Moral Courage Essay

Moral courage is a concept means doing the right thing, it means listening to conscience that what does it saying. Standing on what believe. Moral courage has three major elements witch are principle, endurance and danger. it means moral courage and doing right things make us in the risk, we may face fear and danger for example with losing o job and security, reputation or etc. But falling in the risk is not matter because we follow our conscience and it is important because I believe that conscience is based on values and show us the way to be human. Moral courage is standing up for values such as honesty, fairness, compassion, respect and responsibility but just having these values are not enough we have to try to put them into practice and we have to commitment to moral principles as well, so in the practice we may face with danger and we have to confidence to endure hardship, suffer and sacrifice. In this sense we can see moral courage in action. According to Kennedy (1956) moral courage is â€Å"the Basis of All Human Morality.† he mentioned that Courageous men do as they do because they love themselves, they respect themselves and their reputation for integrity and their personal standard of their ethics all are more important than their popularity with others or desire to maintain their offices. For having these all values they have to fall in the risk as it done with senator George Norris, with Nelson Mandela and Malala Youssafzai, that all of them stood on what they believed and what they knew that is right. They struggled for higher purpose and having greater values such as human rights and for justice and they found these straggle as their duty to fulfill their obligation. So as consequence we saw that all of them faced with challenges and danger and they endured hardship situation but they could to have significant acheivement. for World War 1 that was started in 1914, US government declared that they would remain neutral but in reality it was not like this and US supported England by carrying guns through Armed Merchant ships and was against German so after German submarines sank three American Merchant Ships in 1917, president Wilson declared for entering into WW1 and asked for congressional approval. Senator Norris was opposing of US entre into World Ward 1 so he filibustered the Armed merchant Ship bill and he faced with very hardship situation and condemned by American press but he didn’t gave up and he believed on the rightness of his course, he was not care about holding his office he just listened to his conscience and tried to say truth to people. So finally he did and informed people about the reality that is behind of this policy he said that these ships used for carrying war supplier to England and country try to enter in the war because of financial benefits of a certain groups of people. Senator Norris did a moral courage action because he said the truth to the people he knew about the terrible result of involving in the WW1 and he believed that war brings no prosperity to great mass of people so his consciences made him to make judgment although his political career was under risk but he pursued justice. Regarding Nelson Mandela, I have to say that he struggled against apartheid and racial discrimination and inequality. Many movements and protests were raised with his leadership against Apartheid and he also joint to Afghan National Congress and tried to provide equality for the black people and give them their rights but he understood that these kind of nonviolent protests or movements do not work in the society that is commanded by group of people who doesn’t follow their conscience so he decided to involve in sabotage and planned for armed struggle. When he arrested by state, he and his fellows didn’t deny his involvement in sabotage and armed struggle he said the truth and he indicted state for discrimination, for inequality, for abuse of black people’s right and freedom. He said that state should feel guilty. Mandela wanted a light future for black people and the basic rights which were neglected by state. He wanted a society that all people can live together in a peace and harmony. In the court he spoke up with integrity and truth as a result he could bring prosperity for black people. He suffered and endured 27 years of his life in prison for his vision and when he was elected as a president, he focused on fostering racial reconciliation and forgiving his oppressors in Apartheid regime. Above all show his moral courage struggle and even after he came to power as president. Malala Youssafzai also was another example who stood on women right for education as it was banded by Talban regime. First she understood that it is her right to continue her education and wanted this right for other girls as well so she tried to speak up and stand on her right. She followed and listed to her conscience and believed that this is right. She had many speeches to explain and inform others that what is happening under Taliban regime and as a result she shot by Taliban and had very hardship situation but after recovery she didn’t give up and straggled for women’s right until she could influence on girl’s accessibility to education in Pakistan.

Trademarks lost in computer crash

Among articles specifically related to fields of e-business and intellectual property that abound in the Internet I found one which I believe is very interesting and at the same time very indicative of possible legal issues that may arise in those fields.This is the article from The Royal Gazette titled â€Å"Trademarks lost in computer crash†. This article describes an accident which happened with the computerized Trademark Registry in Bermuda, which is an island Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Atlantic Ocean with internal self-governance. What makes Bermuda special is that it is known as one of the most important offshore financial centers of the world.More specifically, the article in The Royal Gazette reports about the computer database crash which caused the loss of records about approximately half of the 37000 trademarks registered in Bermuda, discusses ensuing consequences of this mishap, and mentions some legal issues and troubles that arose fr om this apparently unexpected event.In general, one of the accents that the article makes is on the mess that accompanied the problems with the computer hardware and the corresponding suspension of activities in the large trademark sector of Bermuda.Interestingly, the author of the article pays attention also to the roots of the technical problem itself, and mentions facts which suggest an involvement of a human factor as one of the causes of the problem.Now, among legal business issues raised in the article we may identify the following ones. Firstly, since for a prolonged period of time registration of new trademarks was suspended and because the whole trademark sector wholly relies upon the Trademark Registry, lawyers who represented companies with trademarks registered in the Trademark Registry in Bermuda could not be sure that their intellectual property had been protected or that no conflicting marks or infringements on property would emerge after the manual recovery of the da tabase.At the same time, the article draws our attention to the fact that the computer crash, while being a gross embarrassment for Government which has been promoting Bermuda as a leading centre of e-business and intellectual property, also serves as an example of what types of encumbrances e-business may encounter from time to time.Indeed, if such an accident has happened once, it may happen as well in other countries, and as the author of the article points out that trademark sectors of for instance the United States and Britain is much larger, it is easy to imagine what mess could arise there in a similar situation.In this way, one of the main legal issues that e-business faces is the creation of additional legal mechanisms which, of course along with the increased protection of important and private data, would ensure protection of intellectual property even during such crisises as the one that happened in Bermuda, and, importantly, endow participants involved into e-business a nd therefore especially susceptible to negative consequences of problems akin to the one in Bermuda with a sense of security.On ground of this, we may conclude that legal issues affect business in direct and indirect ways. For example, the suspense of related business activities during the period of time needed for the manual restoration of the database had some concrete economic costs.On the other hand, even though the problem with the computerized Trademark Registry in Bermuda was solved in a relatively fast manner this accident surely had struck a blow to the image of Bermuda. Indeed, the problems could, and for that matter should, have been avoided in the first place by merely paying more attention to the maintenance of the hard discs with the stored information, and by making sure that back-up systems worked properly.And even though I think that it is unlikely that such a problem will reoccur in the future in Bermuda, I believe that the realistic solution for the Trademark Regi stry to make most use of this trouble is not only to strengthen their computer system, but to compensate to companies, which have trademarks registered in Bermuda and which experienced inconveniences caused by the loss of data, in both a direct way, and in an indirect manner by assuring them in an increased protection of security of their intellectual property in the future.SourcesBreen, S. (2004). Trademarks lost in computer crash. Retrieved January 30, 2006, fromhttp://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040327/NEWS/103270075.

Filipino Core Values Essay

From the articles that I had read, will reflect the readers’ understanding on different Filipino values, how it defines one, what it means, and if one’s personality changes to fit certain situations. Filipino values have been derived from racial strains and cultural elements such as Aeta, Indonesians, Malayan, Hindu and Chinese which formed the core of our moral conscience, cultural identity coupled with the cultural elements derived from Spain, the United States and from the modern global community, (Panopio and Rolda, 2000). These values are Pagkalinga, Pag-aaruga, Pakialam, Pakikisama, and the Feminist Ethics of Care. Here in the Philippines, values are very important and should be respected. As we grow older, our parents shaped us different values. From the day we are born, Pagkalinga, Pag-aaruga, at Pakialam(Care) were given by them. In our culture, Filipinos were very caring to someone especially to our love ones because caring symbolizes that you loved them deeply and you remember them all the time. This value molds our true Filipino faith, which shows that we are mindful about others. This article wants to show values that are ever-present but seldom acknowledged, much less recognize in the Filipino society. The other one is the Feminist Ethics of Care, it discussed here that how they value the right of men and women. In the article that I have read, they most value the importance of men than women, because the traditional view is that men’s concerns are the more important things such as money, career, advancement and ideas. Women’s preoccupations are under-valued and deemed as less important, such as families, neighbors, friends, and caring. As I interpret it, women are less important before because they knew that they can’t do the things that men can do. I realized that caring is a value that we, Filipino women and men alike, should recognize and give importance to. Pakikisama shows that how Filipino Mingle to others and how they create a good relationship of every individual. In the practice of pakikisama many things are unsaid. Mostly, things are implied in behavioral patterns. This is the typical way of Filipinos relate with one another. As a concept and a trait, it invites us to do good by responding to the call of the others so that we may practice one’s ability that all relationships depends on—the ability to be good and nice companion.

