Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Treatment Assignment

Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Treatment - Assignment Example Correspondingly, this paper intends to critically describe the notions of delinquency prevention and delinquency treatment along with explaining the respective fundamental principles. Furthermore, the paper conducts a critical analysis of effectiveness, underlying the similarity and the differentiation in between delinquency prevention and delinquency treatment along with identifying the importance of juvenile justice system with respect to juvenile delinquency. DELINQUENCY PREVENTION Recent analysis of American society has revealed that America as a nation faces a significant risk of juvenile delinquency. Concerning the youth’s anti-social activities, the US Federal law has incorporated several state policies with the juvenile court system in order to prevent the act of delinquency. Based on the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, the US government provides a lot of funds to the states for focusing on an assortment of delinquency protection principles and Acts. The core protection principles as well as Acts are especially focused on four parameters which include Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders (DSO), Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC), sight and sound as well as jail removal. The DSO along with sight and sound protection Acts are included with the original Federal law 1974. However, owing to the increasing rate of physical, mental and sexual assaults, suicides and drug addictions, the government of the US had to add ‘Jail Removal’ Act in 1980. Furthermore, federal system of the US also added DMC Act with the constitution in 1992 for effectively restraining rising issues related with the youth crime within the American society (United States Legal Inc, â€Å"Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act Law & Legal Definition†). FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES The prevention of juvenile delinquency is ascertained to be utmost important for attaining all-round socio-economic development of a country. F urthermore, a culturally sound society seeks for immediate focus on the prevention measures of juvenile delinquency. Accordingly, it has been ascertained that several factors are responsible for the emergence of juvenile crime such as economic and social factors, urbanization and impact of media among others. In this context, an assortment of principles is required to be followed for the prevention of juvenile delinquency. Correspondingly, a few important principles are represented below: The government should emphasize and promote humanistic orientation programs to reduce criminal activities among the juveniles The entire society should duly involve in developing harmony among the adolescents The parents should take initiatives to guide their children properly In accordance with national legal system, various preventive programs should be implemented in the society such as DMC and gang reduction program among others (United States Legal Inc, â€Å"Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act Law & Legal Definition†) EXAMPLES OF THE TYPES OF PREVENTION STRATEGIES AND AN ANALYSIS OF THEIR EFFECTIVENESS In order to restrain the adverse consequences of juvenile delinquency, several prevention strategies and programs are implemented in t

Acid Rain Essay Example for Free

Acid Rain Essay Situation: The acid rain provisions of the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act were to being in 1995. Currently, it is 1992 and The Southern Company (a electric utilities holding company operating in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida) had to decide what actions they were going to take in order to comply with the new regulations. Before the Clean Air Act, firms did not have incentives to reduce emissions below the government specification. If a firm exceeded the amount, it would just simply pay a fine. Maximum limits were put into place and allowances could be bought and sold on the open market. This means that companies that were able to reduce their emissions, could make money off the allowances they sold. That provided firms incentive to reduce emissions to more appropriate levels. In contrast, a company that could not reduce would have to spend more money to buy additional allowances. The allowances would start at $250 per contract but increase by 10% each year. One of the Southern Company’s Georgia plant, Georgia Power’s Bowen a coal fired plant, had a couple options to choose from to abide by the new laws. The options included either adding scrubbers in order to drastically reduce their emissions and sell the extra allowances or spend more money to buy additional allowances. Either way, Bowen was looking to spend more money in the near future with the Clean Air Act. Question/ Decision: What is the lowest cost option for the plant? Knowing the plant will be extinct in 2016, what estimations can we assume from 1995 to 2016? What are the unknown factors? How long will it take to implement the scrubbers? Do we have the man power to handle the maintenance for the scrubbers? What is the best option for the company that still makes us look good to the public? Will allowance prices increase by more than 10%? Will there be enough allowance contracts on the open market for Bowen to purchase in order to maintain it’s current level of emissions? Hypothesis: Bowen had two main possibilities to comply with the new law: purchase allowances or sell allowances. Purchasing contracts appears to be the easy option but has the potential to get very costly especially in phase two (2000) since emissions will be reduced by almost 50%. Also, we have no idea if it will be possible to purchase all the contracts we need. If there are not enough contracts on the market, it could turn into a bidding war for the available contracts. In order to sell allowances, Bowen would have to drastically reduce their emissions. The most logical way to do this would be to install scrubbers that would remove sulfur dioxide from the exhaust gases of the generators. Installing the scrubbers was expensive but would reduce the emission by so much making it possible for Bowen to sell the extra allowances to on the open market for a profit. If the company plans to stay in business for longer than 2016, they should purchase the scrubbers to begin working in the second phase. This would help the company look better in the public’s eyes and will pay off more in the future. Since the company does not plan to stay in business, they should continue operating the way they do now and purchase the additional contracts. Even though it is the riskier option, this is the lowest cost option for the company. Proof of Action: The least cost alternative is to purchase additional allowances and continue operating as usual. The cost to the firm, if all estimations hold true, would be 267. Installing scrubbers could run up the costs to either 408 or 294 depending on when they are installed. Graph 1, PV of Cash Flows illustrates the cash flows for all high high-sulfer coal options. Option 1 offers almost no cost to the firm at the beginning stages, but increases in 2000. By 2005, the no scrubber option will be costing the firm more than the other two options. However, installing the scrubbers is much more costly at the beginning stages of the Clean Air Act. As time goes on though, the money made from selling the contracts and the costs of maintaining the scrubbers will offset each other. Installing the scrubbers to be ready for the second phase would reduce the costs to the firm much more throughout the 2000’s. Graph 1: PV of Cash Flows Option 1, no scrubbers, does not come without a lot of risk. The two main risk factors the company faces are government policies and the purchasing/selling of the allowances on the open market. a. The change in government policy. As the government becomes more and more concerned about pollution, there are possibilities that more policies or stimulus such as ecological taxation would be carried out. Although the current effective tax rate is 37. %, the company will save a portion of tax expense by installing scrubbers to control once a tax refund policy is implemented to low level pollutants emission companies. b. The change in allowance price. The company planners assume the price of allowances would be $250 per ton of sulfur dioxide in 1995 and would rise at 10% per year through 2010 and stay at that price since after. However, since the allowances could be traded in open market, their value is volatile. If the starting price of allowance rises to a certain level or the price increases at a higher rate, the PV cost of option 1 will be higher. graph 2 and 3). Graph 2: PV cost of option V. S. starting price of allowance Graph 3: The PV of option cost v. s. Allowance inflators Conclusion: In conclusion, according to the NPV of costs we should not install the scrubbers at this time. We should continue operating at our current levels and purchase contracts on the open market. This option is the riskier option but it is the lowest cost. If we are more concerned about risk, we should install the scrubbers to be ready for the second phase. The question becomes, how accurate do we think our estima tions are?

tiger :: essays research papers

Class Overall, class was enjoyable. I learned many new things about the game of golf. The discussions of the history of the game and of the layout of the course allowed me to, in the period of one day, create a greater appreciation and understanding of the game of golf. I was interested and learned much about the history and development of golf and how certain ecological aspects of the course affect game play. Assigned Readings   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many of Updike’s articles were easy for me to relate to. Updike seems to me to be a very intent golfer who is very easily distracted and easily frustrated. He seems to love the game but finds it difficult to get good now that he is aging.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I especially like the way he writes the novel. Although at times he is difficult to follow, his wording makes the story interesting. My favorite aspect of the novel is the descriptive scenes he gives and how he develops them into extremely problematic situations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the book, my favorite section is the â€Å"Golf Dreams† section. This is because of several reasons. Firstly, as I have mentioned, I like his style and descriptiveness of the scene. I also find it easy to relate to his situation where he makes everything seem much more difficult than it really is. Overall I enjoyed the first readings. Day 2 (May 14, 2002) Class   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today was a fairly relaxed class. Since I knew most of what was discussed, time seemed to pass quickly. The discussion over Golf Dreams was interesting and it caused me to think about the readings more than I had already done. Assigned Readings   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The new Updike readings were not as interesting to me a the first readings were. I liked â€Å"The Pro† but that was about it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I noticed that his disgust with the way he was playing the game slowly depreciated and that he became more relaxed. He eventually makes himself a hypocrite in the fact that he just plays the game for fun and that he eventually accepts the gimmes and similar things he did not usually do. The Game of Golf   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I thought that since this is a journal about golf it wouldn’t hurt to write about golf. Today I shot a 69 at our golf match. The worst part is I cheated. I told my opponent that I did cheat so that he could disqualify me but he didn’t believe me. The truth is I realized that golf really isn’t that important and that it is only fun when I really want to go to the course and play.

The Status of Women in the Work Force After the Fall of Communism in Ea

The Status of Women in the Work Force After the Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe The fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union marked the end of an era in which official ideology and state policy often masked the reality of citizens' lives. This contradiction was particularly acute for women, a group that the Soviet model of communism was intended to emancipate (Basu, 1995; Bystydzienski, 1992; Corrin, 1992; Einhorn, 1993; Millarand and Wolchik, 1994; Nelson and Chowdhury, 1994; Rueshchemeyer, 1994). Under the guise of Marxist-Leninist ideology, women were accorded an equal right to work and to participate in the building of socialism. The Soviet model, which was imposed to a greater or lesser extent on all of the Eastern European countries, was meant to embody this precept. In order to mobilize women into the work force, the party-state provided numerous social programs--free day care, subsidized school supplies and clothing, guaranteed maternity leave, and nearly full employment. Women, however, were hardly emancipated through these programs. They were concentrated, with a few notable exceptions, in a "pink collar ghetto" of low wage and low prestige jobs and often given employment well below their educational qualifications. Moreover, the "emancipation" accorded them by state officials resulted in an extreme "double burden" (Basu, 1995; Bystydzienski, 1992; Corrin, 1992; Einhorn, 1993; Millarand and Wolchik, 1994; Nelson and Chowdhury, 1994; Rueschemeyer, 1994). They were expected to perform both paid and domestic labor, fulfilling most (or all) of the household and parenting duties without modern conveniences. These superwomen worked full-time jobs and then came home to prepare meals and clean... ... Lijphart, Arend. "Comparative Politics and the Comparative Method." American Political Science Review. 65 (1971): 682-693. Millarand, James and Wolchik, Sharon, eds. The Social Legacy of Communism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Nelson, Barbara and Chowdhury, Najma, eds. Women and Politics Worldwide. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. Przeworski, Adam and (?) Teune. The Logic of Comparative Social Inquiry. New York: John Wiley Sons, 1970. Rueschemeyer, Marilyn, ed. Women in the Politics of Post-communist Eastern Europe. New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.,1994 Scheppele, Kim Lane. "Women's Rights in Eastern Europe." East European Constitutional Review. Winter 1995. Slay, Ben. "Rapid versus Gradual Economic Transition" Economics. August 1994. United Nations Statistical Yearbook, 39th Edition. 1994. "Statistical Abstract" 1994.

