What science is Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What science is - Essay Example Science is not rigidly hierarchical or absolute, and McComas argues that the word hypothesis should be changed to the more accurate word prediction. I could begin to define the nature of science by saying it is a way of knowing (a process of observing the world), and add that scientific knowledge changes over time, is based on theories, and involves individual human imagination and creativity (Lederman 1998). Science is based on observations of the natural world which lead to generally proven theories. Although our understanding of the natural world can change, we should arrive at conclusions using the scientific method: proposing hypotheses and proving or disproving them by experiments. There are no permanent conditions, because experiments sometimes lead to changes in the hypothesis, and no single set of assumptions works across all the sciences. Formulating and testing scientific ideas to come up with new knowledge demands diligent collection of data and multiple experiments. Scientists ask questions, and knowledge gathered during the inquiry adds to society’s knowledge bank. The learning experience itself becomes an imperative, just as important as solving the problem. There are always elements of uncertainty in scientific inquiry, but the knowledge derived from it is relatively reliable (Nickels, Nelson, and Beard 1996). As scientists examine the information placed before them, with a particular question in mind and armed with the tools of scientific inquiry, they must always remember that research could disprove their theories. They must remain as objective as possible. They begin with questions, but should proceed to answer the questions using reliable methods: accurate and thorough data collection and multiple experiments. Alters and Nelson (2002) also present a view of how science is taught and realize some shortcomings in the teaching of science. High school biology is often the

Plutarchs Influence on Shakespeare and Other Writers of the Sixteenth Century Essay Example for Free

Plutarchs Influence on Shakespeare and Other Writers of the Sixteenth Century Essay The influence of the writings of Plutarch of Chaeronea on English literature might well be made the subject of one of the most interesting chapters in the long story of the debt of moderns to ancients. One of the most kindly and young spirited, he is also one of the most versatile of Greek writers, and his influence has worked by devious ways to the most varied results. His treatise on the Education of Children had the honour to be early translated into the gravely charming prose of Sir Thomas Elyot, and to be published in a black-letter quarto imprinted, as the colophon tells us, in Fletestrete in the house of Thomas Berthelet. The same work was drawn upon unreservedly by Lyly in the second part of Euphues, and its teachings reappear a little surprisingly in some of the later chapters of Pamela. The essay on the Preservation of Good Health was twice translated into Tudor prose, and that on Curiosity suffered transformation at the hands of the virgin queen herself into some of the most inharmonious of English verse. The sixteenth century was indeed steeped in Plutarch. His writings formed an almost inexhaustible storehouse for historian and philosopher alike, and the age was characterized by no diffidence or moderation in borrowing. Plutarchs aphorisms and his anecdotes meet us at every turn, openly or in disguise, and the translations I have alluded to did but prepare the way for Philemon Hollands great rendering of the complete non-biographical works in the last year of the Tudor era. But it is as author of the Parallel Lives of the famous Greeks and Romans that Plutarch has most strongly and most healthily affected the literature of modern Europe. Few other books of the ancient world have had since the middle ages so interesting a career; in the history of no other, perhaps not even the Iliad, can we see so plainly that rare electric flash of sympathy where the spirit of classical literature blends with the modern spirit, and the renascence becomes a living reality. The Lives of Plutarch were early translated into Latin, and versions of them in that language were among the first productions of the printing press, one such edition being published at  Rome about 1470. It was almost certainly in this Latin form that they first attracted the attention and the pious study of Jacques Amyot (1514-93). Amyots Translations of Plutarch No writer of one age and nation has ever received more devoted and important services from a writer of another than Plutarch owes to Amyot. Already the translator of the Greek pastorals of Heliodorus and Longus, as well as seven books of Diodorus Siculus, Amyot came not unprepared to the subject of his lifes work. Years were spent in purification of the text. Amyots marginal notes as to variants in the original Greek give but a slight conception of the extent of his labours in this direction. Dr. Joseph Jager has made it more evident in a Heidelberg dissertation, Zur Kritik von Amyots Ubersetzung der Moralia Plutarchs (Biihl, 1899). In 1559, being then Abbot of Bellozane, Amyot published his translation of Plutarchs Lives, printed in a large folio volume by the famous Parisian house of Vascosan.The success of the work was immediate; it was pirated largely, but no less than six authorized editions were published by Vascosan before the end of 1579. Amyots concern with the Lives did not cease with the appearance of the first edition. Each re-issue contained improvements, and only that of 1619 can perhaps be regarded as giving his final text, though by that time the translator had been twenty-six years in his grave. Yet it was not the Lives solely that occupied him. In 1572 were printed Les Oeuvres Morales et Meshes de Plutarque. Translatees du Grec en Francois par Messire Jacques Amyot. The popularity of this volume, by whose appearance all Plutarch was rendered accessible in the vernacular to French readers, was hardly inferior to that the Lives had attained, and it directly inspired another work, already mentioned, whose importance for English drama was not very greatly inferior to that of Norths translation of the Lives: The Philosophic, commonly called the Morals, written by the learned Philosopher, Plutarch of Chaeronea. Translated out of Greeke into English, and conferred with the Latin translations, and the French, by Philemon HollandLondon 1603. The indebtedness of such writers as Chapman to the Morals of Plutarch is hardly to be measured. Our concern, however, is rather with the lives as they appeared in Norths translation from the French of Amyot, in 1579. Sir Thomas North Thomas North, or Sir Thomas, as history has preferred to call him, was born about 1535, the second son of Edward Lord North and Alice Squyer his wife. The knightly title in Norths case, like that or Sir Thomas Browne, is really an anachronism as regards his literary career. It was a late granted honour, withheld, like the royal pension, which seems to have immediately preceded death, till the recipients fame had long been established and his work in this world was virtually over. It is simply as Thomas North that he appears on the early title pages of his three books, and as Master North we find him occasionally mentioned in state papers during the long and eventful years that precede 1591 . Sometimes, by way of self-advertisement, he alludes to himself rather pathetically as sonne of Sir Edward North, Knight, L. North of Kyrtheling or Brother to the Right Honourable Sir Roger North, Knight, Lorde North of Kyrtheling. We know little of his life. It appears to have been a long and honourable one, full of incident and variety, darkened till almost the very end by the shadow of poverty, but certainly not devoid of gleams of temporary good fortune, and on the whole, no doubt, a happy life. There is good reason, but no positive evidence, for believing that he was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge. In 1557 we find him at Lincolns Inn; on the 2Oth of December in that year he dates from there the dedicatory epistle to Queen Mary, prefixed to his Dtall of Princes. In 1568 he was presented with the freedom of the city of Cambridge. In 1574 he accompanied his elder brother Roger, second Baron North, on a special mission to the court of Henri III of France. Six years later, under date of August 25, 1580, the Earl of Leicester commends Mr. North to Lord Burghley as one who is a very honest gentleman, and hath many good things in him which are drowned only by poverty. During the critical days of the Armada he was Captain of three hundred men in the Isle of Ely, and he seems always to have borne a high reputation for valour. With 1590 the more interesting part of Norths life closes. In 1591 he was knighted. At this period he must apparently have enjoyed a certain pecuniary prosperity, since eligibility for knighthood involved the possession of land worth 40 [pounds] a year. In 1592 we hear of him as justice of the peace in Cambridgeshire; the official commission for placing him is dated February 24. Six years later we may infer that he was again in financial straits, for a grant of 20 [pounds] was made to him by the city of Cambridge. The last known incident of his life was the conferring on him of a pension of 40 [pounds] per annum from the Queen, in 1601. He may or may not have lived to see the publication of the third, expanded edition of his Plutarch in 1603, to which is prefixed a grateful dedication to Queen Elizabeth. North was twice married, and we know that at least two of his children, a son and daughter, reached maturity. His literary fame rests on three translations. The first in point of time was a version of Guevaras Libra Aureo, of which an abbreviated translation by Lord Berners bad been printed in 1535, with the title The Golden Boke of Marcus Aurelius Emperour and eloquent Oratour. North made no such effort at condensation; his rendering appeared first in 1557 and again, with the addition of a fourth book, in 1568, with the following title page: The Dial of Princes, compiled by the reverend father in God, Don Antony of Guevara, Byshop of Guadix, Preacher, and Chronicler to Charles the fifte, late of that name Emperor. Englished out of the Frenche by T. North. . . And now newly revised and corrected by hym, refourmed of faultes escaped in the first edition: with an amplification also of a fourth booke annexed to the same, entituled The fauored Courtier, never heretofore imprinted in our vulgar tongue. Right necessarie and pleasaunt to all noble and vertuous persones. There seems no reason to accept the suggestion that the style of this book was influential in any particular degree in shaping that of Lylys Euphues. Norths second translation appeared in 1570. The title page, which contains all the information concerning the work that the reader is likely to require, runs as follows: The Morall Philosophic of Doni: Drawne out of the auncient writers. A worke first compiled in the Indian tongue, and afterwardes reduced into divers other languages: and now lastly Englished out of Italian by Thomas North. In the Stationers Register for 1579 occurs this entry: VI to Die Aprilis. Thomas vautrollicr, master Wighte Lycenced vnto yem a booke in Englishc called Plutarks Lyves XV and a copie. This is the first mention of Norths translation of Plutarch, which was duly published in the same year, 1579, by the two book-sellers named in the registration notice. A facsimile of the title page appears as frontispiece to this volume.It is of importance to consider here the exact relation in which Norths translation stands to that of Amyot, first printed just twenty years before and definitely claimed by North as his source. .Norths Plutarch enjoyed till the close of the seventeenth century a popularity equal to its merits; but its vogue was now interrupted. It was supplanted by a succession of more modern and infinitely less brilliant renderings and was not again reprinted as a whole till 1895. How entirely it had fallen into disrepute in the eighteenth century is evident from the significant verdict of the Critical Review for February, 1771, This was not a translation from Plutarch, nor can it be read with pleasure in the present Age. One hopes, and can readily believe, that the critic had not made the attempt to read it. There is some doubt as to which edition of North was used by Shakespeare. The theory of Mr. A. P. Paton that a copy of the 1603 version bearing the initials W. S. was the poets property has long ago been exploded. From an allusion by Weever in his Mirror of Martyrs, we know that Julius Caesar was in existence in 1601. The two possible editions, those of 1579 and 1595 respectively, often vary a little in wording, but there seems to be no instance where such difference offers any hint as to which text Shakespeare used. No one with a knowledge of the rules and vagaries of Elizabethan orthography will probably lay any stress on the argument which prefers the  folio of 1595 for the sole reason that on the first page of the Life of Coriolanus it happens to agree in spelling of the word conduits with the 1623 Shakespeare, whereas the folio of 1579 gives the older form of conducts. If Shakespeares acquaintance with North was delayed till about 1600, it may be imagined that copies of the second edition would then be the more easily obtainable. If, on the other hand, we derive the allusions in A Midsummer Nights Dream (II. i. 75-80) to Hippolyta, Perigouna, Aegle, Ariadne, and Antiopa from the Life of Theseus, as has been done, though with no very great show of probability, we must then assume the dramatist to have known Norths book at a period probably antecedent to the appearance of the second edition. The question is of little import. There seems on other grounds every reason to prefer the text of the editio princeps, which in practically all cases of difference offers an older and apparently more authentic read ing than the version of 1595. As has been said, we have no evidence that North was personally responsible for any of the changes in the second edition.