Google's Culture is Truly Unique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Google's Culture is Truly Unique - Essay Example 2. Using the competing values framework, Google’s culture can be analyzed. The company possesses characteristics of a clan, but minimally and non invasively so. In terms of adhocracy, this is something that the company may now be too large to handle. From a market framework, Google is best viewed from the international perspective. â€Å"Googles hiring policy is aggressively non-discriminatory and favors ability over experience. The result is a staff that reflects the global audience the search engine serves† (Google, 2009). Despite its framework of easygoingness, Google is a hierarchical culture. 3. Google’s stated mission is simple, and only takes one line of company documents. â€Å"Googles mission is to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful† (Google, 2009). The culture type most associated with out of the options from the previous question, is market. This is not a hierarchical statement, but one that is centered on the resource that the company presents to the market as its primary service. The statement also shows how Google, after achieving similarly staggering growth with Microsoft, did more of a one-hundred-eighty degree turn in its internal culture: though still aggressive, the company realized that once it was an eight-hundred-pound gorilla, doing parlor tricks was more threatening than amusing. The company needs to retain its edge. 4. In terms of techniques for changing organizational culture, Google has used various methods to form its culture. Market research is important, and socio cultural considerations include how the customer perceives a large company with expensive stock like Google. Related factors of differentiation and switching costs are, as in the bargaining power of suppliers, related to this relationship. This shows how many of the forces in competition that the public sees have a symbiotic or integrated function

Management and leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management and leadership - Research Paper Example Another difference between management and leadership is related to their approach and perspectives. At Boeing, managers always think incrementally and they do everything in accordance with the company’s policy, whereas leaders think radically and they follow their own initiations in the benefit of the company. The Boeing Company hires managers based on their managerial as well as leadership skills. The company believes that a good manager is one who can motivate and lead the employees effectively by setting his/her own example. Leadership is one of the main elements of Boeing’s culture. It has its roots in every department as all managers lead the employees towards increased performance and productivity. Rampur (2010) states, â€Å"In the corporate world, leadership is undoubtedly the most important action that has to be considered if you want to get the work done collectively†. Every department of Boeing works in partnership with the Boeing Leadership Center that works towards ensuring on-the-job successes by providing leadership development opportunities to the managers of all departments. Managers working at Boeing not only manage and control their employees according to the company’s employee management policy but also help them achieve their tasks in an appropriate manner. Boeing’s senior management support matrix structure and provide clear direction to the employees. They possess all qualities of good leaders, such as, assertiveness, visionary outlook, and skills to influence others. The core essence of a true leader is to improve organizational processes by motivating and influencing the employees. Every department of the Boeing Company strives to improve at all levels and that is not possible if the managers do not possess leadership skills. Therefore, we can say that although the concepts of management and leadership have some differences but every manager working at Boeing possesses both managerial and leadership skills to ensure

Eliot's Poetry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Eliot's Poetry - Essay Example Some poems had urban landscape as the backdrop; but mostly it is the inner landscape of the individual's mind that he tried to portray. His language focuses on the acute loneliness of the urban life that shows no sympathy to the individual. Isolation in the crowd is aptly expressed by his images, along with the ordinariness of life. His poetic forms could be termed as dreary compared to earlier poets; but he is depicting the depthless dreariness of modern life. He said: 'A large part of any poet's imagination must come from his reading and from his knowledge of history.' His poems had a sense of history, though he ventured into assessing modern society too often. The complexity of modern life has come across through his images. Glimpses of people who live in the impersonal modern world, spiritually exhausted, emotionally unsupported are shown in The Love song' The language shows the inherent confusion, feeble images, and unauthentic pretence that go through life. The culmination in a sense of defeat is almost predictable and the language could not have been clearer. In the same way, the image of the male observer in the Portrait of a Lady sounds acutely detached and unemotional while encroaching the lonely life of the woman without apology. Once again, almost in identical language, he visualises the mundane city life in Preludes. "To early coffee-stands. With the other masquerades That time resumes, One thinks of all the hands That are raising dingy shades In a thousand furnished rooms." (18-23). There is a definite sense of lack of time and difficult endeavours in the Rhapsody of a windy night. The division of hours and too many mentions of time brings it into acute focus. The same sense of rushing time comes across in the Portrait of a lady when her age is mentioned. The miserable lonely existence and the longing are portrayed alongside the mutilated life along with its acute lack of time for better things. Among the windings of the violins And the ariettes Of cracked cornets Inside my brain a dull tom-tom begins Absurdly hammering a prelude of its own, Capricious monotone. His poetic forms and language reflect the defeated and hopeless idealism. His images show that dreams and elegance are left behind. Eliot's images portray modern society's lack of idealism, emptiness and dangerous cynicism in the modern society. He portrayed the prostitutes as one of the uglier sides of city life in Rhapsody... " 'Regard the woman Who hesitates towards you in the light of the door Which opens on her like a grin. You see the border of her dress Is torn and stained with sand, And you see the corner of her eye Twists like a crooked pin.'" (16-22). It almost sounds inhuman and devouring. His language becomes cynically powerful when he depicts the hopelessness and emptiness of the present world. The images become oppressingly pessimistic and perhaps this is the result of the World War which saw horrendous destruction in Europe the signs of which exist

Rowe v. New Hampshire Motor Transport Association Essay

Rowe v. New Hampshire Motor Transport Association - Essay Example The case is also about the appropriateness of Maine’s Tobacco Delivery Law. The Tobacco Delivery Law puts safety requirements on all transportation of tobacco products. The law requires that stores which carry these products must use a delivery system that does not give any tobacco products to unlicensed stores or let them fall into the hands of minors (those under 18 years old). Based on this law, The New Hampshire Motor Transport Association filed suit, noting that the Tobacco Delivery Law was counteracted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA). â€Å"The preemption provision of the FAAAA prohibits state from enacting laws "related to" the prices, routes, or services of air and motor carriers. The Association argued that the Tobacco Delivery Law placed such a burden on the delivery procedures of carriers that significantly affected their prices and services† (Brief, 2010). Faced with this argument, those working for the state countered that the FAAAA was originally at cross purposes with the Tobacco Delivery Law, a nd that the purposes of the Tobacco Delivery Law generally were focused on regulating based on a threat to the harm of society. In US District Court, the New Hampshire Motor Transport Association prevailed in its argument, and on appeal, this organization also prevailed in its argument again. â€Å"The First Circuit held that a police power exception to the general rule of preemption would be far too broad and was not intended by Congress. Maine could validly ban all unlicensed tobacco products within its borders, but the FAAAA prohibited the state from implementing this goal by imposing requirements on carriers that significantly alter their delivery procedures† (Rowe, 2010). Therefore, in the case, it was found that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 does not overshadow a state law that uses the

Affluenza in Austrail Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Affluenza in Austrail - Essay Example The article by Hamilton which is entitled the Affluenza in Australia is the main focus of the study. There are different concepts related to affluenza presented in the article which revolves on the relationship of wealth and the fulfillment of the people in life. Based on the report, people in Australia are becoming decreasingly dissatisfied with their life regardless of the increasing trend of income in the country (Hamilton 2005, 16). The article presented different situations in the way of life in Australia that can be considered as indications of affluenza. One is the view that ‘people that are wealthy on the basis of international or historical standard’ have the notion that their way of life is tough. Even 62 percent of the population in Australia has the perception that they have no capability to buy the things they need (Hamilton 2005, 16). This is considered as affluenza since on the basis of the material things owned by the households in Australia, the lifestyle of the people there can be considered as luxurious. This can be observed on the basis of different examples such as the size of houses, the household appliances and the average income of the people (Hamilton 2005, 16). There are different points to analyze the article. These include the components of the article, the points presented and the empirical data and evidences presented which present the relationship to affluenza in the Australian society. In terms of the components and manner of presentation of the data, the article can be considered to lack certain parts such as the presentation of the main objectives and methodology used in the study. These components are considered important in an article to be able to point out the reliability of the information. Such components are required for both quantitative and qualitative studies. In terms of the article title, it can be considered to represent a broad area that includes all the issues related to affluenza

Physics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Physics - Assignment Example Consequently, by dividing the weight of the pet turtle with the gravitational constant, then the value found is approximately one kilogram; that in this case is the mass of the turtle. Force acting on a given object is directly proportional to its mass. Similarly, the constant of proportionality in this case, is the acceleration. In an instance that may see, the increase in the force acting on the object, while decreasing its mass, will in this case lead to increase in its acceleration. Every idea in the field of science has some principles that lead to the explanation of its originality. For this reason, that is why there are always other options of verifying the validity of the facts so that it fit within the demands of the present. Such tests on the facts also make it possible for correction of errors that theory came with from its original inventors The mistake here is failure to have the knowledge of expressing very huge numbers into standard figures. For this case, expression of 4,000 in standard form would be 4.0*103 which is the correct answer for justifying the figure to have three significant

Production and marketing functions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Production and marketing functions - Assignment Example Production is a significant function in an organization as it is through it that inputs are converted in to finished products through a sequence of procedures. It requires efficiency in planning to ensure that inputs are available and converted in to finished products successfully. Production managers need to ensure a smooth flow in the work processes as well as enhance innovation and creativity among the employees. The marketing function on the other hand is significant in ensuring that an organization meets the needs of consumers. It involves investigating market needs, establishing suitable packaging strategy and ensuring that the products are made available to consumers where needed. Good marketing strategies increase the overall organizational productivity and competitiveness. Some of the conflicts between the marketing and production functions of an organization could be explained by the GAP analysis proposed by Slack. Role of Production Function Production function involves setting standards and objectives with regards to what is to be produced and the production process. Quality and quantity of output is closely observed to ensure that organizational targets are met. Lean manufacturing is an innovative strategy of the production function whereby wastage is minimized while maintaining quality in all the stages of the production process. Slack et al. (2006) pointed out several objectives of the production function from which an organization can prioritize on the few that are likely to help it accomplish a competitive advantage. One of the objectives is to minimize production costs while maximizing output, which is important in the pricing strategy whereby an organization can easily accomplish price leadership in the market.