Hsc Belonging Peter Skrzynecki and Ben Heine

Individuals may feel a sense of belonging to many people and places. This sense of belonging can enrich the individual, becoming a positive influence on his or her life. Ben Heine is the skilled photographer behind the photograph titled ‘Home’. This photograph uniquely explores ideas about belonging as to provoke thought in regards to the viewer’s perception of what it actually means to belong. Likewise, these ideas surrounding a connection to people and places are expressed in Peter Skrzynecki’s Immigrant Chronicles.Belonging is the central theme throughout the photograph ‘Home’ which is clearly represented through the caricature of a child girl establishing herself in a fantasy world she is depicted drawing herself into. Ben Heine’s image represents reality versus fantasy which could also be viewed as not belonging and belonging. He has accomplished this through holding a pencilled sketch over a section of adjoining photograph to make something real into a distorted fantasy. Unlike novels, poetry or songs, images cannot be expressed using a considerable amount of words. Instead images must display visual techniques to convey ideas.Heine has incorporated numerous visual techniques into his photograph to achieve such complexity in depth and meaning. As the title of the photograph suggests, this image displays images of home, which provokes emotive thoughts towards the people depicted in the image. Within the salient image is a vector where your eyes are drawn towards and then follow a path to where the artist wishes you to look. In the image ‘Home’ Heine has drawn a vector stemming from the centre of the young girl, which is then followed up the girl’s arm where she has written the simple word ‘Home’ as a logo upon the singular house.This provokes thoughts as to whether the child and her mother standing to her left actually have a place to call ‘Home’. In ’10 Mar y Street’, it is the house that provides a literal and psychological place to belong. It signifies the Skrzynecki’s’ search for security, identity and safety and is a refuge from the new and strange environment. The family invests too much in its importance, however, and the personification of the house’s ‘China blue coat’ reveals its fragility and that the nature of belonging to a place is transitory.This reveals the poet’s recognition of the position of vulnerability the family are in at the hand of their rigidity and exposes the dangers of relying on a place to belong. In ’10 Mary Street’ the Skrzynecki’s’ have a home, unlike the little girl portrayed in ‘Home’ who has to draw a fantasy which includes a house and family to belong. The entire photograph ‘Home’ depicts reality versus fantasy. The reality in the image is exemplified by the use of colour whereas the fantasy is shown in black and white sketching.The fantasy is a perfect illusion which would easily be concealed as reality if it weren’t for the obvious contrast between the colour palette, and lack of it. The pencilled fantasy is a perfect world however it is clearly a child’s fantasy. The girl’s mother standing next to her seems oblivious to the girl’s imaginative world. She is absorbed in what is right in front of her; reality. This is similar in ‘St Patrick’s College’ as Peter’s mother is oblivious to her son’s wishes. In the last paragraph the poet states â€Å"prayed that someday mother would be pleased†¦ hat the darkness around me wasn’t â€Å"for the best†. The repetition of this negative phrase â€Å"wasn’t for the best† reinforces Skrzynecki’s negative attitude to his mother’s choice of education for him as she was initially merely â€Å"impressed by the uniforms of her employers sons†. It implies some criticism for his mother’s choice of school based on the ideas and attitudes of others and perhaps not on what is best for her son’s personality and happiness. The God-like hand stemming from the right hand side of the image ‘Home’ is holding the sketch.It is as though he is giving the girl opportunities, foresight into what her life could be like, a guiding hand making dreams come true. In the fantasy is a simple home and at its base lays a car, happy smiling people united by held hands. It is a wealthy area which is clean, unpolluted and uncrowded. This description is juxtaposed by the reality which is a poor, dirty, polluted, crowded looking area. The people in the fantasy holding hands are a representation of family, happiness, familiarity, safety and acceptance. Interestingly in reality there is just the girl and her mother without a father figure present.However, sketched in the child’s fantasy world there is a fam ily; a mother, a father and a daughter who are united by held hands. This representation of belonging in the fantasy contrasts the reality as in the reality there is a large distance between mother and daughter where the mum and she are separated. This is shown by the tilt of the mum’s head away from the girl. The transition between childhood and adulthood often leads to a distancing between parents and their children. In the poem ‘Feliks Skrzynecki ‘ this idea is evident ‘as like a dumb prophet watched me pegging y tents further south of Hadrian’s Wall’. The simile, ‘like a dumb prophet’ and the metaphor ‘further south of Hadrian’s Wall’ emphasises the gap between Skrzynecki and his father because of different life experiences. Feliks is both dumb and prophetic as he portrays a certain lack of knowledge of the English language; whereas Skrzynecki’s English grows and Feliks is powerless to speak up about his son’s movement away from him. He is prophetic as he can foresee that his son will come to value his heritage in later years at the expense of his dislocation from it in youth.The image ‘Home’ is like a story. Firstly, you look through the vector into the girl’s fantasy then your eyes are drawn towards the mother who is clearly at peace with her culture and third world. She has accepted her life, unlike her young daughter who is metaphorically represented reaching up for more than what she has. Then your eyes are drawn to the bottom of the picture where both the mum and daughter are being supported by their third world structure. This is a metaphor as they need their country; this is their ‘Home’. They are ‘citizens of the soil. ’

America and Manifest Destiny essays

America and Manifest Destiny essays The American idea of "Manifest Destiny" played a very important role in our political dealings with native Americans in general and the Mexican government in particular. The concept of "Manifest Destiny" was for the United States to control the land from "Sea to Shining Sea" or the present day boundaries of the United States. The Americans believed that nothing must stand in the way for them to accomplish this goal. Even if it meant war for the still very young United States of America. When the settlers came over from England they landed in what is now known as the New England territory. After the settlers fully populated this area they decided to move west. However, they didn't care about pushing the Indians out of their homeland once again. In 1803 when the Louisiana purchase took place, the Americans didn't think about the Indians and kicked them out of their new homeland. As the Americans continued to settle the west they also continued to settle the Indians west as well, not once thinking about who founded the land first. To understand the question about our political dealings with the Mexican government one must ask themselves two significant things. Why didn't the war end in August of 1847? Also, What is needed for peace negotiations to be successful? In August of 1847, neither the Americans nor the Spanish wanted to be satisfied with the current outcome. The Mexicans didn't want to give up their homeland that they had just won from Spain and also the honor they had earned during their independence. The Americans really wanted to gain the homeland of Mexico and make it part of the United States. Also at this time, Mexico had a very unstable government and there was also a lack of communication between both sides. In order for peace negotiations to be successful, one side must give in, or both must somehow meet in the middle. During the Mexican-American war, both sides didn't want to cooperate until Santa An...

Free Essays on Contracts

Contracts are promises that the law will enforce. The law provides remedies if a promise is breached or recognizes the performance of a promise as a duty. Contracts arise when a duty does or may come into existence, because of a promise made by one of the parties. To be legally binding as a contract, a promise must be exchanged for adequate consideration. Adequate consideration is a benefit or detriment which a party receives which reasonably and fairly induces them to make the promise/contract . For example, promises that are purely gifts are not considered enforceable because the personal satisfaction the grantor of the promise may receive from the act of giving is normally not considered adequate consideration. Certain promises that are not considered contracts may, in limited circumstances, be enforced if one party has relied to his detriment on the assurances of the other party. Contracts are mainly governed by state statutory and common (judge-made) law and private law. Privat e law principally includes the terms of the agreement between the parties who are exchanging promises. This private law may override many of the rules otherwise established by state law. Statutory law may require some contracts be put in writing and executed with particular formalities. Otherwise, the parties may enter into a binding agreement without signing a formal written document. Most of the principles of the common law of contracts are outlined in the Restatement Second of The Law of Contracts published by the American Law Institute.... Free Essays on Contracts Free Essays on Contracts Contracts are promises that the law will enforce. The law provides remedies if a promise is breached or recognizes the performance of a promise as a duty. Contracts arise when a duty does or may come into existence, because of a promise made by one of the parties. To be legally binding as a contract, a promise must be exchanged for adequate consideration. Adequate consideration is a benefit or detriment which a party receives which reasonably and fairly induces them to make the promise/contract . For example, promises that are purely gifts are not considered enforceable because the personal satisfaction the grantor of the promise may receive from the act of giving is normally not considered adequate consideration. Certain promises that are not considered contracts may, in limited circumstances, be enforced if one party has relied to his detriment on the assurances of the other party. Contracts are mainly governed by state statutory and common (judge-made) law and private law. Privat e law principally includes the terms of the agreement between the parties who are exchanging promises. This private law may override many of the rules otherwise established by state law. Statutory law may require some contracts be put in writing and executed with particular formalities. Otherwise, the parties may enter into a binding agreement without signing a formal written document. Most of the principles of the common law of contracts are outlined in the Restatement Second of The Law of Contracts published by the American Law Institute....

