Saturday, August 31, 2019

Show how you respond to Austen’s presentation of balls and other social events in Emma

‘It may be possible to do without dancing entirely. Instances have been known of young people passing many, many months successively without being at any ball of any description, and no material injury accrue either to body or mind: – but when a beginning is made – when the felicities of rapid motion have once been, though slightly felt – it must be a very heavy set that does not ask for more.' Using the quotation as a starting point show how you respond to Austen's presentation of balls and other social events in Emma. The above quotation put in simple terms connotes socializing to not be essential for survival yet once experienced, addictions can be produced. This is implied within Jane Austen's Emma as hinted by social events presentation and their significance. Suggestions of such views display human development by the mistakes made within society to encourage moral growth and wisdom. The central focus upon balls and social pursuits indicates the triviality of the upper classes. Austen's satirical tone throughout the novel exemplifies the hierarchy of the eighteenth nineteenth century, while ridiculing their concerns. The author has illustrated a further emphasis by concentrating particularly on Emma's development and need for social awareness as progressed through the various social affairs. The Weston's Christmas party acts as an introductory occasion for the readers to establish a hierarchy, as well as Emma's importance within the Highbury society. The Woodhouses are treated to be at the centre of attention as illustrated by the great fuss created for â€Å"poor Mr. Woodhouse† due to the falling of snow. By making such characters much pleased with them, they begin to believe they are and feel much more superior. This permits Emma in her match making schemes of ultimately feeling a strong love interest among Mr. Elton and Harriet Smith. Emma's confidence is quilted by the safety of her fathers smothering and her lack of awareness. This meddling leads to devastating consequences, which may be seen through the contrasting behaviour contained in private and public atmospheres. A faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade of etiquette is created publicly to portray perfectionism of characters friendly decorum. Mr. Weston kindly criticizes Emma while she politely â€Å"listened† and â€Å"coolly† replies. Emma needs to preserve her good manners in a situation like this as not cause any damage to her status. Conversely, when Emma and Mr. Elton are alone in the carriage, returning home, the change in conduct insights readers to the true colours of the character concerned. Previously, Mr. Elton seemed â€Å"so anxious for† Emma, demonstrating agitating behaviour, explaining the true exposition of Mr. Elton's â€Å"pretence of being in love with her†. His obnoxious behaviour screened to Emma and the readers reflects his snobbery, as he believes â€Å"everybody has their level†, as well as degrading his respect. The significance of this event adds to the background of future events and creates a build up. Emma looks forward to a night of being admired at the Coles dinner party but clear differing levels of accomplishment with the â€Å"superior† Jane Fairfax prevent this, as well as distinguishing a sense of competition between the two characters. One major accomplishment, the art of piano playing, may be regarded as a form of battle ground among Emma and Jane. Jane's advancement clearly initiates much threat for Emma as her attentions are overtaken. Nevertheless due to social expectations of the formal times, Emma is required to be friendly towards poorer, low class woman such as Miss Fairfax. This allows others to publicly view Emma's character to be of a good image. The use of falseness and pretences supports the idea of conformist public behaviour through superficial mannerisms of always â€Å"smiling†. Ironically, the narrative reveals much deeper thoughts of Emma privately whilst creating comedy though the anticipation of her reactions which â€Å"she never could attempt to conceal.† However her opinion of Jane is not openly expressed but slyly gossiped with Frank who joins in, yet continuously is â€Å"glancing towards Miss Fairfax.† The divisions of social classing prevent Frank from freely associating himself with Jane who he is secretly engaged with. This becomes evident alongside the social gatherings, suggesting secrets codes of honour to carry out, by enforcing heavy use of faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ades in friendships among Emma, Frank and Jane. False pretences are deepened within the society of Highbury as immediately reflected through Emma holding a dinner party for Mrs. Elton, a woman she can not stand. During this gathering much commotion is taken up by party guests, predominantly by Mr. Knightely, about Jane's â€Å"venture.† Austen can be seen to be ridiculing society as characters take much interest upon a minority issue of visiting the post office. Jane shows a â€Å"little blush† of running â€Å"such risks† while reserving her manners regardless to the invasion of her privacy. Consequently the time period within the novel compels Jane's consistence and Mr. Knightley's courtesy to be purely based upon concern for her health. Adoptions of significance still withstands similar to the previous events, and allow development of future plots such as the suspicion formed upon Miss. Fairfax's behaviour. The great Crown Inn Ball had been postponed several times creating much enthusiasm and excitement for the people of Highbury. This is an indication of the emptiness of their lives. Being the first formal social gathering due to Mrs. Elton's arrival, social codes would advocate her to have central focus. This angers Emma as â€Å"her taste was not the only taste which† was to be depended upon. Nevertheless Emma masks her true judgement by appearing to appeal to all those around her. Dancing was seen as a metaphor of courtship as Emma encounters this â€Å"flirtation between her and her partner† Frank, others may view them as having a more intimate relationship. Mr. Knightley breaks this code as he â€Å"takes pity on† Harriet to dance, after being embarrassed by Mr. Elton. It is suggestive to surrounding party members of a love connection between Harriet and Mr. Knightley. This is highly contradictory as it was not expectant of someone with Knightley's class and status to degrade down to Miss Smith's level. On the contrary, readers are at an advantage of having an insight upon the text as they know Mr. Knightley's behaviour is due to his chivalrous good natured attitude which compels him to be considerate of everyone around him. This comedic approach stimulates Austen to simultaneously mock and uphold social codes. The interaction between Knightley and Harriet reveals that broken social codes lead to chaos and confusion, as displayed further in the text by Emma's confusion and â€Å"terror† over Harriet having feelings for Mr. Knightley. The faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade of etiquette breaks down vigorously at Box hill, partially as Emma now expresses her thoughts while forgetting her manners. The scene has been set in a very elegant atmosphere â€Å"in favour of a pleasant party† with a â€Å"burst of admiration.† All characters engage in a game for amusement and Emma faces a sudden outbreak which she â€Å"could not resist† towards Miss Bates. The oversight of her politeness and â€Å"mock ceremony of her manners† prevent immediate meaning being obtained. Only until Knightley's â€Å"remonstrance† does Emma realise the impact of her appalling behaviour being in the need of amendment. The idea of Emma acting in such a way in public creates a barrier for her not to be able to undo her actions, whereas if she spoke in private to say Harriet she could have easily justifyed herself. Whether Emma' change was based upon her becoming more self aware or the fact she upset Mr Knightley is open to personal judgement. It could be portrayed that the series of progressively emotional social events lead Emma to realise much more about herself and those around her. By learning from her mistakes she was able to mature and become more purely and truly accepted as a superior of society. Controversially, Emma begins to realise she has feelings for â€Å"my [meaning Emma's] Mr. Knightley† and therefore cannot go about upsetting him as this tarnishes his vision of her. Her change therefore would be due to selfish terms. In regard of all this, Emma does change herself and correct her faults. The destruction of polite faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade works as an incentive to compel Emma in re-evaluating her misconduct and to reform. The consecutive chapter illustrates Emma's embracement of self realisation, after the eventful picnic, as Mr. Knightley's disapproval deeply hurts her. Her â€Å"confidence [had] told her so† that she â€Å"had often been remiss.† After the Box Hill incident, Emma did not want others to consider her â€Å"without a heart† and â€Å"so unfeeling towards [her] father.† Emma's â€Å"completely misspent† morning obliged her to recollect herself and no longer interfere. By directly paying a visit to Miss. Bates, she begins the journey of self correction. This is further illustrated as Emma talks about Jane with genuine feeling and interest in spite of Jane's abrupt and extra reserved behaviour. Emma learns, with the help of Mr. Knightley's finger pointing, that she needs to concentrate on her own thoughts and actions rather than those around her. The limited use of action throughout the novel constructs social occasions to be at the focal point of the plot. Consistently, this reflects the artificialities of Austen's world which she wanted the reader to pick up upon. By exposing society's hypocrisy, due to the show of gestures, the satire acts a comedic tool for readers. Even though Emma's faults are chiefly stressed upon; the story reveals faults in other characterisations such as Mrs. Elton, Frank and Mr. Woodhouse. I feel the idea of concentrating heavily on, what would be considered by the modern reader, small concerns; Austen specifies the consequences of falling out of traditional practice. The juxtaposition of such problematic proceedings, ending with a minute ounce of happiness for Emma, makes the novel unique and intensifies the effect. Nevertheless the moral message overrides such views to allow the reader to learn from the mistakes of characters and the importance of maintaining a balance. This allows progression of readers to improve themselves and become more self-aware also. Finally, the use of misconception and confusion adds to the ironic use of satire to amuse spectators.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Tidal energy

