My Future free essay sample

Describe the world you come from- for example, your family, community, or school- and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations. Plummeting 100 feet beneath the surface, suspended in perfect equilibrium, bubbles climbing past my eyes, colors incomparable to anything I’ve ever seen, and only the sound of my breath interrupting the barrier of silence (vs. Perfect silence) I crave scuba diving on an hourly basis and it’s this craving that has opened my eyes to marine biology. I was born on the island of Guam where I’m convinced marine biology was imbedded into my mind to later be identified as my calling. However, I am being raised in my town, unfortunately for me, nowhere near an ocean. The nearest large body of water is Lake Michigan, with frigid waters and not the most eventful diving experiences. My father (Pops) is a certified dive master and has always dreamed his daughters would share his passion. We will write a custom essay sample on My Future or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page His stories have inspired me to get involved in scuba diving. I believe if I can scuba dive, observe marine life, and get paid for it, there’s nothing better. My parents don’t feel scuba diving is the best career for such a â€Å"bright and talented girl,† as they would put it, but I say it’s my future and my decision. My parents also say the pay isn’t sufficient. I beg to differ. The potential to travel as a marine biologist is fascinating to me. Since the age of zero, I have traveled to locations outside the United States, mostly in Micronesia, which my parents took a great liking to it. I have always been taught to keep an open mind about everyone and everything. I think this has helped me be a bigger person and be capable to approach a situation with out any preconceived notions, which allows me to not look like the stereotypical ignorant American. I remember a trip to Yap where my nanny was from. We were visiting her relatives and there were h alf naked and fully naked women running in a circle as part of a cultural ritual. It was a memorable experience and I have not encountered a more ‘different’ situation since then. Most Marine biologists travel in order to determine how different environments affect its inhabitants. I feel I will be able to adapt to the different countries in order to get along with the natives. I come from a family rooted world filled with aquatic adventure and diverse cultural experiences which have lead to my dream of becoming a world renown, traveling marine biologist.