About the Vice President of the United States

About the Vice President of the United States Sometimes, the Vice President of the United States is remembered more for things they say wrong than for things they do right. If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, theres still a 30% chance were going to get it wrong, said Vice President Joe Biden. Or as Vice President Dan Quayle put it, If we dont succeed, we run the risk of failure. Thomas R. Marshall, 28th Vice President, said of his office, Once there were two brothers. One went away to sea; the other was elected vice president. And nothing was heard of either of them again. All verbal gaffes and disparaging remarks aside, the vice president remains our second highest federal government official and a single heartbeat away from ascending to the presidency. Electing the Vice President The office of Vice President of the United States is established along with the office of President of the United States in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, which also creates and designates the Electoral College system as the method by which both offices are to be elected. Before enactment of the 12th Amendment in 1804, there were no separately nominated candidates for vice president. Instead, as required by Article II, Section 1, the presidential candidate receiving the second-highest number of electoral votes was awarded the vice presidency. In essence, the vice presidency was treated as a consolation prize. It took only three elections for the weakness of that system of choosing the vice president to become obvious. In the 1796 election, Founding Fathers and bitter political rivals John Adams - a Federalist - and Thomas Jefferson - a Republican - ended up as president and vice president. To say the least, the two did not play well together. Fortunately, the government of then was quicker to fix its mistakes than the government of now, so by 1804, the 12th Amendment had revised the electoral process so that candidates ran specifically for either president or vice president. Today, when you vote for a presidential candidate, you are also voting for his or her vice presidential running mate. Unlike the president, there is no constitutional limitation on the number of times a person can be elected vice president. However, constitutional scholars and lawyers disagree whether a twice-elected former president can be elected vice president. Since no former presidents have ever tried running for vice president, the issue has never been tested in court. Qualifications to Serve The 12th Amendment also specifies that the qualifications required to serve as vice president are the same as those required to serve as president, which are briefly: be a natural born U.S. citizen; be at least 35 years old, and have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years. My mother believed and my father believed that if I wanted to be President of the United States, I could be, I could be Vice President! said Vice President Joe Biden. Duties and Responsibilities of the Vice President Having been kept in the dark about the existence of the atomic bomb by President Roosevelt, Vice President Harry Truman, after taking over as president, remarked that the vice presidents job is to go to weddings and funerals. However, the vice president does have some significant responsibilities and duties. A Heartbeat from the Presidency Certainly, the responsibility most on the mind of vice presidents is that under the order of presidential succession, they are required to take over the duties of the President of the United States at any time the president becomes, for any reason, unable to serve, including death, resignation, impeachment, or physical incapacitation. As Vice President Dan Quayle said, One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is to be prepared. President of the Senate Under Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution, the vice president serves as president of the Senate and is allowed to vote on legislation when necessary to break a tie. While the Senates supermajority vote rules have reduced the impact of this power, the vice president can still influence legislation. As president of the Senate, the vice president is assigned by the 12th Amendment to preside over the joint session of Congress in which the votes of the Electoral College are counted and reported. In this capacity, three vice presidents John Breckinridge, Richard Nixon, and Al Gore have had the distasteful duty of announcing that they had lost the presidential election. On the brighter side, four vice presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, and George H. W. Bush - were able to announce that they had been elected president. Despite the vice presidents constitutionally assigned status in the Senate, the office is generally considered to be a part of the Executive Branch, rather than the Legislative Branch of the government. Informal and Political Duties While certainly not required by the Constitution, which wisely includes no mention of politics, the vice president is traditionally expected to support and advance the policies and legislative agenda of the president. For example, the vice president might be called on by the president to draft legislation favored by the administration and talk it up in an effort to gain the support of members of Congress. The vice president might then be asked to help shepherd the bill through the legislative process. The vice president typically attends all Presidential Cabinet meetings and may be called on to act as an adviser the president on a wide variety of issues. The vice president might stand in for the president at meetings with foreign leaders or state funerals abroad. In addition, the vice president sometimes represents the president in showing the administrations concern at sites of natural disasters. Stepping Stone to the Presidency Serving as vice president is sometimes considered a political stepping stone to being elected president. History, however, shows that of the 14 vice presidents who became president, 8 did so because of the death of the sitting president. The likelihood that a vice president will run for and be elected to the presidency depends largely on his or her own political aspirations and energy, and the success and popularity of the president with which he or she served. A vice president who served under a successful and popular president is likely to be seen by the public as a party-loyal sidekick, worthy of advancement. On the other hand, a vice president who served under a failed and unpopular president may be considered as more of a willing accomplice, worthy only of being put out to pasture.

Is Hamlet Really Insane... Do I think Hamlet Is Insane Essay

Is Hamlet Really Insane... Do I think Hamlet Is Insane - Essay Example However, he is not mad at all. Hamlet is quite a rational character but he is unable to fight with his circumstances that are all against him. Hamlet, after listening to his father’s ghost’s information about his murder and Claudius’s conspiracy against him tries to sort out the issue and avenge Claudius for his crime. He delays in taking action considering the moral issues involving the whole plan due to which, he overly speculates over the whole situation. It is due to his overly speculative nature that everyone in the court doubts about his mental state. For Hamlet, all the situations that have occurred to him have caused him to hate the world around him as he says, Hamlet thinks that his mother has committed an incestuous act by marrying Claudius soon after his father’s death. Not only has she deprived Hamlet with her motherly love but also snatched the right of being a king after his father’s death. She was unable to understand the melancholy of Hamlet at his father’s death and at her hurried marriage. He goes into a depressed state considering his inability to solve the problems of his life. Even Hamlet is unable to take revenge against Claudius in a timely manner due to which, he is considered as a mad character. He delays in taking action against Claudius, his father’s murderer and his this act dragged him into a more depressed and melancholic state. Hamlet is also a moral character because in killing Claudius, he thinks moralistically and is unable to kill him when he gets a chance when Claudius is praying. Hamlet has seven soliloquies in the play that confirm to the fact that he is not mad at all. His words have profound meanings in them and his exploratory mind is quite evident from his soliloquies. The consideration of Hamlet as an insane character is quite wrong as he is quite perfect in his mental approach and it is

Camparative Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Camparative Politics - Essay Example This paper examines and compares the political, economic and security system in United States with Japan and Canada. The United States is the leading military and economic power in the world, and it has an overwhelming and unrivaled global influence in the globe. Economically, United States gross domestic product is about a quarter of the total countries in the world. In addition, the country’s military expenditure is almost equivalent to the total defense budgets in the rest of the world. Besides the overwhelming economic and security influence of the United States to the rest of the world, the country plays a major role in influencing entertainment and sports industries in the globe (Dan and Robert pp56-59). Lincoln (41) traces the political and economic system in the United States to the American Revolution that separated the country from the British colonial power. United States drafted the country’s constitution in 1787, which Upham (15) attributes to the firm economic and political foundation. According to Upham (27), the constitution is the shortest in the world and it has undergone just twenty-seven amendments since it was drafted. The constitution established federal government that decentralized power in the country since its enforcement. The United States government structure comprises of three branches that exercise high level of autonomy from each other. Equally important, the constitution established a system of checks and balances, which ensures that none of the three established branches rules over the others. This system has nurtured a democratic and open society that ensures that the American citizens enjoy their constitutional rights in the country (Newman 18) The three branches of the American government include the executive, judiciary and the legislative branch. The president of the United States holds the executive

Evidence-Based Practice Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Evidence-Based Practice Project - Assignment Example There are five categories of adopters in this theory including earlier adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards (Sahin, 2006). In the implementation plan of the research geared towards understanding the use of echocardiography in the treatment of heart diseases, the diffusion of innovation theory will be helpful. From the PICOT questions, the target population is teenagers that suffer from heart problems to the extent that their productivity is affected. It is from this population that the five categories in the diffusion of innovation theory will be taken out from for the implementation plan. The intervention under the PICOT question is securing and protecting these teenagers from succumbing to heart problems through a research program that will provide the required information on the best way to solve the heart problems that they face. Here, the five-stage adoption process in the diffusion of innovation theory will be used in implementing the intervention in the five categories established from the chosen population. The first stage is knowledge or awareness stage (Sahin, 2006). In this stage of implement ation, I will search for information that will enable me to gain knowledge of the clinical change required for the teenagers. this will involve asking questions from professionals in the area and researching on the information. This stage will feature the comparison aspect of the PICOT question because information has to be compared in carrying out the study (Santos, Pimenta, & Nobre, 2007). The second stage is the persuasion or the interest stage. This stage involves gaining interest and persuasion about the advantages of the innovation (intervention). This will involve looking at the intervention both from the positive and negative side and weighing the two to determine whether the advantages are more than the disadvantages. This will lead to persuasion on exactly the side to take with regard to the intervention. This stage

Media in Saudi Arabia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Media in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example Basically, every government is made up of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. This is also the case with Saudi Arabia. The executive is made up of the King who is also the prime minister and other two deputy prime ministers together with the cabinet which is appointed by the king and is composed mainly of members of the royal family. The legislature is simply made up of the Consultative Council which is150 member committee which is headed by a chairman chosen by the king himself. All the other members are also selected by the king but in 2003, it was announced that there were plans to hold elections for half of the membership of the committee as a way of enhancing democracy. The judiciary is represented by the Supreme Council of Justice which makes sure that the law is implemented (Metz, 2004: pp48-53). This paper seeks to analyze Saudi Arabia with special emphasis on the media in general. The paper will describe the role of the media, its freedom, its regulation and ma ny other issues surrounding the Saudi media in general. Saudi Arabia has evolved over time from being the most pious and inward-looking underdeveloped desert kingdom to become one of the richest countries in the world thanks to the fast oil resource. Actually, 90% of Saudi exports are petroleum and petroleum products. These exports are made to countries such as South Korea, Singapore, China, US, Taiwan and Japan. The petroleum sector in Saudi Arabia claims a massive 80% of the budget revenue, 45% of GDP (albeit 40% of GDP is taken care by the private sector (Metz, 2004: pp48-53). The country has been under a tight leadership guided by the stringent Sharia law. This law has seen the abuse of human rights as well as abuse of democracy demonstrated by draconian media laws that gag free media. Saudi has once been accused of an authoritarian monarchy well riddled with extremists groups that tries to defy the rule of the monarchs. These extremists have had to organize and execute acts of terrorism as a way of forcing the government to make reforms. The most notable of the terrorist strikes was the 2003 suicide bombings that left more than 30 dead in the capital Riyadh. The suicide bombers were suspected to be linked to the global Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda. The 2003 Riyadh attack has since been named the Saudi's version of September 11. It may be true that the extremists may be calling for a long overdue reform but their approach has missed the point. Nevertheless, the government of Saudi Arabia has had to face the very daunting task of instituting and enacti ng reform as a result of pressure from both extremists and non extremist groups such as the media (Randall, 1998: pp123-128) as well as combating the ever rising problem of violence from extremist groups. The ruling monarchy of Saudi Arabia has been passed down the bloodline of the royal family since the 18th century. Hitherto, it has been the wish of the royal family to emancipate Saudi Arabia from militant violence by ensuring stability. They have planned to do this by clearing all the militant or dissident groups. This plan is evident by the welcome gesture to the US troops that have been stationed in Saudi especially after the 1990 Iraq's attack on Kuwait.

