I’m proud to be Scottish

Why am I proud to be Scottish? There are many different things that make me proud to be Scottish like the pride of watching the National Football Team perform at Hampden, singing the national anthem, being proud of Glasgow being chosen to host the Commonwealth Games. All of these types of things and many more contribute, not just to me but to millions over Scotland, to people being proud of their Scottish heritage and nationality. I feel very patriotic now but when I was younger I never thought I’d ever feel so passionate and ready to speak out and defend my country as I do today. When people ask where I come from, I do not hesitate in telling them that I’m from Scotland as I never get embarrassed at all when confronted with those types of questions. This is the type of person I like to be and this is very evident. Why do I feel like this? Why do I all of a sudden feel proud of my nation? It all started one day my friend and I went to a Scotland v Czech Republic game in 2011 at Hampden for the first time. Before the game I never knew a thing about this â€Å"national pride† that everyone was so fond of. But approaching Hampden and seeing all of these thousands and thousands of fellow Scotland fans swarming around the stadium was what flipped the activation switch; from that moment on I was hooked. It made me feel part of something, like to be involved in something as big as this. Once in the stadium and the teams emerged the feeling of â€Å"I am Scottish† kept growing inside of me. The smell of ‘Hampden pies’, which I was later informed by a beer bellied old man to be a very deer scotch pie, that typical encounter is the sort of thing you would get only in our Scotland. The key overwhelming factor which locked in my first thoughts was when the national anthem rang out around the ground; it gave me goose bumps as I stood in unison with 52 thousand other proud Scots. The game finished 2-2 with a complete joke of a last minute goal by the opposition which virtually ended our hopes of qualification. I knew that I was changing into this type of passionate individual I could just tell it as every bad decision from that ‘referee’, or clown as we like to call him, actually was called everyone including me and my friend roared at the pitch to make sure that the ref knew that he was wrong. Now do not think that I am a football casual or a little thug who shouts abuse at people because I‘m angry because I definitely am not, what I just said may give that impression but that is just an example of what being passionate about your country can do to you. The final whistle went and even though fans booed, and people said things you couldn’t imagine about the manager and the referee, I still felt proud and that I had accomplished something of unlocking a deadlocked passion inside of me. This was one big occasion of why I started to become proud of being Scottish. Now there is a lot to be proud of about being from Scotland. Not just the things that go on or the beautiful scenery, but also the people. A lot of famous figureheads of the World are actually Scottish: Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Andy Murray the tennis player, Kenny Dalglish, Sir Alex Ferguson, Paul Di Resta, Sir Jackie Stewart and finally the greatest British Olympian Sir Chris Hoy, and much more. This proves that it is not unheard of to be proud of being Scottish. As with these legends and idols being representatives, if you will, of how good Scotland can be. Recently The Scot Andy Murray and World Number 3 won his first ever Grand Slam trophy, which would make anyone including myself proud to be Scottish and to be able to say you come from the same country as the US Open Champion or Sir Alex Ferguson is just a great feeling. Therefore this also contributes to me personally being very proud of my nation. Now one of the reasons that I did not think about until recently is the political side of Scotland, of how we are sort of separate from the UK government in some parts with devolved powers when up here we have the SNP Government etc. With Scotland having a separate government, it gives us sort of an edge of England as we get lots of things they don’t which is actually pretty good because us Scots always love to get one up on them! We get free prescriptions whereas in England they have to pay to receive the exact same stuff we get for free, Scots get University tuition for free but again in England they do not they have to pay thousands and thousands of pounds for their extended education, which from my point of view is fantastic as I plan to go to University when I leave school so I can get it for free. Finally the elderly get free healthcare in our great nation and once again down there they have to pay massive sums of money for it. This is a very positive aspect of being Scottish and makes you very proud over the rest of the UK to have all those facilities at your disposal whenever you may need them. Also with an upcoming referendum on whether Scotland should be independent from the rest of the UK, it gives you a sense of pride to know that you’ll have the chance to vote on your country’s future and take part in such a big event and possibly have the final say in Scotland’s history with which way you vote. However, being Scottish does have its downfalls believe me. Starting with the football element of NEVER having a lucky chance unfortunately and just not having the ability to make that last step towards a major tournament which does fill you with embarrassment at times. Another downfall is the weather; I can guarantee that I speak for near enough everyone in Scotland when I say, the weather is completely dreadful. We all hate Scottish weather when all we get is rain; wind and just depressing weather 363 days of the year and those occasional two days of either snow or cold son. This therefore is a big factor of Scottish people not being proud of this country with the dyer weather. Finally the stereotypes. I bet you were all waiting for me to bring this up, Scots are constantly stereotyped to be ginger haired, irn-bru addicted, kilt wearing people when that is completely out of context and so far from the actual truth. These are some of the reasons as to why some people are not proud to be Scottish but there are many more proud moments than there is moments of non-proudness for us Scots. In reflection, I am very proud to be Scottish and have no reason whatsoever not to be proud. With many people on my side I think it is fair to say that most people love Scotland even with its downfalls but that’s just what makes Scotland what it is and we would not change it for the world, well maybe the weather. I feel more patriotic about my country even more now than before. Meaning probably more people have this view aswell.

Paterson Job Grading System

What Is the Paterson Job Grading System? By T. GAVAZA The Paterson grading system is used to evaluate aspects of jobs. The Paterson grading system is an analytical method of job evaluation, used predominantly in South Africa. It analyzes decision-making in job task performance or job descriptions, and sorts jobs into six groups that are graded and grouped into two to three sub-grades–such as stress factors, individual tolerance, length of job and number of job responsibilities–that correspond to organizational levels. The six grades, also called bands, define pay scales. Identification 1.According to â€Å"Classification of Jobs into Levels of Work: Four Reliability Studies,† at the University of Zimbabwe, the Paterson system places job decision-making into six groups or bands–policy making, programming, interpretive, routine, automatic and defined. These groups correspond to the following organizational levels–top management, senior management, mid dle management, junior management and skilled positions, semi-skilled positions and unskilled positions. Features 2. Comprised of grades A through F, Paterson's grading system is listed below with an explanation of the corresponding graded decision making.An upper grade reflects a job requiring coordination or supervision, and a lower grade reflects non-coordinating jobs. A- Prescribed or defined decisions. Jobs are performed with limited training for grade A, and employees, such as unskilled workers, decide when and how fast to execute tasks. B, lower- Automatic or operative decisions B, upper- Coordinating, automatic decisions. Theory or systems knowledge for grade B is not required, though employees, such as semi-skilled workers, can decide where and when to perform operations. C, lower- Routine decisionsC, upper- Coordinating, routine decisions Theory and/or systems knowledge for grade C is required, and employees, such as skilled workers or supervisory personnel, decide what ha s to be done–through knowledge and experience–for deterministic outcomes . D, lower- Interpretive decisions D, upper- Coordinating, interpretive decisions Grade D involves middle management's ability to optimize resources through decision-making about processes and procedures with planning programs or budgets one year ahead. E, lower- Programming decisions E, upper- Coordinating, programming decisionsGrade E consists of senior management's cross-functional coordination–coordinating many departments–and strategic policy decisions made by top management, with plans made five years in advance. F, lower- Policy decisions F, upper- Coordinating, policy decisions Grade F consists of top management, such as a board or CEO who manages organizational scope and goals. Comparison to Castellion's Grading System 3. Paterson's grading system is more reliable than Castellion's grading system, based on a reliability study at the University of Zimbabwe. More students made errors in re-grading 18 jobs

Capitalism and Our Society

Capitalism and Our Society Essay From the very dawn of intelligent human interaction to the present day,the concept of capitalism has dominated the way we trade goods andacquire wealth. Except for the necessity of a simple communist society inpre-modern times, or the noble humanistic notion of a socialist society,the free market has always been the most efficient way to run the economyonce the most basic needs of life have been satisfied. Only during thelast several hundred years has the idea of a modern democracy beendeveloped and applied through the modern state. These two concepts arethought by some to be interrelated, but contemporary critics of theliberal form of democracy seek to separate the two notions of capitalismand democracy. However, when examining the evidence of the relation ofthe two, let us not use the altered conceptions or versions of theseterms, but rather analyse them by their base meanings as we have come tounderstand them. After this analysis of the terms and a resultingstipulation of what the ir base meanings are, critics may say that anyfurther analysis of the relationship between the two terms would betainted by their supposed definitions. The problem with this is thatwithout a common frame of reference between the two, no comparison wouldbe logically possible without considering an infinite range of possiblemeanings. With this technical matter aside, the analysis will continuewith an investigation into arguments both for and against the separationof the two terms, and then an evaluation of the true nature ofcapitalismrsquos relationship with democracy. Specifically the freemarket economy dictating the actions of any democratic regime. After thistask of evaluation is complete, the argument will conclude withillustrating how capitalism will actually lead to a more liberal form ofdemocracy. The first step of this investigation is to make some attempt to achieve acommon frame of reference between the two terms. Literally, democracy isthe rule of the people. Specifically, it is the organization in place toallow people of a specified area, through organized elections, to givetheir uncoerced opinion on who they want to represent them in government,or what they want government to do for them. The underlyingpresupposition is that government will always obey the command of themajority of voters. There are many limitations to democracy, such as thefact that people can only vote YEA or NEA on a specific topic area, thusproducing a dichotomy of choices that may not necessarily offer asolution to a problem. Also, people must leave most decisions to thepeople they elect, since they donrsquot have enough time to continuallyvote. However, the focus of this work is not to delve into this area ofcontroversy, but rather to take this understanding of democracy as thestipulated definition for this work. One critical distinction must bemade regarding Bergerrsquos understanding of the term, and that is thatthe term democracy does not include all the civil and human ri ghtsassociated with liberal democracy. Similarly, by capitalism, this work will not use any other connotation ofthe term other than describing the free market economy, where there isprivate ownership of property, and the economic freedom to buy, sell, ortrade with whomsoever you chose. The critical element of the term is thatthere is limited government in place to enforce contracts and to providea safe trading environment. Another specific meaning given to capitalismis by Friedman, who describes capitalism as economic cooperation, whereboth parties are benefiting from the trade, provided that the trade isvoluntary and informed on both sides. READ: Freedom and Opression in Literature EssayThe next step in the investigation is to analyse some of the argumentsthat capitalism is separate from democracy. Dryzek argued that anindividualrsquos consumer preferences wereproperly expressed in the economy, while the same persons politicalpreferences were expressed in politics3. This perspective indicates thatthe capitalist economy is a separate entity form the democratic politicalsystem, because these are two different institutions into which anindividual can state his or her preferences, depending on whether theyare economically or politically motivated. On the other hand, history hasgiven many examples of how a personrsquos economic preferences have beenstated in the political forum, such as voting for a politician that haspromised to reduce taxes or to establish free trade between two states. That same person could only express those preferences in the politicalforum, because they alone would have no power to change the structure ofthe economy such that it would seem advantageous to lower taxes