Pornography and human sexual variation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Pornography and human sexual variation - Essay Example The philosophers behind the theories have also asked questions how, race social status, background and age affects the women in regards to their sexuality. Some of the books that try to explore this theory say that they can never be the female Viagra. This is because females have testosterone† (Ogas and Gaddam, 2011). The philosophy has four key points that it focuses on in trying to explain the difference between men and women in the society. These are gender difference, gender inequality, gender oppression and structural oppression (Crossman, 2013). Discussion In most cases when we hear of human sexual variation we only think of the two gender male and female. There is more to this variation ranging from interest to emotions. In addition to these, two other aspects like biological and spiritual aspects. The biological is obviously associated with the human reproductive system. For the woman stimulation of the body does not fire up the desire to have sex. The woman responds mo re to physical touch thus making her psychologically aroused (Ogas and Gaddam, 2011). The emotional and physical aspects are the main drive in determining how one sexual desire can be handled. It brings in other forces of attraction between male and female, which is considered normal. However when the interest focuses on same sex attraction hiccups begin. Experiments to explain social psychology started long time ago (Ogas and Gaddam, 2011). Internet porn has been comically quoted as bringing people together. This is because it does not matter what kind of dirty sexual thought you have. On the web, there will be someone to share with you (Ogas and Gaddam, 2011). Rule 34 exists secretly in Social media. Social... In most cases when we hear of human sexual variation we only think of the two gender male and female. There is more to this variation ranging from interest to emotions. In addition to these, two other aspects like biological and spiritual aspects. The biological is obviously associated with the human reproductive system. For the woman stimulation of the body does not fire up the desire to have sex. The woman responds more to physical touch thus making her psychologically aroused (Ogas and Gaddam, 2011). The emotional and physical aspects are the main drive in determining how one sexual desire can be handled. It brings in other forces of attraction between male and female, which is considered normal. However when the interest focuses on same sex attraction hiccups begin. Experiments to explain social psychology started long time ago (Ogas and Gaddam, 2011). Internet porn has been comically quoted as bringing people together. This is because it does not matter what kind of dirty sexual thought you have. On the web, there will be someone to share with you (Ogas and Gaddam, 2011). Rule 34 exists secretly in Social media. Social behavior when it comes to pornography has taken the greatest responsibility. From religious upbringing, human exposure at whatever degree is strongly bared (Ogas and Gaddam, 2011). The society does not condemn the relation between married couples because it is normal. However how they relate sexually it should not be made public. Currently these precautions are not highly considered.

Poetry Essay Example for Free

Poetry Essay Understanding and interpreting poetry requires a different method of reading than the method which is generally associated with prose. While a given poem, especially a lyric poem, may be literally read in a matter of minutes, the comprehension of the poem may take a lifetime. This is due to the extraordinary ability of poets to compress meanings and also develop complex and multi-layered associations of language, figurative language, image, rhyme, and even narrative within a very brief literary forms. Contemplating a poem is as much a part of experiencing it as merely reading a poem. In the hands of a talented and inspired poet, the minimal use of words and the seemingly constricted forms offered by poetry are actually platforms to convey thoughts, themes, and emotions that would find no more complete expression even if given the larger platform of a novel, essay, or even memoir. As an example of this multi-tiered expression that is found in good poetry, Anne Sextons poem, Starry Night provides a rich demonstration of how poetry conveys multiple meanings and associations within a minimalist form. To begin with, Sexton’s poem â€Å"The Starry Night† is an exercise in ekphrasis. Ekphrasis is a type of poem written about another art-form. Most often, in poetry, it involves painting. When writing a poems inspired by paintings, poets attempt to make language, image, and meter evoke the same emotional or thematic impact which is delivered by the visual techniques and textures of paintings. In â€Å"The Starry Night,†Anne Sexton was inspired not only by Vincent Van Goght’s painting of the same title, but by a letter the artist wrote to his brother, which contained the epigraph for Sexton’s poem: â€Å"That does not keep me from having a terrible need/of— shall I say the word— religion. Then I go/out at night to paint the stars. † By including the quotation form Van Goght above the body of her poem, Sexton accomplishes a clever bit of compression, in fact: explicating the poem’s theme before a word of the poem, proper, has a chance to even be read by the reader! This sly trick is compatible with Van Gogh’s technique in the painting â€Å"The Starry Night† which discards subtlety in favor of grandeur and obscurity in favor of explicit emotional expression. In the painting we see a night sky crowded with swirling clouds, blazing starts with burning halos and a moon which reflects each of the lunar phases in one image. All of these attributes are exaggerated, pulling the viewer into a setting of epic epiphany and emotional release. Van Goght’s sky is alive and engages the viewer relentlessly. The overall initial experience is one of being overwhelmed by the immensity of cosmic nature. Below a set of rolling hill lies a small town. The focal point of the town is the large church- steeple, which presides over the rest of the buildings. This steeple seems to anchor the town and the rest of the scene beneath the sky, suggesting that it is the religious and spiritual dialogue between humanity and the cosmos which is of the most importance, not the town itself. Similarly, Sexton begins her poem, â€Å"The town does not exist† establishing the primacy of a non-linear mode of perception, as well as setting the stage for the eventual, climactic religious epiphany. Van Gogh painted Starry Night while in an Asylum at Saint-Remy in 1889. According to many sources his behavior was erratic during this period of his life. During his youth, Van Gogh had dedicated his life to the church. Many believe that Genesis 37:9: And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me† greatly influenced Van Gogh’s â€Å"The Starry Night. † Sexton, too, carefully reserves the numerical symbolism of the painting in her lines: â€Å"The night boils with eleven stars. /Oh starry starry night! This is how/I want to die! † By repeating the adjective â€Å"starry,† Sexton gains the â€Å"crowded† feeling of Van Gogh’s canvas in her stanza. She grasps the â€Å"living sky† element in the following lines: â€Å"It moves. They are all alive. /Even the moon bulges in its orange irons. † The key to Sexton’s masterful ekphrasis seems to lie in her use of compressed diction: â€Å"The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars. †This, like Van Gogh’s hurried, thick brush stroked invokes a sense of both urgency and passion. Sexton’s use of the refrain â€Å"This is how I want to die! † encapsulates the theme of Van Gogh’s paining, that of religious ecstacy, by merging the erotic/death urge so common in Elizabethan poetry and here marked by an additional shading of surrealism â€Å"sucked up by that great dragon, to split/from my life with no flag. In so doing, Sexton remains true to her confessional mode, also capturing an element which is perhaps understated in Van Gogh’s original, but present nonetheless, a â€Å"confession† of deep loneliness and alienation, marked by the darker swirls of color on the painting’s peripheries and also by the lone black tree, which Sexton describes as â€Å"a drowned woman† marking for posterity her close identification with the emotional confessional and religious themes of Van Gogh’s painting. Sexton’s poem is a wonderful counterpoint to Van Gogh’s painting, a rich example of the artistic and expressive potential of transposing the themes textures and techniques from one art medium to another.