1. IntroductionTidal energy is one of the renewable energies that have a promising hereafter as energy beginnings for the whole universe in general and for some states in peculiar. The purpose of this study is to discourse the current position of tidal energy in footings of engineering, runing rule, environmental effects and its hereafter development.The specific aims are: · To sketch the current potency of tidal energy throughout the universe  · To discourse the engineerings up to day of the month  · To place the pros and cons of the current engineerings  · To indicate out the environmental impacts of tidal energy and if any accomplishments so far to relieve this consequence  · To discourse the possible hereafter developments2. BackgroundThe Earth and the Moon continuously produce centrifugal forces on one another. This gravitative consequence creates a bump in the oceans confronting to the side of the Moon. A 2nd bump is produced by the centrifugal force due to the rotary motion of the Earth on the opposite side of it. Those two sides of the Earth are the two countries where high tides are produced. The usage of tidal energy has been started since 12th century for grain milling intents in England and France though it has been barely used due to decelerate gait of engineering developments and other inexpensive energy beginning rivals such as fossil fuels. There were no much researches and developments on the engineering and it did n't acquire adequate attending till recent old ages. But those tidal Millss are the base for the development of modern tidal energy engineerings.3. Tidal energy Status3.1. World Tidal Energy PotentialThe universe ‘s 70 % of its surface covered by H2O has an ability of bring forthing 50000MW tidal current energy yearly ( Atlantis Resource Corporation, 2009 ) . Most of the countries sited in 3.1 are those countries with high potency of tidal energy resources available. But tidal energy is available all over the Earth though the sum of energy to be harnessed is smaller compared to the given 1s.3.2. Current Tidal Energy TechnologiesTidal energy is the energy exploited from the possible and kinetic flow of the tides. There are two presently matured engineerings used to pull out this energy. The possible energy of the tides is exploited utilizing tidal bombardments and the kinetic energy is extracted by the tidal current turbine engineerings ( Fergal O Rourke, 2009 ) .3.2.1. Tidal BarragesTidal bombardments are dams constructed at the oral cavity of estuaries to keep up the coming H2O by shuting the piece gates in either side which builds up a possible energy that can be converted in to electricity by utilizing turbines. This has similar rule like the hydro electric power coevals.Advantages · No demand of fuel  · No waste and nursery gas production  · There is no H2O and air pollution  · Reliable production of electricity  · Predictable and renewableDisadvantage · Expensive for bombardment edifice  · There is deficit of tidal bombardment sites Policy shapers and companies are loath to pass clip and money in research and development for a wider execution of tidal bombardment engineerings because of their high civil substructure costs and environmental issues. Alternatively, they are concentrating on new engineerings such as tidal current turbines which can minimise the cost of dam buildings due to their simpleness in working rule and suitableness to deploy in different countries of oceans.3.2.2. Tidal current turbinesTidal current turbines utilises the kinetic energy of H2O currents to revolve the turbines for electricity coevals. The working rule is the same as the windmills that use the air currents to revolve the air current turbines. The transition of kinetic energy in to utile energy is carried out by two widely used turbine systems viz. horizontal and perpendicular axis turbines. Those are the chief competent right now and they are largely under active research stage with a batch of presentations and trials around the universe ( M.J. Khan, G. Bhuyan, M.T. Iqbal, J.E. Quaicoe, 2009 ) . The blades of Horizontal axis tidal turbines rotate about a horizontal axis which is parallel to the flow of H2O as shown in fig 3.3 below. Those constellations and type of blades are non the lone 1s developed so far. Those are merely samples to demo physically how the horizontal axis tidal turbines look like. The blades of Vertical axis tidal turbines rotate about a perpendicular axis which is perpendicular to the way of the flow of H2O as shown in fig 3.4. There are different blade constellations and types under this class though they are non given in this paper. Tidal current turbines have same advantage as the tidal barrages do but relieve the major disadvantages because of their inexpensive building costs and can be deployed in wider countries of the universe. Those are the grounds tidal current turbines are going more attractive and favorable over tidal bombardments and batch of researches and developments are focussed towards those engineerings.3.3. Environmental impactsAffects the upstream and downstream environment due to the demand of big countries3.4. Future development4. Drumhead and decision5. MentionsAtlantis Resource Corporation. ( 2009 ) . . Retrieved December 27, 2009, from Global Resource: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.atlantisresourcescorporation.com/marine-power/global-resources.html Brooks, R. ( 2008 ) . The World Offshore Renewable Energy Report 2004-2008. DTI. Energy Resources. ( 2009 ) . Retrieved December 05, 2009, from Tidal Power- Energy from the Sea: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/tidal.htm Fergal O Rourke, F. B. ( 2009 ) . Tidal energy update. Applied Energy, 398–409. GCK Technology Ltd. ( 2008 ) . Retrieved December 28, 2009, from The Gorlov Helical Turbine: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.gcktechnology.com/GCK/pg2.html M.J. Khan, G. Bhuyan, M.T. Iqbal, J.E. Quaicoe. ( 2009 ) . Hydrokinetic Energy Conversion Systems and Assessment of Horizontal and Vertical Axis Turbines for river and Tidal Applications. Applied Energy, 1823-1835. Peter Clark, Rebecca Klossner, Lauren Kologe. ( 2003 ) . Tidal Energy.

Modern Mobile Phones

———————– †¢ Indisputably, ever since the emergence of cell phones people can constantly keep in touch with their loved ones regardless of the distance. One can reach almost everywhere without any difficulty. Additionally, people can immediately get help in case of emergencies. Furthermore, through mobile phones people can lessen their boredom through listening to their favorite music or watching downloaded movies. †¢ Students can now get information faster through the cell phones. This has significantly affected education standards since most of the students use cell phones to cheat during exams. Have you got a mobile telephone? †¢ Chatting on mobile telephones will also lead us to form  a bad habit. We will like chatting. Gradually, we will spend more and more valuable time on chatting. We will leave our  studies aside and spend most of the time on chatting. Finally  we will have no goal except talking in t he phone! This is a long ­lasting bad effect. we don’t have mobile telephones, we can surely  save a lot of time fir more meaningful tasks. †¢ Do you like such a tense living environment? Why  don’t we turn the mobile telephone off an enjoy  a simpler  and more tranquil life? Everyday people die in car accidents because they use cell phones while driving. According to research cell phones are leading factors that cause accidents. †¢   Despite of a danger, people still use cell phones because they want to be always available and keep in touch with other people. †¢ Opponents say that cell phones are good because they give an opportunity to make a call in case of emergency. †¢ Mobile  phone has been the most important invention recent years. It changed our lives tremendously. Modern  mobile  phones can be very small and different shapes.At the beginning they were as big as brick and they weighed over 1kg. †¢ Additionally , due to GPS system able to check our position on the globe with a great accuracy. †¢ On the other hand mobile phones have many disadvantages. They produce magnetic waves which can be the cause of many illnesses. However the most important threat is possibility of addiction. Some teenagers simply can’t stop sending short messages called sms. It may lead to mental dysfunction or hand injuries. †¢ â€Å"I can’t live without my mobile phone! is what I often hear people say as they lament about how mobiles have become an indispensable part of their lives. †¢   I can send a text message or share photos and videos with friends who aren’t living in the same country. My phone calendar keeps my life organised, and even Facebook, Twitter, and instant messaging are now accessible from mobile devices! †¢ With the development of Chinese society and technology, more and more people have owned at least one cell phone. †¢ Every day I can see nearly everyone holds a cell phone in hand at my university or at street.And what do they do with their mobile phones? Most of them just bow their heads and play games or login QQ to kill time. Hence, I am wondering a very serious question: â€Å"is the mobile phone a blessing or a curse? † †¢ My point of view about this question is that the mobile phone can be either a blessing or a curse and it just depends on your choice about how to use it. †¢ Nowadays, the mobile phone combines many functions in one, especially the smartphone. If you have a mobile phone, it means you may have a digital camera, a carry-on library or even a cinema with you.   But the powerful functions of the cell phone are far more than these. It is much easier for us to communicate with our family members, friends or business partners, especially when we are far away from each other. What’s more, we can login the internet to grasp the up-to-date information. †¢ Also, we may use our mobile phones to do some studying. †¢ However, the mobile phone has some shortcomings despite of its merits. The most intuitive and most direct weakness of the mobile phone is the radiation, which does great harm to human beings. I remember vividly a video I’ve watched before.The main content of the video is that a man put four mobile phones together on a table with the shape of a cross and then he put some corn kernels in the center of the four mobile phones. After that, four people called these mobile phones at the same time. An amazing thing happened—-the radiation changed the corn kernels into the popcorns. How terrible the mobile phones’ radiation is! †¢ It is true that having a cell phone is very convenient and helpful most of the time such as emergencies, but not everyone knows of the potenial negative impacts theses phones have on our lives.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Case Analysis for DLC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Case Analysis for DLC - Essay Example The main business opportunities place considerable  focus  on manufacturing, trade, processing, and on the transport and distribution which became the  regional’s  leading  trade  hub  serving around two million customers all over the world. Dubai media city, Dubai Internet city and the Jebel Ali free zone were also  extremely  favorable to foreign investors. Foreign companies  were allowed  to set up free of the local  ownership  and would benefit from the renewable fifteen years  guarantee  of the absence of taxation. Foreign companies can setup  free  of local ownership and benefit from a renewable 15 year  guarantee  of no taxation. Dubai Logistics City  was  afterwards  built, to the already existing Jebel Ali Port, like a  further  free  region  and  fraction  of the future  prospect  Dubai World Central. The Jebel Ali port, standing in a free zone allowing  expansion  in the future, which is a paramount con sideration to the  Emirates’  leader. The Dubai World Central would be used to  host  the all-new airport. It would make it remarkably easy to  revolutionize  freight  from sea, air or land transportation. ... It  was characterized  by the existing internationality and the  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœeasy-living’  atmosphere. In addition to these, English  is extensively spoken, which makes it more attractive to foreigners and the  religious  issues in the  country  are handled  liberally. Up to present times, growth in tourism has led to the  booming  of construction. The  latest  ambitious project intended is Burj Dubai. It  is planned  to be the highest tower worldwide in completion. Just like the Burj al Arab Hotel, it  is situated  on a manmade island.  Around 4.9% of its current GPD came from tourism and conferences.  It was  mainly  from the tourists attracted by the world class accommodation and the duty-free shopping. Dubai palm island  development  was of one of the greatest projects. It was an  island made  by  man  in the resemblance of a palm tree. It offered villas, apartments and hotels.  The island's large size made it even visib le from the outer space.  The major focus of every decision in the country has been its development and sustainable  growth. Due to its monarchial system of governance, coordination and long  time  planning  of policies and projects  it is made  exceptionally  possible.  However, adapting to the  country’s way of doing business, i.e., the Arabian  style  is extremely difficult to many foreign investors. In most of the negotiations, these Arab partners do not have open discussions about the positive or negative impacts of a project in question. Instead of this, they just  withdraw  from the negotiations involved, consider the  matter  at hand  private  and inform the  alien  business partners concerning their  private  decision later. Nevertheless, life in the country – as a model of tolerance and with its variety of different cultures

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Examples of historical and contemporary CHANGE MAKERS Essay

Examples of historical and contemporary CHANGE MAKERS - Essay Example It was also to be used as a vessel to safeguard traditional Indian customs and rituals. To achieve this, AIM was to use legal means to uphold Indian treaty rights that would allow them to gather wild rice, to hunt and fish freely without interference. These treaties had been violated by the American government and were only used to dupe and subdue the Indians. (Encyclopedia.com, 2005) In 1968, after being released from prison Banks went from door to door requesting native Indians to come together to form what would later be known as AIM. In 1969, he was among the people who seized Alcatraz Island which had been taken from Indians and used to create a prison facility. In 1973, he led the military takeover of a village in South Dakota known as Wounded Knee. The standoff between AIM and American army lasted 73 days despite the fact that AIM had been out numbered and had fewer resources. This grabbed the attention of people throughout American and they began receiving massive support for their courage. (Encyclopedia.com, 2005) Banks through the movement spent most of his life advocating for Indian rights. After earning an arts degree at the University of California, he began lecturing at Deganawidah-Quetzecoat University which is owned and controlled by Indians. He became the first American Indian chancellor and in 1979, Banks began lecturing at Stanford University in California. Since then, he has been travelling overseas giving lectures about Indian customs. In 1987, he was actively involved in convincing two states: Indiana and Kentucky to pass laws that would prevent violation of Indian graves. He then reorganized burial ceremonies for at least 1200 desecrated Indian graves in Uniontown, Kentucky. (Encyclopedia.com, 2005) In 1988, he organized and led the Sacred Run- an Indian spiritual run from New York to San Francisco, and then in Japan where he was stationed as a soldier, from Hiroshima to Hokkaido. In the same year, he published in Japan his