Are politicians from particular backgrounds or with certain Essay

Are politicians from particular backgrounds or with certain personality types more susceptible to being caught up in a political - Essay Example In general, a good public servant should closely observe and maintain good family values. Therefore, it is the moral duty of each politician to avoid engaging themselves in any form of infidelity scandals (Doherty and Dowling, 2011, p. 753). Aside from illegal use of public funds, other issues that can be exposed to the public include alcohol or substance abuse, administrative corruption, bribery, conflict of interests, eating disorders, financial or family problems, infidelity, psychological, mental, or physical illnesses, sexual misbehaviour, and vote buying (Moran, 2012; Fleming, 2006, p. 77; Haldane, 2004, p. 202). With the CPI score of 17, UK ranked the 17th least corrupt country worldwide (Rogers, 2012). Unfortunately, UK’s CPI score of 17 in 2012 has decreased from its 16th ranking position back in 2011 (Rogers, 2012). Back in 1970s, John Stonehouse who was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) received 21 charges for conspiracy, fraud, forgery, and theft and was imprisone d for seven (7) years (Bloxham, 2010). A good example of moral conduct violation is sex scandal. Back in 1970s, Jeremy Thorpe who was a leader of the Liberal Party was not only involved in a homosexual scandal with his male lover but was also accused of consipracy (Bloxham, 2010; White, 2010). Recently, John Profumo – the Secretary of State for War in 1963 was engaged in a sexual scandal for having an affair with Christine Keeler (Evans, 2013; Haldane, 2004, pp. 202 – 203). Considering the long-list of political scandals which occurs both in the local government authorities and the British royal families, it makes a lot of sense to ask questions such as whether or not politicians coming from a particular political, family, or social background or those with certain types of personality are more susceptible to being caught up in a political scandal as compared to others. Is there any close relationship between certain political, family, or social background and the risk s where in the politicians could get themselves involved in a political scandal? Is there any truth behind the idea that political leadership is hereditary? Are certain types of personality increases the risks wherein a politician would be tempted to engage themselves in illegal and immoral acts? What are the common factors that make politicians engaged themselves in a world-wide political controversy? Political Background in UK In the world of politics, Stokes (2005, p. 2) explained that political jobs are meant only for some people who belong to a particular background. For example, as a common knowledge, politics in UK is based on a unitary democracy which follows the structure of a â€Å"constitutional monarchy† (Mannin, 2010, p. 64). Specifically the nature of UK’s political background clearly explains why the English Parliament is composed of the Monarchy, the Lords, and the Commons (Mannin, 2010, p. 63). Based on UK’s current political structure and pract ices, the Monarch is considered as the leader of the state whereas the Prime Minister of UK is referring to the person-in-charge of the government. In general, the monarchy plays a role in the UK politics. Even though the executive or political role was already removed from the British Sovereign (The British Monarchy, 2014b), the King or Queen are still expected to perform their national duties such as

Media in Saudi Arabia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Media in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example Basically, every government is made up of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. This is also the case with Saudi Arabia. The executive is made up of the King who is also the prime minister and other two deputy prime ministers together with the cabinet which is appointed by the king and is composed mainly of members of the royal family. The legislature is simply made up of the Consultative Council which is150 member committee which is headed by a chairman chosen by the king himself. All the other members are also selected by the king but in 2003, it was announced that there were plans to hold elections for half of the membership of the committee as a way of enhancing democracy. The judiciary is represented by the Supreme Council of Justice which makes sure that the law is implemented (Metz, 2004: pp48-53). This paper seeks to analyze Saudi Arabia with special emphasis on the media in general. The paper will describe the role of the media, its freedom, its regulation and ma ny other issues surrounding the Saudi media in general. Saudi Arabia has evolved over time from being the most pious and inward-looking underdeveloped desert kingdom to become one of the richest countries in the world thanks to the fast oil resource. Actually, 90% of Saudi exports are petroleum and petroleum products. These exports are made to countries such as South Korea, Singapore, China, US, Taiwan and Japan. The petroleum sector in Saudi Arabia claims a massive 80% of the budget revenue, 45% of GDP (albeit 40% of GDP is taken care by the private sector (Metz, 2004: pp48-53). The country has been under a tight leadership guided by the stringent Sharia law. This law has seen the abuse of human rights as well as abuse of democracy demonstrated by draconian media laws that gag free media. Saudi has once been accused of an authoritarian monarchy well riddled with extremists groups that tries to defy the rule of the monarchs. These extremists have had to organize and execute acts of terrorism as a way of forcing the government to make reforms. The most notable of the terrorist strikes was the 2003 suicide bombings that left more than 30 dead in the capital Riyadh. The suicide bombers were suspected to be linked to the global Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda. The 2003 Riyadh attack has since been named the Saudi's version of September 11. It may be true that the extremists may be calling for a long overdue reform but their approach has missed the point. Nevertheless, the government of Saudi Arabia has had to face the very daunting task of instituting and enacti ng reform as a result of pressure from both extremists and non extremist groups such as the media (Randall, 1998: pp123-128) as well as combating the ever rising problem of violence from extremist groups. The ruling monarchy of Saudi Arabia has been passed down the bloodline of the royal family since the 18th century. Hitherto, it has been the wish of the royal family to emancipate Saudi Arabia from militant violence by ensuring stability. They have planned to do this by clearing all the militant or dissident groups. This plan is evident by the welcome gesture to the US troops that have been stationed in Saudi especially after the 1990 Iraq's attack on Kuwait.

Ecological Ethics, Anissa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ecological Ethics, Anissa - Essay Example The essay points out that Taylor would have said species and matter are vital due to the fact that we need to have respect for nature. I also agree with the idea that man is part of nature and ethics as extending to the whole biotic community. This is regarded as the only view that actually incorporates the biotic community and the land and atmosphere are indispensable to the continuation processes of natural selection and evolution. It has been found that a collective approach intuitively unveils the underworking conditions and webs that actually keep us interdependent and connected. Besides it is very beneficial to be able to economically quantify the values of environmental surrounding. However, the opinion provided by Meadows is a little bit redundant. He claims that in the anthropocentric value system, humans are the fundamental focus of value. On the other hand, Russow brings back the discussion of one individual versus whole. Russow’s standpoint is that we value and protect animals just because of their aesthetic value. I also agree with the author that species matter more than just for the aesthetic value of their individual members. I may add that aesthetics is regarded as a philosophical category, and therefore, every human being across the globe has his own opinion what to consider as aesthetic. Besides, every culture has different perceptions on aesthetic values. What Western civilization regards as beautiful African or Asian cultures would consider as ugly (Carter, 2010). In my opinion, the intrinsic values of species are actually dependent on biodiversity. There are numerous reasons that justify the existence of species. For instance, reductions in biodiversity result to the ecosystem functioning negatively. We should not treat animals differently just because they are not humans. This is because the fact that whether to consider a being a member or not of a species is not morally right. This