The Environmental Protection Agency

The Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, was founded on the premise to protect human health and the environment in 1970 under the Nixon administration (U.S Environmental Protection Agency). Since then, the federal government agency has put legislation and programs into action concerning our environment and our nations health. With the constant change in climate, population, and issues, the EPA has had to adapt to a growing concern from the public. The EPAs mission has remained to promote a healthy and safe environment, and they have initiated several programs nationwide to provide consumers with energy conserving products to reduce waste and conserve resources in America. Although the EPAs intention has been centered on the well being of the country from the start, the agency has received opposing opinions and controversy. Discussed in this paper will be three critical issues the EPA regulates, three voluntary programs put into action by the EPA, and some major conflicts the agen cy has faced since its introduction. Before the creation of the EPA, the federal government had no regulating control over environmental pollutants. Concerns of pollution sparked national attention after the 1969 fire on the Cuyahoga River in Ohio. Time magazine described the Cuyahoga as the river that oozes rather than flows and in which a person does not drown but decays (Great Lakes). Sending concern throughout the country about toxic waste and pollution, the Cuyahoga River incident began a chain of legislation including the Clean Water Act, and later the founding of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the smaller Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. The Clean Water Act became the primary federal law in the United States battle with water pollution (Clean Water Act). The Cuyahoga River incident and legislation that followed was only the beginning of the governments involvement and concern with the environment. Before 1969 was Rachel Carsons research of the dangers of pesticides to our environment which s he published in her book Silent Spring in 1962. The biologist warned against the effects of DDT, a synthetic pesticide. Carsons early introduction of the dangers of pollution didnt spark public interest until the later 1960s after the Cuyahoga River incident. The American public began to react to the issue of pollution on the earth and by 1970 more than 50% of Americans were rating pollution a top issue (Harmon 34). Legislation continued to be passed in the late 1960s, including the Air Quality Act of 1967 which provided federal guidelines for monitoring and guarding the quality of air we breathe, but no national standards were set (Harmon 34). The government began to take control. In 1969, under the Nixon administration, President Richard M. Nixon created the Environmental Quality Council; a panel that would address pollution concerns and advise him the necessary actions. This was another step forward for government control of environmental pollution. Shortly after, Nixon signed Co ngress National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. The act required planners of new construction to review and study the environmental impacts of their projects. This led to the installation of the Environmental Protection Agency, collaborating smaller government programs and bureaus with different environmental concerns. Under a single umbrella agency, the EPA could now tackle the nations environmental issues. Following the passage of NEPA, the United States experienced its first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Millions of Americans participated in demonstrations across the country to draw attention to the environmental problems. Soon after, local and state organizations were created to find solutions to the growing issue. The federal government also got its big break for environmental control when Nixon proposed the Reorganization Plan No. 3 to combat the fact that our national government today is not structured to make a coordinated attack on the pollutants which debase the air we b reathe, the water we drink, and the land that grows our food (Reorganization Plan). The Plan organized various aspects of existing federal departments including the Department of the Interior and the Department of Health to create a collaborated federal effort to establish and enforce environmental protection standards, conduct environmental research, provide assistance to others combating environmental pollution, and assist the CEQ in developing and recommending to the President new policies for environmental protection (Lewis). The Environmental Protection Agency proved a great move in the direction toward environmental awareness and protection for years to come. When Nixon created the EPA, he appointed William D. Ruckelshaus as the first head of the agency in 1970. Since then, a total of 12 administrators have led the EPA; including the current administrator Lisa P. Jackson who took over in 2009. Jackson was nominated in 2008 by Barack Obama for her experience in the field. Prior to her role as administrator, Jackson worked 16 years for the EPA, Chief of Staff in New Jersey during John S. Corzines term, and also the Commissioner of New Jerseys Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Jackson was appointed in January of 2009, where she promised as Administrator, I will ensure EPAs efforts to address the environmental crises of today are rooted in three fundamental values: science-based policies and programs, adherence to the rule of law, and overwhelming transparency. By keeping faith with these values and unleashing innovative, forward-thinking approaches we can further protect neighborhoods and communities throughout the country (Jack son). As Administrator, Jackson stated seven priorities after her first year; taking action on climate change, improving air quality, assuring safety of chemicals, cleaning up EPAs committees, protecting Americas waters, expanding the conversation on environmentalism and working for environmental justice and building strong state and tribal partnerships (Jackson). The major issues the EPA tackles include air pollution, climate change, environmental emergencies, green living, health and safety, land and clean up, pesticides chemicals and toxics, waste, and water pollution. The three discussed will be air pollution, water pollution, and hazardous waste and toxins. Air pollution was a growing concern before the creation of the EPA, but since then the agency has passed legislation and founded programs to control this growing threat. EPAs mission on air pollution is to protect and improve air quality in order to avoid or mitigate the consequences of air pollutions harmful effects (Learn the Issues: Air). Among the first legislation pushed by the EPA was The Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act is the law that defines EPAs responsibilities for protecting and improving the nations air quality and the stratospheric ozone layer (Clean Air Act). Initially created in 1963, the act has experienced its changes in 1970 and 1990 with the change in climate. The Clean Air Act was a serious step in the right direction for government involvement with the environment. By addressing air pollution, the EPA could enact standards ensuring the issue was under control. The amended Clean Air Act in 1990 proposed solutions for addressing acid rain, ozone depletion, and tox ic air pollution. This included vehicle emissions in which the EPA had to set control standards for. The Clean Air Act also required the EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards for six common air pollutants. The six include ground-level ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and lead. Of the six pollutants, particle pollution and ground-level ozone are the most widespread health threat according to the EPA (Six Common Air Pollutants). These severe pollutants are called criteria pollutants according to the because of their regulation of the human-health and/or environmentally based science-based guidelines for setting permissible levels (Six Common Air Pollutants). Another major issue addressed by the EPA is water pollution. The agency acknowledges water in coral reefs, drinking water, ground water, lakes, oceans and coastal estuaries, rivers and streams, storm water, wastewater, watersheds, and wetlands. Water is not only used for drinking, it also holds purpose for household needs, recreation, fishing, transportation and commerce. Like air pollution, water pollution was a concern long before the founding of the EPA. However, since its creation, the agency has supported legislation and created programs to keep our limited supply of water on earth clean. The EPAs mission for water pollution is [enforcing] federal clean water and safe drinking water laws, [providing] support for municipal wastewater treatment plants, and [taking] part in pollution prevention efforts aimed at protecting watersheds and sources of drinking water (Water Topics). The EPA issued substantial legislation with the passing of the Clean Water Act in 1970-80s, which include d the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972, expanding on the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1948 and was further amended in the Clean Water Act of 1977 and the Water Quality Act of 1987. The Clean Water Act or CWA as it is referred was introduced around 1972 with the addition of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), which is still in existence today. The NPDES permitted a system for regulating point sources (EPA NPDES). These point sources included industrial facilities, municipal governments and other government facilities, and some agricultural facilities. By regulating the pollutants from these major sources and homes across the country, the EPA is able to significantly improve the quality of our nations water. Another important piece of legislation pushed by the EPA is the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) passed in 1974. With a number of threats to drinking water: improperly disposed of chemicals, animal wastes, pesticides, human wastes, wastes injected deep underground, and naturally-occurring substances it is no question this act is completely necessary in our country (Safe Drinking Water Act). Amendments were made to the original act including in 1986 and 1996 which required actions to protect drinking water and its sources: rivers, lakes, reservoirs, springs, and ground water wells (Safe Drinking Water Act). The SDWA affects every single public water system in the country and according to the EPA, there are more than 160,000 public water systems providing water to Americans every day. The EPA and its programs work every day to ensure the safety of our drinking water and the water that surrounds us for our health and well being. Another huge, and more recent, issue among the EPA is toxic and hazardous waste. As defined by the EPA, hazardous waste is a liquid, solid, contained gas, or sludge waste that contains properties that are dangerous or potentially harmful to human health or the environment (Wastes). Because of the introduction of chemicals and engineered unnatural substances and bi-products of industry, the EPA has had to address the growing issue. Major legislation passed concerning hazardous waste was in 1976 with the passage of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, commonly known as RCRA. RCRA was approved by Congress to to address the increasing problems the nation faced from our growing volume of municipal and industrial waste (History of RCRA). RCRA provided national standards for protecting human health and the environment from the potential hazards of waste disposal, conserving energy and natural resources, reducing the amount of waste generated, and ensuring that wastes are managed in a n environmentally-sound manner (History of RCRA). By creating these standards, the RCRA was able to manage Americas growing waste crisis. To promote this, the RCRA enacted three programs; a solid waste program, a hazardous waste program, and an underground storage tank (UST) program. The RCRA also banned all open dumping of waste and encouraged responsible acts such as source reduction and recycling. The RCRA deals with current and future facilities and has been amended in two occasions; the Federal Facility Compliance Act of 1992 which strengthened enforcement of RCRA at federal facilities, and the Land Disposal Program Flexibility Act of 1996 which provided regulatory flexibility for specific wastes (History of RCRA). The EPA continues to strive to protect and ensure the safety of American citizens and the environment. Over the years, the EPA has created numerous programs, each devoted specific tasks including conserving energy, water, and air quality. These programs address modern issues that have been created recently concerning over-usage and waste of natural materials and energy. Efficiency has become a hot topic as programs like Energy Star, Water Sense, and fuel efficient cars have hit the market. Energy Star, one of the most successful EPA programs, was created in 1992 as a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (History: Energy Star). At its introduction, Energy Star began by labeling computers and monitors. By 1995, however, Energy Star labels were displayed on office equipment and even domestic heating and cooling appliances. In 1996, Energy Star progressed and partnered with the U.S Department of Energy to fully expand its energy efficient label. Saving Americans $18 billion in 2010 alone, Energy Star has become an innovative ally in the energy efficiency market. From dishwashers to light bulbs, Energy Star has created convenient blue energy saving labels for the American consumer. Saving energy isnt the only reward to using Energy Star products. Consumers who choose Energy Star products receive tax deductions as well as long term savings. According to the EPA, to rate an Energy Star label t he appliances as well as computers, lighting and about 50 other products generally use 20 to 30 percent less energy than required by federal standards (Tugend). By supplying newer, more energy efficient products and appliances, old ones can also be traded out for recycling. By taking away old appliances, Energy Star creates a convenient way to become green in America. Not only are consumers awarded for purchasing Energy Stat labels, but small businesses have also been recognized for efficiency. Annually, the EPA awards small businesses across the country for their energy saving efforts. In 2010, nine businesses were honored the award including AutoFair Companies of Manchester, N.H. and Dagher Engineering of New York, N.Y. According to a statement by the EPA, through effective energy management practices and innovative efficiency solutions, all nine organizations demonstrate that no matter the size, it is possible to save money and use significantly less energy and to power the bui ldings where Americans work, play, and learn (Kika). Energy Star continues to be a huge factor in energy conservation in the U.S today. A second program initiated by the EPA is Water Sense. Like Energy Star, Water Sense is a voluntary rather than a regulatory program. A more recent addition to the U.S, Water Sense was introduced in the summer of 2006 to protect the future of the U.Ss water supply. By educating the public on how to efficiently use the limited water available, Water Sense has been successful in conserving resources, limiting consumption, and saving U.S consumers money. Water Sense products include efficient toilets, faucets, and showerheads. Products that bear the Water Sense label are 20 percent more water efficient than the other products in their category. Since its creation in 2006, Water Sense has reported the program has helped consumers save a cumulative 46 billion gallons of water and $343 million in water and sewer bills (Program Accomplishments). Water Sense strives to help not only the average American consumer, but also businesses and corporations across the country conserve water. Manufact urers of brands like recent additions KB Homes and Moen have contributed to the Water Sense movement by raising their standards and meeting the Water Sense conservation requirements. Another vital program initiated by the EPA concerns fuel economy. The EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) require labels displaying fuel economy information on new cars and light-duty trucks (Fuel Economy). By providing easy to read labels, cars and trucks can be easily compared for maximum miles per gallon efficiency (MPG). The EPA and NHTSA work to update these labels to provide consumers with the simplest energy and environmental comparisons between all vehicles types including electric vehicles (EV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), and conventional gasoline/diesel vehicles (Fuel Economy). These labels contain new information such as ratings on fuel economy, greenhouse gas emissions, and other air pollutants, onto the label as required by the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 (Fuel Economy). By providing details like these, consumers can conveniently scan and compare fuel economy and energy use of new cars and trucks to mak e the most sensible and economical decision. All three programs; Energy Star, Water Sense, and efforts with fuel economy all prove a step in the right direction for energy conservation and preservation in the U.S. The EPAs initiative and constant work to create modern and convenient products for the U.S consumer promote a better tomorrow for the environment and the health of our nation. Although the EPA has contributed tremendously to the preservation of our nations climate and health, the agency has been confronted with controversy. One specific instance of this was after the September 11th attacks in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The true air quality and health risks following the attack were disputed among government officials. At the center of it all was EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman. In a news article reporting the controversy it was stated that In a Sept. 13, 2001, press release, the EPA said the air around the disaster site was relatively safe (Barrett). This struck controversy after a series of health issues including was called the Ground Zero illness flooded victims and officials involved in the 9/11 attacks. The EPA played a key role in the nations response to the terrorist attacks including monitoring of air, water and dust for potential environmental hazards, the vacuuming of debris and dust from streets and other outdoor spaces in Lower M anhattan, the manual disposal of hazardous waste from the WTC site, the creation of an online database to report monitoring results to the public and press, setting up wash stations and providing protective equipment for recovery workers, and the development of cleaning and testing programs for indoor residences in Lower Manhattan (EPA Response to September 11). Despite these efforts, the EPA was still struck with a series of questions and hearings from the government and public as to the true condition of the air quality that September day. Some five to seven years after even the EPA was continued to be questioned as to the condition and experience of their employees and scientists and the condition of their political leadership. In a 60 Minutes special, former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman spoke and defended the EPA and criticized NYC authorities for not enforcing proper safety regulations for the workers. The Environmental Protection Agency has given new hope to the word environment in America. By promoting green living, sustainability, conservation, and preservation, the EPA has given Americans a chance to save the nation for future generations. Initiating programs such as Energy Star, Water Sense and efforts with fuel economy, the EPA has proven they are committed to promoting health and well being in America. Even with rapid chance among the U.S, the EPA has jumpstarted legislation to combat the waste and pollution in the country and on earth. Legislation including the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and efforts to reduce hazardous waste has proven the EPAs success across the nation. Even met by controversy, the EPA has held a tight grip on regulation and conservation throughout the country, and will continue to hold on for future generations. Furthermore, the EPAs mission has been to protect. An agency dedicated to conservation and preservation has rooted itself in American societ y. Without the Environmental Protection Agency, not only would America have a bigger mess on their hands, but as our health would be at risk as a nation as well.