Exaggeration of Despair in Sherman Alexies Reservation Blues Essay

Exaggeration of Despair in Sherman Alexie's Reservation Blues Gloria Bird realizes that for generations Native Americans have had drinking problems, and she also realizes that it is difficult for â€Å"native writers to accurately represent our communities without exploiting them.†(G. Bird) However, Bird criticizes Alexie of embellishing or exaggerating the Native Americans’ despair. Alexie cannot ignore the alcohol situation when describing Native American culture, but Alexie does not need to make alcoholism a common trait amongst almost every ‘Indian’ on the reservation and other reservations. Bird’s statement concerning Alexie’s embellishment of Native American despair due to alcoholism is an accurate interpretation of Reservation Blues. In Reservation Blues, almost every Native American is an alcoholic. Two of the main characters, Victor and Junior, spend all of their money on booze and get wasted on a regular basis. â€Å"After the tavern had closed, Junior and Victor climbed into the water truck and passed out.†(p.24) It is reasonable for there to be a few drunks, but Alexie introduces or makes references to too many Indians who either lost everything or their lives because of alcohol. When Thomas’ father Samuel is introduced he is drunk, and Alexie explains that this is normal, for â€Å"Thomas†¦had lost count of the number of times he’d saved his father†¦ Once, a month, he bailed his father out of jail for drunk and disorderly behavior.†(p.95) Even though Thomas didn’t drink,...

Overfishing Effects More Than Just the Ocean

Salmon migrate yearly from the open Pacific Ocean to the coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest in order to spend about 5-6 weeks reproducing. During this time bears also migrate to these coastal areas to feed on the salmon which is a large part of their diet. This natural interaction has been an important factor of the ecosystem in the Pacific Northwest for many years and now that humans have imposed on this process by overfishing we are seeing changes in the ecosystem itself. While knowledge of this issue has been around for about 30 years, scientists only began researching it beginning in the early 90’s. According to this research the ongoing problem of overfishing is already beginning to show its effects on the ecosystem, what may happen to the forests and animals of the Pacific Northwest if this issue is not resolved? Through the research of Dr. Tom Reimchen and other scientists, an interaction between salmon and the forests of the Pacific Northwest has been discovered. Each year black and grizzly bears travel from far away to the streams and rivers in the Pacific Northwest to feed on the salmon that migrate there during their six week spawning period. This causes a local interaction, when the bears catch a fish they take it into the forest so they can eat it and not be disturbed. Usually the bears only eat about half of each fish they catch and leave the rest on the forest floor, which is then consumed by birds, other small animals and insects. Through the decomposition of the salmon as well as the bodily wastes of the bears and other animals, the soil in the forest absorbs nutrients as well as nitrogen from the salmon. â€Å"The use of stable nitrogen isotopes allows us to identify the relative contribution of salmon to the ecosystem† (Reimchen 2001: 14), this research showed that nitrogen 15, an isotope of nitrogen is present in a large number of the plants in the Pacific Northwest forests. Nitrogen 15 is mostly found in marine algae and salmon are highly enriched with it so it makes sense that the plants use the remnants of the salmon as a sort of fertilizer to make them grow causing large scale interaction. The presence of the nitrogen in the plants of the Pacific Northwest forests does not mean that the plants necessarily need it to grow. In another experiment performed by Reimchen he sought to answer this question, â€Å"I examined yearly growth rings of 13 trees of similar size from sites differing in (salmon) carcass density. Average growth rate over the last 50 years was 2. 5mm per year within 10m of the stream where carcasses were most abundant and less than 1mm per year where carcasses were not present† (Reimchen 2001: 14). These results are debatable because other factors such as the amount of rainfall and sunlight they get effect plant growth too, but another observation which backs the theory that nitrogen helps the plants grow is that the amount of salmon brought into the forest by the bears each year varies directly with the amount of salmon coming back to the stream each year. In the conclusion of his research thus far Reimchen believes that if it is not stopped, â€Å"†¦ the result of deforestation and overfishing will have ecosystem-level consequences for the remaining forests† (Reimchen 2001: 16). Due to the overfishing of salmon by humans, the migrating salmon population has reduced 80-90 percent in the last 100 years. In nature predators and prey coexist in equilibrium, but with human interference the salmon can not reproduce fast enough to keep up with the amount being caught resulting in a large decrease in their population. Although there are programs like the MSY or maximum sustainable yield in place which tells fisheries how many fish they are allowed to catch, they do not factor in the natural predators of the salmon and therefore they throw off the balance of the ecosystem. A direct result of over fishing is the harvesting of salmon in fish farms, the salmon are raised in net pens that usually float in areas off the coast. The biggest problem with fish farming is the fish escaping into the wild, for example in 1997, 360,000 salmon escaped from a single farm off the Washington coast. The salmon raised on fish farms are, â€Å"†¦ ed concentrated feed and medication to maximize the conversion of feed into growth while minimizing the loss of fish due to disease and escape† (Reimchen 2001: 139), the effects of the salmon raised on farms escaping into the wild may be genetic, ecological, and can cause problems with disease and parasites. The genetic problems the farm salmon can cause are they will interbreed with wild salmon and disrupt their genetic adaptations, replacing their genetic variability and their evolutionary potential. The competition for food, space, and habitat between the farmed and wild salmon could also be a problem. Farmed fish sometimes get sea lice or ISA a contagious lethal virus that they can pass to the wild salmon. All of these factors are depleting the amount of wild salmon as well as altering the way the salmon live. Another contributing factor to the decline of the salmon population is the political ecology involved. On one side there are the people willing to do anything in their power to protect and restore the status of the salmon in the pacific northwest, but on the other more powerful side are the people who see the salmon as a huge money maker and are doing everything they can to continue overfishing so they can profit from it. The fisheries not only catch salmon so they can sell it locally, but where they get the most money from is shipping it to large grocery store chains across the country. They must overfish in order to meet the demands of the stores they supply or else the stores will go to another source for salmon, so many fisheries ignore the problem and continue overfishing because they think that if they stop someone else is just going to come in profit off of what they are not catching. The problem with overfishing and fish farms are not only harming the salmon population, but if nothing is done about these issues it will effect the animals in the pacific northwest as well as the vegetation. Black and Grizzly bears get around 75% of their yearly dietary requirements from the salmon, with the amount of salmon available becoming less and less each year the bears are not going to have enough to eat and their population will decrease as a result. I also think that with the introduction of the farmed salmon and the diseases they can carry the bears may get sick and die from eating diseased fish. With less bears the vegetation in the pacific northwest will also suffer because less salmon will be transferred into the forests where the plants can absorb the nitrogen and the plants will not grow as much or as quickly, it may also make the plant population less diverse. I believe that the overfishing needs to be controlled by more extreme measures so that the salmon can be allowed to reproduce naturally and keep their population up. If companies sold salmon raised in a fish farm at lower prices and raised the price of wild salmon this may help as well because the more expensive it is, the less people will buy and the fishing companies will not have to catch as many. Its kind of like how you can go to the store and buy either regular fruit or pay extra for organic, and there is always people who are willing to pay more. I also think that fish farms should not be integrated in the coastal waters, they should be in a completely different location than the wild salmon so there is no chance of them escaping and contaminating the wild salmon. In addition to the repercussions of fish farming and overfishing on the ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest forests, deforestation is another action by humans that is threatening this area. With the growth rates of the trees already falling due to lack of nitrogen from salmon and humans cutting them down at an alarming rate, it is inevitable that unless serious steps are taken to protect both the salmon and the forest itself from humans the ecosystem in the Pacific Northwest will fail and the forests will be completely destroyed. References 1)Frissell, C. (1995). Topology of Extinction and Endangerment of Native Fishes in the Pacific Northwest. Conservation Biology, 7. http://www.jstor.org/pss/2386432 2)Reimchen, T. (Fall 2001). Salmon nutrients, nitrogen isotopes, and coastal forests. Ecoforestry. 3)Sachs, J. (15, Jan. 2010). Icon for an Endangered Ecosystem. http:// www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Animals/Archives/2010/Icon-for-an-Endangered-Ecosystem.aspx