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Operations management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

Operations management - Assignment Example In addition, the London Ritz hotel through their annual service quality week awards the best employee mostly through customer’s votes. The organization does its best in terms of service delivery to the customers because they believe in culture of employee satisfaction who later sells the same to customers in building the organizational reputation. The Ritz hotel in London is popular around the world due to its remorseful as a tourist attraction center. It is featured amongst the top most tourism profitable organizations in the whole world, generating invisible returns to London and the United Kingdom as a whole. For sustainable economic development of this institution, the management of Ritz hotel has continuously done its best to improve the level of professionalism and quality management in its services by ensuring that the customers’ demands are met and the institution remains the most competitive in the service industry sector (Bamford and Forrester 2010). Moreover, The Ritz hotel does its best to ensure that all its employees and practitioners receives recognition and high level of benefits in terms of ethical conduct since any practices of the stakeholders may subject the business to lose the reputation it has built over a long period of time thus leading to a downfall in returns. THESIS: This report is developed to determine the operation management strategies that the Ritz Hotel in London has adopted to remain competitive in the market. At the Ritz hotel inventory and assets, management is considered as one of the most important areas that requires keen management personnel. This is because the hotel spends a lot of money to purchase food items, the utensils and sanitaries, which are the commonly used items. Therefore, the hotel has put in place enough measures that ensure that competitive assets management system

Monday, August 26, 2019

My Personal Life, Education, and Aspirations Essay

My Personal Life, Education, and Aspirations - Essay Example Ever since I was a child, I have been having big dreams of becoming an accomplished businessperson. In this regard, I have made strong resolutions to pursue an international business degree in the United States since the U.S. universities are some of the most recognized in the world. In addition, my coming to the United States was inspired by my urge to meet new people, especially people from diverse cultures. As an aspiring international entrepreneur, I have to understand most if not all cultures in order to do my business efficiently in the future. I thought the United States was the hub multicultural learning and this fact really motivated me to come to the U.S. I hope to make friends with many people from across the globe, some of whom may become my future business partners. As far as personality and education goals are concerned, it is worth noting that the two match to a greater degree. It is so in the sense that I am a calm person who likes paying attention to details and never misses an opportunity. This personality has given me the impetus to explore my dreams exhaustively and make a concrete career decision. In this respect, I am planning to Study business up to the Masters’ level after which I will venture into business practice as a small entrepreneur.  

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Is Neoliberalism in Crisis Today Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Is Neoliberalism in Crisis Today - Term Paper Example In the last months of the year 2008, following the financial crisis, people readily accepted that it was the demise of neoliberalism, and thus whether it was a total end of neoliberalism and would it lead to the emergence of new political and economic policies, and what form they would take were the crucial questions which require deliberate attention and time (Brand and Sekler, 2009, 5 – 8). The rise of neoliberalism came about as a result of the deep revolutionary changes in the global economy in the 1970s, it was, however, a passive and tacit revolution which strengthened the capitalist system by the means of complete transformation of the social, political and the economic system of the countries of the world from the ‘above’- which was the dominant political and social forces. The major aspect of the new concept was the liberalization of the market along with the deregulation of the political system. The system was a success initially and triumphed by encompa ssing the national economies of numerous nations across the globe. In the 1970s, the Keynesian approach in the post World War 2 era crumbled and marked the epoch of Neoliberalism (Altvater, 2009, 73). The end of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates in March 1973 and the liberalization of the financial markets under the governance of Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain was the beginning of neoliberalism. The decisions regarding the formation of the critical prices, such as the exchange rates around the world, and the interest rates charged on borrowing and saving, and therefore the regulatory policies were no longer regulated or officially controlled. Instead, these decisions were left at the disposal of the private sector, such as multinational banks, speculative investment and other funds and also the transnational corporations. The wave of privatization of the public services and goods began, and the newly formed private sectors set off to create financial innovations, forming new instruments to increase gains.  

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Rader, Cossman & Porter (2012) Fear of crime and vulnerability Essay

Rader, Cossman & Porter (2012) Fear of crime and vulnerability - Essay Example Such physical vulnerabilities include gender, health, and age, while social vulnerabilities are the social economic status of such people and their race. The research held that both the physical and social vulnerabilities characteristics are interdependent causes of fear among people. The direct effects of such social vulnerabilities are tied to physical indicators of vulnerability, though occurrence of indirect effects of physical vulnerabilities are tied to fear of victimization through some indicators of social vulnerabilities. Nahavanna (2006) explains ethical considerations as an important aspect in any quantitative research design, which includes respecting the rights of the participants, and the individual consent by the respondents. The benefits of participation as addressed by the authors would be to learn how people from different races, gender, and age distribution would react to fear of crime, leading to an informed basis on which nursing psychology has to be applied whil e dealing with such vulnerable groups. Since the authors used data sets prepared from a previous research, risk benefits, and informed consent were not of much significance in this research. The board approval was obtained. In this case, the Panel Study on American Religion and Ethnicity (PS-ARE), who carried out the primary survey, authorized the use of the survey results to analyze data collected on statistics that would best describe the trend of both physical and social vulnerabilities in fear of crimes. Therefore, the researchers did not require any consent from the respondents, but required authority of the primary body that handled the research. Since the primary survey was carried out by a religious body alongside additional data from US Census Bureau, it would be expected that respondents participated in the research willingly. In this research, the dependent variable was well identified as the proxy for fear of crime, which is reflective of the level of safety the individu als felt in their respective neighborhoods. On the other hand, the independent variables were indicated as the social and physical vulnerabilities of such groups in their neighborhood. Data collection in this research was from analysis of the survey indicated above. The responses were classified into five distinct categories, depending on answers from respondents to the question whether they felt unsafe in their neighborhoods. â€Å"Never† was associated with 1, while â€Å"at least once a day† was rated 5. On the other hand, in physical vulnerabilities, gender (female = 1), while fair or poor health was designated by 1. Other classifying categories included level of education, and income, which were recorded in 19 categories ranging from $200,000, and marital status as married or cohabiting indicated by 1, else =0. The rationale behind this classification was to define the respondents into refined groups as precisely as possible. Therefore, the respondents’ cha racteristics were the social and physical vulnerability. The time taken for the actual survey was not recorded, nor was the time taken to analyze the survey and classify the data in this research. From the primary survey, data collection involved classifying areas into a three digit zip code, and then for each three digit area, another set of two five digit zip codes were randomly formed, leading to about 90 addresses, which were selected randomly and households screened for eligibility. Therefore, in this research, the data collected from the above defined primary research was analyzed for the physical and social vulnerability factors, and the data analyzed quantitatively. Data management

Friday, August 23, 2019

Manegment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Manegment - Essay Example My better communication skill and listening skill will help me in getting things done through the workforce in the organization. This will also create a sense of trust among the teams. â€Å"Charismatic Leaders, who are building a group, whether it is a political party, a cult or a business team, will often focus strongly on making the group very clear and distinct, separating it from other groups. They will then build the image of the group, in particular in the minds of their followers, as being far superior to all others. The Charismatic Leader will typically attach themselves firmly to the identity of the group, such that to join the group is to become one with the leader. In doing so, they create an unchallengeable position for themselves† (Charismatic Leadership). My percentage in faith in people is 54%. This means that I have low faith in people. This will help me to connect the reality of performance and trust with the people. This rate also indicates my capability to take financial challenges and to create integrity among the work group. My trustworthy score is 47. That means others may feel me as a trustworthy person. This will help me to create a trusting bond between me and the team. I feel that I can improve myself more by improving by presenting more consistency in the commitments and maintaining confidence among the team. My rating in disciplining others is 19. This means my shortcomings in discipline skill. I need to be more conscious in matters regarding taking timely actions, in modulating tones while speaking or discussing about infractions and to be particular about the problems within the organizations. Team building activities helps in developing organizational culture. My team building skill helps in lies in the second quartile with 79 points. I need to be more conscious in developing my skill to motivate and develop the team as a whole. Some more interpersonal skills have to be improved like communication and negotiation. My

Thursday, August 22, 2019

SKILLS GAPPING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SKILLS GAPPING - Essay Example For example, if the area was customer service focused, skills gapping would look for gaps in areas of service delivery and then try to bridge that gap through training or technology. The health care environment can benefit greatly from skills gapping, especially in areas of patient care in a hospital setting. Nurses and physicians, and many other support staff, are exposed to people of many different cultural, ethnic, or family backgrounds and each have different interpersonal dimensions and personalities. Being able to provide a quality face-to-face interaction with patients, at all staff levels, means being able to be adaptive to their unique cultural values. Skills gapping could recognize all areas which come in contact with patients, assess the goals of each job role, and then assess staff for their ability to provide multi-cultural support at the social level. Gaps in knowledge or experience in these areas would be located in skills gapping process, allowing for the health care analyst to review training programs related to multi-cultural relationships or enhancing patient psychology. Patient care is much more than just the delivery of medicine, it is inter active at multiple staff levels and skills gapping can be a competitive edge. Offers one human resources expert, â€Å"Training and development plans should be regularly reviewed and certainly more than once per year† (Wilson and Western, 2001, p.93). It seems that many companies develop training programs and then continue to allow them to become standardized over the passage of time without upgrading or modernizing them. This would provide ineffective training for the real-time health care environment. Skills gapping can act as a regular auditing tool within the business to improve training delivery and training program development which would be ongoing. For example, if a hospital administrator decided that it would become the organizational mission to