Benefits of Yoga Essays

Benefits of Yoga Essays Benefits of Yoga Essay Benefits of Yoga Essay In our modern society, yoga seems like a new trend, but it actually began more than three thousand years ago in India. The word â€Å"yoga† is Sanskrit means to yoke, or unite, the mind, body, and spirit. Although yoga includes physical exercise, it is also is a way of life for which exercise is just one element. The main components of yoga are based on training your mind, body, and breathing, as well as connecting with your spirituality. Within the last few centuries, innovations and urbanizations of our society have strongly influenced the way we live. We strongly strive for that comfortable way of life, consisting of a balanced diet and a steady income. The way we eat to the way we find relaxation is much different from those of ancient times. Our food expectations have become increasingly high, resulting in bad health including high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. To make our society a better one and lessen these problems, yoga is the perfect solution. Yoga is for everyone, including you. You can begin your practice at any age, in any physical condition or in any place where you can take a deep breath (Khalsa amp; Seibel 1). You should do yoga twice a week because it improves your weight control, expands your physical endurance, and enhances your sex life. Yoga improves your weight control. There have been many studies to determine whether yoga increases mindful eating and leads to less weight which stimulates weight loss. In one yoga study conducted by Alan Kristal and colleagues, they tested over fifteen thousand men and women in their mid-fifties. Out of those who had been normal weight at age forty-five, only one hundred of them had practiced yoga for four or more years at least thirty minutes weekly. These subjects average weight gain was about three pounds less than the subjects who don’t do yoga. Another group of thirty subjects that had been overweight at age forty-five actually lost an average of five pounds compared to an average gain of thirteen pounds in non-yoga practitioners (â€Å"Yoga† 7). In multiple cases, yoga has shown to promote weight loss in people who are overweight and prevent weight gain in individuals of normal weight. People who engage in mindful eating can better conquer weight loss because they learn to make choices about their eating based on awareness of hunger and value quality rather than quantity of food. In one particular study, researchers developed a Mindful Eating Questionnaire that addressed more than three hundred people on awareness, external cues, emotional response, and distraction. Of these subjects, more than forty percent practiced yoga more than one hour per week, another forty percent walked for an hour and a half per week, and more than fifty percent engaged in more than ninety minutes of moderate or strenuous physical exercise per week. According to the results, body weight of the participants was within normal range, and the body mass index(BMI) was lower among people who practiced yoga compared to those who did not (â€Å"Yoga† 7). Researchers observed a relationship between higher scores on the mindfulness questionnaire and a lower BMI, which indicates that mindful eating may have an important role in long-term weight maintenance (Mitchell 5). â€Å"Mindfulness Eaters† those who eat when they are depressed, anxious, or when they are not hungry are more likely to weigh more or to gain weight. Alan Kristal explains, â€Å"From my experience, I think it has to do with the way that yoga makes you more aware of your body. So when you’ve eaten enough food, you’re sensitive to the feeling of being full and this makes it much easier to stop eating before you’ve eaten too much†(Sherman 186). Yoga improves your physical endurance. Everyone is familiar with the elliptical or treadmill, but yoga is an alternative workout that works your muscles just as efficiently. According to Yoga studies conducted by University of California, a powerful yoga session averages a four-hundred and fifty five calorie-burn which is equivalent to any other cardiovascular exercise and has also been proven that yoga promotes cardiovascular benefits (Sherman 186). This is an exercise that offers assistance to individuals with multiple diseases including sclerosis, osteoarthritis, and cardiovascular disease or heart failure. Yoga helps individuals reach other physical activity goals through helping them with flexibility and balance and strengthening their muscles and bones. Yoga enhances and promotes a healthy sex life. Yoga gives you greater flexibility and muscle tone. Better sex really? Practicing yoga will add numerous physical and emotional benefits to time you spend with your partner in the bed. If you’re looking for some guidance on a greater sex life or just spontaneity, there have been plenty of studies on this topic to show the truth. Sexually active people tend to live longer and have a lower incidence of heart disease, says Beverly Whipple, Ph. D. , co-author of The Science of Orgasm (Johns Hopkins, 2006). According to Whipples research, hormones and brain chemicals released during orgasm help manage acute and chronic pain (Isaacs 15). According to Whipples research, hormones and brain chemicals released during orgasm help manage acute and chronic pain. In other studies it sex can also fight depression and weight gain. In yoga, you can learn many different positions. You also learn how to become much more flexible and more confident with your body. Yoga helps enhance the bodys core strength and sexual energy. But how does yoga really help? It makes you flexible, tougher, and self-confident; in and out of the sheets. The more time you spend on the mat, the more steamy your time in the bedroom,† says Jacquie Noelle Greaux, a yoga instructor and co-author of Better Sex through Yoga (Isaacs 16). Similar to Kegel exercises, movements such as the Root Lock or Mula Bandha can toughen the pelvic-floor thus improving the intensity of your orgasms. Yoga experts believe that â€Å"sexualit y is stored in the hip and pelvic area† (Isaacs 16). Other Yoga poses like Bound Angle† and Wide-Legged Forward Bend â€Å"increase blood flow† to the hip and pelvic area (Isaacs 16), which enhances sexual compassion and pleasure. Feeling good about your body is sexy. Outside of increasing your sex life, poses like Chaturanga (Four-Limbed Staff Pose) work hard in building your strength and stamina. Additionally, yoga teaches self-acceptance allowing you to feel less self-conscious and more confident about your body. Want to make your sex life even better than that? By practicing yoga with your lover, you can both enjoy the benefits and grow closer in the process. Greaux explains, Couples yoga is like foreplay: Youre breathing, sweating, and moving together and when the sheets are untangled, the fruits of your practice can have a long-lasting outcome(Isaacs 15). Doing yoga with your partner can be very effective for your sexual life. Engaging in yoga with your partner supports a physical, emotional, and mental connection between the two of you. Whether you do yoga once, twice, or three times a week†¦ the more the better. Yoga offers so many benefits, why wouldn’t you want to do it? It improves your weight control, physical endurance, and your sex life. Not only does it augment your physical aspects of life, but your social life as well. It has also been said that yoga has a progressive effect on learning and memory. There are still questions as to what other happiness yoga brings to us. All in all, yoga is a positive exercise that can change your body, mind, and soul in a safe, positive way. Boehde, Dawn, and Porcari, John. Yoga Physical Benefits for Muscle Toning and Weight Loss. Health Fitness Guide, Physical Fitness Health Nutrition Guide, Healthy Diets, Weight Loss Pills, Home Gym Fitness Equipment Store. Web. 11 Oct. 2010. lt; fuelthemind. com/health/fitness/pilates_yoga/what_is_yoga. htmlgt;. Isaacs, Nora. The Yoga of Joyful Sex. Remote Access to UMUC Library Resources UMUC. Health Source Consumer Edition, July-Aug. 2007. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. lt;http://web. ebscohost. com. ezproxy. umuc. edu/ehost/detail? vid=27amp;hid=6amp;[emailprotected]amp;bdata=JmxvZ2luLmFzcCZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ==#db=hxhamp;AN=26138135gt;. Mitchell, Deborah. Yoga Helps With Weight Loss. Emaxhealth: Daily Health News. Center for Mindful Eating, 19 Sept. 2009. Web. 13 Oct. 2010. lt; emaxhealth. om/1275/62/33510/yoga-helps-weight-loss. htmlgt;. Pascale, Kavanagh. Yoga. KidsHealth the Webs Most Visited Site about Childrens Health. Aug. -Sept. 2008. Web. 13 Oct. 2010. lt;http: //kidshealth. org/teen/food_fitness/exercise/yoga. htmlgt;. Seibel, Machelle M. A Womans Book of Yoga: Embracing Our Natural Life Cycles. New York: Avery, 2002. Print. Sherman, Alexa Joy TOTAL BODY POWER YOGA. Source Nov. 2004: 186-91. Health Source: Consumer Edition. Web. 11 Oct. 2010. lt;http://web. ebscohost. com. ezproxy. umuc. edu/ehost/detail? vid=17amp