Pirates of the Caribbean Critical Essay

A key character that ensures we enjoy the film throughout is captin jack sparrow. The first time we meet jack he is portrayed as a powerful figure standing tall on top of his ship. As the scene progresses we see that he is drunk and unorganised sailing on his own on a sinking boat. The director shows us this by using a wide array of camera shots and other techniques. When we first see jack he is standing on top of his ship. Although he is standing tall and proud his clothes are weather beaten and he has clearly been at sea for a long time.The low angle camera shots that the director uses help the impression that he is powerful and strong. The director also uses an over the shoulder shot to help connect the audience to jack. The director then thatters this illusion by panning down the mast to reveal that he is on a small boat, that is quickly taking on water ,all on his own. The director does this to make jack an instantly likeable character and to make us want to fing out more about him. The change from jack being a drunk to a skilled swordfighter makes the character of jackmore interesting.The second time we meet jack he is in the blacksmiths where William turner is an apprentice. The camera angle that the director uses a wide shot so that you see that the workshop is small and to emphasize that he is agile and quick. The director does this so we find out slightly more about jack and become more interested. Through out the film jack is portrayed as an anti- hero and this is emphisized as jack does not want to shoot will as he says ‘’this bullet is not ment for you ‘’ meaning he went to port royal with a mission. The director does this to reveal a major plot point. he director of â€Å"the pirates of the caribbean† portrays miss elizabeth swann as a naive and dependent girl but this impression is ruined the second time we meet her. in the first encounter we see elizabeth trying on a dress her father has bought her from london. s he seems very feminine, well educated and wealthy but she has something to hide. a medallion she had taken off of will whe she and her majestys navy first found him. this adds to the enjoyment of the film by adding a twist that changes the whole story as this medallion lands elizabeth and the man she loves in alot of trouble. Read Critical Essay about Skurzynski’s NethergraveIn this scene she appears quite rebellious in the way she wants will to speak to her using her first name instead of miss swann but will has to remind her that this cannot happen because there is a difference between their two classes. the director does significant and clever he has elizabeth standing at the top of a stair case and will at the bottom during this conversation subtly  signifying that elizabeth is of a higher class but as the conversation progresses elizabeth walks down the staircase as she thinks that her and will are of the same class. he reason elizabeth treats will like this is because ever since  she laid her eyes on him six years ago on the crossing from england to port royal she hhas loved him madly. howthis makesthe film more enjoyable is by putting in a romantic element to the story meaning the two cant live with out the other so they are both trying to save the other by putting their own lives on the line creating excitement and suspense.

Recreating Society- banning the N word

Recreating Society- banning the N word Free Online Research Papers â€Å"Nigga what? Nigga who? Nigga what, nigga who? Switcha flow, getcha dough; can’t fuck with this Roc-a-Fella shit doe. Switcha flow, getcha dough; cant fuck with this Roc-a-Fella shit doe. Cant fuck with me. Motherfuckers wanna act loco, hit em wit, numerous shots with the fo-fo’. All night get you wide up inside the telly. (Nigga what?). Make you think you can fuck with me. (Nigga who?). Recognize girl, Jay to the Z† (AZ Lyrics). These are examples of the lyrics that many people, who listen to rap music, will hear on a daily basis. The word nigga, as it is used in this song, with an â€Å"a† at the end, means friend or homie. It was originally derived from the word nigger, which back during the days of slavery and hate, referred to all African. The problem is that many people want the word banned because is its past connotation â€Å"as an expression of affection, as a joshing taunt, as a subversive appropriation of a word that still retains its power to wound† (Taylor). The word nigga is used in the every day vocabulary of many blacks. Most choose to say it, and others do not. The problem occurs when it blacks say it to each other nonchalantly, without knowing or without caring about the historical meaning of the word. There are many blacks who believe that people who use it are ignorant regardless of how it is used, and forming what we know today as the â€Å"uppity negro,† or a black person who thinks they are better than other blacks. There is already enough competition and tension within society as it is without having to increase it within a certain race. The city of New York has put an â€Å"official moratorium, a symbolic motion which carries no fine and is partly meant to stop the term from being used casually by youth and in music, on the n-word† (Shepherd). This got many legislatures thinking about banning the word all together because â€Å"it remains a principal symbol of white racism regardless of who is using it† (Middleton). There are many people who support the idea of banning the word nigger, but there are many who believe that banning the word would be taking away our first amendment right to freedom of speech, one of the many rights blacks fought for doing the civil rights movement. Beside the fact that people are using the word toward one another, it is the fact that people are using the word without knowing its true origins. â€Å"Historically, nigger defined, limited, made fun of, and ridiculed all Blacks,† and it is this historic humiliation which irks so many and constitutes it reasoning to be banned (Middleton). But, would actually banning the word solve the problem? Then comes problem of â€Å"†¦blacks [making themselves into] prisoners of the past or the ugly words that originated in the past† (Middleton). Most blacks do not use the word nigger but instead the word nigga, but there is also the argument that â€Å"nigger is the ultimate expression of white racism and white superiority no matter how it is pronounced† (Middleton). It has gotten so bad that many people who support the ban of the word have gone to the â€Å"RIAA with a request that the Academy refrain from nominating musicians for Grammy Awards if they use the term in their lyrics†, and with this request society has no choice but to prepare for the uprising that is yet to come (Shepherd). Instead of banning a word, which constitutionally is not possible, allow the word to be recreated. Society and blacks should be allowed to recreate the word nigger into the word nigga, and show that we can take something negative and turn it into something positive; also we are not allowing the past to haunt us by banning a word, but surpassing the future by allowing it to be recreated. The word nigger has a horrible and demeaning origin, but banning the word will not get rid of the hurt that it caused many blacks so long ago, and besides â€Å"when it comes to this sort of cleaning up of history, the result is of course, to erase history itself, and thus our ability to learn anything from it,† and that is only making the problem worse because we are being limited to a history which has helped to form such a diverse and intelligent race. Blacks have come a long way from being illiterate slaves to intelligent men and women. And with this intelligence have decided to take a word that once burdened them and turned it into just an ordinary word. The word nigga â€Å"has to be understood in its situation; repeated use of the word by Blacks will make it less offensive,† and although it may have come from a hateful word, they mean two different things. I sent a questionnaire to students in my English and Criminal Justice class asking them what they felt about the issue, and about twenty-five percent said that if nigga could be recreated and added into the dictionary then anyone should be allowed to say it. Which is true, as long as those other races have a clear understanding of the root word from which the word nigga came from, and as long as it is not being used to disrespect another race. Most races which use the word are not using it to be rude or insensitive, they are using it to sound hip or cool, but blac ks seem to have this double standard of living. We still believe that we are owed our forty acres and a mule, when in reality that is the ignorance which is holding us back, not the use of the word nigga. Many people want to blame rap music for the insecurities which they feel within themselves. But â€Å"hip-hop artists rap about what they see, hear, and feel around them, their experiences of the world. â€Å"†¦their messages are a mirror of what is right and wrong with society. Sometimes their observations or the way in which they choose to express their art may be uncomfortable for some to hear, but our job is not to silence or censor that expression,† which is exactly the reason why the Academy did not listen to all of the supporters who went to the RIAA (Stokes). Yes, children grow up listening to rap music most of their lives, but it is up to the parents and teachers to teach the young children about the word nigger and what it means. Banning a word because of its origins is limiting us to our freedom of speech. The word nigger and nigga should both be allowed to be in the dictionary, with a clear understanding and distinction between the two. The word nigger has had its turn to overshadow the hard work that blacks have put into making a better name for themselves. Nigga may not be that much of a better word, but it is a word which shows uprising and empowerment. It is a word that regardless of who doesn’t like it, will not and cannot be banned. Research Papers on Recreating Society- banning the "N" wordHip-Hop is ArtWhere Wild and West MeetHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoAnalysis Of A Cosmetics Advertisement19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraCapital PunishmentQuebec and CanadaThe Spring and AutumnThe Effects of Illegal Immigration

Arlen Specter essays

Arlen Specter essays Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is continuing to work today to help the citizens of this great commonwealth. He is currently serving his fourth term as Senator and is up for re-election in 2004. Arlen Specter was born in Wichita, Kansas where he became known for his independent attitude at a young age. He first entered into the political arena after college. He went to Yale Law School after college and later became the first Republican elected in Philadelphia. He is well known for being one of the most moderate Republicans in the Senate today. Arlen Specter is a member and chairman of several committees, his notorious views has helped him become one of the finer Senators. As the Chairman of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Subcommittee, and Veteran Affairs, Senator Specter has not only helped Pennsylvanians but people all across the country (www.foxnews.com). Senator Specter has helped improve the Nations education system (www.senate.gov/specter). He has continued to support a large budget of the Department of Education. In 2003, the budget rose to 53.1 billion dollars, which provides extra money for programs. The 107th Congress and President Bush changed the way we view our Education system (www.senate.gov). During that time, the No Child Left Behind Act, which the Senate passed by a majority, provided education for low achieving children. This bill also brought the Neglected and Delinquent Youth Program Amendment which Senator Specter created (www.senate.gov/specter). The future of Education is up to the people who are elected to office. The Congress will continue to review the weaknesses and strengths of the Education Departmen t but no matter what they will always try to improve it. The Veteran Affairs Committee means a lot to Senator Specter because his father did not receive the right treatment that a veteran should. He was denied his bonus from the U.S. Government after being wounded in W...