What is Gnosticism What current expressions do you see today Essay

What is Gnosticism What current expressions do you see today - Essay Example "The demiurge may be depicted as an embodiment of evil, or in other instances as merely imperfect and benevolent as its inadequacy permits". Along with the demiurge exists a good supreme being, however remote and distant. In order to free oneself from the material world, one must find gnosis or "spiritual knowledge available to all through direct experience or knowledge". Some sects of Gnostics believe Jesus of Nazareth was sent to earth to bring gnosis, some believe he was sent to teach gnosis, and still others believe that he was just a man. In the first centuries before Christ, Gnosticism was popular in the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean areas. It was, however, suppressed in the fourth century by the Roman Empire. In the middle ages, many converted to Islam. "Gnostic ideas became influential in the philosophies of various esoteric mystical movements of the late 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and North America, including some that explicitly identify themselves as revivals or even continuations of earlier gnostic groups". Unlike Judaism, Christianity, and a lot of Pagan systems, the soul is not held by a Supreme Power. Gnosticism places, "the salvation of the soul merely in the possession of a quasi-intuitive knowledge of the mysteries of the universe and of magic formulae indicative of that knowledge. Gnostics were "people who knew", and their knowledge at once constituted them a superior class of beings, whose present and future status was essentially different from that of those who, for whatever reason, did not know (Arendzen, 2007)." The Catholic Encyclopedia offers that "A more complete and historical definition of Gnosticism would be": A collective name for a large number of greatly-varying and pantheistic-idealistic sects, which flourished from some time before the Christian Era down to the fifth century, and which, while borrowing the phraseology and some of the tenets of the chief religions of the day, and especially of Christianity, held matter to be a deterioration of spirit, and the whole universe a depravation of the Deity, and taught the ultimate end of all being to be the overcoming of the grossness of matter and the return to the Parent-Spirit, which return they held to be inaugurated and facilitated by the appearance of some God-sent Saviour. (Arendzen, 2007) There are essentially two great components that comprise the basis of Gnostic thought. The first is astrology. Astrology involved the power and influence of certain planetary bodies or symbols. "The greatness of the Seven -- the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn -- the sacred Hebdomad, symbolized for millenniums by the staged towers of Babylonia, remained undiminished. They ceased, indeed, to be worshipped as deities, but they remained archontes and dynameis, rules and powers whose almost irresistible force was dreaded by man. Practically, they were changed from gods to devas, or evil spirits" (Arendzen, 2007). The second major component is magic, or "the power ex opere operato of weird names, sounds, gestures, and actions, as also the mixture of elements to produce effects totally disproportionate to the cause" (Arendzen, 2007). Various doctrines to Gnostic theories exist. These included Cosmogony, Sophia-Myth, Soteriology, Eschatology, Doctrine of the Primeval Man, and the Barbelo. Various rites also exist, including Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, the

Labour Law seen examination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Labour Law seen examination - Essay Example Thus, each individual application must be treated on the merits. Fareeda Fareeda may be able to make a claim for direct discrimination given that she surpassed all the requirements that were listed by Allan in their invitation. However, there is no express mention by the Allan’s of any reason that they may have considered to select Lady Monique in Fareeda’s place. The only statement that may allude to any discrimination is their justification of Lady Monique’s associations with ‘the right sort of families and the right sort of children’. From the facts of Mandla v Dowell Lee [1982]1, it follows that Muslims may also form part of a nationality with distinct ethnic origins in order to be classified as a racial group for the purposes of the Race Relations Act 1976. The scope of discrimination was expanded by this Act to people who were treated unfavorably as a result of racial profiling of third parties (Weathersfield Ltd v Sargeant)2.  With the incep tion of the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, religious discrimination took statutory form by protecting people with â€Å"any religion, religious belief or philosophical belief†. ... However individually she may not be able to be compensated for her grievance and her remedy must be based on the validity of the claims of the other applicants. Beverly McLaughlin Beverly also fulfills the requirements of the job offer. Her claim would be based on the assertion that she was discriminated on account of her age which is protected under the Equality Bill 2006. Given that she was more than qualified for the job, the Allan’s belief that Lady Monique would have more connections with the right families and the right children could be more than attributable in Beverly’s favor since she has more experience as a nanny working under an extremely wealthy employer for 20 years. Lady Elizabeth Porter Lady Elizabeth Porter can assert that she was discriminated against on account of her blindness under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 as amended by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, since her disability qualifies as one recognized by s.1 of the 1995 Act (as amended by s.18 of the Act of 2005); â€Å"a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities†. Her credentials are also far superior than that of Lady Monique’s. Moreover, the Allan’s are no longer under the protection of the 1995 regime which exempted employers with less than 20 employees, as the 2005 amendment changes that to include small employers as well. However, in this case, the Allan’s can resort to the defense of ‘justification’ since the child to be taken care of is 2 years old and would require to be tended to much more closely than a blind person can afford. Under the act, this defense may be

Principal Leadership Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Principal Leadership Development - Essay Example It is important for a leader to not only motivate others, but he needs to lead from the front so that his activities and his personality also encourage every group member to work harder (Higgins, and Duxbury, 2005). There has been a misconception that management and leadership are synonymous however it is wrong. Thus it would not be wrong to say that a manager is different from a leader in a number of ways (Goffee, and Jones, 2005). The responsibilities of a manager are different from the leader as the manager needs to deal with the complications and complexities and make sure that the strategies that have been formulated by the leader and implemented in the right manner. The other responsibilities of a manager include the activities of coordinating and staffing and last but not the least handling the everyday operations of the firm (Kellerman, 2004). For an organization, both these individuals are utterly important if were to operate optimally. Today when the world is growing at a v ery rapid pace, organizations need the services of both; leader as well as managers (Musselwhite, 2006). A leader is need to challenge the status quo inspire his surrounding environment to undergo the laborious process of change, and last but not the least go on to accomplish the goals which the leader has set out to accomplish through his vision (Kaplan, 2006). To complement the role played by a leader, a manager is required who could formulate a detail plan, create efficient organizational structure and oversee day-to-day operations of the organization (McCrimmon, 2010). role I would like to hold within next few years In light of the above mentioned background, I believe I have in me leadership qualities which I would like to use when given a chance by my practical life. In this regard, the position that I would like to have in the next five years is that of a technical engineer. This position should farther make way for the position of a Manager and leading a team of engineers in the following next two to three years. I would like to occupy these positions an organization that offers something related to my engineers. Right now I am employed as a Superintendent Survey however my role as a Technical engineer would entail searching for strong and profitable business models and assess their future environment and at the same time make sure that things are done in the right manner. After learning the art and science of technical knowledge and how things are done, I would make come up with a proposal for changes in how things are done for the senior advisors of the firm so that they could deliberate over my proposal. If they find my analysis as a worth pursuing opportunity, then they can pass my proposal along with their recommendations to the top management or board of the firm so that they could take the final decision. In the position of technical engineer, as mentioned above, my job would not only be to do the work or things that are assigned but come up wit h changes for the organization and for that I would make a proposal. This proposal needs to be as informative as it can so that the senior management and advisors can use the information contained in the proposal to conduct appropriate analysis. This proposal should contain all the information that would be used by the senior advisors to build appropriate models with regards to the future earning prospects of the

Bottled water Economics research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Bottled water Economics - Research Paper Example The opportunity cost, is the cost foregone as a result of choosing a given alternative, it is the actual value of the next best alternative that was forgone in the process of making a decision about the current business or investment. Opportunity cost, also referred to as economic opportunity loss is a term derived from Keynesian theory which implies a choice between different options which yield mutually exclusive results, this means that you can only choose one and forgo the other option. It explains the relationship between scarcity and choice and is applied in many areas where financial and monetary decisions are made. For example, the opportunity cost investing in a bottled water company will be the cost foregone in investing the money elsewhere (other business ventures if this was the next best alternative) or the interest lost if that money was left in the bank to accrue interest(if this was the next best alternative). Opportunity cost is evaluated in terms of money, time, mat erial and anything of value. for example someone may decide to go for holiday in Africa and forgo staying in his house and improve it, another may prefer to choose to watch one program and forgo another if the occur at the same time and the person doesn’t have the means of recording the other program.The evaluation of opportunity cost is based on several factors, first is the monetary value of the next best alternative that was foregone. ... If the opportunity cost is higher then the risk should be taken, in this case, for the bottling water company the environmental risk is damage to environment due to plastic bottles, however the opportunity cost is higher than the total damage and hence environmental consideration cannot prevent the starting of this business, furthermore, money, less than the opportunity cost can be dedicated into research on biodegradable plastics. Demand Demand can be defined as the ability or wiliness of consumers to purchase goods and services at a given price within a given time frame. The demand graph or the demand schedule is a graphical representation of the effect of price on demand of goods and services holding all other factors constant, if the price of a commodity e.g. bottled water go up, then the demand for it will reduce and vice versa, the graph below illustrates this Figure 1 showing the demand schedule The law of demand states that increase in price of commodities causes corresponding decrease in the quantity demanded. Decrease in price results to an increase in quantity demanded for a given product provided other factors remain constant. Supply These represent the quantity of goods and services that a given producer or manufacturer is willing to bring to the market at a given price. Supply of commodities is greatly influenced by price of the commodity and other factors. The law of supply states that the quantity supplied increases as the price of the product increases holding all other factors constant. This is because the suppliers are able to get a higher profit margin. Figure 2 showing the supply schedule