Hopi Indians Essay Example for Free

Hopi Indians Essay The name Moqui, or Moki, by which they have been popularly known, means dead in their own language, but as a tribal name it is seemingly of alien origin and of undetermined signification Bandelier and Cushing believed the Hopi country, the later province of Tusayan, to be identical with the Totonteac of Fray Marcos de Niza. The Hopi first became known to white men in the summer of 1540 Located in Arizona Buildings like steps Natacka Festival: This festival is somewhat like Halloween, only the trick and treaters are adult men. During the 9-day Hopi purification ceremony, giant Natackas (men in costume) go from house to house, begging. The Natackas hoot and whistle if they are turned down. Jewelry: The southwestern tribes used turquoise to make jewelry, and still do. They believed turquoise was the stone of happiness, health, and good fortune. Before kids could become adults and marry, they had to pass a test of courage. Girls would go off with the women, and boys with the men. The actual coming of age ceremony for each individual was secret. But all ceremonies were tests of courage. Infants: A blanket and a perfect ear of corn were given to an infant child. Parents couldn’t name the babies, the village leaders had to. Naming a baby was very important to the Hopi. Everyone in the village made suggestions. The parents would not be the ones to finally name the baby. That honor was reserved for the tribal or village leaders, not the parents. But everyone in the family could come with blessings and give suggestions of names for the baby. Have their own reservation called Hopi Reservation The Hopi Way is one of peace and is holistic; their name Hopituh Shi-nu-mu, can be interpreted as The Peaceful Little People. All of daily life is part of their religion, and their belief is to help others improve their life. Twelve clan groups, called phratries, have many clans within them, each with its own ceremonies and sacred fetishes. Though men are the religious leaders, the children inherit the clan of their mother. Though the men own the livestock and the fruit trees, the women own all the land, even that under the fruit trees. As many as 24 varieties of corn are grown and due to arid conditions the roots may grow 20 feet down. Each plant has many ears of corn. To supplement the staple of corn the Hopi gather more than 100 wild plants. Kivas are the center of religious life and are mostly used by the men. Stone walls line the underground chambers and a hole sipapu in the floor of the kiva symbolizes the exit from the ant peoples domain. Religion is life for the Hopi and binds the village into a solid community. Most ceremonies relate to rain. Katsinas or kachinas, of which there are about 350, are the guarding spirits that come down from their world at winter solstice, remaining in the people until summer solstice. Saquasohuh is believed by some to represent the Hale-Bopp comet. The Wuwuchim ceremony includes a song that tells of this, and this song was sang in 1914, preceeding WWI, in 1940, pre WWII, and again in 1961. The Hopi say that the emergence into the Fifth World of the future has begun. The sacred clowns of the Hopi have a unique function in their society and the religious right to enact by negative example what should not be done. Humiliation and ridicule are their methods, and no one is immune to their rudeness. Stripping another naked is not going too far. Misbehavior of people in the community is dramatized, and the culprit takes the hint. The clowns are the ultimate tradition keepers. If work needs to be done the clowns recruit the workers. They cannot be denied. White ways, such as money, missionaries, and teachers sent to the Hopi have been the subject of the clowns derision. The Hopi are skilled in weaving, dyeing, and embroidering blankets, belts, and kilts. Their textile work is durable, and shows a great variety of weaves. The dark-blue blanket of the Hopi woman is an important article of commerce among the Pueblos, and their embroidered ceremonial blankets, sashes, and kilts made of cotton have a ready sale among neighboring tribes. Although the Hopi ceramic art has somewhat deteriorated in modern times, fair pottery is still made among the people of Hano, where one family has revived the superior art of the earlier villagers. They weave basketry in a great variety of ways at the Middle Mesa pueblos and in Oraibi; but, with the exception of the familiar sacred-meal plaques, which are well made and brightly colored, the workmanship is crude. The Hopi are clever in making masks and other religious paraphernalia from hides, and excel in carving and painting dolls, representing kachinas, which are adorned with bright feathers and cloth. They likewise manufacture mechanical toys, which are exhibited in some of their dramatic entertainments. Nowhere among the aborigines of North America are the Hopi excelled in dramaturgic exhibitions, in some of which their imitations of birds and other animals are marvelously realistic. Most ceremonies relate to rain. Katsinas or kachinas, of which there are about 350, are the guarding spirits that come down from their world at winter solstice, remaining in the people until summer solstice. White ways, such as money, missionaries, and teachers sent to the Hopi have been the subject of the clowns derision. The clowns are the ultimate tradition keepers. If work needs to be done the clowns recruit the workers. They cannot be denied. The sacred clowns of the Hopi have a unique function in their society and the religious right to enact by negative example what should not be done. Humiliation and ridicule are their methods, and no one is immune to their rudeness. Stripping another naked is not going too far. Misbehavior of people in the community is dramatized, and the culprit takes the hint.

