of insolvency). Either way, the theory of strain works by the induction of psychological strain itself (Apel et. Al 2003). Another definition provided by Dennis and Neff (2007) supports the claims of Apel (2003). General strain theory (GST) suggests that delinquency results from a youth's emotional response to negative relationships with others.The negative relationships embody situations in which a youth fails to obtain a valued goal, loses something of value, or is presented with some type of noxious or aversive stimuli. Thus, a juvenile who is failing in school, or who loses contact with a parent due to abandonment or d eath, or who experiences some type of victimization can be said to be experiencing strain. The emotion of anger or frustration resulting from the experience of strain, rather than the strain itself, leads the youth to engage in law-violating behavior.The main point in this statement is the occurrence of strain is not directly the valued point of origin in the case of Stain theory. The reason behind is the power of a person to control or manipulate the situation is still present; however, if in case the person breaks down because of this strain experience, that is the time wherein a person manifests valiant and law-breaking actions. Moreover, different types of delinquency or crime results from different forms of adaptation to anomie-induced strain. Property crimes, such as theft, represented innovative adaptations.Using alcohol and other drugs, on the other hand, could be thought of as a retreatist mode of adaptation; i. e. , behavior that not only symbolically rejects the instituti onalized means to achieve a positive goal, but also rejects the goal itself (Dennis & Joan, 2007). Strain comes from various origins depending on the case situation of an individual. Not every case of a person entitles him in a single strain response but rather, multi-evident causations. Using alcohol and drugs, for example, can be considered forms of â€Å"self-medication,† which may provide a sense of relief.Often than not, financially or resource depressed societies are more likely to be populated by â€Å"strained† individuals. In this case, these communities suffer from more blocked opportunity structures. Hence these communities tend to create an atmosphere conducive to anger and frustration, key antecedents to delinquent behavior. Such kind of community breeds crime, as according to the theory, and acts of wrongdoing. Differential Association Theory vs. Strain Theory Differential theory by definition stated above originates from the intrinsic characteristic of a person, influenced by the individual’s environment and molding assists.The criminal behavior is primarily because of influence of those individuals who are also linked in the same act of criminal acts. A person learns to commit crimes little by little until a person commits it without any hesitation. The psychosocial environment greatly suggests such conditioners as the primary causation of crimes. The raise of crime rates are because of the instilled negative thoughts, inappropriate guidance and lack of attachments, commitments or relationships. On the other hand, Strain theory talks about the causation of crimes not directly because of strain but due to failure in tolerating these kinds of stimuli.They are both result of negative impregnation of environmental pressures that in the end leads the client vulnerable to breakdown. The theory suggests that a person performs acts of delinquency not because of attachments or relationships but rather because of the pressuring strai n. The crime rates, according to this theory, justify the increased criminal persona in places wherein financial depression or extreme difficulties are present. The last resort of the individuals is nothing but to commit crimes.In an example given, a person is ready to kill just to get the material possession that the person wants to acquire. We can determine some connections between the two since both of them are etiological conceptualizations of criminal behavior. In the case wherein, a depressed community is surrounding a person, significantly full of drug addicts and negative and influencers, a person still strives to obtain moral life. Let us say that this person has a good job as well as good family relationships. The strain in his job is greatly pressuring his everyday living.Fortunately, the person can still withstand such condition. However, because of the influence brought by the environment, such as the person’s peers, he begins declining his work productivity. Giv en a situation wherein his brothers are hospitalized and he just got fired from work, he badly needs money. In this case, the person breaks down and resort to theft. The situation calls forth occurrence of the two theories in simultaneous condition. The surrounding environment of the client influences the breeding of negative emotions, which cause the person to have fragile stand in his principles.The strain theory becomes evident when the strain of loosing a job and need for money enters in. In the end of the discussion, the person commits the crime based on influential factors as well as straining. Conclusion In conclusion, of this paper, the answer to the proposed questions in the introduction is properly addressed in the body of the research paper. The significance of such theory in criminology is the substantial or even estimated estimate analysis of the person’s criminal behavior origin.In such cases, the authorities require to learn such principles because this can hel p understand the motives, intentions and plans of the whole crime actions as well as the criminal itself. However, we should not be limited in these two theories alone since, human beings vary the same as their intentions and modes of focus. These theories are not applicable in other cases, therefore the best thing to do is to understand the whole concept of theory and at the same time train the assessment skills in order to avoid theoretical falsehood.

Language acquisition Essay

Contemporary researchers, who are interested in the language teaching, ELT publishing, second language acquisition and the theory of language in general while referring the process of a mother tongue influence on a foreign language teaching, usually apply the terms: ‘Language Interference’, ‘Cross-Linguistic Influence’, or ‘Transfer’. All of the terms imply that the language produced by foreign learners is that all the languages of the world have similarities which make a foreign language more familiar to a learner. Thus, while learning a foreign language students try to look for similarities with their mother tongue. These similarities in many cases depend on individual perceptions and in this way can be deceptive. Modern scientists suggest that the idea that the language produced by foreign learners can never be pure, it is unavoidably influenced by learners’ mother tongue. Sometimes mother tongue affects learning a foreign language so much, that the foreign language becomes distorted. So, the foreign language learnt should be better termed an ‘inter-language’ and, as Nicholls, D points out in the article What is learner English? , â€Å"it [the foreign language learnt] will always be a blend of the foreign language and the mother tongue. † (Nicholls 2002). As it was already mentioned above, the similarities found between a mother tongue and the foreign language a hindrance and a help, causing positive and negative transfer. (Nicholls 2002). Positive transfer is found in correct ‘guesses’, and the prompts, which help a learner to get the things right. Though positive transfer is a rich area of study, it is not in the scope of the study of the paper. Further the paper will discuss the negative transfer or the language interference that causes the learner errors in the process of a foreign language acquisition. In the sphere of contemporary education, the English language produced by learners is referred as ‘learner English’. An opposing term to ‘learner English’ is ‘Non-learner English’, the meaning of those is closely connected with the notions: ‘Standard English’ and ‘correct variant of English’. So, following the ideas of scientists, the English produced by learners will always be ‘foreign’. In order to make the further research more clear, it is necessary to define the main terms of the theory. First of all, the theory of language interference operates with the notions: first language and foreign language. Walters K. and Brody M. in their article What’s language got to do with it? define first language as the first language acquired by a person since his/her birth or childhood. If a person learns two or more languages in his/her infancy, then the person is considered to have two or more first languages. (Walters and Brody 2005) In this way, the term ‘First Language’ is very close to the terms ‘Native Language’ and ‘Mother Tongue’. However, the notion of mother tongue presupposes that the person learns the languages from infancy in the home. (Walters and Brody 2005) All in all, native language, as well mother tongue, and first language are learnt by a child mostly unconsciously and involuntary. A child may learn his/her mother tongue even if no special attempts at teaching are made. Also, the first language serves as a spoken medium of communication and â€Å"is largely achieved from random exposure. † (Encyclopedia Britannica 2004). In contrast to the first language, foreign language is taught purposefully. It is not necessarily acquired in one’s childhood or in one’s home. Walters K. and Brody M. write about a foreign language: it is â€Å"learned or used by a person for limited and/or specific purposes such as business transactions or reading. A foreign language is not learned with the in-tent of using it extensively in daily life. † (Walters and Brody 2005) So, another difference is found out. The first language is used in a person’s everyday life, whereas the spheres of usage of a foreign language are limited by place and by time. In other words, students speak or think in a foreign language during their lessons and at their classroom. When the lesson of a foreign language is over, students naturally go back to their mother tongue. This feature, certainly, gives more advantages to students’ mother tongue and encourages them to use their native language in a wider range, more ‘extensively’. The last not only fosters better development of a mother tongue in comparison with that of a foreign language, but also it puts the mother tongue in a dominating position over the foreign language. However, the notion of foreign language should not be confused with the notion of second language.