Currency Exchange Rates, Management, and Speculation

Currency Exchange Rates, Management, and Speculation Read about the ways government and investors can manage and speculate on the value of their currencies. Currency exchange rates have become a global issue in the past year, particularly for developing economies which are generally performing better than the economies of the US, Europe, and Japan – the three sources of the â€Å"reference currencies† that essentially determine the value of the rest of the world’s money. This article is a short primer on the basics of currency exchange. It explains the ways in which governments and private investors can manage and speculate on the value of their currencies. Fixed vs. Floating Exchange Rates The value of the currency is always relative to something else, whether some commodity (gold has historically served as a reference) or other currencies. A fixed exchange rate also called a peg is a value that is determined by a government’s central bank, which must engage in the market trade of its currency for the reference currency in order to maintain the peg value. The main requirement for a fixed exchange rate scheme is that the central bank holds a large reserve of the reference currency. In a scheme in which the currency is pegged to a single reference currency, maintaining the peg is relatively straightforward. The value of the local currency is a simple function of the amount of the reference currency in the financial system, and changes in the currency value are reflected as price inflation or deflation; in order to exercise control over the local currency, the central bank sells the reference currency to move the value of the local currency higher, or purchases the reference currency to reduce the value of the local currency. Read more:  Money Makes the World Go Around A single currency peg is impractical  because the value of the reference currency always fluctuates. Let’s say that an example country – we’ll call it Examplestan – sets the value of its currency, the clam, at 5 clams to one US dollar. If a merchant in Examplestan imports $20 worth of goods from the US, he pays 100 clams. At the same time, he imports $20 worth of goods from Europe, whose euro is equal to $1.20; therefore, he only receives $16.67 worth of goods for his 100 clams. That means to earn back his 100 clams from selling the goods, he has to inflate the price by 16.65%, because the goods he bought from Europe are only worth 83.35 clams. The relative value of the clam is also affected by price inflation or deflation in the US; the actual amount of goods received for the equivalent of $20 will differ as inflation increases or decreases, which causes inflation or deflation of the clam as a follow-on effect. The opposite end of the spectrum from a fixed exchange rate is a floating exchange rate, in which market forces determine the value of the currency. The currency in a floating exchange rate system is treated as a commodity, and its value is determined by supply and demand.   There is no country that uses a fully floating exchange rate scheme, but some of the effects of what it can do to a local currency can be seen in emerging markets where large inflows of foreign investment money have driven the value of the local currency higher. The Philippines, which currently has the best-performing stocks in the world, is a good example. The high inflow of foreign money into the local stock market represents high demand for the Philippine peso – the investors are trading their dollars, euros, yen, and other currencies for equity, valued in pesos, in Philippine companies. Thus the value of the peso is growing, meaning that fewer pesos can be exchanged for one unit of a foreign currency. This is good for the economy in one respect because it makes imports cheaper, but it increases the cost of exports and tends to dampen demand for local labor and goods. Dirty Floats and Currency Hedges In order to find a â€Å"happy medium† between imposing strict control over the currency value and allowing it to seek an efficient value through market effects, most governments practice what is called a managed float, sometimes also referred to as a â€Å"dirty float†. Instead of setting a fixed exchange rate for its currency, the central bank will set a target range. Rather than fix the currency at 5 clams = $1, the central bank of Examplestan might instead choose to let the value of the clam fluctuate, so long as it does not fall outside a range of 4.50 to 5.50 clams per dollar. There is a number of advantages to maintaining a dirty float. Allowing the currency to fluctuate within a controllable range reduces the number of foreign reserves the central bank must hold, which frees up financial resources and permits the central bank to speculate on the future value of the currency to a degree by issuing bonds denominated in either the local or foreign currencies. This is a form of hedging, because the bonds lock in a future value, in the sense that the amount of a bond issue represents a known release of either the local or foreign currency in the future when the bonds reach their maturity. This is similar to the forms of hedging and speculation that private investors can engage in by treating currency as a commodity, including options contracts, forward contracts, currency swaps, and futures contracts. In the private sector, currency hedging and speculation are particularly useful for companies whose trade involves a large amount of foreign currency. For example, the trader in Examplestan may wish to purchase an option to swap a certain number of clams for US dollars at a fixed rate lower than the present exchange rate, say 5.10 clams to the dollar, if he suspects that when he completes a future purchase of US imports, the rate will be even lower than that. If when the time comes, the actual exchange rate is 5.12 clams to the dollar, he exercises the option and lowers his purchase cost by 0.1% not a lot, but for companies whose transactions are in the millions of dollars (or clams), the difference can be very significant. Naturally, foreign currency exchange rates is far more complex theme than what is described in this brief article, but to help understand its intricacies, just remember the basic point that the value of a currency is determined by its amount in a financial system compared to other currencies in the system, and that managing the values of those is really only a matter of managing quantities.

Voter Turnout in Local Election Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Voter Turnout in Local Election - Research Paper Example Turnout is bad enough during the a federal election cycle, but when there are no national politics involved, that statistics get even poorer. As a result, it becomes increasingly difficult to unseat incumbents, many of whom have grown too comfortable in their position to enact meaningful change. There are other issues involved, as well, in the record low numbers of voters turning out in local elections. This paper aims to examine some of those issues, provide implications for such voter apathy should it continue, and propose possible solutions for increasing voter turnout in local elections in the future. There is a wealth of current research looking into possible reasons that local election typically draw such abysmal voter turnout year after year. Many simply blame this on voter apathy, a frustration with current politicians and government in general, or simply on a mismanagement of the election calendar, resulting in elections in off years simply not gaining the attention that the y need to in order to garner a deeper interest in local government. While the reality is that it is likely a combination of these factors that have created the problem, a solution centered on having local elections coincide with the federal cycle will likely be a quick way to improve initial voter turnout numbers. Then, attention could be directed into getting more local involvement in government and restoring trust to the people in their own political system. To begin, let us consider the state of California. Hajinal and Lewis (2003) looked at some empirical research to determine various factors that are leading to low voter turnout in elections for various mayoral and city council races. The feeling was that something needed to be done to combat these low turnout numbers in order to have a more active and politically sensitive government. The study revealed that many residents in various towns and cities throughout the state had lost faith in their local government, so they have c eased any type of involvement in their community political system, most of all among these local elections. As a result, many incumbents are running unchallenged and seemingly unabated in their quest for a career in local politics. Not only has this phenomenon resulted in voter apathy, as it is difficult to get excited about voting when there is only candidate running for various offices, but it has also cheapened the entire political process of local government. The author’s of this study concluded that many local politicians who had been in office for numerous election cycles were now unmotivated to really invoked lasting change in the community, because they had no fear of being unseated. Similar to other studies, it was also uncovered that the same incumbents were supported in every campaign by the same special interest groups who could count on the local politicians to keep voting their way on various issues. It has been little wonder that many local communities simply h ave low turnout on voting day (Hajinal & Lewis, 2003). This study employed a methodology whereby current voting data was triangulated with current events in an effort to determine what remedies could be found to help encourage higher numbers of voters to actually turn out and cast their vote on election day. The research findings and data led to the eventual conclusion that shifting local

Managing Resources and Information Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing Resources and Information - Essay Example The measures are taken care of during the design and construction process of a building, or if the assembly is already constructed, they are incorporated into it. An important module of the fire safety measures is creation of awareness among the masses specially children. Statistics presented by the fire brigade fire investigation unit New South Wales show that 3000 fire accidents affect children annually and out of these, nearly 10 percent of the fires are lighted by the children themselves. Generally fire prevention officers are responsible for keeping the check on buildings and making people alert about the expected hazard. The text presents an evaluation of the fire hazards, how can they be communicated to the children, what will be the challenges involved and how can they be overcome etc. Moreover, the report also covers the recruitment process for the employees and the evaluation of the adopted practice. In a nutshell, the report examines the implementation and assessment of the child safety awareness program comprehensively. Failure in the recruitment of eligible and competent staff not only effects the functioning due to inappropriate levels of skills but also has an adverse outcome on the profitability of a firm. Recruiting employees does not only include the selection of the candidates but it is the complex and widespread process involving the decision making and planning capabilities of the management to select and employ the best and apposite workforce. Skills required for different jobs differ from one another. For example, a lower or line manager should be a good team player and during recruitment of a person for such a job, managers must look into the candidates whether they are team players or not. However, the selection and employment of the appropriate personnel is not the end to the recruitment process. It also goes on to the training and retention of the staff members so that they contribute positively to the progress of the