Solar Power Sustainability UAE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Solar Power Sustainability UAE - Essay Example From the law of conservation, it is explicitly stated that energy is neither created nor destroyed. This law simply means that energy is bale to change the state, but it cannotbe destroyed. How to handle energy wastes is the key factor that calls for environmental protection. In Dubai and UAE, solar energy is a potential source of energy. It is because of the extreme hot climatic condition in United Arab Emirates, and the sun is always available. According to reports, UAE is the leading in cleaner energy production. Most countries rely on non-renewable sources of energy like the petroleum products, fossil fuels and trees (Goal#5). These non-renewable sources of energy are the leading contributors of the greenhouse gases that are affecting the environment at large through causing global warming and climate change. Also, the nonrenewable sources of energy are not sustainable because they can be depleted because of the increasing demand. Scientists say that the available fuel may not be able to support the future generation because the degree at which they are being exploited is higher than the rate at which the earth can generate more fossil. According to projections that have been done by experts, solar energy can help UAE to save billions of money. The DEWA, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, has been supplying hydroelectric power to a population greater than, 600,000 citizens. Due to the increasing human population, the demand for power has risen and water source for energy is not able to supply enough electricity without rationing. Due to this power supply constraint, there was a proposal for shifting the energy source to solar energy. The solar energy supply was established in 2008, April with an objective of reducing the usage of other energy sources(Gordon, 2001). This project was geared towards supporting sustainability in harvesting natural resources from the environment. Basically,

Press Releases & Networking - Pitching the Story Pitching the Story Essay

Press Releases & Networking - Pitching the Story Pitching the Story - Essay Example Lastly, conclusions are drawn regarding the effectiveness of design and appeal of pitch letter and the impact it was able to make on public image of the company. Introduction Every business acknowledges the fact that marketing, building public relations and gaining spotlight on media is pivotal for success of its operations. For this purpose, management of all incorporations are engaged in the practice of pitching stories to journalists and media persons, seeking to be heard and talked about on media without spending of excessive costs. In a research, practitioners were found to be involved in writing seven pitch letters per month on an average (Napoli et al. 370). This practice is traditional, being followed since decades and shall always play an essential role for marketing of businesses (Rubel, n. p.). However, the only thing that has changed is the mode of communication and types of media broadcasting them. It began from paper media, turned to electronic and digital media and is currently resting on the internet resources: conventional media has lost its dominance (Waters et al. 242). Considering these factors, a pitch letter has been drafted and its planning and follow-up procedures have been discussed in the subsequent sections. Part 1: Pre-Pitch The company represents a restaurant, part of a large food chain, that serves its local customers with various cuisines for lunch and dinner meals while regular breakfast and fast food items for catering younger tastes. The customers targeted mainly are those living in nearby vicinity. Mostly, the customers it aims at range between age groups of 18 to 50 years. Fast food items are available to entertain younger customers who frequently hang out with their friends while unique cuisines are offered for enthusiasts and food lovers of mature ages. Other customers include one-off walk-in families or gatherings on weekend dine off meals. Rarely, this outlet might be able to cater tourists and foreigners by offering uniq ue traditional meals that might interest them. Media outlets vary in forms and need to be selected very carefully as each generate a different impact on audience. In today’s technology savvy era, internet media, online bloggers and social media networks have sabotaged the significance of paper media. The remaining market share is captured by digital media, including TV and radio. As a result, selecting paper press media as connector seems highly ineffective as only a minute proportion of audience relies on it. On the other hand, targeting digital media might be most difficult as it needs high quality relationships, expenditures and networking to be able to fall under its radar. Since target customers include significant proportion of teenagers and younger generations, it shall be essential to be heard on platforms where they focus their most of the attention: social networking portals and online blogs. Researchers have acknowledged the vitality of converting businesses into a form acceptable by social media (Anderson and Swenson n. p.). Moreover, many journalists are reported to have grabbed thousands of stories from social

ASSE Webinar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

ASSE Webinar - Essay Example The barbarian reed pipe starts with Kingston admitting that she heard about moon Orchids disastrous confrontation with her husband, which she related in at the western palace. Passing stories demonstrates the changing nature of the stories, whose telling is independent on the narrator (Maxine, 223). She recognizes that her brother narrates the moon Orchids story differently. The version of the story narrated by his brother was better compared to hers; Kingston relishes her talk stories because they emphasize the complexity of the talk stories and more influential. Kingston also writes about some other eccentrics about her communities. She is obsessive about theses personalities; this is because she feels like an insane person in her house answering and hearing voices in her constantly having terrible dreams. Kingston follows the brief talk of the outlawed knot with the discussion between her mother, and herself concerning brave Orchids supposedly cutting her frenum membrane under the tongue, which restricts movement in the tongue. Kingston enjoys being silent in school, her school life becomes acutely miserable when she realizes she has to speak English. The main obstacle to her English learning is culturally based on her relationship with the society. This is affected by the Chinese pronunciation which is hard; she characterizes it after she becomes consciously attuned to an American speech and

Hazing Essay for Law Essay Example for Free

Hazing Essay for Law Essay Hazing is a term that many people are familiar with, but not everyone thinks of it in the same way. Hazing can be defined as any act that endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student, or that destroys or removes public or private property, for the purpose of initiation, admission into, affiliation with, or as a condition for the continued membership in a group or organization. The issue of hazing can be controversial at times because some feel that it is nothing more than a way for a group to bond, but others fight against all kinds of hazing because of their belief that hazing is a serious threat to those who have to endure it, especially the youths of the world. Hazing is most often associated with fraternities, but it is an issue in many different organizations, including sororities, the military, athletic teams, student clubs (such as marching bands), and in high schools. Those who have never been involved in hazing may wonder why the victim would agree to the often humiliating or dangerous initiation rituals. The most common answer to this question is that they participated because they believed it would give them a sense of belonging, despite the fact that these so-called traditions may harm the participants. Most anti-hazing laws make it clear that it does not matter if a person consented to be subject to hazing because of the pressure they are under at the time and their lack of knowledge about what the process would involve. One of the most common forms of hazing, especially within fraternities and sororities, is the forced consumption of alcohol, often in lethal doses. One such incident involved Chuck Stevens, who was taken from his dorm in New York State, locked in the trunk of a car, and forced to drink a mix of bourbon, wine, and beer. Chuck died as a result of being hazed, and his mother, Eileen, has since founded the Committee to Halt Useless College Killings, or C.H.U.C.K., in memory of her young son. This organization promotes awareness and educational programs, tries to find alternatives to hazing, and works towards stricter anti-hazing laws. Peoples perception of exactly what hazing is often varies form person to person, which makes it hard to separate acceptable traditions from unacceptable traditions. Even people who have witnessed hazing rituals or been a part of a hazing ritual are reluctant to label it hazing because of the stigma associated with the word. Victims of hazing will often not report the incident because they are unsure if what they suffered is classified as hazing and they are afraid of no longer being a part of the group they had worked so hard to join. A study conducted at Alfred University explored the various reasons why anyone would want to participate in a hazing ritual. Nearly half of those surveyed answered because they thought it was fun and exciting, but the majority of those students were only subjected to humiliating hazing. Other reasons include they were scared to refuse, they felt it brought the group closer, they wanted to get out some aggression through fighting, and they were immature when they agreed to the hazing. The study also discovered that many students did not know whether hazing was illegal in their state, and that if there was a law, it made no significant difference in the level of hazing behaviour. Hazing is something that occurs much more than we are aware because most incidents go unreported. Those students who did report hazing also reported both positive and negative consequences of the actions committed by them and by others. A common occurrence among those hazed was depression, which often included anger, and if the hazing was physical, the victim may suffer internal bruising and pain. Not all hazing has such serious penalties, though, and one positive aspect that was reported by students is that they felt they had gained a valuable life experience and had been able to mature. The outcome of hazing is different for each person who goes through it and it all depends on what type of hazing they endure and for what purpose they felt it was worth agreeing to. Aside from hazing taking place in the fraternities and sororities of universities, it is also a dominant problem in schools athletic teams. Nearly 80 percent of student athletes reported being subjected to one or  more hazing behaviours, ranging from shaving their heads to being tied up and paddled, as part of their team initiations. Amazingly, only twelve percent of these students were willing to call what they had gone through hazing. Many rookies, especially males, are also forced to humiliate themselves and others through some kind of sexual abuse or nudity, such as walking around naked while holding another mans genitals. Members of the University of Vermonts hockey team in reportedly carried out this shocking behaviour in October of 1999. Former UVM hockey player Corey LaTulippe, who filed a civil lawsuit against the university, has told the media that he was repeatedly subjected to hazing by other members of the team, and that school officials did nothing to end it. Womens athletic teams also face hazing rituals, but they are more likely to embarrass their rookies, where men are more likely to be involved in extreme hazing, such as beatings or theft. In addition to hazing being a major component of universities and high schools, it is also an issue that the military must deal with constantly. Military hazing can be used to describe anything from a good-natured punch on the stripes when someone is promoted, to Navy chiefs who make a new chief wear a dress, to boot camp activities when superiors or peers try to transform a balky recruit into a trustworthy team player. Hazing is an issue for branches of the military all over the world, including Canada, the United States, and Russia. Hazing in the Russian armed forces can be particularly harsh, considering that many first-year soldiers die at the hands of their grandfathers, or their superiors. In the United States, the public knew nothing about military hazing until 1956, even though it began over a century ago. Just a few short years ago, there was a scandal that rocked the military when videotapes of Marines participating in blood pinnings were released to the media. This initiation ritual involved Marines ramming gold-wing pins into the chests of fellow Marines, which sickened all those who viewed the graphic footage. Despite the many dangers that are associated with hazing, experts warn against eliminating it altogether. Sociologist Jamie Bryshun has said that the traditions often run too deep, and nothing any coach or university administrator says or does can end them. There is fear that if all hazing  is completely forbidden, then the organizations will just take it underground, where it may become even more dangerous. Different groups have tried to come up with alternatives to hazing, such as planning special events as a way for the members to bond with each other. The penalties for participating in hazing are on the rise. Hazing is now illegal in 41 states in the U.S.A., and many are working towards increasing that number. Under Texas law, hazing has been committed if a person engages in hazing, solicits, encourages, directs, aids, or attempts to aid another in engaging in hazing, intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly permits hazing to occur, or has firsthand knowledge that a hazing incident is being planned or has occurred and does not report their knowledge to the proper authorities. Even if the person has agreed to be a part of the hazing activity, it is still classified as hazing and charges could still be filed. Some criminal penalties include: a fine up to $1000 and/or up to 180 days in jail for failing to report hazing, a fine of $1000-$5000 and/or 180 days to one year in jail for being involved in hazing that resulted in serious bodily injury, and a fine of $5000-$10000 and/or one to two years in jail for participating in hazing that resulted in the death of someone. Despite the increase in awareness about the subject of hazing and the tougher anti-hazing laws, it is still a major problem for organizations all over the world. Even though many have died and countless others have been hospitalized, the trend of dangerous hazing has continued to grow, and it will not end until groups such as universities and the military receive a major wake up call. It is up to the leaders of the organizations to ensure that all its members are made to feel safe and no longer pressured to participate in activities that they know could endanger their lives.