Effects of European Expansion in N.America Essay Example for Free

Effects of European Expansion in N.America Essay The news of a New World spread like a forest fire throughout Europe and the race for colonies between Portugal and Spain began. Each country started to conquer the ancient civilizations and exploit the continents raw material. This collision deeply affected all of the Atlantic societies. The conquistadors had a powerful effect that began to create a truly new world in Latin America; the New World would never then be the same after 1492. When Columbus waded shore two ecosystems amalgamated and clashed. When the Europeans arrived, they brought diseases that the Native Americans were not immune to including small pox, measles, bubonic plague, influenza, typhus, diphtheria, yellow fever, malaria and the scarlet fever. Devoid of natural resistance to these diseases, the Native Americans died in great masses. Within fifty years of the Spanish arrival, the population of the Taino natives in Hispaniola dwindled from 1 million people to about 200. In return, the Europeans were infected with syphilis, which they acquired from the Native Americans. Other than disease, the Europeans introduced new crops and plants such as wheat, sugar, rice, coffee, dandelions, daisies, and Kentucky bluegrass. The Europeans also introduced new domestic animals such as horses, cows, and pigs. The introduction of horses caused North American tribes like the Apaches, Sioux, and Blackfoot to adopt these animals, transforming their cultures into highly mobile societies. On the other hand, the Europeans acquired gold and silver as one Aztec described them: They thirsted mightily for gold; they stuffed themselves with it; they starved for it; they lusted for it like pigs. The Europeans were also introduced to new crops such as corn, potatoes, pineapples, tomatoes, tobacco, beans, vanilla, chocolate, and sweet potatoes. Other than material things and disease, the Europeans and the Natives created a new race. This happened when Cortà ©s conquered Mexico and began to encourage intermarriage with the surviving Natives. Although Cortà ©s encouraged intermarriage, he enslaved many of the Native Americans. This created a new and distinctive culture of mestizos. These were some aspects of the collision between the two worldsSpains colonial empire grew swiftly and impressively and as it did it deeply affected all the Atlantic societies. The Spanish success reached France and England causing French and English voyages to be sent in order to get part of this colonial success. In Florida on the borderlands, Spanish  erected forts to protect sea-lanes to the Caribbean, to secure the northern periphery of their New World domain against such encroachments, and to convert Native Americans to Christianity. Unlike the rest of the colonies, the Spanish settlers in New Mexico found little gold fur, but they did discover wealth of souls to be harvested for the Christian religion. The Roman Catholic mission became the central institution in colonial New Mexico until the missionaries efforts to suppress native religious customs provoked a Native uprising called the Pope Rebellion. The Pueblo rebels destroyed every church in the province and killed a score of priests and hundreds of spinach settlers. In California, no serious foreign threat loomed and Spain directed its attention there only belatedly. Rodriguez had explored the California coast in 1542, but he failed to find San Francisco bay or anything else of much interest. For some two centuries after California slumbered undisturbed by European intruders. Then in 1769 Spanish missionaries led by Father Serra found San Diego. Father Serras Franciscan friars toiled with zealous devotion to Christianize 300,000 Native Americans. They gathered the semi-nomadic Native American into fortified missions and taught them horticulture and basic craft. These mission Native Americans adopted Christianity, but they also lost contact with their native cultures and often lost their lives as well, as the white mans diseases doomed these biologically vulnerable peoples. These changes helped create a truly new world in Latin America including the borderlands of Florida, New Mexico, and California; all of which later became part of the United States. In conclusion, the Spanish invaders did indeed kill, enslave, and infect countless natives, but they also built a colossal empire, stretching from California and Florida to Tierra del Fuego. They grafted their culture, laws, religion, and language into a wide array of native-societies, laying the foundations for a score of Spanish-speaking nations.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Attachment Theory And Risk Assessment

Attachment Theory And Risk Assessment Linking Theory, Research, and Practice: Risk-Assessments and Child Protection. The primary goal of this paper was to broaden my knowledge and understanding around the theory, research, policies, and procedures guiding risk-assessment decision making within child protection service. Individuals and group identified as at-risk-, for one or more myriad reasons have been the broad focus of a decade s worth of academic and professional purists. Although the initial concern for all at-risk individual remains, practical and academic experiences have narrowed the scope to include children under the age of twelve, at risk- of, or currently residing out-of-home-care placements (hereafter referred to as care environments). Of all at-risk- populations, I believe these children are the most vulnerable to negative outcomes in the near and distant futures. Substantiated allegations of child maltreatment1 are responsible for 80% of child protection investigations, and preceded out-of-home care placements of at least 90% of the current care-population (Gough, 2000; Wiley, 2009). For several helpless years, I witnessed the devastating consequences for those children that child protection services failed. When child protection workers would report risk-assessment results, I was repeatedly astonished by outcomes, which failed to remove from unhealthy home environments. Consequently, I developed an interest in contributing factors in risk- assessment. To convey the complexity of competing factors that influence risk-assessment outcomes, the following section provides some brief background information about child protection services and additional information around the risk-assessment process. Background Canada s Child, Family, and Community Services Act (CFCS) (1996), is the major source of information that guides each province in the development, regulation and implementation of child protection services. Recent amendments to the Canadian Criminal Code (1985), such as the controversial) legal obligation to report suspected child abuse/maltreatment, provide additional legal guidelines. In British Columbia (BC), the Ministry of Child and Family Development (MCFD), is responsible for overseeing the quality and delivery of Child Protection Services. Independent arrangements exist between the MCFD and twenty-four separate Aboriginal child protection Agencies. National estimates suggest that on any given day, more than 67 000 Canadian children (9.2 children per 1000) will be living in out-of-home care (Garrison, 2004; Gough, 2007; Trocm , Tourigny, MacLaurin, Fallon, 2003) British Columbia`s contribution to this figure represents 1% of the province`s children, although a disproportionate amount of these children are Aboriginal2. Approximately equal numbers of females (48%) and males (52%) live in care settings with a combined average age of 9.0 years (Child and Youth Officer for British Columbia, 2005; Connolly, 2007; Hardiker, Exton Barker, 1991). Risk-assessment and Decision Making Out-of-home care environments primarily refer to kinship care (family member), foster care, and residential/group care facilities, independent or assisted living facilities, and formal institutionalization (e.g., hospitals or mental health institutions) (Rosen 1999; Trocm et al, 2003; Waechtera et al, 2009). Child in short-term care (awaiting a permanent placement) comprise 40% of this population, and the remaining 60% represents children in long-term care placements (minimum of five uninterrupted years) (Fisher, Burraston, Pears, 2005; Kelly Milner, 1996; Solomon, 2002). Research has identified areas of significant concern associated with each of these environments, including but not limited to child maltreatment from caregivers, isolation, inadequate foster parent screening, training, poor parenting skills, negative peer influences, deviant peer clustering, and instability (Garrison, 2004; Okagaki Luster, 2005; Rosen, 1999; Solomon, 2002). Risk-assessment refers to the decision making process of child welfare workers investigating the potential dangers associated with a child s primary care environment (Connolly, 2007; Kelly Milner, 1996). Typically, these assessments are intended to validate allegations of child maltreatment (Gilbert et al., 2009; Wiley, 2009). Despite the high stakes associated with each of these outcomes, there are no mandated procedural standard associated with the assessment process. This assessment is a largely subjective judgement or evaluation of the severity of potential harm to the child (Drury-Hudson, 1999). There are three possible outcomes of a risk assessment corresponding to perceived severity of the risk and age of the child (see Figure 1). Family Development Response (FDR) is likely when the risk- is considered high, yet manageable through interventions that target adult behaviours. If the risk is moderate or higher (and the child is old enough) Youth Services Response may be considered. When the risk- is immediate, and severs, the only available recourse is to begin a child protection investigation. Child Protection: Goals Child protection services are one way that childrens rights are enforced and upheld and to the increase the likelihood of the child to develop the characteristics (personality and behavioural) associated with success and wellbeing in adulthood. The intended purpose of child protection is to safeguard children from immediate and future harm. The focus of most protection investigations is on the efforts and ability of caregivers to provide a supportive environment that does not threaten the safety and wellbeing of the child, and promotes cognitive, physical, and emotional developmental process (Waechtera et al., 2009). Unfortunately, these goals rarely achieved. When compared to non-care population, research investigations consistently describe children in care as more aggressive, antisocial and are more likely to demonstrate pathological and or problem behaviours (Chamberlain, 2003; Simms, Dubowitz, Szilagyi, 2000; Rosen, 1999). Additionally, children in care are four times as likely (65% of children in care) to be diagnosed with one or more clinical mental health condition (e.g., Oppositional Defiance Disorder, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) (Three, 2001; Provincial Health Officer of BC, 2001; Wiggins, Fenichel, Mann, 2007). Furthermore, children in care are prescribed more pharmacological treatments (e.g., Ritalin) for longer periods, at higher dosages (Vitally, 2001). The purpose of this paper is to examine theoretical and empirical support for the practices associated with the risk-assessment process and outcomes. Attachment Theory has been extensively applied within social services practices and research. Direct references to Attachment Theory are found throughout practice guidelines for child protection services. Attachment Theory Attachment Theory has traditionally been regarded as the theoretical bridge between early childhood development research and clinical social work practices (McMillan, 1992). The influence of Attachment Theory within child protection services is pervasive to the point of being indistinguishable (Byrne, 2005; Haight, Kagle, Black, 2003). According to Attachment Theory, critical, developmental periods in the first years of life where the quality of a child-caregiver attachment relationship is crucial for health development (Bowlby, 1999; Bretherton, 1992). Bowlby believed that the critical function of the parent-child attachment relationship was the formation of an internal working model that formed the basis for lifelong patterns of interpersonal behaviours and shaped all aspects of subsequently formed relationships (Bacon Richardson, 2001). Attachment Theory and Child Protection Practices: Summary of Research It is evident that Attachment Theory has exerted considerable influence upon child protection practices (Axford, Little, Morpeth, Weyts, 2005; Schore Schore, 2008). Child protection guidelines frequently and specifically refer to Attachment Theory when describing theoretical support for recommended practices (Bacon Richardson, 2001; Trevithick, 2000). For example, practitioners guidelines recommend that when child welfare workers respond to allegations of abuse, the risk-assessment should consider the style of the attachment relationship between a child and mother, and balance the consequences of breaking a secure attachment against the consequences of perceived risk- (Harris, 2009; Simms et al., 2000). Consistent with central tenants of Attachment Theory, the importance of familial relationships is emphasized throughout policies and practices, including the screening of adoptive parents (e.g. the recommendation that child welfare workers assess adoptive parent in terms of the att achment potential), child custody determinations, therapeutic support (i.e., Family focused therapy), and risk- assessment (Barth, Crea, John, Thoburn, Quinton, 2005; Lopex, 1995; McMillen, 1992). Moderate evidence indicates that under specific conditions, there is empirical evidence to support assessment of attachment relationship (Axford et al., 2005; Byrne, OConnor, Marvin, Whelan, 2005). These conditions include risk assessment involving infants and/or children less than two year of age, availability of high quality alternative care environment, use of standardized attachment measures (i.e., Ainsworth s Strange Situation test) and sufficient time available for a minimum of two assessment opportunities (OConnor Byrne, 2007). Unfortunately, there appears to be little research support for the above recommendations in all but the specific conditions described above. Recent research indicates that key elements of Attachment Theory are often misinterpreted by practitioners and inappropriately applied to situations that contradict research recommended parameters (Holland, 2001). No evidence links style of attachment with a course of action in risk- assessment (Barth et al., 2005). Practitioner guidelines seem to overstate the extent of empirical support justifying use of attachment assessment in high stakes decision-making processes (Connolly, 2007; Trevithick, 2000). Additional concerns have been raised around a concerning tendency in the attachment research to draw unsupported conclusions, an erroneous use of correlational research designs (vs. experimental), inappropriate use of assessment methods, discounting environmental confounds, a lack of regard for extra-familial relationships, and a tendency to attr ibute problems to deficiencies in parenting (Harris, 2009; Solomon, 2002) Final Remarks Overall, Attachment Theory is consistent with the family focus of child protection practices, however, there is no evidence linking this framework with improved long-term outcomes. Reported benefits and related successes appear to occur almost randomly, and rare, and often are limited to unrealistic example of care environments that in no way represent the much harsher reality. There appears to be a need for practitioner education to improve their understanding and interpretation of Attachment Theory. It appears there is also a need to establish standardized assessment procedures, including the development and introduction of research validated assessment tool. As it currently exists, the range, severity, and prevalence of developmental problems noted among children in care, the high financial costs to society, the lack of intervention strategies, and the twenty years of negative growth, are undeniable evidence of our dismal failure as a society to protect our most vulnerable members (Chamberlain, 2003; Farruggia, Greenberger, Chen, Heckhausen, 2006; Okagaki Luster, 2005; Sims, Dubowitz, Szilagy, 2006).