The Characteristics Of Culture Theology Religion Essay

The Characteristics Of Culture Theology Religion Essay Biologically speaking, we humans are social beings. We need our parents to be born, and once that happens; even though we are considered single individuals with a brain and mind that let us think and learn, we do not isolate ourselves from the rest of the people. On the contrary, all we do is to follow our peers. We gather in groups, and these groups constitute subgroups again. This is the basic method we follow to successfully organise and build up our social structure to satisfy our several needs. The first of these groups is our family, and from here we span to neighbourhoods; communities of different kinds, that we joined based on a particular interest, such as: religious, sports, academic, musical, labour, political, ideological, etc. These groups grow in number to form states and then countries or nations. All these people together establish a society. Societies differ from one another and every single one of them is unique, particular and characterised for a distinctive feature that we call culture. Culture is that complex absoluteness that we learn day by day. It is everything with which we fill and give sense to our existence. The way we wear, think, believe, act, speak, perceive are all framed and shaped by the ideas, concepts, values that are part of a specific culture. Through culture we learn to adapt ourselves in this physical world, manipulating the available resources for our own welfare and we also shape our behaviour to avoid a social chaos. Concepts of Culture Culture is neither natural nor artificial. It stems from neither genetics nor rational thought, for it is made up of rules of conduct, which were not invented and whose function is generally not understood by the people who obey them. Some of these rules are residues of traditions acquired in the different types of social structure through which each human group has passed. Other rules have been consciously accepted or modified for the sake of specific goals. Yet there is no doubt that, between the instincts inherited from our genotype and the rules inspired by reason, the mass of unconscious rules remains more important and more effective; because reason itself is a product rather than a cause of cultural evolution. Claude LÃ ©vi-Strauss, 1983. Culture means the whole complex of traditional behavior which has been developed by the human race and is successively learnt by each generation. A culture is less precise. It can mean the forms of traditional behavior which are characteristic of a given society, or of a group of societies, or of a certain race, or of a certain area, or of a certain period of time. Margaret Mead, 1937. Culture is the integral whole consisting of implements and consumers goods, of constitutional charters for the various social groupings, of human ideas and crafts, beliefs and customs. Whether we consider a very simple or primitive culture or an extremely complex and developed one, we are confronted by a vast apparatus, partly material, partly human, and partly spiritual, by which man is able to cope with the concrete specific problems that face him. Bronislaw Malinowski, 1944. Culture embraces all the manifestations of social behavior of a community, the reactions of the individual as affected by the habits of the groups in which he lives, and the product of human activities as determined by these habits. Franz Boas, 1930. Characteristics of Culture Culture is learnt: as soon as we are in contact with other members of our culture, we start learning all about it; therefore, we can assume that culture is learnt rather than inherited biologically. A human being will learn the culture of the society where he is raised; thus, a person that is born in Australia would not practise the same culture if he had been born in Poland. In this context we are different from animals since they are biologically built in a way that they will know how to behave and act naturally even if they grew in isolation. Culture is shared: if culture is learnt, we can state that it is also shared. We share all knowledge among the members of the same society. This way we pass on the standards of our culture along years keeping it alive. As we are social beings, we have a high tendency of sharing and this feature let us improve as a whole. By sharing we provide the necessary tools that are used for a gentle adaptation in all stages and environments we go through in our lives. Culture is integrated: culture itself is not a single unit. It is a complex whole in which every feature that characterizes it has an important role that makes that culture distinctive and peculiar. All these features function integrated and not separately from one another. This way when a feature changes, it affects to the whole system making it also swift. Culture is dynamic: there are some reasons such as: population growth, technological innovation, environmental crisis, intrusion of outsiders, modification of behaviour, etc; that have made cultures change. That is why cultures must be flexible and dynamic in order to adapt constantly to the new changes and avoid repression of his members. Culture is based on symbols: culture has been transmitted among its members along the years through a set of different symbols. Symbols are then the instrument used to pass on culture and keep it alive from generation to generation, and language is the most important one. Functions of Culture According to Bronislaw Malinowski (1884 1942) the function of culture is to fulfill certain biological and psychological needs people share. Cultures are expected to fulfill certain functions in order to lead a society successfully and some of them might me: Guarantee the biological continuity of its members. Provide practical means to pass on knowledge among members. Meet the psychological and emotional needs of its members. Being flexible enough in order to survive the increasing shifting conditions. Offer strategies for the rational production and distribution of goods and services considered necessary for life. Provide an organised and diverse social structure so that all its members can fit in it and also understand the world in their own means. Facilitate social interactions among its members and offer reasonable ways to avoid or resolve conflicts that might rise within the group as well as with outsiders. Allow human beings to adapt the environment to their own purposes. Social interactions do not refer to only relationships among human beings but also and deeply with nature. The survival of all cultures depends on the way they use and treat nature. A well-working culture is the one that satisfies the different groups within the society as equally as possible; thus, its individual members can all have access to the resources available in the community and achieve their personal and collective goals. This will avoid the members to feel unsafe and unattached; therefore, they will not easily fall into anti-social behaviours, such as: violence, crime, suicide, depression, abuse of drugs, etc. Enculturation and Acculturation Every single culture is learnt by their members and transmitted from person to person and from generation to generation to avoid its absolute disappearance. The most important instrument used to carry this out is language. The process of passing on knowledge among people is what we call enculturation. This process is vital to guarantee the survival of the culture, but it is also significant to do it in the most smoothly manner to avoid any disruption among members and also among the features of the culture being transmitted. Enculturation let us understand the past so that we can make a better sense of the present and therefore plan a more sustainable future for the welfare of our species. This process also gives us the opportunity to find out more about ourselves; our ancestors and origin; where the way we think and perceive the world, our values and beliefs come from. When enculturation is carried out in the proper manner, the members of all cultures grow up closer to their past, revitalizing the core values that make their cultures unique and distinct from all others. They also grow up in an environment characterized by the deep pride of belonging to one particular culture and behave with strong ideas of maintaining their culture alive; albeit the irrevocable changes they must go through. There is also another phenomenon that cultures might experience, consisting on the absorption of one culture over another one, called acculturation. This usually happens when industrialized or capital societies influence highly over traditional small societies to the point of modifying them completely. Once they are in contact, the former shapes and converts the latter one. The small society adopts the culture of the powerful one as the final outcome. This process is similar to that of colonization. It is especially more noticeable now that we live in a globalized world; where the small societies are usually the most affected ones. Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism There is generally a bad habit of criticising other peoples behaviour but most of all to judge the way other cultures function. When we find ourselves interacting with people from other cultures, or simply see it on the media; we get surprised by the different manners they behave, think and express in similar situations. There is nothing wrong with comparing cultures, in fact, this way we learn more about others and value ours, too. We must keep in mind that when comparing, we should adopt an unbiased position in order to understand the best way possible why other people do things in the way they do, and avoid unsupported preconceptions. The term that refers to what it is mentioned in the paragraph above is ethnocentrism: the belief that the way that ones own culture functions is the only proper and correct one, while all others are wrong. In order to avoid making fast judgements or simply incorrect conclusions; anthropologists, when studying cultures, always put into practice what they call cultural relativism which is the idea that we must suspend or postpone judgement of other peoples practices until we acquire a full understanding of the culture in which we are interested; so as to understand them in their own cultural terms. It is important to clarify that in this process what it is done is to put off ones judgement towards another culture, it is neither precipitated nor cancelled. Through cultural relativism it is possible to hold our judgements and perceptions about the culture being observed to the last stage; in order to take down accurate data and keep valid records; furthermore, avoid preconceptions influenced by ethnocentrism. Conclusion Along history not only humans have changed, but also the way we live. In our search for a better and more comfortable world for us to inhabit; we have made an irrational and abusive use of natural resources. We have damaged nature to such extreme points to threaten our own survival. Most of the societies around the world, influenced by the western fashion have turned into very consumerist ones; the ideas and values that used to grasp societies together are now stirring political discomfort and creating social inequality because the leaders and members of our societies are more tented to achieve personal and individual profits at any cost to work collectively so that every member can accomplish his personal and collective needs. The process of changing is unstoppable; everything needs to keep changing constantly to stay alive; therefore a culture that does not adjust its features simple disappears. The most important affected feature of a culture is its language. Language is that particular faculty that differentiates us from animals and makes us a unique and rational species. Through language we humans are able to express our feelings, thoughts, ideas and most importantly to transmit our culture from one generation into another one, assuring its survival along years. Many languages have already disappeared, mainly as a result of the process of acculturation; and with the languages, also ways of thinking, expressing, seeing, perceiving are gone. This way the world becomes small and intrinsic, losing authenticity and variety provided for the distinct and diverse manners of receiving, understanding, analyzing, shaping and living this world. For a culture to survive is not enough to shift. It should do it in a way that it can guarantee that its members will satisfy their biological and social needs; thus, the whole society will feel competent and safe; therefore, it will behave proudly and mutually to keep it alive.