I, Robot Film Essay

â€Å"I, Robot†, being the film released in 2004, has gained the huge popularity of the audience and the approval of many critics. In fact, the opening weekend proved to be very successful for the film that indicates to the huge interest of the public. In this respect, it is worth mentioning the fact that â€Å"I, Robot† has a budget $120,000,000 and the opening weekend in the US only has brought over $52 mln. (I, Robot, 2008). In such a way, it is possible to estimate that the film was basically very successful since it still remains quite popular, especially among connoisseurs of science-fiction. Obviously, the popularity of the film and the interest of the pubic is not only the result of a successful promotional campaign and celebrities starring in the film, but it is mainly due to the quality of the film that made â€Å"I, Robot† so popular and successful. In this respect, it should be said that â€Å"I, Robot† is a film focused on the problem of techn ologies of control. Speaking about the plot of the film, it should be said that the action takes place in 2035 when robots are widely used as assistance of human beings. In such a situation the main character, Chicago Police Detective Del Spooner (Will Smith) seems to be a bit paranoid because he is a kind of robotophobic. Strangely enough but it is him who is appointed to investigate the murder of Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell) who works at US Robotics. The number one suspect is a Nestor Class 5 robot who calls himself Sonny. This is where the paradox and the main dilemma appears: if Sonny really has killed a human, than he possesses consciousness and he can think and act independently from a human. Consequently if all this is true than robots can easily raise against their human masters and establish total control over the world. custom essays In such a way, the main theme of the film is revealed through the opposition of robots that gained consciousness and human beings who turned from masters that controlled not only robots but everything in the world and in their life into beings who have grown to become completely dependent upon their robo ts† (Wilson 2002:388). In fact this lead to the logical question the audience has to answer: â€Å"at what point does artificial intelligence cease to be artificial and true consciousness arise?† (Wilson 2002:389). Moreover, it is not less important to realize the consequences of such a shift in the machines created due to the most sophisticated technologies mankind possesses. The director of the film successfully used the scenes where the large masses of robots are shown resembling a kind of army which is able to destroy the mankind as soon as it goes out of human’s control. At this point the scenes in which robots attack humans are particularly noteworthy. Even though the director of the film probably pays too much attention of action scenes and violence, but still this violence does not seem to be excessive. Instead, it is intentionally used to demonstrate the power of the machines created by humans and which rebelled against humans’ domination. In such a situation, the first robot that actually started to act differently, i.e. the robot, who has gone out of control of humans, resembles a kind of Frankenstein, a creature that rebels against its creator. On the other hand, the robot does not produce an absolutely negative impression. In fact, the robot provokes rather controversial feelings since the only problem of the robot is its actions which are wrong and which are not conditioned by humans, but which, on the other hand, are too human. In such a way, the rebellion of robots may be viewed in the context of comparison of humans with robots. The latter rebel against humans but they behave in a similar way as humans do, the only thing they want to change is to accomplish humans efforts to create perfect creatures and create the perfect world. However, the film reveals the fact that in such an idealized world there is no room for humans that are too imperfect and their strife for perfection is just their vanity and an attempt to play God. In this respect, the main character is quite symbolic since he comprises vices which cannot be attributed to a real hero that is supposed to save the world from robots. In actuality, Del Spooner is a bit paranoid person who has some inexplicable phobia of robots and machines, a person who lives practically in the permanent state of fear. On the other hand, he is ready to face all the challenges in his life and he is ready to struggle. The main problem is whether humans can control their technologies and what are the consequences of the unplanned technological progress. Probably, the question is even more general: what human beings are and whether they can create working machines with high intelligence and remain safe. The director poses an eternal question what human beings are and willingly or not a viewer may have got an impression that humans are also someone’s creatures, as robots in â€Å"I, Robot†. I Robot I robot is a movie based on the works of an atheistic man, in which there are many theological themes present, which play toward the same questions we ask about our faith each and every day. I Robot is a movie based on the works of Victor Asimnov, a man who wrote several short stories about robots and human kinds interaction. The movie takes place in futuristic Chicago in the year 2035, at a time there are so many robots, that there will soon be one of them in each home. The story revolves around detective Del Spooner (Will Smith), a homicide detective who hates robots. The reason being that he had a bad experience with them, ever since a robot saved his life in a car accident when it could have saved a young girl instead. The movie starts off when the scientist who repaired Will Smith after the accident, named Alfred Lanning, is found dead in the lobby of the U.S. Robotics office tower. Del Spooner (Will Smith) assumes that the scientist’s death was not a suicide attempt, but a murder committed by a robot named Sonny. Everyone tells Spooner that he’s crazy, because robots cannot go against the three laws by which they are to abide by at any cost. THE THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first and second rule. Every robot is programmed to protect humans at all costs, and to obey them unless such obedience would harm a human life. Spooner very much doubts this because various robots keep trying to kill him, from a home-demolition robot, to a whole truckload of metal men that ambush him while he drives through a highway tunnel. The story continues, and the new robots go on a rampage, even†¦

A Doll House Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A Doll House - Essay Example as leaders of states and contributors in the development of various fields such as Science, Technology, the Arts, Music and other branches that are encompassed by the society. Nora’s character in Henrik Ibsen’s play depicts all of the conventional qualities expected of women during the 19th century. Women in the family were expected to stay at home, tend to the needs of her husband and children, keep the household in top shape and grant the wishes and commands of her husband which was the master of the house. Women back then were also forbidden to interfere with financial matters including loans and only a handful of females were allowed to work in offices. They were also not allowed to speak openly of their opinions because they were labeled as vulgar if they speak freely of what they have in mind, which was also evident in Ibsen’s play. In contrast to the present functions of women, the 19th century women who were expected to stay at home and not allowed to work had changed over the years due to the increasing needs of a family to subsist required the females to also get hold of a job. These working women were gradually accepted by the changing society and at present, women who support their families hand in hand with her husband are widely accepted and are no longer a controversial issue as it was in the 19th century. Ironically though, women today spend greater time in offices than they spend at home and with their families as opposed to women during the older times who barely went out of their homes and were only allowed to go out if they were permitted by their husbands. The aspect of today’s women as a co-provider of the family is in direct contrast to the portrayal of a 19th century woman in A Doll’s House wherein Nora’s husband, Torvald, acts as the sole provider for the family and firmly believes that the man should be the only provider in the family. In the play A Doll’s House, Nora mentioned that she was secretly working on some

Qualitative Interface Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Qualitative Interface Evaluation - Essay Example Since this task is important in software development, experts have agreed on eight most basic characters of a good user interface. While evaluating the interfaces in this paper it will be important to look at these characteristics because they will be the basis of over evaluation. The techniques for interface evaluation among other parameters will be looking at these characteristics. They include: 1. Clear The main aim of any interface to enable users access information and complete their tasks with a lot of ease. Have a clear interface where icons and the menus are well placed and have a clear meaning is important for a successful interface. Users should not be frustrated by the symbols or icons on the interface, one should provide a pop-up message with details of the function of that interface this makes it more clear. While pointing at that icon you may not know the function of it but a pop up message appears which explains the function. 2. Concise This means straight to the point users do not want a lot of details in the interface. While making the interface clear one should not be trapped into adding a lot of information to overload the interface. The icons or details should be short to the point. The volume icon has a scale and icons which shows the high and low volume level. Although it is not easy to keep things, clear and concise developers should strive to achieve this. Sources( http://www.usabilitypost.com) 3. Familiar A good interface is one that a new user can easily learn and be able to use from the previous interfaces. While developers strive for uniqueness in their interface one thing should be clear, the interface should be familiar to the users for them to have interest to learn and use them effectively. Naturally, users do not like new things, different environment which they will struggle to adapt. Things that are familiar or terms which one uses should be familiar to the users of the system. A system that uses icons should be keen on the ty pe of the icons they use because the context of the system is very important. The screen shot below shows the user that he/she does not need to learn more about the interface because these are the tasks that they want to accomplish using this application hence easy to use. Sources ( http://www.usabilitypost.com) 4. Responsive This means that the system interface should be fast, users like an interface that enables them to accomplish tasks within a short period. It is frustrating for users to wait longer as their requests are being loaded slowly. The user should also have feedback from the system such as the percentage of work done by the system, remaining time and completion status either failed or successful. When the program is loading for instance, a progressing bar or a spinning wheel indicates the task status. The program below shows the time elapsed, time remaining and the percentage of the task done. 5. Consistent Users will learn and advance well in their interface usage if the design system is consistent. Having a system with different interfaces for each version of the program disorients the users. The placement of the Icons, tabs and other items on the interface must be consistent. For instance Microsoft interface are consistent for its application package which enables users to easily adapt from one application to another. 6. Attractive Making an interface attractive is important because users will enjoy performing their tasks with it and probably look forward to using the