Las Meninas Essay Example for Free

Las Meninas Essay The aim of this paper is to analyze Diego Velazquez’s painting â€Å"Las Meninas†, one of the most impressive and controversial art pieces in history. The content and the message of the painting â€Å"Las Meninas† provides much food for thought. On the picture we can see the artist himself as he works at a canvas, but we can’t see what exactly he is painting; he is not alone in the studio. A group of seven is situated in the front part of the studio. Infanta Margarita is in the centre of the group. Infanta is accompanied by two maids of honour; one is serving her a refreshing drink. We also see Margarita’s playmates – a male and female dwarfs; one of them is teasing a sleepy dog. Two grave adults stand slightly farther than Infanta. The interior of the studio is also rendered with great attention and mastery. Velazquez is an unsurpassed master in light and shadow and delicate harmony of colours. There exists a variety of possible interpretations of this brilliant picture. The enigma of â€Å"Las Meninas† is connected with the following question: what painting is Velazquez working at? One of the possible interpretations suggests that the royal couple sits for the portrait, because we see them in the mirror on the opposite wall. But such an explanation contradicts some important facts. From history, King Philip IV and her second wife Marianna do not have any portrait where they would be portrayed together done by Velazquez. Therefore we may consider the hypothesis that Infanta Margarita herself sits for the painting. Velazquez caught the moment when the King and the Queen were entering the room as the mirror restores visibility to that which resides outside our view. Some personages have already noticed them – Infanta Margarita, the maid of honour standing to the right from Infanta and also the painter who interrupted his work to greet the royal couple. The symbolism of the painting is complex. The figures on the painting form a circle which is traditionally considered a symbol of the devotion and service. Scholars believe that a horoscope is concealed in â€Å"Las Meninas† (Vasilakis, 1997). French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault, one of the most influential public figures of the 20th century in European and American intellectual circles, has always been fascinated by the painting. His interest in Velazquez’s â€Å"Las Meninas† is associated with the painting’s preoccupation with exploring two philosophical concepts Foucault explored extensively in his works, namely the concept of the gaze and the concept of representation. The fact that the painter (a self-portrait of Velazquez) is looking at something that is supposed to be invisible to the spectator invites those regarding the painting to apprehend themselves. Thus, spectators are prescribed an active rather than passive role in observing the painting: â€Å"We are observing ourselves being observed by the painter, and made visible to his eyes by the same light that enables us to see him. And just as we are about to apprehend ourselves, transcribed by his hand as though in a mirror, we find that we can in fact apprehend nothing of that mirror but its lustreless back. Foucault’s exploration of the process of observation is based on the interactionist approach to knowledge creation. As OFarrell (2008) informs, â€Å"Foucault uses the word [gaze] to refer to the fact that it is not just the object of knowledge which is constructed but also the knower. † The painting represents spectacle-as-observation, given that the painter and other figures look at the painter’s models that should remain invisible to the spectator. Yet the spectator can see the painter’s models, King Philip IV and his wife, in the mirror that is placed at the wall in the back the room. While spectators can see the figures in the mirror, the painter himself or anyone of his posse are not looking at the mirror, so it remain invisible for them. Foucault (1994) notes that â€Å"[t]here are, it is true, some heads turned away from us in profile: but not one of them is turned far enough to see, at the back of the room, that solitary mirror, that tiny glowing rectangle which is nothing other than visibility, yet without any gaze able to grasp it, to render it actual, and to enjoy the suddenly ripe fruit of the spectacle it offers. † This phrase calls into the question the foundations of solipsism – whether objects actually exist if not regarded, observed, gazed at by a living being. Foucault’s statement that the mirror is not rendered actual by anyone looking at it suggests that the painting implicitly probes the concept of solipsism. The notion of gaze, central to the analysis of the painting, is linked to a variety of other, more substantial philosophical issues. For example, Foucault’s interest in the problem of representation stems from his conviction that representation is inherently linked to knowledge. Las Meninas,† by virtue of its spatial organization, allows application of deconstructive techniques to analyzing the painting itself and critically reflecting on concepts that are employed in this analysis. As Denzin (2007) notes, â€Å"a deconstructive reading engages four paired terms: (1) the real and its representations in a text; (2) text and author; (3) presence and lived experience; (4) subjects and their intentional meanings† (p. 69). The painting offers an opportunity to reflect on all these relationship in order to arrive at the correct judgment about the nature of representation. Foucault believes that Classical representation as defined in pre-Renaissance period based on equating thought and representation (i. e. the process of thinking was defined as using ideas to represent objects) was limited in its inability to explore the real meaning of representation. The problem of the relation between reality and its representations is solved differently under different epistemological regimes. Classical representation implies that the relation between reality and its representations is not the one of resemblance, since there are no characteristics of the idea that are themselves the representation of the object. Classical representation suggests that knowledge means having ideas that represent what a person knows. Descartes in his exploration of representation uses the concept of objective and formal reality for counterpositioning the object in the real world and the idea of that object in human thought. He discusses the sun as an example of interrelation between the two realities: the representation of the sun in human thought is a small two-dimensional circle in the sky, while the formal, or real sun is huge and spherical (Berreitter, 2000). Foucault poses a question of how can humans verify whether representations of objects are adequate. It is an impossible task since for the reason it will require comparing idea with the object independently of its representation. However, humans do not know object – only their representations. As Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2008) informs, â€Å"[t]he only possibility is that the idea itself must make it apparent that it is a representation. The idea represents the very fact that it is a representation. † This is precisely why Foucault (1994) believes in the exceptionality of â€Å"Las Meninas. † Due to the spatial organization of the painting, â€Å"the necessary disappearance of that which is its foundation of the person it resembles and the person in whose eyes it is only a resemblance. This very subject which is the same has been elided. And representation, freed finally from the relation that was im ¬peding it, can offer itself as representation in its pure form. † Therefore, â€Å"Las Meninas† is a unique painting that is able to provoke an in-depth exploration of core philosophical concepts. The fact that the painter is gazing at something that is visible to spectators in the mirror which the figures at the painting do not observe implies that the painting goes beyond the limits of Classical representation and calls for a deconstructive reading of the artwork.