Night :: essays research papers

Night 4 Books related to Night 4 Night by Elie Wiesel showed me the true horrors that took place during World War II. After reading this book, I really took time to think about and reflect upon the travesties that took place during that time. Throughout my paper, I will discuss Elie Wiesel’s life, his style, the cultural information and historical content of the book. I will also evaluate this book according to its quality interest it provided me. I hope you find this book review to be informative and entertaining. Elie Wiesel was born in 1928 in Romania. He grew up experiencing the first-hand horrors of the holocaust. At age 15, Elie was sent to Auschwitz camp by the Nazis. Auschwitz is known to be one of the worst camps during the Holocaust. This book is a biography, about his life in camp. This book is extremely detailed and it is meant for teenagers. I think that it is important for people to have the information as to what went on in the holocaust. It is a perfect resource for people my age, since it is a short book, and doesn’t go into too much detail. There is also a lot of action, which would catch most people’s attention. This book takes place during World War II. Elie Wiesel and his family are taken to Auschwitz, one of the worst -2- camps during the holocaust. His family and him are persecuted for really no reason, as were the rest of the Jews at this time. All of the information presented were the many things I have learnt in classes, about World War II. An example is when the Nazis would tell people that they were taking them to the shower room. The people would all be stripped of their clothes and thrown in. The next moment, a lethal gas would start coming out of the walls, and kill them. The term â€Å"genocide† was also used in this book. I learnt about genocide and the definition is the mass killing of a whole group or race. I think it is remarkable how a whole race could be destroyed, like the Jews were during this time. None of the information conflicts with what I have learnt in class. There is no way that anyone could possibly find it in their heart to defend or forgive the Nazis for what they did.

The Economic Impact Of The Olympic Games Essay -- Olympics Economy

The Economic Impact of the Olympic Games Missing Graphs With the Olympic games being held in Sydney this year, I wondered if perhaps the performance of the economy was being affected in part by the fiscal stimulus provided by Olympic construction in Sydney and other parts of the country. Australia’s economy has been performing well recently, suggesting that there might be some effect. Over the last five years, growth in Australia’s gross domestic product has averaged 4.35%, almost a full point above it’s thirty year annual average of 3.5%, and the unemployment rate is near a ten year low. According to one estimate, the Olympics will tack on an additional six and a half billion dollars, about 1.6% of the GDP, to Australia’s GDP over the 1994-2000 period. A natural question to ask is if this growth is due primarily to the Olympic preparation, or if, instead, it is a result of some other change in policy, or perhaps just plain old luck. One way to address this question is to see if other host countries have experienced increases in GDP around Olympic years. Below is a graph of one measure of the boost to GDP that countries receive from hosting the Olympics. Each point represents the average, over all of the host countries since 1952, rate of growth of GDP. What this graph suggests is that prior to the Olympics and during the Olympic year GDP growth is higher than average - maxing out at nearly 1.5% above average GDP in the 3rd year before the Olympics. This number seems consistent with the estimates for Sydney - at least prior to the Olympic year. However, the graph also suggests that growth rates are lower in the years after the Olympics, than in the years prior to the games. The economic benefits of the 2000 Olympics can be classified as direct and indirect. Direct benefits include the impact of the Olympics on exports, investment and employment. In terms of exports, the main impact will be inbound tourism, sponsorship fees, media broadcast rights, and ticket sales. The staging of the Olympics will encourage more international tourists to visit Australia. Sponsorship fees received from international sources were strong leading up to the Olympics and according to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), broadcast rights, approximately one billion dollars in value, were recorded as exports in September quarter 2000. Ticket sale sold to overseas visitors,... ...tself. Importantly, the benefits will continue well into the new millennium as Australia gets more international exposure for its exports and gains from the transfer of technology and knowledge from the world’s best. Opportunity beckons for the athletes, for exporters, for artists, for scientists and for the whole Australian community. Bibliography Arthur Anderson / CREA (1999) â€Å"Economic Impact Study of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games†. January 1999. Arthur Anderson and the Centre for Regional Economic Analysis, University of Tasmania. Dabkowski, S and Ketchell, M (1999) â€Å"Olympic Dream May Not Deliver Riches.† The Melbourne Age. Gittins R (1999) â€Å"Swifter! Higher! Richer? Sadly Not With Our Games.† May 8 1999, Sydney Morning Herald. Mules,T â€Å"The Economic Impact of Special Events .† Griffith University, Gold Coast Queensland. Olympic Co-ordination Authortiy (OCA) (1999) â€Å"State of Play: A Report to the People of New South Wales† June 1999, OCA, Sydney. Reserve Bank of Australia (1999) â€Å"The Economic Effects of Staging the Olympic Games† Semi-Annual Statement of Monetary Policy, May 1999, Reserve Bank, Sydney.