What Is Poverty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What Is Poverty - Essay Example But look at it this way, if America which is considered as one of the wealthiest nations in the world has this problem, how much more in other developing economies? The article might seem like an exaggeration of what poverty is. Yet at the eyes of Africans and Asians, this is just a minute detail of the life they are living. The article defines poverty as being dirty, tired, cold during winter and having insects all over you in summer, asking for other’s people help, remembering how you are treated rudely, and having no access to what the rich call basic necessities. In a way, this definition of poverty encapsulates how it is to be poor in comparison to the rich people around you. The article has been right to point out that poverty devoids people of a chance of being clean since there is no money to buy soap and sometimes even water. Poverty also makes one susceptible to the cold in winter and the insects in the summer. Because of our culture of measuring and accepting an individual based on his social status, the poor also struggles with the lack of social circles and being constrained in their immediate environment. Lastly, it means having to be sick, uneducated and remain poor the rest of your life. It also is giving up your relationships because it burdens you more. This account of poverty from a person in the US is nothing compared to what is experienced in third world countries. In these nations, poverty goes beyond not having a decent home and decent clothing—poverty means having no roof to shield you from the sun and rain and no clothes to cover your body. It also means living in dumpsites and collecting garbage with the hope of finding thrown away food. It is asking for help and desperately stealing to fill your stomach. Yet, in third world countries, poverty and good relationship is much more honored than riches without the people you love. At most instances, poverty

Essay about beethoven Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

About beethoven - Essay Example Not too long after his lessons with Haydn, Beethoven was employed by Prince Lichnowsky, who was more lenient about Beethoven’s musical independence. Between the years of 1792 and 1802, Beethoven began publicly performing his compositions that consisted mainly of keyboard and chamber works. Unfortunately, it was also during this time that Beethoven discovered that he was going deaf. During 1802 to 1812, despite his disadvantage, Beethoven penned some of his most famous compositions, including Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, his most well-known work (Yudkin, pg. 199). Besides this symphony, he also wrote five other symphonies, four concertos, five string quartets, an opera, numerous orchestral overtures, and many other chamber pieces. By 1817, when Beethoven was forty-seven, he was completely deaf. This did not stop him from doing what he did best, though. Indeed, while he was unable to hear anything, Beethoven composed and performed the Ninth Symphony, as well as the last of his piano sonatas. The Ninth Symphony is yet another of his works that has outlived Beethoven, and is considered to be his most complex. Alas, it was in 1827 that Beethoven died of natural

Smoking in Public Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Smoking in Public - Essay Example Nonsmokers who inhale used smoke breathe in the same dangerous chemicals as the smokers do. The more smoke one inhales, the more unsafe chemicals one will breathe in. There is no danger-free level of presentation. Used smoke from cigarettes can bring about or exacerbate numerous ailments, including pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma, and coronary illness. The individuals who are presented to elevated amounts of smoke on a long haul premise are prone to create ceaseless, possibly deadly infections. Indeed, even short introduction can bring about wellbeing issues, for example, migraines, stuffy nose, disturbance of the sinuses and eyes, hacking and can likewise trigger other breathing or heart issues (National Research Council). It is a particularly serious issue for people with allergies or chronic diseases. The U.S. Surgeon General discharged condemning discoveries from the first government-authorized investigation of cigarette smoking in 1964 (National Research Council). This report unequivocally connected smoking to specific malignancies and various other wellbeing burdens, successfully moving the issue out of the hands of sponsors and once more into the general wellbeing space (National Research Council). The report started the start of almost fifty years of tobacco industry regulation, starting with marking laws and confinements on promoting. Regardless of persistent battles on public awareness, industry contenders may in any case market cigarettes, however just under the spotlight of government investigation. Significantly, a smoking ban is an open policy that incorporates criminal laws and regulations that preclude smoking in certain spaces of public use and workspaces. There are changing meanings of smoking utilized in this enactment. The strictest definitions characterize smoki ng at this very moment inward breath of any tobacco substance while the loosest characterize smoking presently lit tobacco item. Smoking bans are likewise forced in light of the fact

The Development of Indian-EuroAmerican Relations from Contact to Essay

The Development of Indian-EuroAmerican Relations from Contact to Removal - Essay Example This relationship has consistently been marred by violence, broken promises and mistrust, and remains a key part of the American history. Early Indian-EuroAmerican relations were an ever-changing and involving area, where perceptions on both sides were not static. Indians had the ability to play different European powers off against each other, and, likewise, the Europeans did this with different Indian tribes. At this time, the two groups existed in a continually revolving relationship. Some tribes became nomadic, taking advantage of the newly introduced horses, while others settled down into permanent villages and made use of agriculture supplemented by hunting and gathering. Even before the first contact with the Europeans, Indians represented a diverse set of tribes that had their own interests, waged their own wars and formed their own alliances. Once the contact had occurred, Indians often welcomed alliances with the Europeans, or bought weapons and goods that made their lives easier (Howe 26-28). Relations between Indians and Europeans were marred by a significant effect that the Europeans had on their population. As the Europeans came in contact with Indians, they often passed on diseases which they (Europeans) had resistance to, but the Indians did not. In general, this transference was not intentional, and in most cases the Europeans were probably not aware that they had the diseases, as their immune systems fought against the effects. These diseases resulted in a high number of fatalities (Howe 28). At this point in Indian-EuroAmerican relations, there was a strong focus on integrating the two cultural groups by ‘westernizing’ the Indians. Many Indian tribes adopted aspects of the European culture and often chose which components of the new culture to accept and which to ignore. For example, the Navajo tribe moved from being nomads to weavers, sheepherders and silversmiths. Many other tribes or individuals converted to Christianity while others maintained their traditional religious beliefs. Some believed that they should unify with the Europeans, creating a peaceful coexistence throughout the United States. Others felt that Indian tribes should unify with one another against the Europeans (Howe 27). Some tribes created alliances and treaties with the Europeans to secure their own tribal rights and to work on the creation of a unified culture. One example of this is the Muskogee tribe, known to the Europeans as the Creek Indians. The tribe negotiated with George Washington’s administration to create a treaty, and developed a legal written code and national council. However, the influence of the Europeans on this tribe was not uniform, and a dissident faction called â€Å"Red Stick† arose, which resented the influence that Europeans were having on their culture. The uprising was not successful and resulted in a significant amount of bloodshed (Howe 28-29). The war between the United States and Britain in 1812 also had a significant impact on Indian-EuroAmerican relations. Despite the fact that some tribes attempted to choose neutrality in the war, most were compelled to choose to support one side or another. This resulted in many Indians fighting alongside either Americans or Europeans against Indian families or friends (Howe 29). This was an important factor after the war too, because many Indians fought on the losing

Taxation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 8

Taxation - Essay Example The decision of the amount of public opinions pay to devour today and the amount to put something aside for future utilization is among the most essential financial choices. It can have suggestions not just for the prosperity of the family units taking the choices, additionally for the rate at which the economy contributes and develops, and consequently the prosperity of future eras. (Wildasin And Boadway, 1995) . Taxation is one of numerous arrangements that influence the level of reserve funds. Other huge ones incorporate the arrangement of social protection, particularly benefits, additionally wellbeing and inability protection, welfare administrations and instruction; exchanges of different sorts; and obligation approach (Hmrc.gov.uk, 2014). None the less, the standards by which sparing conduct reacts to these different approaches are fundamentally the same. In the UK, people had the tendency of having progressive saving. This ensured that there were cash reserves to take care of a rainy day. Nevertheless, today the culture of progressive saving is dying out; partly because on the tax that is imposed on saving. The culture of saving needs one to have the highest levels of self-control. The UK government has imposed a 10% rate tax for saving. This means that the government gets 10% of the money that you have saved and are continuing to save (Tax aid, 2010). The system that is in use on taxation of saving in the UK is not fair and entails a lot of detail. This is so much in the accounts that gain interests on their savings. Saving is both important in ensuring economic growth and personal monetary security. There are several purposes for saving taxation in the tax system. Tax is based on income and savings of an individual and the difference between these two is the way tax on savings is treated. Tax on savings is always equal to the