Research proposal in CSR Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Proposal in CSR - Research Paper Example Literature Review Summary 15 III. Research Objectives and Questions 15 IV. Research Design and Methodology 17 A. Secondary Data Collection 17 B. Scope and Limitation 18 V. Proposed Time Table 18 References 19 I. Introduction The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a haven of economic and political strength in a region that is ravaged by political disorder and wars. This strength, alongside other factors, has helped the Kingdom establish its place as one of the major business hubs in the world, with giant multinational corporations basing their operations in the country. These multinational corporations, such as the banking sector, will continue to proliferate and dominate if present trends in the country continue (Shoult 2006). With local and global companies manoeuvring simultaneously in a fast moving economy, one of the major business concerns in Saudi Arabia in the recent decade is corporate social responsibility (CSR) as well as its function and direction in the business environment of th e Kingdom. The opposite is true for the United Kingdom. The introduction of corporate social responsibility in the UK’s banking industry does not present entirely good opportunities. There are constraints in the voluntary programmes to deal with the unfavourable environmental and social effects produced by the banking industry in developing and developed nations (Solomon 2007). The political system of the UK have failed to challenge the influence of the banking sector beyond advocating gradual voluntary attempts to advance CSR, all of which have fell short of resolving successfully the major problems of sustainable development, poverty, climate change, and human rights (Ward & Smith 2006). Despite of the vast evidence, the programme of ‘Investing in the Future: a European conference on CSR and the finance sector, (ibid, p. 93)’ disproves the fact that the UK banking sector has yet failed to progress outside mainly unsuccessful efforts at self-regulation. The bank ing industry has a corporate social responsibility to adequately cater to the intricate groups of customers; a bank operates to maximize shareholders’ profit. It should sustain the most favourable liquidity to satisfy the demands of depositors. It is mandated to meet the official ‘deficit sector demand for credits’ (The National Commercial Bank 2009, p. 3). The banking sector should satisfy the provisions established by supervisory bodies to continue operations. Most of all, for the bank to be viewed as a responsible corporate entity, it has to provide substantial input to the economy’s highest development and meet the demands of its immediate vicinity (The National Commercial Bank 2009). Hence, the aim of this study is to comparatively study the challenges of CSR that the banking sector in Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom confront nowadays. Two major banks for each country are studied and compared, namely Aljazeera and the National Commercial Bank in S audi Arabia, and HSBC Bank and Barclays Bank in the UK. II. Literature Review A. Definition of CSR There appears to be countless definitions of corporate social responsibility, running the gamut of the basic to the complex, and an array of related concepts and assumptions, such as ‘corporate sustainability, corporate citizenship, corporate social investment, the triple bottom line, socially responsible investment, business sustainability and corporate governance’ (Thomas 2006, 3). Singh and colleagues (2009) defines CSR as â€Å"

ASSIGNMENT Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Assignment Example Political risk is the effect of change in political policies on investment. It is upon the government how much they want to return to the investor, they may even stop him from withdrawing his capital. Iquisha further commented below as to how helpful Susan’s post was as she thought the answer would be none of the above and the investors received the correct amount of return due to exchange rate. Iquisha’s comment is welcomed and we hope all her ambiguity is cleared through the answer. Another student Marquisha also commented to Susan’s answer in a positive manner and also stated about political risk from her book. Marquisha’s effort is highly appreciated. If US dollar depreciates, it implies that more dollars are required to purchase foreign goods, which in turn means that foreign goods become expensive for Americans. However, for foreigners, the implication of a depreciation in the US dollar is favorable. Due to decline in US dollar’s value against foreign currencies, the holders of the respective foreign currencies will find US goods cheaper, as they have to spend less dollars (Byrd, Hickman and

The Miracle of Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Miracle of Life - Essay Example Life's Greatest Miracle takes the mystery out of reproduction, but leaves plenty of awe in its place. This film is an appropriate scientific adjunct for birds-and-bees discussions with children and teenagers. However, parents may want to preview the birth scene which, although sensitively filmed, may be too intense for younger viewers. The Miracle of Life records human conception for the first time on film, and much more. Living, functioning reproductive systems are laid bare to the camera, and there is so much to explore and absorb that Nova's expert guidance is much needed and appreciated. The viewer is also able to follow an egg from its follicular development in an ovary, through the delicate, flowery fallopian tube for fertilization, and on to the uterus for development and eventual birth. Likewise, the audience follows the shorter journey of millions of sperm as they develop and strive mightily to reach the egg. Among the stunning sequences shot by the photographer is the incredible voyage of the sperm toward the egg.

Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international Essay

Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you - Essay Example This is because it is as easy as ABC to create false profiles on social media. Criminals use this opportunity to get access to others’ profiles by sending friend requests. Once approved, they get access to the victim’s personal data, photographs and albums which they might forward to adult sites, or this may lead to telephonic conversations and meetings, and nobody knows about the consequences. The criminal can also adopt identity of real people by using their hacked photographs and information, for the purpose of attracting friends. This topic holds a strong place among ethical issues in e-marketing. Internet savvy persons are getting more and more informed about false e-marketing or fake e-business advertisements. False identity helps the criminal in preplanned attacks against payment systems like pensions and medical insurance. E-marketing ethics require that in order to carry out effective e-marketing, the e-marketer must base the business on honest grounds. If he is honest in displaying his identity, consumers will automatically come to him because e-consumers always do business with the names they can trust. Similarly, it is unethical to adopt the identity of another successful organization as doing so tends to bring harm to the reputation of the owner of the cloned identity. According to PR Log, a Press Release, twenty fake identity factories had been sealed which were being operated by criminals who produced cloned driving licenses and utility bills. The Metropolitan Police was able to track down these f actories in an Operation, arrested the criminals and closed the factories. If such criminals keep on getting caught, then this would be a good lesson for those who think of crossing the ethical boundaries in interacting with social media and in carrying out e-marketing. Anna Johnson revealed in her article that according to a research conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, about

The Miracle of Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Miracle of Life - Essay Example Life's Greatest Miracle takes the mystery out of reproduction, but leaves plenty of awe in its place. This film is an appropriate scientific adjunct for birds-and-bees discussions with children and teenagers. However, parents may want to preview the birth scene which, although sensitively filmed, may be too intense for younger viewers. The Miracle of Life records human conception for the first time on film, and much more. Living, functioning reproductive systems are laid bare to the camera, and there is so much to explore and absorb that Nova's expert guidance is much needed and appreciated. The viewer is also able to follow an egg from its follicular development in an ovary, through the delicate, flowery fallopian tube for fertilization, and on to the uterus for development and eventual birth. Likewise, the audience follows the shorter journey of millions of sperm as they develop and strive mightily to reach the egg. Among the stunning sequences shot by the photographer is the incredible voyage of the sperm toward the egg.

The exhibition entitled Face of our Time Research Paper

The exhibition entitled Face of our Time - Research Paper Example The Swiss photographer, Daniel Schwartz, focused his subjects to the effects of globalization. The photographs were able to portray less exposed subjects such as Bazaar Day. The photographs were a collection of his travel. Though the images offer the audience less feeling of vulnerability, the photographs remain persistent. These pictures spoke that globalization is widespread and a lot of places were very much affected. Poverty and inequality can be seen in the pictures. If some countries have very clean and organized places such as market, a lot of places in central Asia do not have these opportunities and facilities. Thus globalization has its own series of pitfalls. Looking at Schwartz’s collection, he really wanted to convey a message about globalization to the world. Someone’s perfect place can mean to give another one’s place inadequacy. If there are countries that were blessed because of globalization, there are also those suffering because of it. Zanele Muholi’s collection and work gave voice to the visual identity of the marginalized queer black people in South Africa. Her elegant photographs of queer and transgendered women showed a strong message regarding marginalization of this kind of population. The collection spoke of identity and being of the queers. Discrimination especially based on gender has long been an issue not only in South Africa but in the world. The elegant portraits by Muholi showed pride, strength, and identity of the queer blacks. South African queers, with reference to the pictures.

Describing the Social and Cultural Dimensions in My Organization Essay Example for Free

Describing the Social and Cultural Dimensions in My Organization Essay Social and cultural theories strive to explain how people relate to each other and/or the surrounding environment. Organizational culture represents a common perception held by the organization’s member. This was made explicit when we defined culture as a system of shared meaning. Therefore, those individuals with different backgrounds or at different levels in the organization will tend to describe the organization’s culture in similar terms. Most large organizations have a dominant culture and numerous sets of subcultures. A dominant culture expresses the core values that are shared by a majority of the organization’s members. When we talk about an organization’s culture, we are referring to its dominant culture. It is this macro view of culture that gives an organization its distinct personality. Subcultures tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or experiences that members face. These subcultures are likely to be defined by department designations and geographical separation. The purchasing department, for example, can have a subculture that is uniquely shared by members of that department. It will include the core values of the dominant culture plus additional values unique to members of the purchasing department. Similarly, an office or unit of the organization that is physically separated from the organization’s main operations may take on a different personality. Again, the core values are essentially retained but modified to reflect the separated unit’s distinct situation. If organizations had no dominant culture and were composed only of numerous subcultures, the value of organizational culture as an independent variable would be significantly lessened because there would be no uniformity in the interpretation of the values that represented appropriate and inappropriate behavior. It is the â€Å"shared meaning† aspect of culture that makes it such a potent device for guiding and shaping values in the cultural behavior. But it is not to be ignored that the reality which many organizations contained also has subcultures that can influence the behavior of their members. The field of sociology focuses on cultures that are ethnically or geographically defined. However, the study of any culture is referred to as â€Å"a group of people who work (or play) together and journey towards a shared meaning and assumption†(Griswold, p.133). Griswold (1994) also shared that â€Å"culture† is one of those words that people use all the time but have trouble defining. Peterson (1979) states that when sociologists talk about culture, they usually mean one of four things: norms, values, beliefs, or expressive symbols. Norms are the way people behave in a given society; values are what people hold dear; beliefs are how people think the universe operates and expressive symbols are representations of the culture. Moreover, Lincoln and Kalleberg (1990) hold that â€Å"the quality of relationships between workers and their co-workers is positively associated with commitment and satisfaction.† If the people within a school do not connect and work together toward a common goal or passion, the culture is said to be stagnant or unproductive. Lincoln and Kalleberg provide three models of organizations. The consensus model holds shared goals and values within an organization that are the norm and dissidence is a problem requiring correction. The cleavage model has distinct groups within an organization that have different interests, especially fault lines that exist between job levels. The fragmentation model shows that are riddled with ambiguity where people hold multiple perspectives. It is plausible that most working environment can fall under all three models or have factions of each model within one department. I am now attached with SMK (P) Methodist, Pulau Pinang as an operational clerk. My services here include the basic operation of the school administration and also involved accounting for the staff and stock inventories in the school. I am under the Ministry of Education and the Jabatan Pelajaran Pulau Pinang. My school consists of 42 academic staff, 8 non-academic staff and 640 students. We have a unique ethnic diversity whereby most of the teachers are Chinese, four Indians and ten Malays. The students are also diversified into the three main ethnicity in Malaysia with minimal number of mixed ethnic students. My Principal is a Chinese lady. Her name is Wong Soon Kee. She is a very fierce and strict head of department. I do not have a very close rapport with her. She does not have very much concern for the teachers as well. It has been a very stressful environment for me and most of the staff here. But, the teachers have been very helpful and understanding to me. They are very friendly and accommodative towards me. At the office, there is a typist and a general worker to assist with my work here. This really helps ease my work and release my pressure of working here. My works is about service conformation of the teachers and support workers, prepare salary and pension worksheets and do the necessaries if there is any changes. My work also involved accounting such as preparing the accounts, paying bills, and bookkeeping. Every month, I have to settle the bill and make orders for items needed by the school. Any bills that I received will have to be settled in 2 weeks time which is a very short dateline for me. However, it is the ethics of the Jabatan Pelajaran Pulau Pinang. We have to abide by the rules set by the upper hands. If I have any meeting by the JPN, I will meet up with my friends from other schools. During this time, we will exchange our experiences about work and how to handle certain situations that arise. It is very useful and helped me a lot to improve my performance to do better than before. Every year, auditors from Jabatan Audit Sekolah will come to school to do auditing on the school accounts. They will take a week to check the accounts and identify whether all the transactions are according to the rules or not. Nevertheless, there will never be a session where they had never found any errors. If we had done a lot of errors, our school will be categorized under â€Å"Audit Bersyarat† and the JPN will send us for a course on how to improve our accounting skills to upgrade our performance. With the teachers’ high spirit and determination to guide the students, the PMR (Penilaian Menengah Rendah/Lower Secondary Assessment) and the SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia/Malaysian Certificate of Education) results are very encouraging. Most of the students show fortitude and willpower be it in their academic or co-curricular activities. All these achievements had helped them to be successful and quite a number of them had furthered their studies abroad. As a conclusion, a social and cultural dimension in an organization is important. It is because, it portrays the relationship between employees in completing their daily tasks and ensuring that the tasks are done well with high quality. Culture Beginnings and the Impact of Founders as Leaders spring from three sources: 1. beliefs, values, and assumptions of founders