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ethics

Tuskegee Syphilis Study Ethics Abstract The Tuskegee Syphilis Study was a forty year-long study in which researchers observed the natural progression of syphilis in 399 African-American men. Despite medical advancements and the discovery of successful penicillin treatments for syphilis, researchers involved in the Tukegee Syphilis Study took extreme measures to ensure participants remained unaware of life-saving intervention (Jones, 1993). The deceptive and manipulative nature of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study resulted in public uproar and legislative action to ensure the protection of human rights and prevented future unethical practices in research involving human subjects. Although there are strict federal regulations for research ethics, underrepresentation of minority groups in clinical research continues to exist even forty years after the cessation of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Research suggests that the maltreatment and unethical practices of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study may have fostered distrust in health care prov iders resulting in unwillingness to participant in clinical research (Shavers, Lynch, Burmeister 2000). The implications of the Tuskegee Syphilis have helped shape the American Psychological Associations Ethical Code of Conduct (2002) and influenced the current standard of care expected of health care providers involved in research. Keywords: Tuskegee Syphilis Study, research ethics Research Ethics: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is one of the most infamous and controversial studies executed in the last century. In 1932, the United States Public Health Service in conjunction with the Tuskegee Institute initiated a 40 year-long study to observe racial differences in the development of syphilis. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that gradual spreads throughout the body and may cause physical deformities, dementia, paralysis, and even death (Center for Disease Control [CDC], 2012). Researchers from the Tuskegee Institute recruited 600 African-American men from Macon County, Alabama, 399 of who had untreated syphilis in the latency stage (Reverby, 2001). The researchers coerced participants into the study by telling them they had â€Å"bad blood†, a term used to describe multiple illnesses within the black community at that time. To persuade participants even further, researchers provided them with regular meals, free transportation to and from the clinic, and funeral s tipends for their families (Carmack, Bates, Harter, 2008). Furthermore, research directors hired African-American doctors and nurses in order to acquire and maintain the participants trust throughout the study (Corbie-Smith, 1999). Despite medical advancements and the 1943 discovery of penicillin as a successful treatment for syphilis, participants in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study were not privy to life-saving interventions. Furthermore, researchers prevented participants from knowing about viable treatment options by prohibiting medical screenings during the World War II draft, monitoring participants who went to other medical facilities, and intervening with other health care providers who tried to treat participants (Reverby, 2001; Rothman, 1982). By taking such extreme measures throughout the study, more than 100 men who suffered from syphilis succumbed to the curable disease (Corbie-Smith, 1999). Although several government agencies and healthcare providers knew of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, in 1972, the New York Times released an extensive article detailing the unethical treatment of African American men with untreated syphilis. The article generated public disgust and caused nationwide uproar, inevitably resulting in the 1973 termination of the Tuskegee Institute’s syphilis research by the Health and Scientific Affairs Review Board (Carmack, Bates, Harter, 2008). The unethical practices committed by researchers at the Tuskegee Institute led to the 1974 National Research Act, which mandated the use of Institutional Review Boards for research that receives federal grants (Rencher Wolf, 2013). Despite the cessation of the study in 1973, it was not until May 16, 1997 that President Clinton issued an apology on behalf of the United States Government to the victims of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. At this time, the United States Government recognized their role in the c ontinuation of the study and the ethical negligence that took place (Fairchild Bayer, 1999). Throughout the duration of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, generations of researchers who undertook the study continued to rationalize their work based on scientific grounds and the importance of understanding the biological progression of the disease. They justified any ethical concerns by suggesting that researchers could never replicate the magnitude of such data or have the ability to acquire such a large group of untreated individuals (Rothman, 1982). The validations given by researchers to continue mistreating patients stress the importance of creating ethical boundaries when conducting research. Acknowledging the deficient treatment and research decisions made by health care providers in the past helps influence the direction of patient care for the future. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, along with many other unethical research practices in our country’s medical and psychological history, including eugenics and maltreatment of the mentally ill in asylums, have helped shape the ethical requirements that are now expected from all health care providers. The ethical violations committed throughout the course of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study have influenced the inclusion of many standards outlined in the APA Code of Ethics involving patient care, therapeutic practice, and research protocols. Ethical Concerns General Principles The unethical foundation and practices carried out throughout the duration of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study violated the General Principles outlined in the 2002 American Psychological Association Ethical Code of Conduct including: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence, Fidelity and Responsibility, Integrity, Justice, and Respect for Human Rights and Dignity. In terms of Beneficence and Nonmaleficence, which describes the importance of avoiding and minimizing patient harm (APA, 2002), the researchers involved with the continuation of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study harmed their participants as well as the participants’ families who had to care for them as their health deteriorated due to the progression of the disease. Furthermore, researchers neglected to discuss the transmission of syphilis and preemptive measures that would prevent others from contracting the disease, which caused harm to those who had sexual relationships and children with untreated participants (Corbie-Smith, 1999; Jon es, 1993). The principle of Fidelity and Responsibility focuses on building and maintaining a trusting relationship between the patient and health care provider as well as the obligation to serve in accordance to the patient’s best interest (APA, 2002). The Tuskegee Syphilis Study violated this principle and in many ways relied on deception to give the impression of trusting relationships between researchers and participants. For instance, in order to gain the trust of the participants, researchers hired an African-American nurse named Eunice Rivers for the duration of the forty year-long study. She would often transport them to and from the clinic, act as a cultural liaison, and provide devoted support to the participants (Corbie-Smith, 1999). Although this encouragement and assistance was important for the participants throughout the study, the formation and maintenance of such a trusting relationship may have inhibited the participants from making well-informed decisions about their c ontinued involvement in the study. In this regard, Eunice Rivers may have unintentionally acted as a mode of deception rather than of trust by not upholding the participants’ best interest and inadvertently obstructing informed consent. The Integrity and Justice Principles involve the importance of upholding honesty, avoiding misrepresentation, and ensuring access and benefit from services (APA, 2002). In regards to the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the violations of these values are apparent due to the dishonest, manipulative, and immoral nature of the study. Researchers went to great lengths in order to prevent participants from learning about life-saving treatments for syphilis including informing the Alabama Health Department not to treat participants, interceding with other health care providers, and prohibiting medical screenings for participants drafted to fight in World War II (Reverby, 2001). The resources that researchers used to maintain the study’s objective indicates the unethical practices that occurred throughout the duration of the study in the name of science. Lastly, the principle of Respect for Human Rights and Dignity concerns the protection of human rights and overall welfare of a patient’s well-being (APA, 2002). Throughout the course of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, researchers violated several human rights and exploited the vulnerability of a community affected by a potentially fatal disease. Researchers took advantage of a population that lacked affluence and quality education for American-Americans by giving participants incentives such as funeral stipends and hot meals, which inevitably impeded their ability to make informed decisions about participating in the study (Carmack, Bates, Harter, 2008; Corbie-Smith, 1999). Furthermore, during the period in which the Tuskegee Syphilis Study took place, social prejudices against African-Americans may have influenced the basis and continued justification of the study (Bhopal, 1997). Informed Consent The standards outlined in the American Psychological Association are expectations pertinent to all health care providers who are assessing, treating, or researching patients. The standard related to informed consent regarding research discusses the importance of disclosing the purpose, potential risks, and expected duration of the study in order for participants to make educated decisions about their participation in research (APA, 2002). From a historical perspective, at the time of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study the APA Code of Conduct was not a comprehensive list of standards, research guidelines, and protocols. However, the importance of informed consent is paramount in Tuskegee Syphilis Study and influences the expectations for patient care that are applicable today. The African-American subjects involved in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study were primarily impoverished and uneducated sharecroppers, which presents ethical concerns regarding the ability for participants to make informed decisions due to desirable research incentives or an inability to comprehend the extent of their involvement in the study. Researchers also used the term â€Å"bad blood† to recruit participants rather than informing them of their actual medical condition. The lack of information provided to the participants regarding the nature of the study and treatment options indicates the inadequacy of informed consent that caused harm to many individuals involved in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. In addition, there remains to be controversy regarding how informed the participants were throughout the study. In 1972, a Center of Disease Control officer reported that participants in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study had knowledge of the study’s nature and knew they could withdraw at any time. Conversely, Dr. Williams, an intern who worked at the Tuskegee Institute during the study, stated neither interns nor participants knew of the study’s objectives (Jones, 1993). The conflicting accounts indicate the deceptive characteristics of the study, which may have caused confusion to the participants and subsequent mistrust of health care providers that is still prevalent today. Deception in Research The APA Ethical Code of Conduct prohibits researchers from deceiving participants in research that may potentially â€Å"cause physical harm or severe emotional distress† (p. 11). The detrimental effects caused by the Tuskegee Institute violated this standard in several ways. For instance, researchers told participants they had â€Å"bad blood† and offered treatment and incentives for ongoing participation. Medical staff involved in the study never told participants their true medical diagnosis. Charles Pollard, a Tuskegee subject stated, â€Å"All I knew was that they just kept saying I had bad blood- they never mentioned syphilis to me, not even once† (Jones, 1993, p. 278). The participants used in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study all had syphilis in the latency stage, which can be very dangerous if left untreated. Many with latent stage syphilis may not experience the external symptoms of syphilis including sores and rashes; however, they may be susceptible to develop paralysis, blindness, dementia, or fatal damage to internal organs (CDC, 2012). Despite the debilitating and life-threatening effects of syphilis, participants never received counseling on how to prevent the transmission of disease or that their disease was contagious at all. Consequently, this exacerbated the spread syphilis and contributed to 40 wives contracting syphilis from sexual interactions and 19 children born with congenital syphilis (Jones, 1993; Perkiss, 2013). Although the Tuskegee participants believed they were receiving treatment for â€Å"bad blood†, researchers actually prevented participants from gaining access to life-saving treatment and watched as participants health slowly deteriorated. Researchers continued to justify this active neglect in fear of losing â€Å"valuable† research data due to the longevity of the study. The harm caused by the omission of information in the Tuskegee Study, especially the severity and cause of syphilis is irrevocable and continues to have ethical implications in research studies. Research Implications The unethical practices of researchers and health care providers throughout the Tuskegee Syphilis Study have led to legislative, political, and social implications that continue to affect research protocols. Due to the public upset caused by the revelation of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, legislators passed the National Research Act in 1974 in hopes of avoiding unethical practices in future research endeavors (Rencher Wolf, 2013). The National Research Act led to the formation of theNational Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research who were responsible for recognizing and enforcing the ethical standards regarding professional conduct when using human subjects in research. By doing so, the Commission also established guidelines for researchers to abide by in order to protect human rights and preserve human dignity (The National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, 1979). The National Research Act also mandated institutions who receive government grants to establish and submit research proposals to local Institutional Review Boards. The Institutional Review Boards are required to evaluate research studies and ensure that informed consent, research methods, and objectives adhere to the ethical guidelines and uphold human rights. Moreover, the Institutional Review Boards are responsible for yearly evaluations to ensure r esearchers remain in accordance to all ethical guidelines. (Rencher Wolf, 2013; Corbie-Smith, 1999). Due to the legal and ethical implications of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, many research institutions became overly cautious about including certain groups in their research in fear of causing another public protest. Excluding particular groups from research limited generalizability and the application of research findings to a diverse population, which consequently hindered scientific progression. This concern led to the 1993 National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act, which required researchers to include minorities and women as research subjects. However, the ability to acquire these populations for clinical research, especially ethnic minorities, continues to be troublesome (Corbie-Smith, Thomas, Williams, Moody-Ayers, 1999). Although federal regulations have mandated ethical guidelines for research, the effects of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and other unprincipled practices throughout history may be a factor in the underrepresentation of minorities participating in research and the perpetual mistrust in health care providers (Freimuth et al., 2001). Based on a report from the Center of Disease Control, African-Americans have higher rates of medical conditions including heart disease, stroke, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and hypertension (CDC, 2011). However, due to the low census of participants in medical research, health care providers face challenges when trying to identify the physiological, cultural, and sociological reasons contributing to the high prevalence of African-Americans suffering from medical conditions. Researchers suggest that the extensive history of unethical treatment by health care professionals, including that of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study may affect the low frequency of minorities willing to participate in research (Freimuth et al., 2001). For instance, a study conducted by Shavers, Lynch, Burmeister (2000) indicates that knowledge of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study would negatively affect African-American participation in biomedical research based on distrust of researchers. Although awareness of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was not the only factor influencing minority participation, 51% of African-Americans were less trusting of medical research because of their knowledge of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Furthermore, of the 51% who distrusted researchers, 46% reported that knowledge of the Tuskegee Study would affect their participation in medical research and 49% reported being unwilling to participant in research studies. Misconceptions regarding the nature of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study which suggests that researchers intentionally injected participants with syphilis in order to observe the natural progression of the disease may also be a contributing factor as to why minorities are hesitant to trust researchers or health care providers (Freimuth et al., 2001; Shavers, Lynch, Burmeister 2000). Furthermore, parental influence and socialization may have also had an indirect influence on more recent generations who were unaware of the discreditable history of research methods for scientific advancement (Poythress, Epstein, Stiles, Edens, 2011). The influence of cultural perspectives regarding research may reinforce reluctance to participate in research and perpetuate mistrust in health care providers. Conclusion The ethical research concerns surrounding the Tuskegee Syphilis Study continues to influence the revisions of the APA code of conduct, the standard of care expected for all patients, legislative orders to protect human rights, and social perspectives of health care providers. Despite the cessation of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study in 1973 and the enforcement of strict federal regulations, the underrepresentation of minorities in research continues to be a concern. The lack of participation limits generalizability and impedes the validity and application of research findings. In order to facilitate change, it is important for researchers and health care providers to address the misconceptions of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, recognize the development of ethical standards throughout recent decades, and emphasize the value of accurate representation of minorities in research.