Healthcare Finance Essay Example for Free

Healthcare Finance Essay Houston Dialysis Center is a department of Houston General Hospital, a full-service, not-for-profit acute care hospital with 325 beds. The bulk of the hospital’s facilities are devoted to inpatient care and emergency services. However, a 100,000 square-foot section of the hospital complex is devoted to outpatient services. Currently, this space has two primary uses. About 80 percent of the space is used by the Outpatient Clinic, which handles all routine outpatient services offered by the hospital. The remaining 20 percent is used by the Dialysis Center. The Dialysis Center performs hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, which are alternative processes for removing wastes and excess water from the blood for patients with end-stage renal (kidney) disease. In hemodialysis, blood is pumped from the patient’s arm through a shunt into a dialysis machine, which uses a cleansing solution and an artificial membrane to perform the functions of a healthy kidney. Then, the cleansed blood is pumped back into the patient through a second shunt. In peritoneal dialysis, the cleansing solution is inserted directly into the abdominal cavity through a catheter. The body naturally cleanses the blood through the peritoneum—a thin membrane that lines the abdominal cavity. In general, hemodialysis patients require three dialyses a week, with each treatment lasting about four hours. Patients who use peritoneal dialysis change their own cleansing solutions at home, typically about six times per day. This procedure can be done manually when active or automatically by machine when sleeping. However, the patient’s overall condition, as well as the positioning of the catheter, must be monitored regularly at the Dialysis Center. The hospital allocates facilities costs (which primarily consist of building depreciation and interest on long-term debt) on the basis of square footage. Currently, the facilities cost allocation rate is $15 per square foot, so the facilities cost allocation is 20,000 Ãâ€" $15 = $300,000 for the Dialysis Center and 80,000 Ãâ€" $15 = $1,200,000 for the Outpatient Clinic. All other overhead costs, such as administration, finance, maintenance, and  housekeeping, are lumped together and called â€Å"general overhead.† These costs are allocated on the basis of 10 percent of the revenues of each patient service department. The current allocation of general overhead is $270,000 for the Dialysis Center and $1,600,000 for the Outpatient Clinic, which results in total overhead allocations of $570,000 for the Dialysis Center and $2,800,000 for the Outpatient Clinic. Recent growth in volume of the Outpatient Clinic has created a need for 25 percent more space than currently assigned. Because the Outpatient Clinic is much larger than the Dialysis Center, and because its patients need frequent access to other departments within the hospital, the decision was made to keep the Outpatient Clinic in its current location and to move the Dialysis Center to another location to free up space. Such a move would give the Outpatient Clinic 100,000 square feet, a 25 percent increase. After attempting to find new space for the Dialysis Center within the hospital complex, it was soon determined that a new 20,000 square foot building must be built. This building will be situated two blocks away from the hospital complex, in a location that is much more convenient for dialysis patients (and Center employees) because of ease of parking. The new space, which can be more efficiently utilized than the old space, allows for a substantial increase in patient volume, although it is unclear whether the move will result in additional dialysis patients. The new dialysis facility is expected to cost $3 million. Additionally, furniture and other fixtures, along with relocation expenses of current equipment, would cost $1 million, for a total cost of $4 million. The funds needed for the new facility will be obtained from a 20-year loan at local bank. The loan (including interest) will be paid off over 20 years at a rate of $400,000 per year. Because the specific financing details are known, it is possible to estimate the actual annual facilities costs for the new Dialysis Center, something that is not possible for units located within the hospital complex. Table 1 (see Excel spreadsheet) contains the projected profit and loss (PL)  statement for the Dialysis Center before adjusting for the move. The hospital’s department heads receive annual bonuses on the basis of each department’s contribution to the bottom line (profit). In the past, only direct costs were considered, but the hospital’s chief executive officer (CEO) has decided that bonuses would now be based on full (total) costs. Obviously, the new approach to awarding bonuses, coupled with the potential for increases in indirect cost allocation, is of great concern to Linda Rider, the director of the Dialysis Center. Under the current allocation of indirect costs, Linda would have a reasonable chance at an end-of-year bonus, as the forecast puts the Dialysis Center in the black. However, any increase in the indirect cost allocation would likely put her â€Å"out of the money.† At the next department heads’ meeting, Linda expressed her concern about the impact of any allocation changes on the Dialysis Center’s profitability, so the hospital’s CEO asked the chief financial officer (CFO), Roger Hedgecock, to look into the matter. In essence, the CEO said that the final allocation is up to Roger but that any allocation changes must be made within outpatient services. In other words, any change in cost allocation to the Dialysis Center must be offset by an equal, but opposite, change in the allocation to the Outpatient Clinic. To get started, Roger created Table 2 (see Excel spreadsheet). In creating the table, Roger assumed that the new Dialysis Center would have the same number of stations as the old one, would serve the same number of patients, and would have the same reimbursement rates. Also, operating expenses would differ only slightly from the current situation because the same personnel and equipment would be used. Thus, for all practical purposes, the revenues and direct costs of the Dialysis Center would be unaffected by the move. The data in Table 2 for the expanded Outpatient Clinic are based on the assumption that the expansion would allow volume to increase by 25 percent and that both revenues and direct costs would increase by a like amount. Furthermore, to keep the analysis manageable, the assumption was made that the overall hospital allocation rates for both facilities costs and general overhead would not materially change because of the expansion. Roger knew that his â€Å"trial balloon† allocation, which is shown in Table 2 in the columns labeled â€Å"Initial Allocation,† would create some controversy. In the past, facilities costs were aggregated, so all departments were charged a cost based on the average embedded (historical) cost regardless of the actual age (or value) of the space occupied. Thus, a basement room with no windows was allocated the same facilities costs (per square foot) as was the fifth floor executive suite. Because many department heads thought this approach to be unfair, Roger wanted to begin allocating facilities overhead on a true cost basis. Thus, in his initial allocation, Roger used actual facilities costs ($400,000 per year) as the basis for the allocation to the Dialysis Center. Needless to say, Linda’s response to the initial allocation was less than enthusiastic, but before Roger was able to address Linda’s concerns, he suddenly left the hospital to take a new position in another city. The task of completing the allocation study was given to you, Houston General’s current administrative resident. You believe that any cost allocation system should be perceived as being â€Å"fair,† but you also realize that in practice cost allocation is very complex and somewhat arbitrary. Some department heads argue that the best approach to overhead allocations is the â€Å"Marxist approach,† by which allocations are based on each patient service department’s ability to cover overhead costs, but this approach has its own disadvantages. Considering all the relevant issues, you must develop and justify a new facilities cost allocation scheme for outpatient services. Be prepared to justify your recommendations at the next department heads’ meeting.

Subculture - Geekdom Essay Example for Free

Subculture Geekdom Essay Today’s society evidently shows that â€Å"geekdom† still exists at large in our culture. Based on how the word â€Å"geek† is being used to describe a particular person, it obviously has a positive implication. What was once considered as something that is less than normal by the society has become a means to boost someone’s morale. How does one distinguish a true geek from someone who is just pretending to be one? The former acts and does things in a normal manner simply because that is the kind of person he is. On the other hand, the latter, since he is just trying to pretend that he fits the description, does things in such a way wherein his true self is manifested and not what he is pretending to be. 2. Fandom I could say, â€Å"Yes, I am a huge fan of something†. Like many people, I have my reasons for being one. My liking for this particular thing does not mean, however, that I would be willing to give up other things for its sake. Although the feeling of satisfaction is there, it does not reach the point wherein the admiration turns into obsession. Some people base the manner of achieving success on how those whom they admire were able to achieve it. I, personally, do not let the very thing that I admire or truly like to become the reason for my frustration in life. I see to it that it will serve as an inspiration to me in seeking or achieving my goals. 3. Metal Metal does not necessarily imply masculinity. Both male and female artists engage in this type of music. In my opinion, it is just an expression of the feelings of an artist. Metal is neither shocking nor horrifying, but rather it is as form of art. It reflects the personality of the artist or what he is trying to portray or what he wants the audience to know about himself or his music. Metal, I believe is being given an unpleasant image by those who do not accept or appreciate it. It does not deliberately attempt to scare those who already have a bad impression on it, but rather it is trying to add some spice in the world of music. 4. Emo Although the word â€Å"emo† is used to be popularly known in the music world, its meaning underwent a transformation – just like a prehistoric organism whose exact origin is unknown, evolved into a more complicated species. The young generation needs to have a sense of belongingness. They want to be appreciated by their chosen crowd. I believe, that the present-day â€Å"emo† is today’s generation’s a means of reinventing yesterday’s fads and crazes. The principle being used here may be compared to the principle used when we are recycling materials in order to create new useful things. The original substance still exists even though the form of the object has been changed. It is the same thing with â€Å"emo†; the essence is preserved but with a different implication. 5. Hello Kitty. There is a child in each and every one of us. Every one of us wants to feel carefree every once in a while. The â€Å"Hello Kitty† in the photo suggests child-likeness and light-heartedness of a person living in a worriless environment. The photo of a young woman – obviously a mother – depicts a pleasant atmosphere. Her Hello Kitty collection indicates that she is the type of person who makes time for herself despite her hectic schedule, her duties and her responsibilities to her family, particularly to her child. It is a wonderful feeling to be young at heart. It takes someone away from the chaos of the world and the problems that are brought about by various elements which compose a particular society. A grown-up does not have to feel old. A mature person understands and knows how to find time for himself without neglecting his obligations to the people surrounding him. A wise person who has learned quite a lot from experiences is aware that being carefree is not at all synonymous to being irresponsible. Lai, Adrienne. Towards critical understanding of Asian cute culture. 149-151.