A Brief History Into Greek Medicine History Essay

A Brief History Into Greek Medicine History Essay Medicine is a huge part of our society. Millions of people become ill every year and become in need of medical attention. Every day hospitals fill with sick patients and they turn to medicine to heal them and to decrease their problems that they are having. So when did medicine all start? Disease was a huge and destructible problem for the Greeks. In the time of the Greeks disease were strong and overwhelmed many cities with death and destruction because of all the unsanitary conditions they were living in. The Greeks didnt bathe a lot and germs would just overwhelm them. Medical problems that people come I with today would of instantly killed the Greeks because they did not have any kind of health care system. In the Greek world one out of three babies died before they could even reach the age of one and half of all children died before they reached the young age of ten. Overall though most Greeks died when they were only in their thirties of forties so the Greeks needed a better he alth care system that would stop all their people from dying (Medicine.net). In 900 BC in Greece medicine was only a rumor but then took off into this great idea appreciated by everyone. The process went from a crazy idea to observation and reason. Before Greek medicine was discovered the world had never seen anything like it. The methods helped the lives of thousands and saved thousands of people as well. The Greeks were very interested in using scientific observation and logic to figure out what caused the diseases that were infecting their people and how they could prevent them in the future. These ideas of this new system of healing spread quickly throughout the Mediterranean and as far East as India and still to this day the methods stay strong in the West. These methods would later create what medicine is today and further the lives of thousands. Ancient Greece medicine was considered to be an idea from the Gods because it was so special and unique. Greek mythology is full of legends and many different symbols explaining the origins and the methods of using medicine to heal people. In the myths the gods and goddesses who take part in them are fascinated by the art of healing. They consider it one of the most precious rituals performed since it really all has to do with life and death. Greeks also believed that the Goddess Gaia had a lot to do with the coming of Greek Medicine since she was considered to be the creator of the earth. The way of Mother Gaia is the passive, feminine, Yin way of healing. All we need to do to regain our health is to return to the bosom of Mother Nature and live in accordance with her laws (Greek Medicine. Net). The Greeks thought that medicine came from her because she created everything else so this must be another method devised by her. The Greeks actually did not discover the art of medicine but rather refined it and improved it from its original form. They had a large amount of prior knowledge to build on and create their own system of medicine. Scientists and archeologists say that medicines original roots came from Egypt which was already a well established civilization right before Greece started its own civilization. Although scientists and archeologists still debate on how Egypts roots of medicine translated over to Greece. Many medical scholars debate and truly believe that the Minoan civilization on Crete served as the transmitter from Egypts medical system to Greece. Crete was an Egyptian who practiced medicine but was set to be executed in Egypt for challenging Egypts government. Crete ran away before his execution and resided in Greece where he was said to spread his ideas he learned in Egypt about medicine. Thayles was also said to be the transmitter to Greece about Egypts system since Thayles actually traveled to Egypt and back to Greece bringing the methods learned back to Greece to be adapted and improved there (Kee 22). The Egyptians wrote on papyri and recorded their medical findings so they could pass these notes down to future generations. Most consisted of medical recipes from their main god that they believed in named Imhotep. There was also recording of effects of some drugs if taken and the symptoms of certain diseases. The Egyptians were also very clean. They bathed twice a day which was unusual in this time period because usually men and women only bathed once a month and boiled water before drinking it to cleanse it from all the bacteria retained in it. They also never ate pork because they said it was unclean. Not eating pork which is a red meat could have defiantly lowered their cholesterol and improved their health considerably. They also had specialists which were a bunch of different people who were in charge of healing certain body parts. Each person would have their own specialty in a certain part of the body that way they could focus on a small part and learn a lot more about the c ures and symptoms of the disease from that body part instead of having to learn about the entire body as a whole (schoolhistory.com). In Greek medicine there were many different influential contributors that made Greek Medicine possible. One huge contributor was Hippocrates. Hippocrates was considered to be the founder of Greek Medicine and was the one that made this science rational. He brought the science from being superstition and magic to actual facts and descriptions. Hippocrates took Greek Medicine and put reasoning behind it and could easily explain why things happen to the body the way that they do. Hippocrates conducted many experiments and collected a lot of important data that was found and concurred by the data that disease was a natural process. In the data that was found, he found that the diseased bodies had symptoms that were caused by the disease and could be read. By creating and discovering data it really furthered Greek medicine from what it was previously (GreekMedicine.net). When Hippocrates first started to practice medicine the only real established school to study medicine was at the Cnidian School.   The only problem was that this schools approach to medicine had a lot of inconsistent data and many flaws that held the school back from really understanding what medicine was. The students that attended also graduated not really having a clear idea about medicine and the flaws in the study that were taught to them. The Cnidian School considered the body to be merely a collection of isolated parts, and saw diseases manifesting in a particular organ or body part as affecting that part only, which alone was treated.   Their system of diagnosis was also faulty, relying exclusively on the subjective symptoms related by the patient, while totally ignoring the objective signs of the disease (Greek Medicine.Net). Hippocrates greatly disagreed with this statement along with many other ideas that the school recently had. Hippocrates believed that the human bo dy functioned as a whole with every part working together to accomplish a common goal. He did not believe that every part works differently and has a different goal then the other. Both theories were very different and a method needed to be cleared so the study of medicine for the Greeks could continue and proceed forward (Schiefsky 27). Hippocrates truly believed in strengthening and building up the bodys resistance to disease, basically a humans immune system. Since in this time in history the most up to date sanitary precautions and vaccines were not available to Hippocrates knew that the Greeks needed to build up a better immune system to fight off these diseases so it would be easier to fight them when they eventually got sick.   When encouraging this Hippocrates prescribed diet, gymnastics, exercise, massage, hydrotherapy and sea bathing as all ways of helping prevent disease and the spread of disease.  Even something as simple as sea bathing in which he prescribed really could help a person fight disease because of the amount of salt in the water which will kill the bacteria on a persons body. Hippocrates was a strong believer and activist in eating healthy while someone was sick. With this in mind he came up with many ideas of diets for each kind of disease that a patient had.  He prescribed a light die t during the climax stage of a small illness which is when the illness is the worst, and a liquid diet if the patient was diagnosed with a fever. He prescribed a liquid diet because then the patient had a faster recovery kind because the liquids were constantly going through body collecting germs and turning them into waste, basically flushing out the fever from the body (Schiefsky 61). Hippocrates was the first physician to diagnose a disease on the patients symptoms by comparing them to the symptoms in relation to other patients.   Hippocrates also originated the disciplines of etiology and pathology by deciding the diseases the patient was diagnosed with. For once patients felt convinced of their diagnosis and were not as skeptical as they were before Hippocrates. Overall Hippocrates was one of the all time best known and most influential physicians. His works lead the way for future medical physicians and really changed the whole world of medicine around. He will always be known for his love of healing and great attitude towards his patients. As a physician it is not all about just healing the patient but also creating a relationship with them of trust because they truly are putting their life into the physicians hands. Hippocrates is most remembered today for his famous Oath, which physicians take before beginning the practice of medicine.   In writing his Oath, Hippocrates set high ethical standards for future physicians to follow.   Needless to say, compliance, both then and now, has been considerably less than perfect (Schefski 87). Another important and influential figure in Greek Medicine was Aristotle. Aristotle even though became a great figure in medicine he made his biggest findings in Biology. Aristotle was a natural historian who spent most of his time dissecting plants and different kinds of animals to collect data and tried to come up with new theories. Aristotle was the father of comparative anatomy and physiology. Aristotle even contributed too many ideas about evolution (Sigerist 150-152).   Aristotles most influential and most popular contribution to Greek Medicine was his document made up of the  Four Basic Qualities which were hot, cold, wet, and dry.   Later philosopher-physicians would apply these qualities to characterize the Four Elements, Four Humors, and Four Temperaments.   The Four Basic Qualities are the foundations for all notions of balance and homeostasis in Greek Medicine (Greek Medicine. Net). Aristotles teachings on biology, medicine and the natural sciences were finally accepted by the church which before denied all of Aristotles claims and findings because they didnt believe that he was being true to the religion. Another important part of Greek medicine was actually getting it passed to practice by the church. This was the most difficult challenge in the study because the church did not agree with most of the methods and ideas. Physicians needed to clearly explain that the methods being performed by the patients was for the better of mankind an d was not offending or going against God in any way (Sigerest 155). There were many different basic principles to Greek Medicine. One principle was the seven natural factors principle. These factors were what the Greeks used to measure whether or not the body was healthy or not. The first one of the Four Elements which is what the body is made up of. The second is the Four Humors which are the metabolic agents of the Four Elements This principle is made of what a healthy body is made up of so they could compare it to a body that is diseased. The third is the Four Temperatures which is the qualitative yardsticks by which health and homeostasis, or deviation there from, are measured; the basis of constitutional medicine (Greek Medicine.net). The fourth is the Four Faculties which describe the basic functions of life. The fifth is the Vital Principles which are the essence and energies that give life to the body. The sixth principle is the Organs and Parts which is about the basic usage and functions of different parts of the body. The last is the Force s or Administering Virtues which are the principles of all bodily fluid. The four element principle was a principle based on the four elements that the Greeks believed in which were earth, water, air, and fire. Each element had a different meaning. Earth the center of the universe and the Greeks related that back all dense solids in the body that are permanent such as bones, joints and teeth. Water is running over and around the earth and is very important to the Greeks so they related it back to the vital fluids of the body such as blood and mostly the clear fluids such as mucus. The element air goes over the earth and water so the Greeks related that to the lungs, chest and, thorax of the body and all open spaces. The final element fire was considered to light up the sun, moon and stars to the Greeks so they made it represent all muscles, the heart, the liver and the stomach of a person (raredisease.com). The Greeks also came with principles for energy. The Greeks discovered that there are two different kinds of energies. One kind of energy is thermal kinetic or Pneuma energy which is what the Greeks called it which is responsible for the digestion and metabolism and basically all kinds of energy inside the body (thermal meaning warm describing the inside of the body). The second kind of energy called kinetic energy is responsible for controlling all functions of movement that the body does. Both energies work equally together to accomplish certain goals. For example in digestion kinetic energy is caused when the stomach churns the digested food then moves the food to the intestine. The thermal kinetic energy is caused when distillation and metabolism occurs (historyforkids.com). Another principle that was discovered was the vital faculty. The vital faculty is the most important organism because it gives the body life. The vital faculty is centered along the heart and lungs and includes the immune system which is a cell group working together to get rid of all unnecessary cells in the body that might cause harm or damage. This system helps the body fight disease once it has entered the body. The circulatory system is also included and that system which includes all organs and tissue that help blood flow throughout the body. The last system it includes is the respiratory system. The respiratory system is a system that retrieves oxygen and feeds the lungs while turning that oxygen into carbon dioxide. This system includes the lungs, bronchi and nasal passages. Besides giving life to the organism and empowering cellular metabolism, the Vital Faculty also activates and coordinates responses of the organism as a whole to its environment.   This includes the immu ne response.   And so, the Vital Faculty acts as a central nexus for the whole organism (GreekMedicine.net). The heart and lungs are the central part of the Vital Faculty. Both components work closely together, the lungs pump blood for the heart and the heart takes that blood and makes new blood out of the blood that the lungs pumped to the heart. The Greeks came up with many different diagnosiss to treat disease. The word diagnosis literally means knowing through (dictionary.com). Making a diagnosis means someone has gone through the mazes and calculations of figuring out what is wrong with the patient then figuring out a plan of action to heal that patient and eventually save their lives. Making a clear diagnosis for someone in Greek Medicine was difficult and a lot more difficult than it is today because of the technology we use. Back then the Greeks used several different methods to figure out how to approach that persons disease and how to stop it. The Greeks had to act as a detective on a case because that was basically what they were doing. Making a diagnosis separates all other kinds of science away from medicine and takes medicine away from being supernatural and magic. Diagnosis is the heart of the medical world (GreekMedicine.net). There were several different ways that a Greek physician would make a diagnosis. One thing that the doctor needed to have was a basic knowledge of anatomy. Knowing the anatomy of the body and where everything was created many new possibilities of diagnosis for the Greeks. Knowledge of the physiology of the body is also needed so the doctor can pinpoint where the problem is and how to fix it. Knowing the physiology of body also comes with knowing the seven natural factors and the basic principles which the Greeks thought of and used throughout their medical discovery. Another kind of science that the Greeks used was pathology which is the study of what went wrong with the body before death or cause of injury (RightHealth.com). Using the information they about pathology they could relate what bodies looked like after they died with certain diseases and compare them to what they saw on the new patient and what they couldnt stop for one patient they could learn and heal another. One type of diagnosis the Greeks used was a visual diagnosis. Seeing someone for the first you get a first impression and that was exactly what the Greeks used when trying to make a diagnosis. This is the first kind of diagnosis performed by the Greek doctors because as soon as a patient came to see the doctor the doctor would start to analyze them up and down to try to find out if there were any visual keys to the illness that was occurring.The clinical eye of the physician is trained to be more objective, detached and dispassionate than the average layperson.   In general, it moves methodically from the generalities of the patients overall frame and physique, behaviors and mannerisms to increasingly more detailed, specific signs and clues (GreekMedicine.net). The physician looks for a cue and goes with the cue he finds and most of the time that one small cue that the doctor originally noticed leads to a complete diagnosis of the patient. Observing and inspecting the patient were also major parts in Greek Medicine for creating a diagnosis for a patient. After observing the patients outer most part the doctor could take samples and observe the urine, stool, and tongue (Longrig 109). The Greeks would also observe the behavior of the patient and take that into account when creating a diagnosis. There are four different attitudes that can be associated to certain terms to match behavior to a certain disease. If the patient is acting forceful and energetic that person was considered Choleric. If a person was acting poised and sophisticated then that person was considered to be Sanguine. If a person was acting quiet and reserved then that person was considered melancholic. Finally if a person was acting slow and relaxed they were considered Phlegmatic. Hippocrates discovered that patients that were acting incoherent or unresponsive such as a Melancholic or Phlegmatic patient was never a good sign and a diagnosis would need to be made as soon as possible (Singer 63). The Greeks also looked at the posture and physique of a patient. The way a person carries themselves could tell a lot to a doctor about just how low their energy levels were and their vitality levels. The Greeks would look if the patients were leaning or slouching which could indicate certain disease factors just from their body language observed. The complexion of a patients skin could also be a factor in making a diagnosis according to the Greeks. Normally a persons skin is a pink-like color so when the Greeks saw patients that had a pale face they knew that something was wrong. The Greeks figured out that if a patients face was a pale color then that person could be suffering from a blood deficiency or anemia as well as a common cold virus (Grmek, Mueller, Mueller 102). The Greeks also used a patients nails as a way to figure out a diagnosis. A healthy nail is a pink-like color which shows generally good blood flow throughout the body. A pale nail represents some kind of blood deficiency problem. A purple-like nail represents cyanosis which is when the body does not get enough oxygen to its cells. White spots on a patients nails can also indicate an insufficiency such as not even zinc or calcium in a patients diet. The sturdiness of their nails can also be a symptom of something going wrong in their body. The sturdiness of a patients nails was founded by the Greeks to show a lot about the kind of nutrition the patient has. Flimsy nails can mean a lack of protein in the patients diet and it reflects the bones and hard tissue underneath the skin as well. The Greeks came to the conclusion that what the nails look like is similar to what the patients bones look like and a diagnosis can be made from that. (MedicineNet.com). Urine samples were also used by the Greeks in helping creating a diagnosis. There were six different tests when testing a urine sample. The first one was color. The Greeks would take a normal urine sample and compare it to the patients urine sample. From there they would not whether the sample was darker or lighter then the comparative sample. If the urine was darker then the patient could be dehydrated and the Greeks would also look at if there was a red-like color to it because then there was blood in the urine which is a symptom of kidney problems. Consistency is the second test for urine. In this test the Greek doctors would look at the urine to see if the urine was thick or thin. The third test for urine is looking for sediment in the urine. The Greeks would look whether there was some kind of presence of an unknown substance in the urine. The fifth urine test was the foam test. The Greeks would shake the urine vigorously and if there was foam formed, different amounts of foam c ould tell the Greeks different things about the urine. The last test was the odor test. The Greeks would test the urine to see if there was a different kind of smell to the urine or if there was even a smell at all. Different smells or no smell could tell the Greek doctors different things about the urine (RightHealth.com). Since the earliest times, Greek physicians like Hippocrates and Galen have always considered the tongue to be an important indicator or barometer of health and disease.   Other great traditional medical systems of the world, such as Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine, also have sophisticated systems of tongue diagnosis (GreekMedicine.net). The Greeks found the tongue to be one of the most interesting and important of all the bodies organs. They found this because taste comes from the tongue and the Greeks are fascinated with how taste works and how vital it is to their lives. There are millions of little nerve endings that cover the tongue. The Greeks derived a method of where they saw sore spots on the tongue to where in the body the trouble was occurring. For example on the back center of the tongue there were sore spots the Greeks knew there was an intestinal problem. If there were spots in the center of the tongue there were stomach issues, if spots were on the front center of the t ongue then there were lung problems, and if there were spots and on the tip of the tongue there were heart problems. The Greeks made another diagnosis by the pulse which they called the river of life. The Greeks used pulse as a method to see irregular heartbeats or any kind of heart problem that could be occurring to the patient. Even in todays health care doctors and nurses take pulse rates to see if they can figure out a problem that the patient is having. Health care today can tell a lot more about whats wrong with the patient from their pulse then the Greeks could but overall making a diagnosis from a patients pulse rate was common for both time periods (Nulton 174). The first Greek to master the pulse was a Greek named Galan. Even Galan though had trouble deciphering medical conditions from the pulse saying For many years, I was doubtful about clearly discerning the movement of contraction by touch, and I shelved the question until such time as I could learn enough to fill the gap in my knowledge.   After that, the doors of the pulse were open to me (GreekMedicine.net). Galan introduced this new method of creating a diagnosis to the Greeks and then the Greeks mastered this skill and used it in their study of medicine. They found that this was a vital method in creating a diagnosis and this pushed Greek medicine even further in the study (Bendick 106). In todays health care the art of pulse taking can be taken at many different pressure points on the body. The Greeks however only used the artery in the wrist to take pulse because they only knew of being able to take it from a patients neck and the wrist and they felt that taking the pulse from the patients wrist gave much more accurate results (Bendick 94). When taking the patients pulse the Greeks looked for ten symptoms which could mean something is wrong. The first one was the speed of the pulse. If the speed o the pulse was too fast or too slow then the Greeks knew there was some kind of problem. The Greeks would look at whether the speed was about 70 beats per minute because they discovered that was the average heart beats per minute of a normal, healthy person. The second indication the Greeks looked for was the force of the pulse. If the force of the pulse was strong then the energy of the body was high and that was a good sign to the Greeks. However if the energy of the pulse was low then this could be symptoms of many different diseases that usually drain the energy from the body such as the common cold (Bendick 73). The depth of the pulse taken was also taken into consideration. The depth of the pulse could either be moderate which is normal, deep which is taken close to the bone or superficial which is close to the skin. For a healthy person the pulse should be taken at a moderate deepness because if the pulse is taken at a deep level that could mean that the heart is beating at a very low level or if the pulse is needed to be taken at a superficial level then the Greeks knew that the heart was beating sporadically and the patient was in danger either way. The final way the pulse was taken was and looked at was the rhythm in the beats. The Greeks knew that if the rhythm of the heart was too slow or too fast then the patient was having trouble and needed to be treated right away (Bendick 113). Since the Greeks thought of ways to diagnose a patient they then discovered a way of healing them with different kinds of therapies and treatments. Some of their treatments and therapies are even used today on our present health care. One technique that was used for a remedy to the common cold was the water diet. The Greeks came up with a theory that if the cold was taken into the body then it should be able to be flushed out. After coming up with this hypothesis the Greeks came up with the diet. The water diet is exactly what it sounds like. The patient is told to only ingest liquids and not any kind of solid food. This way the liquid will easily be digested and flushed out the patients system. After a couple of days of this diet the patient should be starting to get rid of the disease by basically urinating it out of their system (Philips 94). The Greek Doctors prescribed many different kinds of medical drinks that the patient could make and drink. A popular herbal tea that was prescribed contained lemon and was called Luiza by the Greeks. This tea would be prescribed if the patient was complaining of digestion or stomach problems. The tea would actually act as a digestion and was also great for the patients skin because of the amount of lemon used. Another medicinal drink is called Oxymel which contains only honey and vinegar but can be used in a few different ways. If a patient is complaining of a sore throat this liquid can be gargled and the acid in the vinegar will kill the bacteria while the honey soothes the throat. A patient could also just put a spoon full of this substance in a glass of water for a refreshing medicinal beverage that can be used for patients after they are starting to heal from a disease to keep the healing process strong (Freeman 221). The most respectable and drink of choice for almost anything for the Greeks though was wine. Even though the Greeks did not invent wine they still consider it one of their main drinks of the culture. Wine is actually very good for you if you drink it responsibly. Wine stimulates the heart thus helping blood flow because of the low alcohol content. The Greeks also used wine as a disinfectant to kill bacteria on open wounds of a patient (Dawson 111). The Greeks found Hydrotherapy to be a very compatible treatment because it was capable of producing a wide range of therapeutic effects not only by differentiating the temperatures, but also how the Greeks applied them.   Although there are endless ways to apply hydrotherapy, the major ones are full bath, foot bath, sitz bath, sponge bath, blanket wrap, steam bath, and fomentations (Lloyd 152).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Full bath is when the  total body submerged into the water used.   This therapy can produce a wide range of different effects and reactions, depending on the water temperature that the Greeks decided to use. Foot Bath was when the Greeks submerged the patients feet up to their ankles in a tub of water that was shallow.   The Greeks used different water temperatures for different symptoms. The Greeks used cold water for varicose veins, foot edema, headaches, low blood pressure, sweaty feet, and sprained ankle. The Greeks used cold water for those symptoms because they knew that cold temperatures decreased swelling thus healing the patient. The Greeks used warm water for sleeplessness, susceptibility to colds and flu.   The Greeks also found that the best way to improve circulation in the feet and legs was to Alternate between hot and cold water temperatures. The Greeks decided though that they need to avoid cold foot baths if the kidneys are weak or the bladde r sensitive  because that would trigger the patient to urinate (Lloyd 154).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A Sitz Bath is when the Greeks  submerged the patients hips, buttocks and pelvis by sitting down in a medium sized tub, with water up to about the patients stomach.  The Greeks found that this method was great for treating all types of pelvic disorders because it brought down the swelling so much.   The Greeks used warm water when the patient was diagnosed with urinary obstruction, irritable bladder, or any kind of problem with their prostate.   The Greeks concluded that when they alternated between cold and hot water they greatly strengthen circulation, immunity, healing and regeneration in the patients pelvic organs. A Sponge Bath the Greeks found was  excellent for bringing the patients body temperature way down when the patient had a fever (Lloyd 155).     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A Blanket Wrap was when the Greeks wrapped their patient  in a cotton or linen sheet that was soaked with cold water.   Around the wet blanket the Greeks then wrapped a dry sheet, and around the dry sheet they then wrapped a thick wool blanket.   If the patient wants they can drink a cup of hot diaphoretic herbal tea before getting wrapped in these blankets since their body temperature will be shot higher and already having something warm in the patients body will just help the patient at that point.  The Greeks used this method so the patient could sweat out the deadly toxins that caused their colds.  A Steam Bath is a sauna that the Greeks created with the use of water or herbal teas to create steam.   Steam has many of the natural effects of hot water such as a relaxing effect.   Steam also penetrates into the lungs and respiratory tract to release phlegm from the lungs, and opens the pores of the skin to releases sweat which can contain toxins that are causing the patient to become sick. Steam baths and saunas are used by the Greeks in small i