Defining And Analysing Business Ethics Philosophy Essay

Defining And Analysing Business Ethics Philosophy Essay Ethics is similar value and moral, in business ethics are doing something and decision, that not right or wrong, it is depend on people how to treat and feel it. In business, all care about is money, it will done everything because of money. They even not care about to do that thing have moral or not. They just think about that done about have valuable or not. Business ethics is doing not have correct or wrong, it is depend how much you can covered by your conscience. Define the follow Concepts: In business ethics, there have five concepts, which are contractual rights, ethics of virtue, legal rights, principles of fair equality opportunity, and utilitarianism. Those concepts can to guide or to be an example for the business to conduct. Contractual rights is the rights based on the contract, either one party of the contract breach the contract, the other party can to sued the breach of contract. It is an agreement between two or more people mutual benefit but do not necessarily involve in mutual supportiveness. The right is based on the contract, if the contract does not have mention about, then might not can to sue the other party because in this theory is based on the contractual rights. No contract, no agreement, and then no right to complain or sue the other party. In business, everything is made by the contract that can secure both party benefit and loss. Contractual right can to secure people have the right to made contract and sue people who is breach of contract. Both parties have the right to sue other party based on the contract. For example, buyer and the seller, they have to sign a contract for seller must have supply A4 paper 1000 sets. Buyer has the right the sue seller because supply A3 paper to them, instead of A4 paper. Both party have right to sue each other if they have something are not followed by the contract. Or the seller can sue the buyer if the buyer is late or do not have pay the installments. Ethics of virtue is an approach to ethics that rule, and particular acts focus on the kind of people who acting. Ethics of virtue is the person when is a kid, parents or people who relative to effect the person. Ethics of virtue is important for business ethics because in business people must trust other people. And the trust is come from the virtue ethics. Ethics of virtue is that value and characteristic on the person, is based on the person culture, background, moral, and value. Obligation is not morally sufficient for virtue. To compare virtues and moral character is duties or rules and that consequence of actions. In business, businessmen or businesswomen believe that trust. Although they have to sign contract, before this action, they must have a trust between each other. Some of the business is do not have use contract, they use trust to their each other, such as allow owing the money for doing the business. If do not have any trust for the business party or other party, it might make the business hard to conduct. They are allow to owing money is not a small amount, if they each other do not have trust between them. How come a person to believe and allow to owing the money? For example, to do a business must have a virtue ethics, such as be honest. Nowadays, to do businesses are cannot to cheat other party, customers already to be smarter, they are know you are cheating them. Once they are known you are cheating them, they are not to deal with you anymore. They would not to do a business with a dishonest businessman, and it will to spoil the business images because the person who deals with you, they will spread out what you did. This ethics theory should be right based that legal rights are that legal guaranteed power available to a legal. It can claims to rights, such as property, work, privacy, speak, and clean environment. Such as people have the right have a clean and good environment to live, they have right to live in a good environment. But some of the people to spoil and dirty up the environment, such as thrown rubbish in river, spitting, and so on. People have the right to live in a good environment, maybe some of the people are not like to live in good and clean environment but they have no right to discourage other people have right to live in good and clean environment. In business, right do not have correct or wrong, there are only have positive and negative right. Positive right is that right is good for anyone; negative right is that might have some of people do not thing that is good or bad for anyone. Such as, a people smoke not right or wrong, in the smoker, they have a right to smoke, but for people who surround the smoker have the right do not have breathed in the second smoke. Positive right is smoker has a right to smoke, the negative right is people have a right to choose does not breathe in the secondhand smoke. For example, people have a right to sell or not to anyone. Businessmen have their own right to decide to sell what kind of product, and they have right to selling to whom. Unfortunately, government have to interfere with the business, no one can to in charge the business without government. But businessmen have the right to choose which party they want to collaborate with. Principles of fair equality of opportunity is mean everyone have a fair enough opportunity in every fields. To be fair or have an equality of opportunity that should have not any discrimination, include culture, religion, race, gender, age, and so on. Have an equality opportunity is very difficult to gain and it have happened in everywhere. Hard to prevent or avoid this thing happened. If to fair enough to everyone, it will to make happened more because to given more chance to everyone to try to do. More chance to try that can have more answer at all. In business, company or businessmen are discrimination of gender, age, culture, race, and so on to hiring or dealing with. Discrimination people might get sued by the people. For example, a company to hire a staff cannot to depend on the staff background, culture, region, and gender; it might get sued by the candidate. Or a business deal because of the gender or race. Many businesses were done by the gender, it might consider as bribe. Some kinds of businesses are not dealing with women, because discrimination women capable, they are doubt women capable. Have an equality of opportunity that can to help the business going up, maybe the people who are discriminated by the person, they can maximum the job, to done as well. Different people have different capable, should to give a chance for everyone, just for done as well in the job. Also that do not discrimination any position of job, even a cleaning worker is important for a company. Utilitarianism is takes into consideration opportunity cost and benefit, and to give satisfaction to other. It should choose the option that brings greater to most people. It can to maximum the good and minimum the harm, and it has to decide what is good. There have two types of utilitarianism which is act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism is performing that act to leads to greatest good for greatest, it is use an action to greatest to people, such as charity, donation, and so on. Each individual action is to be evaluated directly utility principle. In business it will do the charity and something for social responsibility in order to build a good image to the company. For example, a company to give salary to the worker in return working for company, the salary for the workers is very important because the money can to give they eat, sleep, drink, clothes, and even to pay the daily use expenses. It is to greatest good and to give greatest for most people. To using an action to give a happiness to people, such as donate money to beggar. Other utilitarianism is rule utilitarianism; it is based on the rule to give the greatest people. Rule have significant place, and cannot be compromised for protect at all. It is behavior that evaluated by rules, if universally followed would lead to the greatest good for the greatest. For example, to give a greastest based on the rule, it might as the law. Only the rule can to protect, secure, and to give the greatest, it will help to give a good thing. The rules are come from the law, and the law will secure the benefit for everyone. In business, businessmen or businesswomen use the rule to secure their business. Such as, the method to do business is very important, need to understand the rule of different business, or sign contract. In conclusion, the concepts of ethics are example to give businessmen or businesswomen know that to do business must have conscience, and that also nowadays the thing do not have. Five concepts have business ethics that are contractual rights, ethics of virtue, legal rights, principles of fair equality of opportunity, and utilitarianism. QUESTION 2 2. Do you agree with the claims that (i) future generations have no rights, and (ii) the future generations to which we have obligations actually include only the generation that will immediately succeed us? Explain your answer. If you do not agree with these claims, state your own views and provide arguments to support them. Introduction: What is Right? Rights are an equitable that can have it to everyone that is a power to everyone. Everyone have a power to decide their own things how to going on. For a company they have copyrights that to prevent other company to copy they product packaging or logo. Human have a rights to choose what they want actually, even a kid also have a rights to choose what they want. But many people are like to decide for everyone, they are discouraging people to choose what they want, such as parent, friends, and sibling. Do Not Agree Future Generations have No Right I am not agree future generations have no rights, everyone come to this world should have their own rights. For future generations also, they have their own rights to decided by themselves. Parents should try to let children to make decision, maybe decision is wrong, and at least, the decision is decided by them. They are not regret about the wrong decision. Future generations should have rights to choose what they are wanted actually. Future generations are our future hope, should to bring a best thing to them. Education, future generations have own opinion, perception, and they have rights to selection or decide what they future. Such as parents to arrange the children go to other country to further study, or to disallow the children to choose what they want. Parents are not consider the child do not want to go oversea for further study. Some of parents will interfere with children study, maybe the children are like to draw, and have talent to draw, want to be artist, but parents hope the child to be an accountant or be professional, do not like a child to be artist. To stop the child dream but the child has rights to decide what career they want. Many workers are not satisfying their job because they doing the job are not they like. Maybe some workers are forced by parents; they are not hope to do so. Have a lot of people will to do what the parents hope, after that, they will change the career, or even go to study again for interest. Furthermore, nowadays people have educated, they know what are they can to have and right. They would not to keep quiet; they are known what rights they have. Formerly, government are controlled publish the truth and information to the citizens for prevent citizens know what right they should have. Nowadays, citizens can to know and find out the truth and information through the internet. Future generations also have the rights to choose what the choices they want, such as they have rights to decide what they want to do, purchase, eat, sleep, and drink. They have to choose by themselves. Parents are very nervous their children, everything are done for children, do not know what children want. Obligation In my opinion, people should to do something to secure future generations have to know and can to keep on to other future generations. The obligations for future generations there are to protection environment and give a freedom selection. Parents or other people cannot to make a decision for the future generations; they have rights to decide by their own. Future generations have the rights live in a good environment that they have a right to choose what environment to live. They have the rights to breath in every air are pure and fresh; do not have any haze mix with the air. Nowadays, water, air and noise are polluted by human; the future generations might not have a good environment for the rest of the life. Besides that, some kind of animals and plants are facing extinct because of human are not save the planet. Human are always wasted natural resource and to polluted environment. Air pollution, future generations have rights to choose what air to breath in, they have rights to decide how fresh the air breath in, but children might need to wear mask for prevent breath in that air are destroying their lung. Have a lot of the mill, factory, manufactures are doing some kind of business that polluted air. To burn the chemical in order for produce the product, and the haze will spread out and in the air. Water pollution, water is very important for our life that is cannot lack of. Has a lot of the company using water to conduct business, at same time, the company is the most pollute water. Such as, company thrown some liquid have chemical in the rivers or seas. Besides polluted water, people are wasted water. Water on earth that only have 1/3 water is can to drink, 2/3 water is cannot drink that is salt water. If human waste or polluted water, in future, the future generation might do not have clear water for drink, even will have a war caused by water. Noise pollution, noise pollution is very effect people think and emotion. The sound will make people going in bad emotion because the sound too noise. Such as, developer to building house nearby the school or surround the houses, the sound effecting the student study when developer to building the house, sure have come out some of the sound. Future generations have right to having a quiet and nice environment to study or live in. They would not hope have a noise sound surround their life. Animals and plants extinct, future generations have rights to know, discovery, see, and explore animals and plants, but nowadays, animals and plants are very rare, almost going to extinct. Animals and plants going to extinct because businessmen or businesswomen to mining trees, sure the trees will die and animals are loss shelter and die also. Future generations have right to know and see the animals, soon and later, future generation may not know how a trees or animals look. The obligation for environment is protection environment. For water, people should do not waste water, overuse or wasted. Company should not throw the cabbage or chemical liquid thrown in the rivers or seas. Company should to reduce the products are destroy through the air. Or use something can to replace that chemical which are release on the air. Such as air-conditioner have release a gas that destroy atmosphere to be thin enough, after that the UV light will directly come in the earth and human, animals, and planet will die caused of the UV light. Nowadays, air-conditioner release that gases are replace by another gas that do not have destroy our atmosphere. To prevent the developer developing the building make the noise, they should to developing the building is making sure done everything. Such as the building was built up already, and if some of the houses need to decoration the houses should to decoration when the building not yet allow people stay in. to reduce the noise, or the machine changes to silent machine. Animals and plants extinct because of the human mining trees after did not to re-plant in on the jungle. It is made the animals and plant extinct. Human should re-plant on the plant which is mined. Resources, businessmen or businesswomen are should not to wasted and use up the natural resource. Future generations have rights to use the natural material, but nowadays have a lot for natural materials are almost used up. The obligation of the human are to reuse the materials, such as recycle paper, tin, and so on. Do not wasted the natural materials, and to be more environmental protection. Such as recycle, reuse, and to be vegetarian to reduce the natural materials will be used up. In conclusion, future generations should have rights to choose what they want to do for future, such as education. And future generations have rights own any best environment and resource. Human should have obligations to take care and to succeed.

First Kiss :: essays research papers

My First Kiss I was five. He was six. When we first found out we had to hold hands during the second scene of the Christmas Pageant we both had the same response, â€Å"EW Gross!†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Josh and I had known each other basically all of our lives. Our grandparents were friends, our parents were friends and even our siblings were friends. It was as if we were destine to be friends too because of family genes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every Sunday afternoon, after church, me, my parents, my grandparents and my brother along with Josh’s parents, grandparents, and brother, would all go to Josh’s house. It was a ritual that started back as early as I can remember and still is carried out today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The parents would chat over coffee, our older siblings would ride their bikes and Josh and I would play in the sandbox. â€Å"Let’s play house.† I would always say. To which Josh responded, â€Å"No way. House is for girls. Let’s play ninjas. HIYA!† So we made a compromise. I was the mommy, the cat was the baby and Josh was the â€Å"ninja† daddy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When you’re five years old you don’t really think of boys as boys or girls as girls. Other kids are just your friends, whether they wear a pink dress or blue slacks. Never before did I really think of Josh as a boy till I was forced to hold his hand in the pageant.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both of us whined and complained and if my memory severs my correctly, Josh threw an out right tantrum about the whole scene. Yet still we were forced to stand there hand in hand.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was performance night and our parents came back stage for a pep talk. My mom fixed my frilled dress and Josh’s mom straightened his hair and both of our mothers basically told us to go out there and smile whether we liked it or not.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The time for our big scene came. We waited in the wings for our cue and finally we were pushed out on stage.