Causes Of The Current Global Food Crisis Politics Essay

Causes Of The Current Global Food Crisis Politics Essay All of these factors have contributed significantly to the current crisis in different ways. The growth of income inequality is something which is frequently highlighted by many globalisation theorists, such as Stiglitz (2002), but is also acknowledged by the UN (2009). This point is also relevant to wider debates on the impact of globalisation, but it essentially means that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. In such a situation, those who are wealthier are able to dictate how the economy operates, and as they are frequently situated in areas which are geographically separate from those who are poor, this means that demand for specific luxury foods goes up (Lang 2003). This also means that farmers turn their attention to farming such goods in order to make money, rather than farming crops which would be able to feed the world (McMichael 1998 p.102). The second major issue which we must accept is climate change. This has caused two major effects. The first is that it means that climates are now more unpredictable than they once were and that, as a result, crops are increasingly likely to fail where they would previously have been fine (Weis 2003). The second is that the increasing influence of climate change as a factor has made transportation more expensive as many states have introduced taxes on transport. This is understandable in the wider sense, but means that many poorer nations suffer as they are unable to pay the more expensive costs. The third key factor outlined is high energy prices. This is largely linked in with the point made above concerning the impact of climate change. However, this does also impact on the price of certain fertilisers and pesticides which are frequently used by farmers. The issue of globalisation is also considered a key factor. This is a very wide-ranging subject that cannot be used as a single factor by itself. With the exception of climate change, the impact of globalisation can be said to have affected all of the other issues which we discuss here. Increasing income inequality can be considered a direct result of globalisation, certainly in the manner in which globalisation has been carried out (Stiglitz 2007 p.45). The free market capitalism model ultimately causes all of these factors and this will therefore be expanded upon later. The final factor which is outlined as being the key relates to the increasing issue of urbanisation. Where people live increasingly in urban centres this means that food must travel further, increasing costs, but it also means that people (particularly in poorer areas) are unable to contribute towards farming themselves. In rural areas it is common for people to grow much of their own food or certain types of food and trade this food at markets. However, in the cities this is not possible (Collier 2007 p.68). This therefore places an even greater stress on those farms which are able to supply such areas and means that food becomes increasingly expensive. We can therefore see how all the key factors outlined above contribute to a scenario in which the world is experiencing a global food crisis. However, perhaps the most important aspect of these points outlined is the idea of globalisation and the specific manner in which this has materialised. Globalisation has been led by the global governance institutions which (with the exception of the WTO) are all based in America, and have pushed the idea of free market capitalism as a means of benefiting American corporations. It is this that can be seen as being central to the problem of the global food crisis as it is the influence of this that has caused the key factors that we have seen are responsible for the global food crisis (with the obvious exception of global warming). Stiglitz has argued frequently that the global free market capitalist system, led by multinational corporations and global governance institutions has damaged the power of politics to respond to crises such as the global food crisis (Stiglitz 2002 and 2007). This is epitomised by the declining power of the nation state as a political institution and means that more and more financial interests take present over political interests (Stoker 2006). The result is that the market distributive mechanism has complete power to distribute resources where they can best be profited from, not where they are most needed (Stiglitz 2002). The global food crisis can therefore be seen as an extension of this discourse, whereby food is seen as a commodity to be profited from rather than a necessity of life (Stiglitz 2002). There is therefore a flip side to the food scarcity which occurs in the worlds poorer areas which is that in the worlds richest areas there is too much food. Where this is the case, there is no interest in everyone being fed, or those who are fed being fed well, simply that food is being sold. As a result of this, products such as Big Macs and Coca Cola are sold frequently, resulting in a crisis of obesity in America and Europe. The sustainability and wider impact of these options is considered irrelevant also, with McDonalds famous for its slash and burn tactics and its continued deforestation. There is frequently an emphasis here on the deforestation as a specific issue rather than looking at its wider ramifications. Both Hawkes (2006) and Lang (2004) agree that there is a pressing need for acknowled gement that free market, capitalist-led food production and distribution is ultimately the cause of the global food crisis, with each particular aspect (such as biofuels, food for oil, rising prices and decreasing harvests) being seen as symptoms of the crisis and not causes. We can therefore see that the global food crisis can be seen as resulting from the inherent dynamism of capitalism to turn everything into money and the way in which this has been allowed (by free market globalisation) to take root in the world. This has led to the increasing urbanisation as people look for jobs, which has therefore placed a greater strain on energy prices as food has to travel further. The same dynamism or process has also led to the increasing centrality of fast food to Western diets which has meant that farms in much of the developing world are now focused more on delivering cheap meat and potatoes for export rather than a balanced array of crops. This means that what they need must then be imported, pushing costs up. Fast food is cheap food, which is unhealthy but is highly profitable, and it therefore continues to thrive and cause all of the wider problems in the world. The direct result of this inherent dynamism is that much of what could be produced which woul d be healthy and which would sustain many more people, is not produced, and production instead focuses on meeting the increasing demand of those restaurants which operate globally. Low quality production causes long term damage to the environment, obesity and hunger simultaneously and is ultimately the primary cause of the global food crisis. We can therefore see how the global food crisis has become manifest in the factors which are outlined at the start of the report. The growth in income inequality, the rising prcies of energy, the rising levels of urbanisation and the problems of unpredictability brought about by climate change all mean that food is subject to increasing prices and decreasing availability. This is further compounded by the rise in the West of junk foods and low-quality foods which are produced on farms in the poorer parts of the world. This has therefore created a two tiered global food crisis. The rich are getting fatter and increasingly ill as a result, whilst the poorer parts of the world are becoming increasingly poverty stricken and hungry. This is a direct result of the power of free market capitalism and the distributive mechanisms which this manifests.

The Causes of McCarthyism Essay examples -- Essays Papers

The Causes of McCarthyism As an individual in the middle of Twentieth century Joseph McCarthy had a rather intense effect on society. He started the movement that bears his name. McCarthyism was the movement that caused many changes in the lives of the people of the 1950's. McCarthy headed the charge against communism in the United States after the second World War. Through his actions many people were accused of being communists and hastilly judged to be so because of the general feeling toward communism. What causes such an incredible uprising. What caused so many people to rally behind, in many cases, unfounded accusations that would ruin other peoples lives unjustly? What caused not just a movement but the movement known as McCarthyism? It is historically proven that a simple action can have many complex causes, while a movement can have immeasurable causes underlying its begining and the momentum that keeps it alive. Leaving the little, but not insignificant causes alone, the major causes o f McCarthyism were the attitude of the United States toward communism, the sense of superiority within the United States, and McCarthy's own position. The attitude of the citizens of the United States was a tremendous influence on the development of McCarthyism. The people living in the post World War II United States felt fear and anger because communism was related with Germany, Italy, and Russia who had all at one point been enemies of the United States during the war. If the enemies were communists then, communists were enemies and any communists or even communist sympathizers were a threat to the American way of life. "From the Bolshevik Revolution on, radicals were seen as foreign agents or as those ... ...it was. Fear makes people do things they normally would not. Because of fear people overlook things they normally would notice imediately, especially in the case of something being moral or immoral. McCarthy was described as "paranoid" and for whom "...life was a sereis of conspiracies, the most fiendish of which were directed at him..."(Cook p77). Fear was the greatest underlying cause of the McCarthy movement; fear of communism, fear of the loss of freedom, fear of being accused or fear of what would happen if someone challenged the movement. Works Cited - Rogin, Paul. The Intellectuals and McCarthy: the Radical Speaker. The MIT Press, Clinton, Massachusettes. 1967. - Cook, Fred. The Nightmare Decade. Random House Publishing, New York, New York. 1971. - Theoharis, Athan. Seeds of Repression, Quadrangle Books, Chicago, Illinois. 1971.