Teaching Experiences And Observations From School Placements Education Essay

Teaching Experiences And Observations From School Placements Education Essay Part 1 As described by Learning Teaching Scotland (LTS), the Assessment is for Learning programme is made up of three forms of assessment; Assessment as Learning, which involves learning about how to learn Assessment for Learning which involves continuously using assessment to support classroom learning and teaching in order for pupils to progress effectively and is a formative approach, and Assessment of Learning (AoL) which involves assessing pupils at the end of a topic or course to find out what learning has or has not taken place. It is a summative approach which ultimately uses grading to provide data and make judgements about the learner and the school. LTS represent these forms of assessment as a triangle which also shows the relationship between the curriculum, learning and teaching and assessment. AfL represents a change in the traditional model of school assessment, which previously has been the idea that the only desirable outcome form education was the achievement of top grades (summative assessment). Modern approaches such as AfL aims to encourage pupils to learn in a deep, constructivist manner (Cohen et al., 2004, p300) and not merely surface learning which occurs when teaching to the test (Bryce, 2009 Lecture ). The Assessment is for Learning programme is essentially trying to get teachers to do less AoL and more AfL (Bryce, 2011 Lecture). LTS have based this idea upon the work of Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam. They documented their research on formative assessment in Inside the Black Box (London: Kings College, 1998). In this paper, the authors describe formative assessment as: activities undertaken by teachers and by their students in assessing themselves, which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged (Pe 8) From this it can be understood that formative assessment involves the teacher and the pupil interpreting their teaching and learning and providing feedback to one another. This feedback is then used as an indication as to how to proceed with the lesson or how to improve on previous work and learning. Therefore, assessment is not just about how well the pupils DID, it is about how they ARE doing and how to improve further. I will now discuss examples from my own teaching experiences and observations from my placement school where AfL and successful teaching approaches were very much embedded into the lessons of all year groups. During both placements, I observed several teachers sharing the learning objectives with the class using the We Are Learning To method. I observed that this method was commonly used with S1 and S2 classes and less frequently S3 upwards. I implemented this method into all my classes, from 1st to 4th year, and although this method does not appear to be an effective assessment tool as the outcomes are being introduced before any teaching has taken place, by referring to the outcomes during and at the end of the lesson ensures that both teacher and pupil are clear that the learning journey is on the right track (Simpson, 2006, p64). Therefore, teachers are challenged to constantly assess whether the pupils have learnt the intended objectives. By referring to the objectives at the end and asking pupils to what they felt they had achieved or learnt helped me to assess whether the objectives I had written up were in fact achievable, whether the lesson activities helped to meet the objective s or were too numerous, as I had been over optimistic in what I aimed to achieve in a lesson. Reflection and evaluating my teaching is vital to ensure that appropriate and effective learning is taking place at all times. Kerry (2004) supports this idea: Master teachers share learning outcomes to assess whether the learning journey is on the right track and whether it is on target to reach its destination (p100) By referring to the objectives at the end of the lesson, also helped me to gauge the learning of my pupils and check for areas of difficulty because in my experience pupils who understood the lesson could relate this to the learning objective and likewise, pupils who did not understand key areas could relate this to the outcome they could not meet. Asking for pupil feedback not only allowed me to assess their learning but helped me with planning for the next lesson and its starter, because in some cases I had to go over certain key points again. An example of this was where pupils fed back to me that they did not understand what the term niche meant. This was a learning objective, thus next lesson, I went over the term again, and provided further examples but also asked them to carry out a matching exercise requiring to match the niche with the organism. When I got feedback from the class again they were all able to successfully state the definition of niche. I would revisit the LOs at the end of the lesson, followed by a question and answer session involving all pupils, however, I didnt always have as much time as I needed for the QA, so I used a method I observed other teachers use, which was request feedback from the class by asking them to write down anything they were unsure about or did not understand as well as what they had learnt, on a post-it-note and stick it on the board before leaving. Other forms of effective feedback I observed included the thumbs method in which thumbs were raised if pupils were happy with the work; thumbs were halfway showing slight concern and thumbs were fully down if the pupil was struggling. By asking the entire class to do this the teacher was able to evaluate the progress of the whole class and if there were problems they were dealt with then, during that lesson. I also observed the use of and used myself mini whiteboards as a method of whole class evaluation. I found it invaluable, not just for a change in pupil activity but as a useful assessment tool and also an effective method of getting the whole class to answer as opposed to a dominate few. During this placement, I carried out formative marking of homework with all my classes, using comments only. Ian smith (2003) states: Marks with comments do not enable students to improve, yet comments on their own do This suggests that when pupils are presented with both marks and comments pupils will focus solely on the marks regardless of whether the mark was good or poor, thus ignoring the information that will help them improve. Black and Harrison (2004) suggest that the type of feedback provided must be beneficial to pupils and enable them to move forward thus the 2 stars and a wish method was used to highlight areas that where the pupils had done (positive reinforcement) and any area that could be improved upon and how this could be improved upon (next steps and targets). Although I told the classes to read their feedback or answer any questions I had left, when I took the jotters in to mark the next piece of homework, not all the pupils had completed the previous works questions or found the answers to questions they had missed out. I think one of the reasons for this is that when I handed back the jotters, most pupils put them away, I should have given the pupils time in class to read the comments and if they had any questions they had the opportunity to ask. Part 2 In this section, I will first discuss the conflict between formative assessment (AfL) and summative assessment (AoL). I will then discuss how grades can be used constructively within schools based upon observations and school experience. Summative assessment and the giving of grades have always had a dominant role in the education system, particularly in the upper school. In fact, such assessment has been derogatively termed Assessment is for Grades (Bryce, 2008, pg 581) indicating as mentioned in section one, that there is a common view that the only worthwhile outcome of school is good grades. This contrasts greatly with the view of Black and Wiliam who wish to move away from grades and use the formative approach of comments only feedback. The authors state in Inside the Black Box (London: Kings College, 1998) that the giving of marks and the grading functions are over emphasised, while the giving of useful advice and the learning function are under-emphasised. The educational research and literature have shown the benefits of formative assessment, such as promoting deeper learning for all pupils through good quality interactions and feedback on how best to improve. This is not the case however, when grades and summative assessment is used. Wiliam (2008) argues that when pupils do a piece of work, the teacher marks it and if that piece of work gets an A, the pupil gets to keep that grade A even if they subsequently forget everything they ever knew about that topic. The effect of this attitude and teachers only teaching to the test encourages a very shallow approach to the curriculum where teachers and students skate across the surface and everyone feels good because of the grade achieved, however, the pupil does not accumulate any knowledge. This type of pupil attitude was seen frequently on placement from 1st years having sat their end of topic to tests, to 3rd years having sat their Unit 1 NAB. There were some pupils in each of these classes and the first thing they did was look at their mark and sighed with relief because they had passed. This was particularly evident in the 2 3rd year classes who had just sat their NABs. I found some pupils were happy with the pass and did not care about where they went wrong because they passed. It is this mentality of the grade is what is important that must be changed. Using a formative approach gets pupils to take responsibility for their learning and to want to better their knowledge as opposed to just scrape by. Wiliam (1998) has defended the use of comments marking and interestingly though, pupils who just sat a test, NAB or their 4th year prelim, because only grades were given back to pupils, most enquired as to why certain marks were not given, or what exactly was wrong with the answer they wrote down. This highlighted to me, the importance of comments, because there will be some pupils who rely on the feedback to improve, but the challenge is to get all pupils to want to learn how to improve. Additionally, I also observed grades and final marks de-motivate pupils. Once pupils got their results, they immediately compared marks with each other. For those pupils who had failed their NAB or test, instant disappointment and this is another problem with summative assessment. Low ability pupils and pupils who frequently receive low marks expect and face constant disappointment when they get their results back. Pupils, who have often experienced failure, will not expose themselves to any further failure. Therefore, they do not possess the will to succeed and do well, consequently affecting their progress in school (Kyriacou, 2001). Furthermore, summative assessments are not wholly reliable as I believe them to be a snapshot of how students performed on the day in an exam or test and does not fully reflect overall student progress and performance. The grades achieved are over-interpreted by parents too who, from observations made whilst sitting in on parents evening, solely focus on the grade as opposed to pupil development. Parents of S2 pupils were consistently asking what level their child would be sitting