The American School System: A Rough Road Ahead :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The American School System: A Rough Road Ahead There are many similarities and few differences between E.D. Hirsch’s â€Å"Why America’s Universities Are Better than Its Schools,† and Benjamin Barber’s â€Å"America Skips School.† The main purpose of both articles is to address the fact that Americans fall far behind in the scholastic accomplishment of their young students. Mutually, the two authors agree that American K-12 students learn more each day outside of the classroom than they do inside the classroom, and that the schools need serious reform. Barber focuses his attention on the financial situation of the schools, as well as the political standpoint that the government just does not care, and the American government has simply given up on its children. Hirsch tackles the idea that if our K-12 schools stay with their current level of teaching, it is only a matter of time before the institutions of higher learning will no longer be considered among the best in the world. At the present time, it seems as though America’s youth have been placed into a category for which they are no longer looked upon as a bright future for our nation as was considered in the past, as Barber has commented, â€Å"Jefferson thought schools would produce free men: we prove him right by putting dropouts in jail† (159). Children today are becoming more street-smart, and feel that there is no need for true knowledge. For example, â€Å"Knowledge is considered less desirable than more ‘practical’ all-purpose goals such as ‘higher order skills,’ ‘self-esteem,’ ‘metacognitive skills,’ and ‘critical-thinking skills† (Hirsch 144). They see it as much more important to look at what society rewards its people with, and that seems to be anything but a good academic background. In today’s culture, the people who are praised in America are the people who are able to make millions of dollars by performing music, acting in front of the camera, playing a sport, and unfortunately in some neighborhoods, selling drugs. Barber concurs that â€Å"When the society undoes each workday what the school tries to do each school day, schooling can’t make much of a difference† (157). Our students think in terms of what is going t o bring them to the peak of the success mountain in this great motherland where everyone has equal opportunity.

Mission Trip in Rio de Janeiro Essay -- Observation Essay, Descriptive

Mission Trip in Rio de Janeiro The second I walked in the door, I knew it was different than any other place I had visited that week. There was a presence of love and happiness hovering in the air. I could feel it; it was so strong. I didn't want to leave that beautiful place called Compassion International. In July 2000, I went to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for a mission trip. One of the days, we visited the kids of Compassion International. Compassion International is a program in which people from the U.S. can send money, letters and other gifts to underprivileged children in different countries. The place I visited was a school/church where the kids went if they were the ones receiving the sponsorship. This was the best place I visited the whole time I was in Brazil. We did so many awesome things during our trip, but this small three or four hour visit changed my entire life. Children of all ages were walking around when we took our tour of the facilities. Some of these kids came from neighborhoods that had gun shootings, drugs and other violence. Other kids didn't even come from a neighborhood. They were homeless, lived in the dump and didn't know when their next meal would be coming or from where. When I looked at these kids, I couldn't see their home life reflected in their clothing or faces. They were well dressed, clean, and most of all, they had smiles on their faces. The tour of the facility was remarkable. It was huge considering how poor the country is. They had numerous classrooms where the children would learn reading, writing, and arithmetic and study the Bible. A playground for the small children and a small pool for the older ones were available in the courtyard. There was even an American flag ... .... Her unbreakable smile and the sparkle in her eyes told of the Savior she had. Some of the songs she led were familiar, but some weren't. The cool thing was, they were all in Portuguese, and we didn't care! We sang along in English while they sang in Portuguese. The language barrier we had didn't matter. We had the same God, and He made all the difference. After a couple hours in the chapel, we ran out of time at Compassion International. I didn't get to talk to any of the Brazilians there except the little ones when they gathered around us, but I still cried when we left. I felt so close to these people despite the culture differences. As I walked out the door, I realized the presence I felt when I walked in wasn't just a feeling of love and happiness, but the Holy Spirit, who brought me to Compassion International for an experience I will never forget

Contributions of Ancient Greece and Rome to the Western World Essay

While both Roman and Greek cultures greatly influenced Western Civilization, Greeks contributed more to the western world than the Romans. The Greeks used their own ideas and thought of new ways to add to their culture, while the Romans mostly mixed and matched ideas from other civilizations and cultures to make their own. The Romans took up the inheritance of the Greeks adapted it to their own language and national traditions. (Grant 2)The Greeks introduced many new ideas and traditions, the most important being democracy – Athenian democracy in particular. After the Dark Age, the population in Greece grew so quickly that soon, there were way too many free peasants. These peasants realized that nobody could stop them if they tried to make some changes because there was so many of them, so they insisted on having their voices heard by the government. Their wish was granted, and democracy in its simplest form became known. Now that the peasants had more freedom, some of them started to earn higher wages, and soon were rich enough to purchase hoplite armor. (Hoplites made up the majority of the army and fought on foot.) The peasants were also placing strong demands on the elite class, also known as the oligarchy. The system of citizenship in Greece was established as a result, during the late 7th century BCE (Martin 82), and enabled the peasants to have more influence on their leaders and protection under the law. There were three kinds of citizens the rich, the hoplites, and the poor. Only males were citizens. All citizens could attend open meetings in the Assembly, elect archons (leaders) each year, and were protected under the law. The peace of Greece had been slowly deteriorating, and in 621 BCE, it only got worse. The rich, elite class had been accumulating farmland from the poor farmers, who had to pack up and leave once a rich person took their land. A poor farmer had a hard time gaining wealth because any wealth they did gain would be in the form of surplus grain. Extra grain was not permanent, and could not be converted into money since coins were not invented yet. Then in 621 BCE, Draco was appointed to establish a code of laws to help bring stability by changing the situation. But his laws were so harsh that they only destabilized the people more. Civil war threatened to break out until 594 BCE when the Athenians gave Solon power to revise Dracos  laws and deal with the crisis. His new laws steered a middle course (Martin 84) between the demands of the rich and the demands of the poor. He introduced the right of appeal to the Assembly, forbade the selling of Athenians into slavery, and sorted male cit izens into four classes based on income. Overall, Solon helped to make democracy more peaceful. After a short period of tyranny, the democratic system was reinstalled and new rules were made yet again. Cleisthenes organized villages in Athens into trittyes according to location, and each of the trittyes was divided into phylai, or tribes. He also started to keep track of which males were old enough to vote and join the Assembly, with the voting age at eighteen. The Assembly would choose fifty representatives by lot from each tribe. Each representative would get to serve for one year on a council of five hundred men. Also, ten men were selected by officials with the highest military authority to serve as strategoi, or generals, in the army. (Martin 88)Another reform was made after an earthquake near Sparta in 465 BCE created tension between Sparta and Athens, and a crisis in formal affairs took place. Athens sent military help to Sparta that was rejected in a complicated series of events. As a result, in 461 BCE, Ephialetes convinced the Assembly to limit the influence of Areopagus the highest judicial and legislative council of ancient Athens that met on a hill west of the Acropolis. (Martin 110) A new judicial system was created with juries of males over thirty years old chosen by lot to serve for one year. Ostracism was also established. If the general public submitted over six thousand ballots, the man who had his name on the most ballots was exiled for ten years. In general, democracy rested on the belief that the cumulative political wisdom of the majority of the voters would outweigh the eccentricity and irresponsibility of the few. (Martin 113)In addition to democracy, the Greeks most important contribution to Western civilization, many elements of modern culture are rooted in ancient Greece. Philosophers, especially Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates impacted the way people thought about the world around them. Greek architecture is still commonly used today, as evidenced by our use of pillars and columns. The ancient Greeks also excelled in sculpting. They figured out how to make graceful, emotional, and realistic statues which needed no additional support. Poetry,  theatre, and drama also made up an important part of Greek culture. Some Greeks studied science, math, history, and their studies form the basis of many of todays theories. Science helped others understand a little more of these subjects. In Greece, as in todays world, science was based on observation, not myth, even though myths were considered an important part of life to every Greek. The Greeks are also considered to be the first people who recorded history only after consulting witnesses, forming the base of modern history. One exceptionally significant custom of the Greeks still observed today is the Olympics. These ancient games incorporated a concept of free athletic competition without bloodshed. If the Greeks were engaged in war at the time the Olympics were to take place, they would pause for three days and compete in many different events. At first, there were only a few competitions, but as the Olympics became more popular, additional sports were included. The four main contests of the ancient Olympics were the long jump, the javelin throw, the discus throw, and wrestling. At one time, the Olympics were for male Greek citizens only, but today people of various nationalities, men and women, can take part in this unique Greek custom. The Olympics were also very different from the Roman sport games, such as gladiator fighting or the Roman form of wrestling, where humans and animals were killed. Even though Romans did use many ideas and designs from Greeks and other cultures, they also thought of their own. A considerable contribution of the Romans to the Western World is their system of government a Republic. Republic comes from the word respublica, which means a matter for the people. (Corbishley 15) Officers in the Republic included consuls, praetors, censors, quaestors, adiles, and the senate. Consuls had the same powers as a king, but unlike a king, they were elected each year by the citizens and had to serve in pairs. The praetors were the chief judges, the censors kept track of who could vote, the quaestors looked after the state finances, and the adiles were in charge of public works. The senate was a body made up of ex-officials that formed a parliament to discuss matters and advise the other officials. As in the Athenian democracy, only male citizens could vote, but the people of ancient Rome were glad they had a republic, and they  hated the word rex, or king. The Romans excelled in literature, poetry, law, engineering, state organization, military training and organization, painting, sculpture, and architecture. They also had games in the amphitheater sports like chariot races, gladiator fights, fake battles in ships, and fights with wild animals. The Romans had a complex law system that was the foundation for Italian, German, French, and Spanish law. The Roman techniques of interpreting the law and their legal system of lawyers and judges were also incorporated into many other cultures. There were three kinds of laws. Civil law was for Roman citizens only, and there were laws for those people who were not citizens, but lived in Roman provinces or on the outskirts of Roman towns. The third type of law was natural law, deciding between right and wrong. Civil law and the other laws could be created by the Assembly, praetors, senate, emperors, and jurists. They created many different laws. They made sure there was a variety of laws, to deal with every situation, and these multiple laws helped the kingdom of Rome run smoothly. The Romans were also great engineers. They paved roads wide enough for the whole army, built walls around their cities for protection, and even had apartment buildings. They also had aqueducts, built high above the ground to carry water to the cities. Arches, a very important Roman invention, helped the aqueducts to stand strong without collapsing. Arches were also used in buildings like the Coliseum, the Forum, and basilicas. Many early churches were built using the plans of the Roman basilicas. Other buildings had vast domes. Roman engineers did not want these magnificent domes to collapse, either, so they thought of coffering as a solution. Coffering is also known as placing decorative, sunken panels in a ceiling to make it lighter. Romans added other things to buildings to make them more attractive, like fountains, pillars, and sculptures. The Roman civilization made many of their buildings out of brick and mortar, and even concrete. Engineering is, indeed, the most noticeable Roman influence on Western civilization, seen in many public buildings and even houses. Beyond arches and coffers, Roman people did not focus so much on the structure of their buildings as the facades and interiors. They combined Greek columns with fancy arches to make majestic entrances, and painted splendid pictures on walls of mythical characters and nature scenes. Roman sculptors copied Greek masterpieces, adding to the collection of Greek works in existence. They learned how to sculpt faces more realistically and how to make better portraits, and as a result made some pretty remarkable portrait busts of famous people. In addition, the Romans developed a continuous sculpture relief, something like a comic strip that wound around pillars, the most famous of which is known as Trajans column. Many great rulers governed Rome, including Trajan, and over time helped develop an extremely organized empire. At one time, the Roman administration was split into four levels. Two emperors ruled over four prefectures, who in turn governed three or four vicars each. Each vicar presided over one diocese, and each diocese was split up into many provinces. Early Christians saw how organized this system of government was, that it was one of the reasons Rome was so powerful, and based their own leadership system on this Roman model. The Greeks and the Romans both contributed much to Western Civilization, but the Greeks seem to have contributed more. The Romans took many ideas from the Greeks and even copied sculptures and other artwork for their own houses and public places, so that much of what they had was Greek. Thus, without the Greeks, the Romans would not have been as impressive of a civilization. This quote best describes the influence of the Greeks and Romans on the world today: we ourselves, whether we like it or not, are the heirs of the Greeks and Romans. In a thousand different ways, they are permanently and indestructibly woven into the fabric of our own existences. The Romans intertwined Greek culture with other cultures and added their ideas to make what they called their own culture. They then showed it to the rest of Europe through conquering the people, who adopted it and blended it into their civilizations. These civilizations developed into strong European societies, and eventually the ideas and traditions became known as Western civilization. So, really, it all started with the Greeks. Bibliography Corbishley, Mike. Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient Rome. New York: Facts on File, 1989. De Fabianis, Valeria Manferto, ed. Ancient Rome: History of a Civilization that Ruled the World. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1996Grant, Michael. The Founders of the Western World: A History of Greece and Rome. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, Maxwell Macmillan Int., 1991Martin, Thomas R. Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times. New Haven, Eng.: Yale University Press, 1996. Pomeroy, Sarah B., Stanley M. Burnstein, Walter Donlan, and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts. Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Powell, Anton. Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient Greece. New York: Facts on File, 1989.