The Science of Cloning :: essays research papers

The Science of Cloning In the essay, Cloning Reality: Brave New World by Wesley J. Smith, a skewed view of the effects of cloning is presented. Wesley feels that cloning will end the perception of human life as sacred and ruin the great diversity that exists today. He feels that cloning may in fact, end human society as we know it, and create a horrible place where humans are simply a resource. I disagree with Wesley because I think that the positive effects of controlled human cloning can greatly improve the quality of life for humans today, and that these benefits far outweigh the potential drawbacks that could occur if cloning was misused. Human cloning is one of the most controversial subjects in modern times. Supporters claim that cloning is a great advance in science and can lead to great discoveries and medical breakthroughs. Opponents feel that cloning is a threat to human individuality and is potentially disastrous. Both sides make reasonable arguments, however I feel that Wesley takes things a bit too far in his grim outlook on the future of humanity. Sure, there are downsides to cloning, and yes it can be dangerous if it is used for the wrong purposes. This is true with almost any new technology. From gunpowder to cars to airplanes to computers to the Internet; any one of these technologies can be harnessed for negative purposes. Despite the risks involved however, all of these technologies have improved our standard of living and quality of life, and I feel cloning will do the same. Wesley J. Smith goes on and on about how eugenicists would want to create homogeneity among Humans, valuing traits such as intelligence and looks instead of love, compassion, and empathy. He feels that this would create an unnatural society of human beings, creating chaos among the world. What he fails to recognize however is that it is not nearly as simple to do this as he thinks. Right now, cloning is in its very elementary stages, and most research being done is for medical purposes. Through advancing our knowledge in cloning and genetic engineering, we can eliminate unwanted traits and genetic diseases. Wesley may then try to argue that these unwanted traits and diseases make us unique, but I doubt he will get much support, especially from somebody who suffers from some horrible genetic disease or deformity. Wesley then uses nature itself in his arguments by stating: â€Å"Eugenics, as awful as it is, is only the beginning of the threat posed to the natural order by human cloning†.

cultrual cultural deprivation the hispanic challenge Essay -- essays r

Cultural Deprivation: The Hispanic Challenge   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Why do some groups not succeed in academic settings? One theory brought up in â€Å"Understanding inequality† suggests that the gap in the socioeconomic status drives the inequalities in the school system. The low and working class have less time and income to intervene with schooling. This means they have less time to meet with teachers, hire tutors, and provide continuous transportation. Therefore the lower class can’t possibly compete with the middle and upper classes. Angela Valenzuela gives the accounts of some Hispanic students’ experiences in school. These students feel that it is the inferior nature of the schools in the US that contribute to the low success levels. The schools in Mexico have â€Å"teachers [that] value and nurture in their students an ability to communicate and express themselves with confidence† (Valenzuela). This is what leads to success in schooling, which the United States does not provide them. Another exp lanation to this is a theory of cultural deprivation. This is the idea that certain cognitive styles connect to different ethnic groups. It just so happens that what school demands from students is a characteristic of the White and Asian races, which is abstraction , while other less successful groups like African Americans and Latinos possess more concrete thinking. Current manifestations of this can be seen from Samuel Huntington’s article â€Å"The Hispanic Challenge.†   Ã‚  ...

Having a Dream Becomes Reality Essay

Obstacles always hinder people when they are trying to reach their goals, and those are just ordeals to test their perseverance. In reality, nothing can be obtained or achieved smoothly without going through any difficulties, but once people overcome the obstacles they will achieve the desired goal. In the movie October Sky, directed by Johnston, is about a young man named Homer Hickam who grows up in Coalwood and aspires to become a miner like every male in the town. He becomes obsessed with building his own rockets after he witnesses an artificial satellite goes into orbit, and he achieves a wonderful goal even though he needs to surmount difficulties. However, his passion for building a real rocket makes him willing to take risks and explore new adventures even though he fails several times. There are many kinds of obstacles people face in life, if I had not persuaded myself to keep trying, my dream of going to a better college may not have come true. Indeed, successful people are never giving up their passion to achieve their desired goal even when they are encountering challenges. Accordingly, being adventurous, persistent, and never giving up can be the key characteristics needed for making a dream come true. Adventurous people look for solutions to seek out the answers to the problems they do not understand. Most adventures have elements of uncertainty and fear surrounding them; fear about an uncertain outcome can be a huge deterrent to do adventurous activities. Adventurous people have a mindset that teaches them to seek out new events or activities that can be scary since they do not know what is going to happen, but that is where people need to go. People challenge the difficulties, which is how they can get experience and surmount the obstacles. The main character from the movie, Homer Hickam likes to take risks and challenges himself by building a real rocket after he witnesses the Soviet Union successfully launch the first artificial satellite into orbit. Homer has never touched a welding machine and has no idea how to build a rocket due to limited experience and no professional help. His curious mind makes him studies the instruction books about building rockets. Homer tries so many times to rebuild the rockets due to the failure of launching. There is one time he even blows up his mother’s garden fence, and fortunately no one gets injured. Moreover, when he and his friends test out their rocket at a wasteland, the rocket almost kills his neighbor, Leon Bolden. Even though Homer does not earn his father’s support, and launching is dangerous, he still likes to take risks and continues building rockets. Homer’s adventurous mind makes him successfully launch his real working rocket into the sky eventually. Nevertheless, having only an adventurous mind is not enough to surmount obstacles; being persistent is another key characteristic overcomes obstacles and makes dreams come true. In fact, persistence is the key to success because perseverance will take people a long way, but being willing to be patient while they achieve their goal will take them even further. Homer never quits his dream even when he is accused of having started a forest fire with a rocket that has gone astray, and despite many launching failures, Homer still continues building his dream rocket. Although Homer does not get his father’s permission to build a rocket in their basement, and his father throws his equipment away and prohibits him from doing such unrealistic activity, Homer never gives up even though his launches fail so many times due to his father’s demands. He finds a wasteland and starts building rockets with his friends hoping to go for a national Science Fair. Moreover, Homer does not give up his dream after his father gets injured in the mine. He takes over his father’s work as a coal miner to support his family, and he quits his jobs immediately after his father recovers from injury. Furthermore, Homer proves that his rocket has not gone astray and started a forest fire by showing people where his rocket has exactly landed. Homer’s continuous trying eventually leads him to win the national Science Fair, and he receives a scholarship to go to college. Consequently, without Homer’s persistent mind that leads him keep trying new methods, his dreams would not have come true. Never giving up is the first way to overcome obstacles. People failing do not mean they cannot accomplish their dreams. Never giving up always gives them a second chance, they fail sometimes but it absolutely does not mean that they fail every time. Never giving up is my motto and is what I keep reminding myself to reach where I want to be. I was born in a small and remote village in China. Technological developments and education were relatively poor in my village. As I grew up, I realized the sense in my parents’ emphasis on my education. I discovered that I was their only hope for a lifestyle change, so I decided to study hard in order to help my family to have a better life. The language barrier was one of the difficulties I met when I immigrated to the US. It cost me a lot especially in my grades since I had an extremely difficult time in communicating with my classmates and my teachers. The effect was so immense that I even thought of quitting school at one time. All this negativity came regardless of my dream and promise. However, it completely changed when my parents came for a visit, which was due to a concerned call about my poor grades. To my amazement and shock, my parents had changed significantly with a lot of gray hair replacing with the black. Their thin bodies reflected on the efforts that they had sacrificed for my stay in school. Ever since that day, I have focused on surmounting any barriers. After a lot of efforts, I finally secured a place in a college with a better reputation. Therefore, without having never giving up mindset I might not have a chance to go a college. No matter what impedes them from reaching a desired goal, successful people face difficulties instead of avoiding them. Obstacles give people a chance to get insight on many new aspects and even change their perspectives on many situations. Surmounting obstacles is an essential step people face in order to make their dreams come true. For instance, if Homer is not willing to take risks and challenging the difficulties, he cannot launch his real working rocket into the sky successfully. Persistence means continuing to work toward a goal even when it takes a long time, without persistent belief that leads Homer keeps trying new methods, his dreams of building a rocket would not have come true. Furthermore, if I did not keep reminding myself of never giving up, I probably cannot secure a place in a better college. All the examples listed above demonstrate that being adventurous, persistent, and never giving up are the key characteristics needed to conquer obstacles and make a dream come true.