The Individual Experience in a World of Categories :: Sociology Sociological Essays

The Individual Experience in a World of Categories Lakoff and Johnson argue for an embodied mind, saying that our categories are based on how we experience the world through our bodies. According to this theory, as a result of their different anatomies, men and women would experience the world differently and their categories would be inherently different. Also, it would be expected that all women would share the same categories. Our class and our discussions have demonstrated a diversity of opinions and methods of categorization that refute this part of Lakoff and Johnson's argument. I think that Lakoff and Johnson were correct in saying that "the categories we form are part of our experience" (Lakoff and Johnson 19). However, what they neglected to factor into their analysis of the way human beings categorize is the differences of each individual experience. Categories and their meanings are based on an individual's personal knowledge of the world, and that is why no category means exactly the same thing for more than one individual. I want to examine the categories of race and sexuality in Moraga and Delany to demonstrate the significance of the individual experience and its direct connection to categories. Also, I want to suggest that race as "other" is more problematic than sexuality to one's personal identity. Delany's "Aversion/Perversion/Diversion" presents us with a series of troubling tales. They all originate within Delany's life, but his reason for choosing these particular tales is "precisely because they are uncharacteristic" (Delany 125). Even within one's own individual experience, there is an uniqueness to events. The category "gay" doesn't mean that the individuals who identify themselves as part of it will share an understanding of all that it has meant for one person to claim this label for himself/herself. Delany acknowledges that the identification with others that categories create is in a way false, "even the similarities are finally, to the extent they are living ones, a play of differences" (Delany 131). He emphasizes that much of the sexual experience remains outside of language. No everything will be shared, not everything can be. An individual's journey to claiming his/her own identity is entrenched in the personal journey, in occurrences both characteristic and unch aracteristic. However, maybe these "uncharacteristic" tales are not as uncharacteristic to his experience as Delany believes. It is fact that they are indeed a part of Delany's experience as a gay man, and he says himself that there is no universal "gay experience.

Comte vs Spencer :: essays research papers

Auguste Compte and Herbert Spencer were two of sociology’s first great theorists. Both Compte and Spencer studied society and the many ways in which people in society interact. Both theorists agree on certain issues pertainning to society and social science, yet they completely differ on their views of the function of sociology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Spencer and Compte both realize that there is an order of co-existance in society. Society itself is made up of several components and parts which are subject to change and progress, thus altering society as a whole with these changes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With regards to the function of sociology, Compte believed that sociology was important due to the fact that it acted as a guide for people in order to make a better society. Compte saw evolution as very important and believed that every society went through three stages. These include; the theological stage, the abstract stge and the positive stage. Spencer on the other hand believed that sociology was necessary to demonstrate that people in society should not interfere with the â€Å"natural processes†. Spencer’s theories on evolution focused more on a different set of three basic laws. These include; the law of persistence of force, the law of the undestructibility of matter and the law of the continuity of motion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Compte saw society in two major categories, the first was theological (military) which looked at the power of religion spiritual leaders as well as priests and those with intellectual power. The second was scientific (industrial) where there was a moral intellectual power, which included scientists and thinkers. Spencer saw society in two ways as well. The first included the movement from a simplistic society growing into a more complex one with various levels. The second was that society was changing from being more militant to industrial. Both Compte and Spencer seemed to share a common perspective on these particular views of society. When reviewing Compte’s methods, one sees that he focused primarily on empirical facts.