in 3rd and 4th year and in some cases argued that Intermediate 1 was not appropriate and they wanted their child to sit intermediate 2, even though the pupils in question were happy to be sitting Int 1 because they struggled with science. Schools are constantly being compared with each other in league tables, and the media and the government can easily make their comparisons and produce literature based on summative assessment forms. This is more difficult to do with other forms of assessment. Summative assessments can produce data which is relied upon by employers and other educational institutes to see what skills pupils have developed; thus showing that grades and results will be an integral part of the school system. Although I think that there are problems with grading, mainly the effect on pupil attitude and motivation, I do not believe summative assessments should be abolished. AfL promotes the development of learning I think after the hard work in classes where pupils have recognised their strengths and weaknesses and tried to improve, they should have the right to gain a recognised qualification. Despite the negative views on grading and summative assessment I believe it can be used constructively and in a formative role to promote wider and deeper learning. Whilst on placement I observed an innovative approach to going through prelims with senior classes. The teacher I observed used an approach which I imitated with one of my own classes. The teacher asked the pupils to work in pairs and on the mini whiteboards create a marking scheme for section A (multiple choice). Effectively, the pupils were re-doing the prelim, but they had the opportunity to discuss and learn from one another before marking their efforts using the marking scheme. The next lesson the teacher split the class into groups. Each table had a set of questions from section B of the prelim and they had to work together to create another marking scheme for the specific questions, before rotating round to the next table and working through those questions. Once pupils had completed all the questions, the teacher went through the answers, and groups marked their efforts. When I questioned the class, they all told me they knew where they had gone wrong in the prelim and they knew what mistakes not to make again. The peer support helped them feel more confident as they discussed how they interpreted the questions as well as compared methods and answers. Typically with a test or prelim, the teacher would go through each question and give the answers, but this simply bores and de-motivates the pupils. However, this class teacher had turned a summative assessment into a real active learning opportunity for the pupils. There is clearly some overlap between the 2 forms of assessment as it is AfL which will, in effect, help pupils to achieve better grades when AoL takes place. Thus, finding a balance between the approaches, mainly using summative assessment formatively, can be an effective tool for developing successful learners. Part 3a Within section 3a I shall identify some of the positive features of the Standard Grade and Intermediate courses, as well as indicate the differences in assessment structure between the 2 courses. Standard Grades (SG) replaced Ordinary Grades in the 1980s after the school leaving age was raised to 16. It was felt that Ordinary grades were only suitable for 30% of the school population, thus SGs were proposed to help meet the needs of those pupils now required to stay in school (Bryce, 2008). Simpson (2006) states: The introduction of Standard Grades led to a much bigger proportion of the cohort than previously, gaining qualifications and in a wider range of subjects. This shows that SGs fulfilled their intended purpose, providing a course that was achievable for all. One reason for this is the advantage of having three SG levels, thus accommodating all levels of ability. More able pupils can be pushed, whilst less able pupils have material they can cope with but also have an opportunity to achieve the higher of the two levels, since SG candidates are represented at two levels, Credit/General or General/Foundation, thus providing a good motivator. This aspect contrasts greatly with Intermediate courses, since pupils doing Intermediate 1/2 are all the same level, and this can lead to classes with a wide range of abilities. This was evident in my placement school, where S3 and S4 pupils sat Intermediate courses. The mixed level of ability was diverse and also caused concern since any pupil who was not coping could not simply be placed down a level because the Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2 courses were very different in Biology. Thus, teachers had to determine what was best for the pupil whether it was a case of maturity, or risk pupils being put in Intermediate 1, and them having to catch up a years worth of work. Furthermore, SGs are always taught over 2 years. Thus providing both teachers and pupils enough time to fully comprehend the topic and focus more on learning rather than assessment. Schools which run SG courses mean that the Intermediate courses are taught over one year and as seen in my first placement school, there is added pressure for the teacher to get through the required material, thus learning and teaching opportunities may missed due to time constraints. Additionally, there is more chance of teachers teaching to the test. In my second placement however, as the Intermediate 2 courses ran the same length as SG courses, I observed that the extra time was highly beneficial and likewise, allowed for more creative and active lessons, as well as AfL approaches. The assessment of the 2 courses is very different also. SGs are externally assessed, although some subjects like English require a portfolio which contributes to the grade. Intermediate courses however, are both internally and externally assessed, and are very similar in structure to Higher Still, thus enabling continuity when pupils move on. Pupils are required to sit National Assessment Banks (NAB) at the end of every section in the course. This can be stressful for pupils as they are sitting several Intermediates, so will have to sit several NABs and can have the feeling of being NABd to death (Bryce, 2011). Teachers also have an increased workload and paperwork with quality marking of the NABs. The increase in assessment in Intermediates can also de-motivate pupils should they fail, but also because NABs are pitched at level C so depending on their mark they may feel apprehensive about the exams. However, there is an opportunity to re-assess pupils, since NABs can be re-sat. In additional to differences in internal assessment, the external assessment of both courses are very different and distinct advantages. As mentioned, the SG candidates have the opportunity to sit two levels, thus aim for the higher of the two, however, this means that SG pupils will be sitting at least 16 exams. This can cause a lot of pressure for pupils. Whereas, for Intermediate courses there is only 1 exam per subject, thus this can encourage pupils to do the best that they can as it is one opportunity. With SG, pupils have a safety net with the lower level; however, Intermediate pupils dont have that. Instead if pupils do fail, they will have their NABs recognised by the SQA. The last difference in terms of assessment is the grading of each course. Intermediate grading system of A-C has no limit for pupils, where as SG grading system is 1-7 and pupils sitting General/Foundation are limited in their possible grade, as the highest they can achieve is a 3. Part 3b At the moment pupils taking 8 SGs currently sit more than 20 hours of examinations, which exceed most universities Honours diet of examinations (Souter, 2008, pg 445). Thus, the argument that current school pupils are being over-assessed is well understood. A CfE aims to address this issue with the proposed National 4 and National 5 qualifications. The focus on these assessments is to promote greater breadth and depth of learning, including a greater focus on the secure development of skills and knowledge (LTS, 2011) Although CfE has been implemented officially in schools this year, with the current S1; these new qualifications will not be sat until session 2013/14. National 4 is based at SCQF level 4 and will replace Intermediate 1 and general level SG, whilst National 5 is based at SCQF level 5 and will replace Intermediate 2 and credit level SG. However, the main development of these new qualifications is that national 4 will be internally assessed by schools Teachers will continually assess pupils through coursework and at the end of the course, pupils will be awarded either a pass or a fail. National 5 on the other hand will be both internally assessed by the school, but also externally assessed by the SQA at the end of the course. For pupils, the National 4 strategy will ease the pressure and stress which accumulates with exams. However, for teachers and schools alike, there will be a definite increase in the workload for both all qualifications, not only in marking but by creating assessments. All internal assessments must be valid in that the tests must assess what is supposed to be tested and is a fair representation of pupils knowledge, skills and abilities. Assessments must also be reliable in that they must be consistent in marking and of standards. (Cohen et al., 2004, pg 331335). Currently, 13,500 of the 58,500 (23%) total school population leave school with qualifications at the time pupils will have sat their National 4 level assessment. Therefore, although by no means a majority, this number of pupils will leave school at this time without ever having sat an externally assessed exam. As well as this, the government will have to provide sufficient and adequate information on the new qualifications for both employers and parents. With just a pass or fail, employers may not rely on the National 4 and will need further evidence to show how well pupils actually did. School reports or portfolios of coursework and assessments for pupils may need to be provided; again this will add to the ever-increasing workload of teachers. Furthermore, parents will need to be both fully onboard with the new qualifications and understand their purpose. Intermediates have been in place in school for several years, yet during parents evening I observed many parents still seeking clarification as to what these qualifications actually are and asking for comparisons compared to O Grades and GCSEs. Thus information for parents is vital, not only so that they are aware of the changes that their children will face but also so that they too can support them at home. Regular feedback and reports of pupil progress will have to be given to parents, throughout National 4 and 5 courses. Although the new proposals will reduce the assessment burdens for pupils considerably and provide opportunities for deeper more meaningful learning, I believe that teachers will need to be properly supported throughout the introduction of these qualifications. Thus, they can then focus on creating effective learning and teaching experiences which will develop the skills and abilities of all their pupils, so that they can leave school as effective contributors, successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens. Word Count: 3,873

Culture and Migration: Visiting a Curandera :: Latino Doctor Immigration Globalization Essays