Effects of Emotion Regulation on Risk Aversion

This paper is on â€Å"Emotion Regulation and Decision Making Under Risk and Uncertainty† by Mircea Miclea, Andrei C. Miu, Renata M. Heilman, Liviu G. Crisan from Babes-Bolyai University, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania and Daniel Houser from George Mason University in Virginia, USA. The study was published in the American Psychological Association, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 2. It deals with emotion regulation (ER) tactics such as cognitive reappraisal and expression suppression and their effects on risk aversion and decision making. Reappraisal involves reformulating the meaning of the situation.Suppression involves inhibiting the responses and behaviours associated with emotions, such as facial expressions, vocal tonality or body language. The researchers hypothesized that participants using reappraisal would portray lower risk aversion (increased risk taking) than subjects using suppression. They induced negative emotions of fear and disgust on their participants through short movie clips and then rated how they did on tests that measure risk-taking based on the ER tactic that they were previously instructed to use. (Heilman, Crisan, Houser, Miclea & Miu, 2010, p. 58). Our textbook defines an experiment as a scientific method of research in which several factors called independent variables are modified to determine their effects on the dependant variable. This enables researchers to find cause and effect between different variables because they will observe if changes in one variable causes changes in the other (Baron, Byrne, Branscombe, & Fritzley, 2010, p. 19). For the purposes of this paper, focus will be on study 1 which looked at the effects of negative emotions such as fear or disgust.The sample was of sixty participants (56 women; mean age 21. 45 years) from the Babes-Bolyai University campus. They were randomly distributed in 6 groups based on the emotion experienced (either fear or disgust) and the ER strategy employed (cognitive reappraisal, expressive su ppression, or control/no ER instructions). The independent variables in this experiment were the ER strategy induced and the emotion experienced by the subjects. The emotion was measured using PANAS-X (posttest).The participants then completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) to confirm that they employed the instructed ER strategy. The dependant variable was the risk taking behaviour of the subjects, measured with BART and IGT tests. Results showed that reappraisers, but not suppressors, showed significantly decreased fear and disgust. Findings reveal that cognitive reappraisal increases risk taking by reducing the experience of negative emotions, while expressive suppression does not because it is ineffective in reducing negative emotions (Heilman et al. , 2010, p. 258-61).The textbook deals with the topic of emotion and cognitive regulation by addressing the topics of thought suppression, affect and cognition and emotion regulation. First, thought suppression is the eff ort we take to prevent certain thoughts from entering our consciousness. It is involved in two steps: the first is an automatic process which detects unwanted thoughts, and the second is a conscious process by which we decide to not think about the unpleasant thoughts and concentrate on something else. When we are too tired, the conscious process cannot operate and the unwanted thoughts become stronger.We engage in though suppression to control our feelings and behaviour (Baron et al. , 2010, p. 47-48). Second, the textbook looks at the influence of affect on cognition. Research indicates that our mood influences the way we see the world and our interactions with it. The textbook states that information of affective nature is processed differently than standard information, and as such it is almost impossible to ignore it once it has been introduced into a situation. People in a good mood are encouraged in heuristic thinking, and more likely to accept facts. Baron et al. , 2010, p. 50-53). Lastly, the textbook defines emotion regulation as a cognitive mechanism by which we use our thoughts to regulate and control our feelings. A study by Tykocinski lists two ER techniques: counterfactual thinking, when people adjust their thoughts about negative events to make them seem unavoidable and less distressing, which reduces negative affect, and giving in to temptation, which involves doing things that are potentially bad for us but pleasant in order to improve our mood (Baron et al. 2010, p. 54-55). Some similarities can be traced between the experiment and the textbook. They both agree that our mood has an influence on our cognition. In particular, the textbook tells us that people in a good mood engage in heuristic thinking, that is employing mental shortcuts, and that they are more likely to accept fewer arguments as demonstrated in the study by Ruder and Bless (2003). The experiment by Heilman et al. (2010) shows us that the ER technique one uses can decrease our risk aversion.The textbook does discuss forms of ER techniques that are similar as the one present in Heilman’s study. Thought suppression, as discussed in the textbook, has a few similarities with expressive suppression, in that they both attempt to inhibit something. Cognitive reappraisal is very similar to Tykocinski’s counterfactual thinking. In terms of the research done for the experiment and the textbook, no similarities could be found.This translates in the different names given to the emotion regulation techniques (i. e. reappraisal vs. counterfactual thinking) in between the two. The study certainly has a lot more detailed information on the topic of emotion regulation than the textbook. The latter approaches the topic in a more general way, not surprisingly so since it is a college level manual. A critical look at the journal article reveals that, overall; they did a good job, however there are a few things that are not good.The independent and dependant va riables were chosen properly and they took great care to measure the effects using a variety of tests and statistical analyses. They made sure that fear and disgust was felt and that ER strategies were employed. However, further specification on the way they instructed their participants over which ER strategy to use would be welcome. The study does not list any further information on that topic, other than the participants were given the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire at the end to determine if they followed the assigned instructions.The conclusions seem to follow the results in a coherent and logical fashion. The main problem with this study is their sampling. First of all, it is not very large, and second, it is not representative, as it consists almost exclusively of young women (56) from the campus. This does not allow for generalization. Further experiments with a larger, more representative sample would shed more light on the exact effects of emotion regulation on decision making under risk.

Should Divorced Parents Remarry?

OUTLINE I. Introduction Thesis statement: divorced parents should not remarry for the following reasons. II. Body A. Divorced parents remarry which will have negative impacts on their children 1. Children will be placed in a complex situation. 2. Parents’ remarriage will give children pernicious influences on their behavior and study. B. Divorced parents will face complex relationships when they remarry 1. Stepparents will get into troubles with stepchildren. 2. Stepparents have to face unresolved issues related to the first marriage. C.Counterargument and refutation. 1. Counterargument. a. Children might have a perfect family with both mother and father which help them mature. b. New spouses in stepfamilies may have strong and harmonious marital relationship. 2. Refutation. a. Remarriage has negative effects on children. b. There are many conflicts happening in stepfamily. III. Conclusion Because of the above reasons, it is better for divorced parents not to remarry. Should d ivorced parents remarry? Remarriage of divorced parents is always a controversial issue in our modern society.Some of divorced parents choose remarriage as another chance or hope with a new family while many others decide to become a single parent. As making the decision to remarry, divorced parents have to choose a new partner who is suitable not only for them but for their children as well. Havemann and Lehtinen (1990) quoted a sociologist, ‘the difficulty which remarried family must wrestle may be tremendous’ (p. 280). Divorced parents can get into big troubles which people in first marriages will never foresee.In our opinion, divorced parent should not remarry for some rationales. Firstly, divorced parent remarriage is mainly responsible for children’s stress, depression, severe behaviors and bad schoolwork. Children not only can be the unwitting victim of a network of jealous and angry people but also suffer from conflict of loyalty. A study cited by Lutz (a s cited in Strong, Devault & Sayad, 1998) showed that many children felt stressful and worried because they were put in difficult predicaments. For example, a teenage girl felt heavily stressed.Although she lived with her mother and stepfather, she had to spend her weekends with her maternal grandparents and her paternal grandparents. She was always asked to report what happened at the other place and guard secret about it (R. H. Lauer & J. C. Lauer, 2007). Moreover, Visher and Visher (as cited in Devault et al. , 1998) see that many children in the stepfamilies who suffer the conflict of loyalties and loss of love from their parents can be in a state of great anxiety, confusion and they could behave unpredictably.In addition, according to Wallerstein and Kelly (as cited in Schwartz & Scott, 1994), remarriages of divorced parents not only cause children’s tension but also affect their study. The boys, for instance, had negative attitudes and did not concentrate on study in sc hool because their father and stepmother refused to send their biological mother money (Havemann & Letinen, 1990). Secondly, remarried parents will face stepchildren’s disputation and unresolved issues related to the first marriage.Children at any age tend to oppose and begrudge their stepparent, a newcomer in their family (Lauer & Lauer, 2007). In fact, they usually show their distrust, suspect, and resentment toward their stepparent. Even when stepmother try her best to be closed to stepchildren and satisfy their needs, the stepchildren still do not accept her as their real mother since they think that she is trying to replace their biological mother (DeVault, Sayad & Strong, 1998). By any cost, children try to â€Å"drive a stepparent out of the home† (Havemann & Lehtinen, 1990, p. 82). As a result, remarriages indeed have been devastated and disrupted by teenage stepchildren (Havemann & Lehtinen, 1990). Besides, not only stepchildren but also ex-spouses can be a co mplicated problem with remarried couples. Especially, former marital habits have a negative impact on the rapport between new spouses (Schwartz & Scott, 1994). A woman in her 30s, for example, told some troubles about her remarriage. Her husband bought her a nice nightgown, however he had a ritual of buying small size which fit his ex-wife but it did not fit her.Similarly, she also had a mistake that she called her current husband by her ex-partner’s name (Havemann & Letinen, 1990). In addition, keeping in touch with ex-spouses is inevitable. For instance, Sager and his associates reported that Mrs. Prince was annoyed because her husband has some calls continuously with his ex-wife many times a day for problems involving his biological children (Lauer & Lauer, 2007). Opposing people may claim that divorced parent remarriages may help the children to recover from emotional trauma of their parent’s divorce.Furthermore, on account of becoming older and more experienced th an in the first marriages, new spouses in stepfamilies might have strong and harmonious marital relationship. However, as stated previously, parent remarriages put the children in a problematic position and cause their emotional troubles. For stepdaughters, both Hetherington and Joshua Fischman (as cited in Schwartz & Scott, 1994) found that they experience more depression and have more negative behaviors.Besides, there are many conflicts happening in a stepfamily, which affects new spouses’ harmony like stepchildren’s disagreement and relationships with ex-spouses. Children’s behaviors have negative effects on the marital rapport, namely they act against stepparents and make a resentful atmosphere (Schwartz & Scott, 1994). Furthermore, stepsibling relationship is also one of the biggest problems in stepfamily because it can lead to stepsibling rivalry (Schwartz & Scott, 1994).As a result of such disharmony, â€Å"it is often difficult for remarried family to f eel like a real family† (Schwartz & Scott, 1994, p. 389). In conclusion, complicated problems with stepchildren and ex-spouse and negative impacts on children are two most severe issues in remarriage. Both the quality of the marital relationship and the stability in remarriage are poor. The statistics indicate that divorce people who remarry have a higher divorce rate than those in first marriages (Schwartz & Scott, 1994).Therefore, to our view, it is better for divorced parents not to remarry, which benefits both them and their children. Words: 852 * References DeVault, C. , Sayad, B. W. , & Strong, B. (1998). The marriage and family experience (7th ed. ). Belmont, Wadsworth publishing company. Havemann, E. & Lehtinen, M. (1990). Marriages and families (2nd ed. ). Englewood cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Lauer, R. H. & Lauer, J. C. (2007). Marriage & family (6th ed. ). New York: Phillip A. Butcher. Schwartz, M. A. & Scott, B. M. (1994). Marriages & families. Englewood cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