Tragedy Archetype- the Stranger

The Tragedy Archetype: The Rebirth Within Prim Lerthirunvibul Y10D (Blue) The seven archetypes is a theory in which there are seven ways of story-telling namely Quest, Voyage and Return, Rebirth, Comedy, Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches and Tragedy. The Tragedy archetype is one of the seven archetypes used in story-telling mentioned by Christopher Booker in The Seven Basic Plots. This archetype is known to expect a specific reaction from the readers often using grief, destruction and death.As the archetype manifests itself through time, there are many ways authors have interpreted the archetype through their stories. An element in the archetype that can be carefully observed is the notion of Rebirth where the main character eventually comprehends their misinterpretation of the world and their blunders which had caused their destruction, typically hubris. This suggests that there is a part of the Rebirth archetype in the Tragedy archetype. The question is, is tragedy a type of t he rebirth archetype?The absurdist novel entitled The Stranger (The Outsider), also known as L’Etranger by Albert Camus clearly portrays the rebirth in the story but is still engulfed by the tragedy concepts seen in many literature examples. â€Å"Once you’re up against it, the precise manner of your death has obviously small importance† (Camus, 71). The Stranger, written by Albert Camus is a tragedy book based on the story plot of a man named Meursault who is a psychologically and socially detached individual. He is also known to be amoral, not caring or knowing what is right or wrong and sees feelings in a physical sense.In one scene of the book, his mother had passed away and instead of grieving, he impassively looks at his mother’s grave and refuses the re-opening of the casket, which surprises many. He is also not responsive to human emotions such as desires and love. When the prospect of marriage was mentioned by his recent lover, Marie Cardona, he responds with â€Å"If she was keen on it, we’d get married. † (28, Camus. ) The Stranger can go under the tragedy archetype where it is classified by Booker as ‘the hero as a monster’ since Meursault himself is the cause of his own death.This happened since he stopped a friend, Raymond Sintes from shooting an Arab who was his â€Å"mistress’s† brother. And for no apparent reason, he came back and killed the Arab with a gun. A factor that may have affected his actions was probably because of the condition of the beach that was â€Å"pulsing with heat† (38, Camus). Although hubris is a common cause in the tragedy archetype, Meursault did not think of himself highly or more superior than others, but rather as an observer where reality is harsh for those who have no poignancy.He does not express himself much but with the reader as an observer as well, this creates the feeling of sadness for the main character even though he doesn’t experience much of it. As the titles of the book says, he is merely a victim tortured by the difference in perspectives, this small difference makes him unique, or even a threat to others. Not only did Meursault set up his own death, but the society in which he lived in contributed as well. The core of the consequences can be traced by Hamartia ( ), a Greek term meaning the fatal flaw of the hero which causes their death in the tragedy archetype story.In The Stranger, Meursault’s flaw can be seen as his lack of emotions and his frankness. Even though being emotionless does not affect his daily life or well-being, the environment of the situation created was greatly affected. An example is of how the people in court see him and how they also judge his beliefs, not for what he is, but what he says. When Meursault met a magistrate who tried to convert him, he called Meursault â€Å"Mr. Antichrist† (45, Camus) for being open and truthful about his beliefs, this then advoc ated his execution.Meursault sees things that other do not, which is one of the main causes of the resulting consequence. Humans often act on impulse, not by logic and the miscommunication between the other characters and Meursault creates conflict and sadly, the majority regularly wins in the tragedy archetype. The tragedy archetype is known to end with death, which is the norm for many stories, including The Stranger as well. Booker had also stated that the archetype sometimes involves the rebirth of the main character which usually comes before the tragic end of the main character.In comparison to Looking for Alaska, a modern novel written by John Green, The Stranger is more eye-opening since the concept of rebirth is directly experienced by the main character whilst the rebirth element in Looking for Alaska is not quite clear because the main character, Miles, continues on with his life as nearly the same person even though his friend, Alaska’s, death had a tremendous eff ect on other characters. With the longer lingering rebirth in The Stranger, Meursault finds comfort in the end where he becomes a ‘new person’ within himself, which proposes the idea of self-discovery.In his last moments, Meursault thoughts were â€Å"To feel it so like myself, indeed, so brotherly, made me realize that I’d been happy, and that I was happy still. † â€Å"For all to be accomplished, for me to feel less lonely, all that remained to hope was that on the day of my execution there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should greet me with howls of execration† (76, Booker). Even though the happiness was short, there was still a change in him as seen before the end of the book. In Booker’s analysis of the rebirth archetype, there are two types of rebirth which is physical and mental rebirth.An example of a physical rebirth could be found in the folktale of The Sleeping Beauty as she literally wakes up from her curse. A mental rebirth example could be found in Crash (2004), where a Farhad, a character realizes that his rage had clouded his judgment and he becomes calm and content, different from how he was from the start. The Stranger goes under the mental rebirth category since Meursault’s own conclusions resulted in the enrichment of his own mind as he begins to accept things in life.However, this does not necessarily mean that The Stranger can be directly ‘put under’ the Rebirth archetype. When referring to Booker’s analysis, it is stated that â€Å"we have only seen this return of light partially, ultimately insufficient to prevail against the forces of darkness which have been unleashed, and which eventually sweep the hero or heroine away† (Booker, 192). This means that in the tragedy archetype, ‘the light’ which is the rebirth of the character, can be seen only for a moment before it dissipates with the main character’s demise.This could b e compared to a candlelight where it flickers in the dark but does not last forever since it cannot maintain the flame and eventually, will be engulfed by darkness, which is, the sins or the consequences that slowly yet surely, catch up to the main character. All in all, even though The Stranger contains the Rebirth of a character who wakes up from an inner sleep or obliviousness, the tragedy archetype had proved itself to be more complicated and deeper with many fundamentals and forms that had manifested overtime.This then revealed the inner workings of the archetype including the profound meanings in the book. It is difficult to justify realistic and life-like story into separate categories as there are many factors, emotions and feelings brought in different events. But as they say, the end justifies the means in this particular book where Meursault dies a miserable and solitude death within the clutches of society. Again, regardless of the light’ in the story, The Strange r is a tragedy story weaved with the rebirth archetype’s features which implies that the tragedy archetype could also contain mixes but still maintain its structure throughout history whether it is in an old-world or modern literature. In short, the tragedy archetype is one of the most interesting and riveting of the seven archetypes that seem basic; but with careful observation and research can prove to be a very useful way of story-telling that can be remembered by readers despite of the era or time in which the archetype had laid itself upon.Bibliography (Citations) Innovateus. â€Å"What Is Hamartia in Greek Tragedy? †Ã‚  What Is Hamartia in Greek Tragedy? Innovateus, 2011. Web. 02 Mar. 2013. Booker, Christopher. â€Å"Chapter 9: Tragedy. †Ã‚  The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. London: Continuum, 2004. N. pag. Print. Booker, Christopher. â€Å"Chapter 11: Rebirth. †Ã‚  The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. London: Continuum, 2004. N. pa g. Print. â€Å"The Stranger. †Ã‚  SparkNotes. SparkNotes, 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2013.