Research on behaviour of children with stay at home Essay

It is a personal and specific decision that has its perks as well as its pitfalls. Advancements in women’s rights in the workplace have encouraged women to acquire higher paying Jobs. However, recent research suggests that more women are choosing to stay at home. It is not because of a lack of education or opportunity; they simply dont want to have someone else raise their children. A study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in 1999 found that the more hours a child spent at a non- maternal care before age 5, the less positive the childs interactions with his/her other will be. Two studies published in 2003 conducted by the NICHD found that children in day care had higher levels of stress and were more aggressive than those cared for at home by the mother. There are millions of children, however, who have working mothers and who grow up to be responsible, sucessful adults. Benefits for children raised by stay-at-home mothers. STABILITY: This is the main benefir for your children. Knowing that you are there gives your child stability. You are able to answer your child questions, dry tears, and offer support. In addition, you will never get those year back. They experience fewer emotional and behavioural problems in childhood: want to help ensure your children turn out to be happy and socially well adjusted? Bond with them when they are infants. Thats the message from the university of Lowa, USA, which found that infants who have a close intimate relationship with their mothers are less likely to be troubled, aggressive or experience other emotional and behavioural problems when they reach school age. Bonding with your child has proven to help in a childs mental and emotional development. Consistency: Your children can rely on you. They can trust the consistency on the way you run your household. Being consistent with mealitimes, Chores, baths, and bedtimes teaches children organization and discipline. They need this consistency to give them structure and routine in their lives. Quality time: All kids need quality time with their mothers. Quality time gives them the assurance of being loved all the time. Quality time also keeps your child out of trouble, which often stems from boredom. the memories they will have of you depend on this quality time

Confessions of an Application Reader Essay

A HIGHLY qualified student, with a 3. 95 unweighted grade point average and 2300 on the SAT, was not among the top-ranked engineering applicants to the University of California, Berkeley. He had perfect 800s on his subject tests in math and chemistry, a score of 5 on five Advanced Placement exams, musical talent and, in one of two personal statements, had written a loving tribute to his parents, who had emigrated from India. Enlarge This Image Brian Cronin for The New York Times Related Go to Education Life  » Enlarge This Image Peg Skorpinski Sather Gate, a literal and symbolic portal on Berkeley’s campus. Readers’ Comments Readers shared their thoughts on this article. Read All Comments (250)  » Why was he not top-ranked by the â€Å"world’s premier public university,† as Berkeley calls itself? Perhaps others had perfect grades and scores? They did indeed. Were they ranked higher? Not necessarily. What kind of student was ranked higher? Every case is different. The reason our budding engineer was a 2 on a 1-to-5 scale (1 being highest) has to do with Berkeley’s holistic, or comprehensive, review, an admissions policy adopted by most selective colleges and universities. In holistic review, institutions look beyond grades and scores to determine academic potential, drive and leadership abilities. Apparently, our Indian-American student needed more extracurricular activities and engineering awards to be ranked a 1. Now consider a second engineering applicant, a Mexican-American student with a moving, well-written essay but a 3. 4 G. P. A. and SATs below 1800. His school offered no A. P. He competed in track when not at his after-school job, working the fields with his parents. His score? 2. 5. Both students were among â€Å"typical† applicants used as norms to train application readers like myself. And their different credentials yet remarkably close rankings illustrate the challenges, the ambiguities and the agenda of admissions at a major public research university in a post-affirmative-action world. WHILE teaching ethics at the University of San Francisco, I signed on as an â€Å"external reader† at Berkeley for the fall 2011 admissions cycle. I was one of about 70 outside readers — some high school counselors, some private admissions consultants — who helped rank the nearly 53,000 applications that year, giving each about eight minutes of attention. An applicant scoring a 4 or 5 was probably going to be disappointed; a 3 might be deferred to a January entry; students with a 1, 2 or 2. 5 went to the top of the pile, but that didn’t mean they were in. Berkeley might accept 21 percent of freshman applicants over all but only 12 percent in engineering. My job was to help sort the pool. We were to assess each piece of information — grades, courses, standardized test scores, activities, leadership potential and character — in an additive fashion, looking for ways to advance the student to the next level, as opposed to counting any factor as a negative. External readers are only the first read. Every one of our applications was scored by an experienced lead reader before being passed on to an inner committee of admissions officers for the selection phase. My new position required two days of intensive training at the Berkeley Alumni House as well as eight three-hour norming sessions. There, we practiced ranking under the supervision of lead readers and admissions officers to ensure our decisions conformed to the criteria outlined by the admissions office, with the intent of giving applicants as close to equal treatment as possible. The process, however, turned out very differently. In principle, a broader examination of candidates is a great idea; some might say it is an ethical imperative to look at the â€Å"bigger picture† of an applicant’s life, as our mission was described. Considering the bigger picture has aided Berkeley’s pursuit of diversity after Proposition 209, which in 1996 amended California’s constitution to prohibit consideration of race, ethnicity or gender in admissions to public institutions. In Fisher v.  the University of Texas, the Supreme Court, too, endorsed race-neutral processes aimed at promoting educational diversity and, on throwing the case back to lower courts, challenged public institutions to justify race as a factor in the holistic process. In practice, holistic admissions raises many questions about who gets selected, how and why. I could see the fundamental unevenness in this process both in the norming Webinars and when alone in a dark room at home with my Berkeley-issued netbook, reading assigned applications away from enormously curious family members. First and foremost, the process is confusingly subjective, despite all the objective criteria I was trained to examine. In norming sessions, I remember how lead readers would raise a candidate’s ranking because he or she â€Å"helped build the class. † I never quite grasped how to build a class of freshmen from California — the priority, it was explained in the first day’s pep talk — while seeming to prize the high-paying out-of-state students who are so attractive during times of a growing budget gap. (A special team handled international applications. ) In one norming session, puzzled readers questioned why a student who resembled a throng of applicants and had only a 3. 5 G. P. A. should rank so highly. Could it be because he was a nonresident and had wealthy parents? (He had taken one of the expensive volunteer trips to Africa that we were told should not impress us. ) Income, an optional item on the application, would appear on the very first screen we saw, along with applicant name, address and family information. We also saw the high school’s state performance ranking. All this can be revealing. Admissions officials were careful not to mention gender, ethnicity and race during our training sessions. Norming examples were our guide. Privately, I asked an officer point-blank: â€Å"What are we doing about race? † She nodded sympathetically at my confusion but warned that it would be illegal to consider: we’re looking at — again, that phrase — the â€Å"bigger picture† of the applicant’s life. After the next training session, when I asked about an Asian student who I thought was a 2 but had only received a 3, the officer noted: â€Å"Oh, you’ll get a lot of them. † She said the same when I asked why a low-income student with top grades and scores, and who had served in the Israeli army, was a 3. Which them? I had wondered. Did she mean I’d see a lot of 4. 0 G. P. A. ’s, or a lot of applicants whose bigger picture would fail to advance them, or a lot of Jewish and Asian applicants (Berkeley is 43 percent Asian, 11 percent Latino and 3 percent black)? The idea behind multiple readers is to prevent any single reader from making an outlier decision. And some of the rankings I gave actual applicants were overturned up the reading hierarchy. I received an e-mail from the assistant director suggesting I was not with the program: â€Å"You’ve got 15 outlier, which is quite a lot. Mainly you gave 4’s and the final scores were 2’s and 2. 5’s. † As I continued reading, I should keep an eye on the â€Å"percentile report on the e-viewer† and adjust my rankings accordingly. In a second e-mail, I was told I needed more 1’s and referrals. A referral is a flag that a student’s grades and scores do not make the cut but the application merits a special read because of â€Å"stressors† — socioeconomic disadvantages that admissions offices can use to increase diversity. Officially, like all readers, I was to exclude minority background from my consideration. I was simply to notice whether the student came from a non-English-speaking household. I was not told what to do with this information — except that it may be a stressor if the personal statement revealed the student was having trouble adjusting to coursework in English. In such a case, I could refer the applicant for a special read. Why did I hear so many times from the assistant director? I think I got lost in the unspoken directives. Some things can’t be spelled out, but they have to be known. Application readers must simply pick it up by osmosis, so that the process of detecting objective factors of disadvantage becomes tricky. It’s an extreme version of the American non-conversation about race. I scoured applications for stressors. To better understand stressors, I was trained to look for the â€Å"helpful† personal statement that elevates a candidate. Here I encountered through-the-looking-glass moments: an inspiring account of achievements may be less â€Å"helpful† than a report of the hardships that prevented the student from achieving better grades, test scores and honors. Should I value consistent excellence or better results at the end of a personal struggle? I applied both, depending on race. An underrepresented minority could be the phoenix, I decided. We were not to hold a lack of Advanced Placement courses against applicants. Highest attention was to be paid to the unweighted G. P. A. , as schools in low-income neighborhoods may not offer A. P. courses, which are given more weight in G. P. A. calculation. Yet readers also want to know if a student has taken challenging courses, and will consider A. P. ’s along with key college-prep subjects, known as a-g courses, required by the U. C. system. Even such objective information was open to interpretation. During training Webinars, we argued over transcripts. I scribbled this exchange in my notes: A reader ranks an applicant low because she sees an â€Å"overcount† in the student’s a-g courses. She thinks the courses were miscounted or perhaps counted higher than they should have been. Another reader sees an undercount and charges the first reader with â€Å"trying to cut this girl down. † The lead reader corrects: â€Å"We’re not here to cut down a student. † We’re here to find factors that advance the student to a higher ranking. Another reader thinks the student is â€Å"good† but we have so many of â€Å"these kids. † She doesn’t see any leadership beyond the student’s own projects. Listening to these conversations, I had to wonder exactly how elite institutions define leadership. I was supposed to find this major criterion holistically in the application. Some students took leadership courses. Most often, it was demonstrated in extracurricular activities.