Behavior Essay

Behavior Essay To Teacher: Shukrya Student Name: Nadeem M7md Grade: 10BB School: ISCS I am writing this essay for Mrs. Shukrya because I acted inappropriately in her class today. Mrs. Shukrya has discussed my misbehavior with me and I understand why I have received this disciplinary assignment. I have also been informed that this essay would be the punishment for any unacceptable behavior in Mrs. Shukrya’s class. The reason Mrs. Shukrya does not tolerate misbehavior is because she cares about me and my success in school.It is important to her that I do well in my classes and earn good grades. It is also important to her that I learn study skills, independent work habits, and self-discipline. Self-discipline is one of the most important things I can learn in school; with that skill I can accomplish many things. I need to learn self-discipline so I can act appropriately in class and progress further toward my goals. Acting silly, goofing off, wasting valuable class time, and act ing immature are all signs of disrespectful behavior – not only toward Mrs.Shukrya,  but also toward my classmates who are trying to get the most out of their education. Along with self-discipline, respect for others is an extremely important thing to learn. I need to realize that there is a time and place for everything. There are times for fun and times for serious work. Mrs. Shukrya’s class is a time for working hard to make good grades and learn study skills. There will be time for fun later – after school and on the weekends – but in class I need to focus on my schoolwork.It may not seem important to me now, but it will be at some point, and Mrs. Shukrya knows this even if I don’t yet. Acting the correct way in class will show respect to my teacher and my classmates. It will also benefit me on many levels. I won’t have to write this essay again, I’ll learn more in class, I’ll get more homework and studying done, and my g rades will improve. However, if I choose to break the rules again, I will have to face the consequences again. That is how life works.

Organic Chemistry Experiment 4 †Recrystallization Essay

INTRODUCTION Recrystallization is the primary method for purifying solid organic compounds. Compounds obtained from natural sources or from reaction mixtures almost always contain impurities. The impurities may include some combination of insoluble, soluble, and colored impurities. To obtain a pure compound, these impurities must be removed. Each is removed in a separate step in the recrystallization procedure. [8] Acetylation of aniline by acetic anhydride was performed to synthesize the crude acetanilide. The obtained crude acetanilide contained acetic acid as well as unreacted acetic anhydride. The said impurities of the crude acetanilide were removed using activated charcoal, filtration and recrystallization. EXPERIMENTAL A. Compounds tested Aniline Aniline is a clear to slightly yellow liquid with a characteristic odor. It does not readily evaporate at room temperature. Aniline is slightly soluble in water and mixes readily with most organic solvents. Aniline is used to make a wide variety of products such as polyurethane foam, agricultural chemicals, synthetic dyes, antioxidants, stabilizers for the rubber industry, herbicides, varnishes and explosives. [2] Aniline is prepared commercially by the catalytic hydrogenation of nitrobenzene or by the action of ammonia on chlorobenzene. The reduction of nitrobenzene can also be carried out with iron borings in aqueous acid. [6] Preparation of Aniline: C6H5NO2 + 3 H2 → C6H5NH2 + 2 H2O (a) (b) Figure 1. (a) Hydrogenation of nitrobenzene (b) Bechamp reduction Acetic anhydride Acetic anhydride is clear, colorless liquid with a strong, pungent, sour vinegar-like odor, lachrymator. [5] Acetic anhydride is an important solvent and acetylation agent. [4] It is used in the manufacture of acetyl compound, cellulose acetates, acetylizer and solvent in examining wool fat, glycerol, fatty and volatile oils, resins, detection of rosin, in organic synthesis, such as dehydrating agent in nitrations, sulfonations and other reactions where removal of water is necessary. [5] Acetic anhydride is prepared by the carbonylation of methyl acetate. There is a two-stage process for the preparation of acetic anhydride, in which, in a first step, methyl bromide or, preferably, iodide is carbonylated to provide the corresponding acetyl halide, such acetyl halide in turn being reacted with methyl acetate, in a second step, to provide acetic anhydride, which corresponds to the following reaction scheme, in the event that methyl iodide is the starting material: [7] Step 1: CH3I + CO → CH3COI Step 2: CH3COI + CH3COOCH3 → (CH3CO)2O + CH3I Figure 2. Carbonylation of methyl acetate B. Procedure 1. Choosing the Recrystallizing Solvent A corn-grain amount of pure acetanilide was placed into each of three test tubes. Methanol, hexane, and water were added to each test tube respectively. Each was shaken and was placed in a warm bath (37oC-40oC) for 1-5 minutes and then was cooled. Figure 3. Pure acetanilide in test tubes containing different solvents – methanol, hexane, water respectively. 2. Acetylation of Aniline by Acetic Anhydride Aniline solution was made by mixing 2mL of aniline with 20mL of distilled water. 3mL of acetic anhydride was then added to the solution to form acetylation. The over-all solution was then placed in an ice bath to form crystals of crude acetanilide. Figure 4. 2mL of aniline mixed with 20mL of distilled water Figure 5. 3mL of acetic anhydride added to the aniline solution Figure 6. Crystallization of crude acetanilide in an ice bath 3. Purification of Crude Acetanilide by Recrystallization The crude acetanilide crystals were filtered through a wet filter paper. The residue was then dried and weighed. In a separate Erlenmeyer flask, the crude acetanilide residue was placed and 20mL of the recrystallizing solvent was added. The solution was then heated on a hot plate until the entire solid dissolved completely. When the solution became colored, it was removed from the heat and enough amount of activated charcoal was added. The heating process continued until the solution became colorless. While the solution was still hot, it was quickly filtered using a fluted filter paper. Its filtrate was then cooled by placing the receiver in a beaker with cold water. The crystals that formed were collected and were washed. When the crystals completely dried up, it was then weighed. Figure 7. Filtration of the crude acetanilide crystals Figure 8. Crude acetanilide residue mixed with the recrystallizing solvent Figure 9. Heating process of the solution Figure 10. Addition of the activated charcoal to the solution Figure 11. Continued heating process of the solution until colorless Figure 12. Filtration and recrystallization of the acetanilide Figure 13. Weighing of the dried acetanilide crystals RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1. Choosing the Recrystallizing Solvent Among the three recrystallizing solvents – methanol, hexane, and water, water was chosen to be used in the recrystallization of the acetanilide. Table 1. Solubility of pure acetanilide in various solvents | At room temp.| During heating| Upon cooling| Water| Insoluble| Soluble| Insoluble| Methanol| Soluble| Soluble| Soluble| Hexane| Insoluble| Insoluble| Insoluble| 2. Acetylation of Aniline by Acetic Anhydride The crude acetanilide was obtained by the acetylation of the aniline. The crude acetanilide obtained was 7.2 grams in its weight. 3. Purification of Crude Acetanilide by Recrystallization Pure acetanilide was obtained by the recrystallization of the crude acetanilide. From the 7.2 grams of crude acetanilide, 1.2 grams of pure acetanilide was gathered. Theoretical Yield: Aniline 2mL x 1.0217 g/mL = 2.0434 g 2.04 g x 1 mol x 135.17 g = 93.13 g 1 mol 2.96 g Acetanilide Acetic Anhydride 3mL x 1.082 g/mL = 3.246 g 3.246 g x 1 mol x 135.17 g = 102.09 g 1 mol 4.30 g Acetanilide ∠´ Aniline is the limiting reagent. Percentage Yield: = Actual Yield x 100 Theoretical Yield = 1.20 grams x 100 2.96 grams = 40.54 % The experiment conducted was able to perform different chemical processes. In choosing the recrystallizing solvent, solubility test was conducted among various solvents – methanol, hexane, and water. The solubility test resulted to the conclusion of choosing water as the recrystallizing solvent. The experiment also included the acetylation of aniline by acetic anhydride to form the crude acetanilide. In the experiment, 7.2 grams of crude acetanilide was obtained. Since the crude acetanilide has impurities, it was purified by several processes – heating of solution, activated charcoal addition, and recrystallization. When recrystallization has already occurred in the solution, the pure acetanilide was then obtained. 40.54% of the pure acetanilide was gathered with its weight of 1.2 grams. REFERENCES [1] Acetylation of Aniline using Acetic Anhydride. http://prolabscientific.com/Acetylation-of-Aniline-using-Acetic-Anhydride-p-23917.html. [2] Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry: Toxic Substances Portal – Aniline. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=449&tid=79. [3] Bayquen, A. V., Cruz, C. T., de Guia, R. M., Lampa, F. F., PeÅ„a, G. T., Sarile, A. S., & Torres, P. C. (2009). Laboratory Manual in Organic Chemistry. 839 EDSA, South Triangle, Quezon City: C & E Publishing, Inc. [4] Chemical Book: Acetic Anhydride. http://www.chemicalbook.com/ChemicalProductProperty_EN_CB2852742.htm. [5] Chemical Book: Acetic anhydride (108-24-7). http://www.chemicalbook.com/ProductMSDSDetailCB2852742_EN.htm. [6] Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica: Aniline. http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/25473/aniline. [7] Gauthier-Lafaye et al. Carbonylation of methyl acetate. http://www.google.com.ph/patents?hl=en&lr=&vid=USPAT4500474&id=ymY2AAAAEBAJ&oi=fnd&dq=carbonylation+of+methyl+ acetate&printsec=abstract#v=onepage&q=carbonylation%20of%20methyl%20acetate&f=false. [8] Recrystallization. http://www.chem.umass.edu/~samal/269/cryst1.pdf.