Monday, August 19, 2019

business release :: essays research papers

FDA APPROVES REFRACTEC’s ® CKSM (Conductive KeratoplastySM) NON-LASER PROCEDURE FOR FARSIGHTEDNESS CK Uses Radiofrequency Energy, Instead of a Laser, to Reshape the Cornea Without Cutting or Removing Tissue IRVINE, Calif., April 16, 2002 – Ophthalmic device manufacturer Refractec Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved CK (Conductive Keratoplasty), a procedure for farsightedness (hyperopia) in people over age 40. CK utilizes the controlled release of radiofrequency (RF) energy, instead of a laser or scalpel, to reshape the cornea. The minimally invasive CK procedure takes less than three minutes and is done in-office with only topical (eye drop) anesthesia. Farsightedness, which occurs when the cornea is too flat or the eye is too short, is the most common vision disorder in America and affects more than 60 million people over age 40. Symptoms include difficulty reading menus, a computer screen and seeing to drive at night, or the need to constantly reposition reading material to find the right focus. â€Å"For years, the farsighted have been left behind as vision correction progressed: RK (radial keratonomy), PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) even LASIK (Laser In-situ Keratomileusis) initially, were all treatments designed specifically for the nearsighted,† said world-renowned ophthalmologist Marguerite B. McDonald, MD, medical monitor for the FDA clinical trials, director of the Southern Vision Institute and clinical professor of ophthalmology at Tulane University, New Orleans, La. â€Å"CK is one of the first procedures designed specifically for the millions of people with hyperopia.† (more) FDA Approves CK Page 2 of 4 Due to the flatness of the cornea, farsightedness is the most difficult disorder to treat with LASIK and the most likely to cause complications, according to Robert K. Maloney, MD, principal FDA clinical investigator and director of the Maloney-Seibel Vision Institute in Santa Monica, Calif. â€Å"Hyperopic LASIK accounts for about 20 percent of my practice, but 80 percent of the complications, because hyperopic patients are more likely, after LASIK, to get dry eyes, hazy vision or poor quality of vision,† said Dr. Maloney. Procedure Appeals to Risk-Adverse Baby Boomers Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) comprise the largest segment of the farsighted population, and many view the need for glasses as a sign of aging. Yet, hyperopic procedures comprised only a small percentage of the nearly 2 million U.S. refractive surgeries performed last year. Consumer research indicates that, to date, very few people between the ages of 40 to 60 have even considered vision correction surgery, as they tend to be more conservative and risk-adverse than their younger, nearsighted (myopic) counterparts. business release :: essays research papers FDA APPROVES REFRACTEC’s ® CKSM (Conductive KeratoplastySM) NON-LASER PROCEDURE FOR FARSIGHTEDNESS CK Uses Radiofrequency Energy, Instead of a Laser, to Reshape the Cornea Without Cutting or Removing Tissue IRVINE, Calif., April 16, 2002 – Ophthalmic device manufacturer Refractec Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved CK (Conductive Keratoplasty), a procedure for farsightedness (hyperopia) in people over age 40. CK utilizes the controlled release of radiofrequency (RF) energy, instead of a laser or scalpel, to reshape the cornea. The minimally invasive CK procedure takes less than three minutes and is done in-office with only topical (eye drop) anesthesia. Farsightedness, which occurs when the cornea is too flat or the eye is too short, is the most common vision disorder in America and affects more than 60 million people over age 40. Symptoms include difficulty reading menus, a computer screen and seeing to drive at night, or the need to constantly reposition reading material to find the right focus. â€Å"For years, the farsighted have been left behind as vision correction progressed: RK (radial keratonomy), PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) even LASIK (Laser In-situ Keratomileusis) initially, were all treatments designed specifically for the nearsighted,† said world-renowned ophthalmologist Marguerite B. McDonald, MD, medical monitor for the FDA clinical trials, director of the Southern Vision Institute and clinical professor of ophthalmology at Tulane University, New Orleans, La. â€Å"CK is one of the first procedures designed specifically for the millions of people with hyperopia.† (more) FDA Approves CK Page 2 of 4 Due to the flatness of the cornea, farsightedness is the most difficult disorder to treat with LASIK and the most likely to cause complications, according to Robert K. Maloney, MD, principal FDA clinical investigator and director of the Maloney-Seibel Vision Institute in Santa Monica, Calif. â€Å"Hyperopic LASIK accounts for about 20 percent of my practice, but 80 percent of the complications, because hyperopic patients are more likely, after LASIK, to get dry eyes, hazy vision or poor quality of vision,† said Dr. Maloney. Procedure Appeals to Risk-Adverse Baby Boomers Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) comprise the largest segment of the farsighted population, and many view the need for glasses as a sign of aging. Yet, hyperopic procedures comprised only a small percentage of the nearly 2 million U.S. refractive surgeries performed last year. Consumer research indicates that, to date, very few people between the ages of 40 to 60 have even considered vision correction surgery, as they tend to be more conservative and risk-adverse than their younger, nearsighted (myopic) counterparts.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Optimization of Ritalin for more Effective Results Essay -- Methylphen