Bronfenbrenner’s Analysis

This paper analyzes and evaluates how Bronfenbrenner’s levels influenced my decision to attend graduate school and how they may impact career goals within my area of specialization. Bronfenbrenner develops a multi-level hierarchy of influences from the closest and most personal to the most abstract and societal. The purpose of my paper is to discuss, analyze, and evaluate Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory in relation to human development In the early 1970s’ Urie Bronfenbrenner developed an ecological theory of human development. Bronfenbrenner’s book, â€Å"The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design† (Bronfenbrenner, 1997) discusses in depth the ecological systems levels as the micro-meso-exo-macro- and the fifth system, the chrono-system layer. Bronfenbrenner summarized his theory utilizing concentric spheres in where the child begins his or her development in the center of the spheres. Comparing each sphere â€Å"†¦as a set of nested structures, each inside the next, like a set of Russian dolls† (Bronfenbrenner,1979. p. 3). Researchers found that a key factor in parent’s effectiveness was engaging in the child’s activities and environment. Darling (2007), asserts that â€Å"parental monitoring† of their children’s activities decreased the levels of behavioral problems and lead to â€Å"higher levels of adult approved activities† (Darling, 2007). Therefore, competence among children will â€Å"†¦depend on the quality of their environment† (Bronfenbrenner, 1999). Children from negative, deprived, disorganized backgrounds display more frequent and severe dysfunctional behavior in order to gain parental attention. On the other hand, parents providing attentive, stable and positive environments provide gratifying and positive reinforcement in aid of the children’s growth. Bronfenbrenner, 1999). Bronfenbrenner posited that â€Å"†¦the greatest effect on positive outcomes in environments with the greatest resources and for an individual who had the greatest ability to take advantage of those resources† (Darling, 2007). Microsystem Bronfenbrenner described his models as the m icro-system layer originating in the center of the sphere, involving the child’s interactions and activities within the context of family, school, daycare, and school, peer groups and how these interactions shape his or her development in a particular setting. A setting is where the child engages in â€Å"†¦particular activities in particular roles for particular times† (Bronfenbrenner,1979). For example, Bronfenbrenner observed parents emphasizing the importance of socially acceptable behaviors, exposed their child to positive activities, became involved in their child’s school, friends, thus producing children that were secure in new learning experiences. Mesosystem The mesosystem layer relates to the people in a child’s microsystem. It consists of the interactions between two or more settings which involve the developing child. For example, child’s parents and teachers may be interacting in discussions about the child’s progress. Bronfenbrenner found when parents take an active interest in the child’s early academic progress, that child has a greater chance of success upon entering high school (Oswalt, 2008). Exosystem The exosystem is comprised of the involvement and progression that takes place between the dyad setting, but it â€Å"†¦does not contain the developing child† (Bronfenbrenner, 1994). They are occurrences â€Å"that indirectly influence processes within the immediate setting in which the developing child lives† (Bronfenbrenner, 1994). For example, the child’s parents’ moving to a different state will directly affect the child’s interconnections with neighborhood friends and teachers. As an example, the child ‘knows’ he has lost his best friend, and may never find another. Thus, the child may meet this change with fear or dissatisfaction (Bronfenbrenner, 1994). The exosystem level includes the positive and negative structures found in the national government, cultural values, the economy, other macro influences. For example, Anglo-Saxon societies stress individual accomplishments, whereas Asian societies stress consensus and conformity. Cronosystem The chronosystem is the outermost shell that Bronfenbrenner displays. This is a temporal continuum that encompasses a person’s life experiences throughout their lives. A major example of the operation of this continuum is the impact of a parental death and the resulting behavioral change in the developing individual. The micro, meso, exo, and macro levels all impacted my individual development and career goals in obtaining a master’s degree in Human Services with a specialization in Social and Community Services. In the micro level, my earliest experiences were affected by the negative parental influences. As a child, I can remember my brothers and I were mainly spoken to when we did something wrong. In turn, these negative experiences affected my academic performance in school as well as my behavior. In the mesosystem, the only times my parents became involved in school were when they were called by the school principal to discuss my inappropriate behavior and my inattentiveness in learning. In the first grade, I was held back from entering the second grade because I could not speak English well or even Spanish. Again, this was a result of not having positive learning experience during childhood. It was not until the sixth grade that my principal decided I might succeed if I skipped the seventh grade to the eighth grade. That’s when my negative experiences turn to be positive and enlightening. I flourished that year and received a small scholarship to attend a school for girls. There I also flourished and began to have teachers and friends that were positive role-models. An example in the exosystem, I had a young brother with Down’s syndrome who at the age of 3 left our home to live in a state mental hospital. I was 13 years when my mother received a phone call from the hospital stating my brother had died from choking on some food. From that day on, my mother became distant and suffered from alcoholism. This experience saddened me greatly, but I was fortunate to have the support of my older sister, and wonderful teachers and friends that kept me succeeding in school. This success continued through college. However, when I was 16 years old, my mother was diagnosed with depression. Though I appeared happy with my school experience on the outside, inside, I felt depressed and longed for my mother’s love. All during this time, my father was physically present, but emotional absent due to the traumatic experiences at home. In the macro system, I grew up in a Hispanic culture, though my parents emigrated from Mexico to the US, my mother’s alien status became problematic as she could not speak English and inevitably could not take the test to become an American citizen. As a result, my mother felt she was a failure to herself and to my father who became a citizen at age 18. At the age of 47 years, I was able to complete my education at a women’s college. It was finally there I was fortunate to pursue my love of art. Upon graduation, I also found a new love of being of service to other’s less fortunate. I found that I obtained jobs not completely fulfilling, and when thinking upon this, I realized I could improve the possibility of reaching that fulfillment through graduate school to obtain an advanced degree in order to better serve the people I will work with. In conclusion, I don’t regret my experiences during my childhood. I learned a great deal about how one can attribute their success to resiliency. No matter how dismal matters were, there was always someone or something over the rainbow. I had a wonderful caring and nurturing older sister who loved me unconditionally. I had teachers who believed I was a worthwhile, intelligent and loving human being. With this nurturing, I was finally able to climb over the wall; only to look back at my stumbling blocks as experiences one takes to traverse their journey.

Sociology Ethnicity Question

Using material from item A and elsewhere assess the claim that ethnic differences in educational achievement are primarily the result of school factors. It is not completely internal school factors that can affect different ethnicities level of achievement in education, external factors can have a large part to play in the achievement levels of ethnic minorities in education as well. In education studies have shown that Chinese students as well as Indian students are the highest achieving ethnic groups in education while black and Bangladeshi students are the lowest achieving students.In 2006, 73% of pupils Indian origin gained a 5 A* – C passes at GCSE, compared to 56% of White pupils and an even lower 47% of Black pupils, Item A agrees with this point. Labelling is a large part of the internal factors that affects different ethnic groups’ achievement in education as some teachers label different ethnic students as less able or be less able to understand the teacher be cause they are of different ethnicity when in fact they can understand as well as a white student.Ethnocentric Curriculum is also a large part of the internal factors that can have an affect on the success levels of the ethnic minorities in education as in schools they tend to teach subjects which are appealing to the white students over the black students. In history they tend to miss out teaching about black history in order to teach more appealing topics and in English, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens are usually taught over black writers and this can cause the ethnic students to take less of a care to the subject, ending up in a lower success rate.The internal factor of ‘institutional racism’ is a major factor which can cause the different ethnic groups to be less successful in education. There is evidence of ‘institutional racism’ in schools by the way that the schools take racism less seriously and often fail to deal with issues of racism whic h make the ethnic groups feel disadvantaged and treated differently making them have a mood of fatalism about education this point is also made in item A. Feature Article –  Sociology Test  1As well as internal factors there are external factors that can affect the success levels of ethnic groups in education such as the inadequate language level spoken by low-income black families. Bereiter and Englemann found that there language skills were ungrammatical, disjointed and incapable for education and incapable for expressing ideas. Flaherty argued that the external factor of the ethnic groups being more likely to live in low quality, substandard council housing also plays a large part on the success levels of ethnic groups in education.This means that they will also be less likely to have good study space, money for health nutritious food and means they are less likely to have revision resources needed for success and item A agrees with this point. Racism in the wider society is also a large external factor which can have a large impact on the ethnic groups in the wider society as this racism can de-motivate people from doing well in education and striving to get the good jobs as they believe only the people who are white ethnicity will get the jobs.This racism is evident in Mike Noon’s study, when he sent off applications named ‘Patel’ he got less, more negative responses than what he got when he sent of the same applications named ‘Evans’. So in conclusion, both internal and external factors are extremely important as the internal factors can affect them directly when they are doing work in school but the external factors can affect how hard they work to try to give themselves a good start outside of school as well as how hard they try at home after school. This makes them both as important as eachother.

College Is Worthwhile Essay

Today in America going to college is more of a necessity than an option; however, college is expensive. Most people cannot afford the upfront cost of tuition and fees along with the additional costs of dorms, meals, textbooks, and other supplies to attend college. Because of this many students resort to taking out student loans that could potentially cost them more in the future. With the cost of attending college constantly rising many people are finding themselves asking the question of rather or not college is really worth the cost. Also, some people feel that going to college is a waste of time. Some feel this way because not all jobs require degrees, so they feel there is no purpose in spending long hours at an institution obtaining one. Others feel that they should not be required to meet the general education requirements of most colleges, but should instead be able to use the time taking classes relevant to their career field. Many people argue that because of these reasons college is not worthwhile. However, despite these facts, going to college has several benefits that make it very valuable. Firstly, college graduates make more money over the course of a lifetime and have more  job opportunities than people without degrees. College graduates on average make about one million dollars more in a lifetime than people with only a high school diploma. This is because college graduates have a better chance of getting and keeping a job, and these jobs pay more. The main reason for this is that there is less competition for jobs that require a degree so there is always a need for employees which means more job security. Secondly, in college people make lifetime connections and broaden their horizons. During college students meet a wide variety of people from different backgrounds than  themselves. The connections that students make with these individuals can prove very beneficial to them especially after they graduate. Many of these people that students meet in college could help them to advance their careers after they graduate. For example, their professors may recommend them for employment to others in their field. Also, they could be meeting future business partners, bosses, or employees. Thirdly, college helps young adults in becoming more responsible. When people go to college, for most, it is the first time most people are practically on their own. It is completely different from being in high school and being dependent on parents and teachers for everything from reminders and help with homework to finances. In college, students face circumstances that they would most likely encounter when completely on their own. College students have to pay bills, manage time efficiently, and be sure to meet deadlines. And if they don’t there may be minor and/or serious consequences that they have to deal with just like in the â€Å"real world. † Many people argue that going to college is not worthwhile because it is too expensive and  is a waste of time, but there are many advantages of going to college that prove how valuable the college experience can be. College students are able to gain stable careers with great pay after graduation, are able to network with the people they meet while in college in order to advance their future careers, and can gain a sense of responsibility to help them mature. So, even though college has its cons, it is challenging and exciting, and can be the best time of a person’s life. It is an experience that can and will set the precedent for the rest of a person’s life if they choose to go.