Culture and Migration: Visiting a Curandera If a person had never experienced it before it would probably be strange but through stories and personal experiences the setting was familiar and inviting. Curanderas are almost the equivalent of over-the-counter medicine for Latinos, not really, but close. If there is a symptom it is easier, faster and more comforting to visit the local curandera than it is to visit a doctor. Doctors require tests and until they are certain of the illness, their remedy is Tylenol. Typically, curanderas treat individuals in rooms inside their homes. The curandera we interviewed, Rosa heals in her home and has a small porch that serves as the waiting room which people are lucky if they find a seat because usually curanderas have many patients that are waiting to be cured. As the door opens you can feel your eyes adjust to the dim light within the narrow stretch of porch but once focused it is evident that standing is not an option because there are at least twelve other people waiting for â€Å"la mano santa† roughly translated means the curanderas heavenly touch. Sitting there it is difficult not to listen in on the many conversations that people are engaging in, while waiting. So many different voices all whispering because in the next room everyone knows that the curandera is healing; using her spiritual tools (prayer) to cure. Two women sitting to the right of us were having a detailed conversation about their reasons for coming to the curandera. The younger women with skin the color of â€Å"canela† (cinnamon) as is typical among Latinas was sharing her story with an elderly women that seemed to be in her early sixties, she had so many laugh wrinkles around her eyes and mouth that it was easy to diverge into another train of thought about the type of life that the old women might have lead. The younger girl was telling the older women that she works at the United Postal Service (U.P.S.) unloading boxes from the back of semi-trucks. This is where she was injured, in an attempt to pick a box she hurt her shoulder. The elderly wom an asked her a series of questions such as why she worked at a place that seemed so labor intensive and if see complained to her supervisor. What was

Source Analysis Us History

Assignment: 1. ) Read the following document, â€Å"Another Race of White Men Come Amongst Us†: Native American Views as British Replace the French in the Lower Mississippi Valley, 1765 2. ) Answer the following questions based on a reading of the above document and material from your textbook. ——————————————– 1. ) TYPE OF DOCUMENT: Is this a primary or a secondary source? -Primary 2. ) DATE(S) OF DOCUMENT: When was this document created? -It was created shortly after the British replaced the French in the Lower Mississippi Valley in 1765 3. ) AUTHOR (OR CREATOR) OF THE DOCUMENT: Who created this document? Alibamon Mingo, elderly leader of the Choctaw nation 4. ) DOCUMENT INFORMATION (There are many possible ways to answer A-E. ) A. List three things the author said that you think are important: 1. I think it’s important to know that the French gave them guns and oth er things to make hunting bountifully better for them as they embarked on their lands trying to make peace with the â€Å"red man† buying their trust and loyalty in relationships between the two races and culture. Mingo was grateful for this as it provided many ways of life for his tribe to survive. This is important because it marked a great peace trade between French and Indians. . With respect to the Land I was not Consulted in it, if I was to deliver my Sentiments evil disposed People might impute it to Motives very different from those which actuate me, it is true the Land belonged chiefly to those who have given it away; that the Words which were Spoken have been written with a Lasting Mark, the Superintendant marks every word after word as one would count Bullets so that no variation can happen, & therefore the words have been Spoken and the eternal marks traced I will not Say anything to contradict, but, on the Contrary Confirm the Cession which has been made.What I h ave now to Say on that head is, to wish that all the Land may be Settled in four years that I may See it myself before I die. 3. â€Å"There was one thing I would mention tho' it cannot concern myself, & that is the Behaviour of the traders towards our Women† â€Å"often when the Traders sent for a Basket of Bread & the Generous Indian sent his own wife to Supply their wants instead of taking the Bread out of the Basket they put their hand upon the Breast of their Wives which was not to be admitted, for the first maxim in our Language is that Death is preferable to disgrace. Men who did not honor the authority usually treated Indian women with dirspect and used them for their own sexual expectations. It was normal for British men to take Indian women and marry them. I supposed this is how is started. 5. ) FRANCE/ENGLAND/NATIVE AMERICANS Your textbook discusses how Native Americans developed different relations with the French and the English (Chapter 6, pp. 162-167). Read ov er that section of your book to answer the following questions. A. Although Native Americans were not mentioned in the 1763 Treaty of Paris that ended the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War), how did this treaty affect indigenous peoples who lived in Canada and areas east of the Mississippi River? -Britain gained control of Canada, eliminating the French threat from the North. France transferred all its territory west of the Mississippi River, including New Orleans to Spain as compensation for help during the war. B. ) What type of political/economic relationship did the French establish with Native Americans prior to 1763? The French had cemented respectful alliances with many Indian tribes. To Indians, gifts cemented social relationships, symbolizing honor and establishing obligation. The French had mastered the subtleties of gift exchange, distributing textiles and hats and receiving calumets (ceremonial pipes) in return. Generous givers expressed dominance and protec tion, not subordination, in the ceremonial practices of giving. C. ) According to your textbook (pp. 162-167), why didn’t the British believe in exchanging gifts with Native Americans (as the French had done)? From the British view, a generous gift might signify tribute (thus demeaning the giver), or it might be positioned as a bribe. They never indented to gain the friendship of Indians by presents. D. ) What caused Pontiac’s Rebellion of 1763? – The renewal of commitment to Indian ways and the formation of tribal alliances led to open warfare. Pontiac's Rebellion was a war waged by Indians of the Great Lakes region against British rule after the French and Indian War. The Indians, who had formed alliances with the defeated French, were dissatisfied with treatment from British officials.Unlike the Indian's French allies, British officials entrusted with Indian relations refused to offer gifts to tribal leaders such as guns, gunpowder, and ammunition. Furthermor e, English settlers began displacing Indians from their land. While French settlers and Indians seemed to live in relative harmony, the sheer number of English settlers that descended on the region prompted many Indians to support war. 6. ) Did Alibamon Mingo, the leader of the Choctaw nation, appear to look forward to future relations with the British (in the year 1765)? 7. ) LAND OWNERSHIP A. Did Alibamon Mingo think that once land treaties were signed with the British that Native Americans would no longer have access to those lands? -No he did not think that B. ) Did Native Americans view land ownership differently than Europeans? If so, in what way? – Yes. They viewed it as a place of abundance for food, clothing, and housing options for their way of living. He thought that the land, whether it forcefully taken or negotiated to share, that no matter what it still solely belonged to those who were there first. â€Å"it is true the Land belonged chiefly to those who have g iven it away†

Deadly Compassion Essay

Euthanasia means â€Å"good death†. It must not be misunderstood to mean simply killing he elderly. The purpose of euthanasia is to relieve the terrible suffering and pain of a terminally ill person with an incurable disease. The cause of euthanasia is compassion. Deadly Compassion There are many ways to euthanize. Some of the more common ways in the recent past: * Suffocation with a plastic bag, most of the time (but not all of the time) drugging the patient first. * Gassing them to death with carbon monoxide: not even approved for putting down a dog or executing a convicted murderer * Lethal injection, but families are not usually allowed to watch because of what the cool poison does to a person as it slides down the bloodstream. True, many people experience pain, pain that I could not imagine. But at twelve years of age, I watched as cancer ravaged my father’s body. He died from advanced stage malignant melanoma, using the selfless care of hospice workers and the anesthetic effects of morphine to die with true dignity. Termanally ill patients DO NOT have to die a painful death. Modern technology has made the passing of millions much less painless than anytime in the past. Proponents of euthanasia exploit our natural fear of an excruciating death by ignoring this technology. This deadly compassion will end up giving the Grim Reaper one more tool, and in the hands of greedy relatives, uncaring doctors, and less-than-thorough legislatures, the choas demonstrated in the Netherlands will be mirrored in every country that gives doctors the power to end their patients’ lives. The causes of euthanasia are a desire to end suffering and the viewpoint of having mercy on the suffering person by ending his or her life. Euthanasia is when a person is assisted in suicide because he or she can no longer stand the suffering that he or she is incurring. Proponents for euthanasia believe that it is a merciful and humane way to end life, instead of watching someone suffer. Opponents to euthanasia believe that people’s lives should be respected to natural death and should not be taken prematurely. Euthanasia is assisted suicide. In animals, it is often referred to as â€Å"putting to sleep.† For people, it is a crime. I’m not sure what causes of euthanasia would be, exactly, since it isn’t a disease but rather an action. Someone would commit euthanasia, or help someone commit suicide, if that person were sick or dying. A famous example of this was Dr. Kevorkian. For animals, euthanasia happens when animals are sick or if an animal shelter ha s too many animals to care for. The effect of euthanasia is death. Euthanasia is a desperate act that comes in many forms according to the definitions below. Consider the motifs when considering causes. Each case has its own circumstances and many ethical, moral, and legal considerations are taken into account. The purpose is to relieve suffering of an individual or animal and a difficult judgement is at stake. There are many controversial issues in regard to religion also. Euthanasia: the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit. (The key word here is â€Å"intentional†. If death is not intended, it is not an act of euthanasia) Voluntary euthanasia: When the person who is killed has requested to be killed. Non-voluntary: When the person who is killed made no request and gave no consent. Involuntary euthanasia: When the person who is killed made an expressed wish to the contrary. Assisted suicide: Someone provides an individual with the information, guidance, and means to take his or her own life with the intention that they will be used for this purpose. When it is a doctor who helps another person to kill themselves it is called â€Å"physician assisted suicide.† Euthanasia By Action: Intentionally causing a person’s death by performing an action such as by giving a lethal injection. Euthanasia By Omission: Intentionally causing death by not providing necessary and ordinary (usual and customary) care or food and water.