Ritalin (Methylphenidate) Optimization Ritalin Pills Abstract: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is currently the dominating psychiatric disorder found in children. The creation of the drug Ritalin based on the molecule Methylphenidate in the early 90’s sparked a widespread use of this psycho stimulant, which still remains as one of the most popular drugs used to counteract the symptoms of ADHD. My ultimate goal in this research project is to design analogs for the drug Ritalin in the hopes of discovering a more effective version of this medication. Through research, it can be concluded that none the analogs suggested are suitable candidates for new drugs based on the results. Introduction: With 3-5 percent of school children today diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), ADHD has been reported to account for 50 percent of the child psychiatric population seen at the clinic. Methylphenidate (figure 1) serves as the dominant drug used in medications counteracting the symptoms of ADHD. (1) Among those medications, Ritalin is currently prescribed for daily use to 1.5 million school children in the United States, making it one of the most widely used prescription medications today. (2) The optimization of Ritalin is of utmost importance and will therefore, be the topic of this project. Scientists believe that ADHD is caused by an imbalance between dopaminergic, noradrenergic and serotonergic neurotransmitter systems. However, this theory remains questionable due to an insufficient amount of evidence. Methylphenidate’s mechanism of action, Fig. 1: Methylphenidate Molecular Structure which is based on dopamine synaptic uptake inhibition, essentially allows it to binds to ... ... Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (1997) 29 July 2008 2) Ritalin: Fast Facts. Do It Now Foundation. 29 July 2008. figure 1: United States Environmental Protection Agency. July 28 2008. figure 2: Medscape. July 28 2008. title picture: Wikimedia. July 28 2008. figure 4: Wikipedia. July 28 2008. figure 5: Wikipedia. July 28 2008. %28primary%29-skeletal.png> figure 8: Wikipedia. July 28 2008. svg> Optimization of Ritalin for more Effective Results Essay -- Methylphen Ritalin (Methylphenidate) Optimization Ritalin Pills Abstract: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is currently the dominating psychiatric disorder found in children. The creation of the drug Ritalin based on the molecule Methylphenidate in the early 90’s sparked a widespread use of this psycho stimulant, which still remains as one of the most popular drugs used to counteract the symptoms of ADHD. My ultimate goal in this research project is to design analogs for the drug Ritalin in the hopes of discovering a more effective version of this medication. Through research, it can be concluded that none the analogs suggested are suitable candidates for new drugs based on the results. Introduction: With 3-5 percent of school children today diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), ADHD has been reported to account for 50 percent of the child psychiatric population seen at the clinic. Methylphenidate (figure 1) serves as the dominant drug used in medications counteracting the symptoms of ADHD. (1) Among those medications, Ritalin is currently prescribed for daily use to 1.5 million school children in the United States, making it one of the most widely used prescription medications today. (2) The optimization of Ritalin is of utmost importance and will therefore, be the topic of this project. Scientists believe that ADHD is caused by an imbalance between dopaminergic, noradrenergic and serotonergic neurotransmitter systems. However, this theory remains questionable due to an insufficient amount of evidence. Methylphenidate’s mechanism of action, Fig. 1: Methylphenidate Molecular Structure which is based on dopamine synaptic uptake inhibition, essentially allows it to binds to ... ... Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (1997) 29 July 2008 2) Ritalin: Fast Facts. Do It Now Foundation. 29 July 2008. figure 1: United States Environmental Protection Agency. July 28 2008. figure 2: Medscape. July 28 2008. title picture: Wikimedia. July 28 2008. figure 4: Wikipedia. July 28 2008. figure 5: Wikipedia. July 28 2008. %28primary%29-skeletal.png> figure 8: Wikipedia. July 28 2008. svg>

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Night and Dawn †A Comparison of Elie Wisel’s writings Essay

Night and Dawn, both written by Elie Wiesel, are two books that have changed the way people view life and death. Night is a story of the Holocaust that occurs in the time frame of the mid-1900s. Elie, the author and the main character of Night, tells of the horrific years he spent in Germany’s concentration camps. During this time period, millions of Jewish people were shot by merciless Nazis. Dawn focuses on a young boy Elisha who is recruited into a terrorist organization after the Holocaust. He eventually finds himself caught in the middle of the war between the Jewish and the British fighting for freedom. Both of Wiesel’s stories involve poignant emotions. Night shows the reader the horror of being murdered. Similarly, Dawn is about the horror of murdering someone. It is interesting to note that in Night, the Jewish is in front of the gun; in Dawn, the Jewish man is behind a gun. Both situations contain the predominant emotion of fear. The two stories vary, but behind their covers, these stories deal with the same topic–cruel murder. Elie Wiesel deals with this topic through the characters, the character’s histories, and their similarities and differences. Elie Wiesel’s journey begins in Sighet where his family believed strongly in their religion. The Nazis have set the goal — genocide of the Jewish citizens. He is sent to a concentration camp in Germany where he must endure the harsh brutality of the Nazis. It is only at these concentration camps that Elie discovers the truth about himself. Dawn is about a scarred Jewish man Elisha who is recruited to join an extremist group that is fighting for their freedom against the English. One of the terrorist party members, David, is captured by the English during an operation of smuggling arms and is threatened to be killed for committing this crime. The Jewish freedom fighters suddenly become enraged and devise their own plan; The capture of their own hostage, Captain Dawson. The Jewish then plan to exchange the Captain for David. Elisha, who just joined the group, is then assigned his first task–the harsh mission of murdering the Captain. While Elisha may not have a physically painful task, he must endure the mental anguish that murder brings. Once the murdered, now the murderer. Wiesel utilizes the characters to emphasize his purposes. The two main characters in Night and Dawn, Elie and Elisha, share both similarities and differences. Elie keeps his feelings and his actions within his mind. His thoughts tell the story and provide readers with emotion. On the other hand, Elisha tends to act his thoughts out, which is the main reason that he joined the terrorist group. For example, Elie prays regularly in order to fuel his hope that one day he will find freedom; Elisha contrastingly kills and destructs out of his emotional and horrendous past. This they both lost their precious childhood at such an early age. Their childhood provides us with the chance to be naà ¯ve and more importantly, the chance to be innocent. Innocence is the only time in life, where you do not possess the knowledge to differentiate between right and wrong. Unfortunately, the main characters did not have the time to slowly explore maturity. Instead, they were forced into the scary and unstable life of adulthood ultimately leading Elie and Elisha down to the fork in the path. The two narrators try to convince themselves that their actions are helpful to society or to themselves. For example, Elisha says, â€Å"I’ll think of David too, I reflected. He’ll protect me. John Dawson may try to make me laugh, but I won’t do it. David will come to my rescue† (79). Elisha is trying to reassure himself that David, the Jewish hostage, is a good reason to murder the Captain. Similarly, Elie had many thoughts toward his commitment to God. When he finally questions his faith he claims, â€Å"I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused† (65). As shown through these examples, throughout the novels, the reader is able to grasp and feel Wiesel’s thoughts and ideas by carefully observing and analyzing the characters of Elie and Elisha. Wiesel wrote Night in an attempt to leave the reader feeling as if he were a Jewish citizen during the time of the Holocaust. The author achieves this through his vivid descriptions and emotional family affairs, such as the time where Elie is separated from his family. When connecting with a character, one understands the character’s dilemmas, such as Elie’s questioning of his religious faith. In Dawn, Wiesel’s purpose was to make the reader see through the eyes of a murderer, and the difficulty of murdering without a reason in which he believes. Elisha struggles because he  cannot find the answer to the question within himself: â€Å"Why am I killing Captain Dawson?† Both stories try to make the reader empathize with the main character. Both Elie and Elisha have a difficult time living in Night and Dawn. The author exaggerates this in Dawn by using the phrase â€Å"Poor boy!† to describe Elisha. In Night, the author tried to gain sympathy for Eli e by putting him into painful situations. One event that represents this was the time where Elie was whipped by a Kapo, â€Å"He took his time between each stroke. Only the first ones really hurt me. I could hear him counting† (55). Going into more depth, Wiesel writes about how each character deals with his pain. Elie copes with loss through his belief in God and his strength; Elisha copes with his loss by communicating with apparitions of the people by which he has been influenced, and the people he has influenced. While making the readers sympathize with the main characters, Wiesel also uses both stories as important information that reflect on our past and our present. Night and Dawn serve as documentations that show readers some of the darkest moments in our history. In these two novels, the author compares the past to the present. While the audience reads this book, it may realize that we still face the same problems today as we did fifty years ago. Perhaps Wiesel wrote these books in attempt to change the future for the better of mankind. Even though there are many similarities between Night and Dawn, the books also have significant differences. Foremost, in Dawn, The tables have turned, and this time they are in control. Many times throughout Dawn, the terrorists say, â€Å"This is war,† in an attempt to give reason to the assassination of the English man. However, they are simply â€Å"putting on the field-gray uniform of the SS† (30). Perhaps the Nazis used this same excuse while brutally slaughtering thousands of Jewish people. The attacker must put himself in the victim’s shoes; likewise, the reader must put himself into the main character’s shoes. And although the tables have turned for the Jewish man, the reader can still relate to the main character because he is in his shoes. This slaughtering inevitably scars each victim. Of course, each character deals with his pain in a different way. In Night, Elie uses his thoughts to heal his wounds constructively. In Dawn, Elisha acts out his thoughts and seeks revenge destructively. A prime example that is  representative of Elie is the time when he sees the young boy that is being hung. At this event, a man asks, â€Å"Where is God now?† Elie then responds with the following thought: â€Å"Where is He? Here He is–He is hanging here on this gallows†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (62). However, Elie does not speak out; rather, he keeps his thoughts within himself. On the other hand, Elisha uses his instinct to guide him into sin. As Elisha bitterly states: I understood Gad’s bitterness; indeed I envied it. He was losing a friend, and it hurt. But when you lose a friend every day it doesn’t hurt so much. And I’d lost plenty of friends in my time; sometimes I thought of myself as a living graveyard. That was the real reason I followed Gad to Palestine and became a terrorist: I had no more friends to lose (35). This suggests that Elie has become totally numb to the idea of death. He has been set free to the burden of mourning. This is why Elisha does not cry or yell out in pain after he murders Captain Dawson. It is interesting to note that even though Elie and Elisha find themselves in similar situations, they each deal with their problems in their own unique ways. These two novels carry the same purpose–touching the hearts of the readers from their history, to their agonizing life during the Holocaust. In Dawn, Wiesel states that â€Å"War is like night†¦ It covers everything†. This statement proved true for both Elie and Elisha; however, the war did not give them the same view on life or of the Holocaust. Dawn and Night show the good and the bad that resulted from living in a painful past. Elie searches within himself to discover inner peace, even during such a painful period in his life. Similarly, Elisha also searches within himself but unlike Elie, he discovers extreme hatred. Dawn and Night are stunning novels that bring the reader into some of the most painful and agonizing scenario; this was what Wiesel desired–and he has been successful.