Mary Ellen Mark

The term ‘photography’ originated from the Greek words â€Å"drawing with light† (Grundberg, 2005). None could be a more apt name for this human creation. Indeed, when it flourished in the early 19th century, we have finally discovered a way to draw upon light and use it to freeze the ups and downs of our curious race. The photographers among us have taken pictures of scientific advancements and artistic marvels, of the great men and women that had greatly influenced our society, of sleepy villages and breathtaking vistas, of family life, and of anything else that appeals to our desire to immortalize the parts of our existence. We have realized that photography is a useful hobby.But others find photography more than just a pastime. They are the ones who not only capture a moment, but also, more important, shed light to those few living beneath the cracks in society. Such photographers, for instance, would go to any war-torn country, where they will document the st ruggles of child soldiers and the people trapped in war, so that hopefully politicians would lend a sympathetic ear, or a sensitive heart.And still other photographers would go to any undocumented region around the world to erase the bigotry and scorn with which so-called social outcasts—like prostitutes—are treated. Diane Arbus, a renowned American photographer, once said, â€Å"There are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them†. We have much to learn from the kind of societies we, as a whole, have made—and through photography we could make a difference.Mary Ellen Mark, a photographer herself, embodies the same guiding principle in her line of work. She believes in the richness of humanity, no matter where it is found. Despite the lucrative promise in her kind of work, which some of her contemporaries enjoy, Mark often gets out of the corporate world and plunges into a more intimate one, to the kind of places where even taking a picture of a bystander might endanger her own life.Yet she is willing to trade her safety for the story she gleans from the people around her. Many times, in 1978, while attempting to photograph the prostitutes of Falkland Road, Bombay, Mark have had to endure verbal insults and cascades of garbage thrown by people who felt threatened by her (Long, 2000). Others might call her style of photojournalism reckless, if not suicidal, but Mark trusts people, and they to her in return. She has had a great journey so far, and she’ll definitely not stop.More than thirty years had passed in her noble career. But, like every altruistic person who had chosen to get out of the rat-race, Mark’s career started somewhat ordinarily, her revelation still at a distance. In the 1960’s she began the long climb upwards to building a career, working for distinguished magazines such as Look and Life. A somewhat glamorous job compared to what she is doing right now. Yet even at that time she was alre ady perfecting her photojournalism as she composed rich photo essays for both news and fashion periodicals. And her clients was impressive—Esquire, Holiday, The New York Times, Magazine, Vogue, and many others.1965 was the year in which she finally got the chance to get out of the restrictive office space. Mark received a Fulbright Scholarship, which she used promptly as a stepping stone to travel for two years in various countries such as Greece, Italy, Germany, Spain, and England (Long, 2000). She was slowly removing the chains that bound her to just one place, a kind of freedom that would serve her later on.Within the same decade Mark began using her camera to illuminate the unseen-forgotten-neglected-prejudiced parts of society. Her viewpoint of things was changing. This time, instead of wallowing in glamour and news, she was immersing herself in the troubles of others—the transvestites, pro-women and anti-war demonstrators, and others which have often got less fro m the same society to which they give much of their empty cries for equality, justice, and understanding, and acceptance.She was in the frontlines, and she documented it all using her camera. â€Å"What I want to do more than anything is acknowledge their existence,† she once said. One is considered a courteous host if one acknowledges the presence of another. But Mary Ellen Mark, even as she was building a career, was more than just a courteous person. More than that. In fact, by acknowledging the existence of those around her, she was actually empowering them, putting them in focus and perspective, in the same way that a microscope examines the germs on a crucible—although in this case she was examining the wounds in society. Her camera became her metaphorical extended eye, one that opens her understanding. And with understanding she would also discover compassion.Production stills, used in Hollywood movies, came next in line for her. The work itself suited her photo journalism—on one hand she was taking pictures; on the other hand, telling the meaning behind the pictures. When she took stills of Milos Forman’s One Flew over the Cuckoo Nest, a film that was shot in an actual mental hospital, Mark delved deep into the minds of the deeply troubled. The year was 1973. Eventually, to bring herself closer to the patients, Mary Ellen Mark befriended the hospital’s director (Long, 2000).â€Å"I've just always been interested in mental health, mental illness,† she once said. But her interest didn’t border on a morbid fascination; she just did it out of her passion for her line of work. And instead of portraying the patients as an insane collective with no cure, Mark valued their individuality, their unique personalities that still hide beneath the deranged mask (Long, 2000).That is one of her styles, her believing that not all things appear exactly as they are in photographs. She believes something will appear aside fr om what she believes to be real. Her belief is itself a style, for she incorporates it into her work. She may take a picture of a smiling child, for instance, and yet not know what the child really feels; she might not know that the child may be hiding a sadness deep within. Nevertheless, she still takes pictures because part of her sees—whether consciously or subconsciously—a certain kinship with strangers, a human being seeing herself in others. And if that were the case, then perhaps one could even say that her style is more spiritual than personal, a way to find a place for herself in this world.To her, every person in the picture is a raconteur. A rodeo cowboy may appear masculine, but deep inside he tells a story of his struggles to maintain that machismo image, if only to bring food on to his family table. Or a female patient in a mental hospital may appear incapable of focusing on to anything and is merely limited to mumblings, but the clarity in her eyes or th e pose at which her photo was taken suggest otherwise. Stories—each of us has a story to tell, and one of the ways to telling it is through photographs.Mary Ellen Mark knows this well. Therefore, another of her style is to let her subjects tell their own stories, the attention away from her. â€Å"There's nothing much interesting about me; what’s interesting is the person I'm photographing, and that’s what I try to show,† she once said. The end result, of course, is pictures that show vividly the stories of people, who seem to leap out of the paper, telling â€Å"Look at my story† to viewers. Mark’s photographs show the humanity in every human being, no matter where the photo was taken (Fulton).Mary Ellen Mark also loves showing the ironies of life and its participants. Yet another of her style, which she has applied when she made a photo-essay of 8 different traveling circuses (Long, 2000). She focused on the outfits’ characters, the runners of the show—the animals and the bizarre attractions such as the dwarf and the contortionists. For the first time in her life, she felt young again, a woman transported into a magical world. She beheld everything as though she were watching it through the eyes of an infant. She described it aptly: â€Å"It was full of ironies, often humorous and sometimes sad, beautiful and ugly, loving and at times cruel, but always human.†Life is full of colors, each unique unto itself. A painter or photographer blends these rich colors to great effect, oftentimes combining the real with the surreal. But even some painters and photographers do put away their color palettes at times. And why shouldn’t they? After all, is it not true that the richness of colors can cause a sensory overload, too? Ellen Mark is such a person who thinks so. By using a black-and-white palette in her pictures, she enlarges the parts of life and reality that are often overlooked. In most of he r pictures, for instance, everything is made clearer by the lack of a rich palette, like a brief pause in life. The viewer then sees things that were once buried under colors.It is akin to the Zen concept of less is more—in this case, the lack of too many colors tells more story about the place, things, and people in the photographs. Mark once took pictures of the kind of life that goes on inside a home for the sick and the dying. Here, she stripped all the salient information brought about by clashing colors, and instead brought out quite extremely the shocking details of the metal cots, the emaciated bodies, and the human fancies in agony (Long, 2000).Mary Ellen Mark is as unique as the characters in her photographs. But some couldn’t help comparing her style to that of Diane Arbus. Both women enlarge life by reducing the colors to black-and-white; both sympathize with those living outside the accepted circles in society. But perhaps the thing that separates Mary Ell en Mark from her predecessor is her love of life, her constant looking forward to living. And it is perhaps for this same reason that she will continue acknowledging the existence of others—whereas Diane Arbus had already surrendered, after committing suicide in 1971 (Grundberg, 2005). Mark is now continuing where Arbus had left off.Fulton, Marianne (2000?). Mary Ellen Mark: Some Thoughts.Retrieved on May 30, 2007 fromdigitaljournalist.org/issue9903/mark01.htmGrundberg, Andy (2005). â€Å"Diane Arbus.† Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2005. Microsoft  ® Encarta  ® 2006.Grundberg, Andy (2005). â€Å"Photography.† Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2005. Microsoft  ® Encarta  ® 2006.  © 1993-2005 Microsoft CorporationLong, Andrew (2000). Brilliant Careers.Retrieved on May 30, 2007 from