How Did Life Change for the Blacks After the Civil War? Essay

Life for Southern blacks did improve somewhat as a result of the Civil War and Reconstruction, but it was not perfect. There were still many inequalities between the two races, white and black. This essay will discuss life of blacks prior to the Civil War (1861-1865), how the blacks were involved in the war and Reconstruction (1865-1877), and how the war and Reconstruction changed the blacks’ way of life. Before the Civil War, most slaves lived on small cotton plantations. Here, the owner worked alongside them. The bigger the plantation, the more the slaves, and thus the weaker human relationship would be between master and slaves. They received, in general, harsh treatment because they were considered property. There were many social inequalities. Black Codes were passed to limit blacks’ freedom even more than it was already. They were not allowed to marry legally or learn to be literate. Slaves could be â€Å"sold down the river†, and had no privacy from their masters. They were not allowed to go outdoors after dark, get together in groups of three or more, exit their owner’s property without a written pass, or own weapons. This changed somewhat after the Civil War. The blacks played a major role in the victory of the North in the Civil War. There were many black soldiers in the war who worked behind the scenes for armies of the North. During Reconstruction, blacks exercised political power for the first time in the South. They were included as authors of new state constitutions, along with military governments, scalawags, and carpetbaggers. On January 1st 1863, the Emancipation came into effect. It was a proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln that declared freedom for all slaves in states still in rebellion against the federal government. This meant that more slaves could live a free life again, but only until the Black Codes were passed. Without the blacks’ contributions to the Civil War and Reconstruction, things could have turned out a lot different. As for life after the Civil War and Reconstruction, there were many social changes. These were mostly in support of the blacks, until the start of the 20th century. Thanks to the protection of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, blacks relished a period of time during which they could vote, have a say in politics, acquire land, find a job, and make use of public accommodations. They were able to legally marry, worship how they wanted, and could form private clubs, along with other rights. This was until the 1890s, which is when the southern states began coming up with ways to exclude blacks once again. In response to this, many blacks moved into the Northern states, and some even went back to Africa. One of the parts of their lives that didn’t change much was that the majority of southern blacks remained in poverty because sharecropping didn’t earn them enough money to improve their conditions. Despite this progress socially, there were many more rights the blacks didn’t have, but the whites did. These hard times for African Americans continued into the 20th century, which is when the Civil Rights Movement and other efforts came into play in an attempt to equalize rights between races. As I said before, life for blacks after the Civil War and Reconstruction was somewhat better than life before. Their life still wasn’t impeccable, and it was a long road to equality.

Analysis Of Coleridge Jackson

Coleridge Jackson Coleridge Jackson was a story poem written by American black woman Maya Angelou, born April 4, 1928, living in a struggle for black equality. My boss, I think this poem is written to support and sympathize with equal pace of black Americans. The first line is very powerful and puts the image of Koleridge in the head of the reader as soon as the sentence is turned into a sentence. The phrase There is nothing to worry about Coleridge Jackson is limited, and objection can not. An analysis of the rhythm of ancient crewmen of Ancient sailor frost by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a long poem about the supernatural activities of sea crew and their crew. This work is the original of Lyrical Ballads, two books created by William Wordsworth and Coleridge. Wordsworth intends to make ordinary people into an exceptional appearance in his work and Coleridge's goal is to make this exceptional lineup normal. Fog .. was first published Critical Analysis of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Colleric William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge were first released in the UK in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Writing movement for outdoor philosophy. Wordsworth and ST Cole Ridge are often considered pioneers of the British Romantic Movement but their collective theology and philosophy are often criticized but they are often criticized by writers because of their excellent fame as a poet It is seldom to be taken to. General Efforts ... The literary romantic era from 1798 to 1832 was the era for the literary style of the 18th century. This period is full of poets who devoted faith to their work and poetry, such as William Wordsworth, a very famous romantic poet of this era. In contrast, during the Victorian era, the poets wrote about their environment and had a pessimistic view of life. In 1797 and 1798, he lived in Somerset's Netherstoy, now known Coleridge Cottage, and was the most productive in Coleridge's life. In 1795, Coleridge met the poet William W ordsworth and his sister Dorothy. (Wordsworth visited him and was fascinated by the surrounding environment and borrowed Alfoxton Park, three miles away.) Coleridge also wrote the iconic poem Kubla Khan, Coleridge in addition to the ancient sailor Rime . I insist on insisting - as a result of the opium's dream, in delusion; and the first part of poet Cristabell. The writing of Kubura Khan on the legendary palace of the Emperor Mongolian Emperor Kubrai Khan and Ksarayi is said to have been interrupted by the advent of Pollock - it has been modified in various scientific contexts. Novel and Lolita of Nabokov

How Exceptional is or was the American Federalism Compared to Canada Essay

How Exceptional is or was the American Federalism Compared to Canada and Germany federalism - Essay Example In accordance with LaCroix, federalism has been based on ‘the necessity for the existence of states’ (LaCroix 2) and the theory that a country with extensive territory, such as USA, cannot be easily organized as a republic (LaCroix 2). Moreover, Obinger (2005) noted that the development of a precise definition of federalism would be quite difficult, mostly because the specific term is used in order to describe a series of conditions and events, including a series of ‘institutional and jurisdictional arrangements’ (Obinger 9) for protecting the interests of local populations – referring to the population of the states. Despite its complexity, the federal system of governance is preferred by many states worldwide. About 23 countries in the international community are based on the specific system of governance; their influence on the global political system is quite important taking into consideration the fact that a percentage of 40% of the global popul ation are governed through the particular system of governance (Obinger 9). The characteristics of federalism as developed in USA are critically discussed in this paper; emphasis is given on the advantages of American federalism compared to other forms of federalism worldwide, especially the Canadian and the German forms of federalism. The key characteristics of federalism can be identified in the following definition: ‘the activities of government are divided between regional governments and a central government’ (Riker 1975 in Obinger 9).... government and the regional governments have the power to develop their own decisions on the activities under their control – meaning the political, social and economic activities being under the control of central or the regional governments, as defined in relevant arrangements (as noted in the definition of Obinger above). Federalism, as described above, has certain priorities. These priorities have been described in the Federalist Papers, through which Federalism has been established. The key priorities of federalism, are the following ones a) specific measures need to be developed by the government – referring to either the central government or the regional governments, as noted above, so that the concentration of power (meaning the political power) is avoided; at the same time, political and economic freedom needs to be guaranteed (Obinger 10), b) in the context of federalism emphasis is given on the rights of minorities; in fact, these rights have key importance for federalism, a type of governance which has been developed mostly for covering the needs of areas with high cultural and geographic diversity (Obinger 10). Reference can be made to the case of Canada, a country where federalism has been used for ensuring the protection of rights of citizens who have different cultural background and ethics (Obinger 10). At this point, the following issue should be highlighted: despite the fact that federalism has been introduced in order to respond to specific needs, as described above, it is difficult for the specific system to have a common level or form of development worldwide – reference is made to the countries that their system of governance is based on federalism. An indicative example of this prospect is mentioned in the study of Obinger. In accordance