Friday, August 16, 2019

The Ideal And The Realty Of Classical Athens

The Ideal and the Realty of Classical Athens Discovering the Western Past Introduction: Athens during the fifth century B. C. Is often identified as one of the main sources of Western values and standards. Later Europeans and Americans regarded the Athenians as the originators of democracy, drama, representational or realistic art, history, philosophy, and science. At different times over the past 2,500 years they have attempted to imitate this â€Å"Golden Age† of classical Athens in everything from buildings to literature.Many U. S. State capitols and government buildings are modeled On the Parthenon or there temples, complete with statuary of former governors in the manner of Greek gods. We still divide, drama into tragedies and comedies in the same way the Athenians did, though now we sometimes use a prerecorded laugh track instead of grinning masks to indicate that a given work is a comedy.During some historical periods, such as the Renaissance, thinkers and writers made conscious attempts to return to classical ideals in all areas of life, combing the works of Athenian authors for previously overlooked material in their quest to draw guidance and learn everything possible from this unique flowering of culture. Even more than as a model for literature and art, classical Athens has continued to serve as a relevant source for answers to basic questions about human existence.Though all cultures have sought to identify the ultimate aim and meaning of human life, the ancient Greeks, especially the Athenians, were the first in the West to provide answers that were not expressed in religious or mythological terms. Their thoughts on these matters grew out of speculations on the nature of the universe made by earlier Greeks, particularly Thales and. His followers Misbranded and Heraclites. These thinkers, living in the seventh and sixth centuries B. C. Theorized about how the universe had been formed and what it was made of by means of rational explanations drawn from observation rather than from myth or religious tradition. Because they believed the natural universe could, be explained, in other than supernatural terms, they are often termed the first true scientists or first philosophers. During the fifth century B. C. , several Athenian thinkers turned their attention from the world around, them to the human beings living in that world. They used this new method of philosophical inquiry to question the workings Of the human mind and the societies humans create.They asked such questions as. How do we learn things? What should we try to learn? How do we know what is right or wrong, good or bad? If we can know what is good, how can we create things that are good? What kind of government is best? This type of questioning is perhaps most often associated with Socrates (469-390 B. C. ) and his pupil Plato (427-347 B. C. ), who are generally called, the founders of Western philosophy. Thales and his followers are thus known as the pre- Soc ratic; and a twentieth-century philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, noted-?only half jokingly-?that â€Å"the European philosophical tradition .. Insists of a series of footnotes to Plato. † Both Socrates and Plato believed that goodness is related to knowledge and that excellence could be learned. For Plato especially, true knowledge was gained not by observation of the world but by contemplation of what an ideal world would be like. In their view, to understand goodness, justice, or beauty, it is necessary to think about what pure and ultimate goodness, justice, or beauty means. Plato thus introduced into Western thought a strong strain of idealism and was the first to write works on what an ideal society or set of laws would look like.He also described the education required to train citizens for governing this Ideal state and the social and economic structure necessary to keep them at their posts. Though he probably recognized that these standards could never be achieved, he believed that the creation of ideals was an important component of the discipline of philosophy, a sentiment shared by many Western thinkers after him. Plat's most brilliant pupil, Aristotle (384-322 B. C. ), originally agreed with his teacher but then began to depart somewhat from idealism.Like the pre- Socratic, Aristotle was fascinated by the world around him, and many of his ratings on scientific subjects reveal keen powers of observation. Even his treatises on standards of human behavior, such as those concerning ethics and politics, are based on close observation of Athenian society and not simply on speculation. Aristotle further intended that these works should not only describe ideal human behavior or political systems, but also provide suggestions about how to alter current practice to conform more closely to the ideal.Thus, although Aristotle was still to some degree an idealist, both the source and the recipient of his ideals was the real world. In classical Athens, human nature was a subject contemplated not only by scientists and philosophers, but also by historians, such as Herodotus and Discusses. They, too, searched for explanations about the natural order that did not involve the gods. For Herodotus and Discusses, the Persian and Peloponnesus wars were caused by human failings, not by actions of vengeful gods such as those that Homer, following tradition, depicted in the Iliad as causing the Trojan War.Like Aristotle, they were interested in describing real events and finding explanations for them; like Plato, they were also interested in the possible as well as the actual. History, in their opinion, was the best arena for observing the true worth of various ideals to human society. To the Athenians, war was the ultimate test of human ideals, morals, and values, but these could also be tested and observed on a much smaller scale in the way people conducted their everyday lives.Although for Plato the basis of an ideal government was the pe rfectly trained ruler or group of rulers, for Aristotle and other writers it was the perfectly managed household, which they regarded as a microcosm of society. Observing that the household was the smallest economic and political unit in Athenian society, Aristotle began his consideration of the ideal governmental system with thoughts on how households should be run. Other writers on politics and economics followed suit, giving advice after observing households they regarded as particularly well managed.Whereas Plato clearly indicated that he was describing an ideal, in the case Of Aristotle and other Athenians, it is sometimes difficult to determine whether they were attempting to describe reality, what they wished were reality, or a pure ideal. Your task here will be to examine the relationship between ideal and reality in the writings of a few Athenian philosophers, historians, and commentators. What ideals do the writers set forth for the individual, the household, and the gover nment?How are these ideals reflected in more realistic descriptions of life in Athens and in the way Athenians built their houses and their city? Sources: All the written sources we will use come from Athenians who lived during the classical period and are thus what we term original or primary sources. They differ greatly from modern primal sources, however, in that their textual accuracy cannot be checked. Before the development of the printing press, the only way to obtain a copy of a work was to write it out by hand yourself or hire someone to do so.Therefore, each manuscript copy might be slightly different. Because the originals of the works of Aristotle or Discusses have long since disappeared, what we have to work with are translations of composites based on as many of the oldest copies still in existence after 2,500 years that the translators could find. The problem of accuracy is further complicated with some of the authors we will read because they did not actually write t he works attributed to them. Many of Aristotle works, for instance, are probably copies of his students' notes combined with (perhaps) some of his own.If you think of the way in which you record your own instructors' remarks, you can see why we must be cautious about assuming that these secondhand works contain everything Aristotle taught exactly as he intended it. Socrates, in fact, wrote nothing at all; all his ideas and words come to us through his pupil Plato. Scholars have long debated how much of the written record represents Socrates and how much represents Plato, especially when we consider that Socrates generally poke at social gatherings or informally while walking around Athens, when Plato was not taking notes.These problems do not mean that we should discount these sources, they simply mean that we should realize that they differ from the printed documents and tape-recorded speeches of later eras. We will begin our investigation with what is probably the most famous desc ription of classical Athens [Source 1]: a funeral speech delivered by Prices. Prices, one of the leaders of Athens when the Peloponnesus War opened, gave this speech in 430 B. C. In honor of those who had died during the first year of the war. It was recorded by Discusses and, though there is some disagreement over who actually Wrote it, reflects Prices' opinions.Read the speech carefully and be prepared to answer the following questions: (1) Is Prices describing an ideal he hopes Athens will achieve or reality as he sees it? (2) How does he depict Athenian democracy and the Athenian attitude toward wealth? (3) How does he compare Athens with Sparta? (4) How does Athens treat its neighbors? (5) What role does Prices see for Athena Ian women? Source 2 comes from a later section of Discusses' Peloponnesus War, and it ascribes Athenian actions in the sixteenth year of the war. As you read It, think about the virtues that Prices ascribed to the Athenians. 1 ) Are these virtues reflected in the debate with the Menials or in the actions against them? (2) How do the Athenians justify their actions? Sources 1 and 2 from Discusses, History of the Peloponnesus War, translated by Richard Crawler (New York; Modern Library, 1951) up. 103-106; p. 109. 1. Prices' Funeral Speech, 430 B. C. That part of our history which tells of the military achievements which gave us our several possessions, or of the ready valor with which either we or our ethers stemmed the tide of Hellenic or foreign aggression, is a theme too familiar to my hearers for me to dilate on, and I shall therefore pass it by.But what was the road by which we reached our position, what the form Of government under which our greatness grew, what the national habits out of which it sprang; these are questions which I may try to solve before I proceed to my panegyric (festival assembly) upon these men: since I think this to be a subject upon which on the present occasion a speaker may properly dwell, and to which t he whole assemblage, whether citizens or foreigners, may listen with advantage. Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves.Its administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is' called, a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if to social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition. The freedom, which we enjoy in our overspent, extends also to our ordinary life.There, far from exercising a jealous surveillance over each other, we do not feel called upon to be angry with our neighbor for doing what he likes, or even to indulge in those injurious looks which cannot fail to be Offensive, although they inflict no posit ive penalty. But all this ease in our private relations does not make us lawless as citizens. Against this fear is our chief safeguard, teaching us to obey the magistrates and the laws, particularly such as regard the protection of the injured, whether they are actually on the statute book, or belong to hat code which, although unwritten, yet cannot be broken without acknowledged disgrace.Further, we provide plenty of means for the mind to refresh itself from business. We celebrate games and sacrifices all the year round, and the elegance of our private establishments forms a daily source of pleasure and helps to banish the spleen; while the magnitude of our city draws the produce of the world into our harbor, so that to the Athenian the fruits of other countries are as familiar a luxury as those of his own. If we turn to our military policy, there also we differ from our antagonists.We throw open our tit to the world, and never by alien acts exclude foreigners from any opportunity of learning or observing, although the eyes of an enemy may occasionally profit by our liberality: trusting less in system and policy than to the native spirit of our citizens; while in education, where our rivals from their very cradles by a painful discipline seek after manliness,