Journal learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Journal learning - Essay Example Resistance to change, though expected in management scope, has been the most challenging because of involved moral and legal implications. Some of the people with whom I have been working are older and I often feel a moral obligation to respect their opinions and values. Introducing a change, contrary to practices that the people have been accustomed to have generated conflict, sometimes with strong resistance from old people. Explanations on need for such changes and helping employees to adapt to change have helped in managing resistance, but there have been isolated cases when some employees have accused me of undermining their competence and experience and dictating on them. I conducted literature review with the aim of understanding change management skill and measures for evaluating competence in the skills. Being goal oriented and ability to motivate people towards desired goals are some of the competencies of an effective change manager (Silva 2013, p. 63). Possible short-term benefits are some of the motivational factors and effective change management should incorporate plans for the gains, communicate the plans, and implement the plans. Effective change management, according to Shalini (2009, p. 201, 202, 226- 229), also require communication skills and cultural competence. Ability to learn, to make decisions and solve problems, to manage self, to manage people, and to manage projects are also necessary competencies for effective project management (Pugh 2012, p. 203). Technical skills on the desired change and knowledge of the organization in which change is to be implemented are also necessary for effective change management (Vukotich 2011, p. 36). Self-assessment results identify my competence in setting realistic but challenging goals and my ability to motivate people towards the goals, through empowerment and rewards. My score in verbal communication is commendable but I

School Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

School Environment - Essay Example In addition, student characteristics and class room factors may also have an impact on learning and teaching. It is essential for instructors to take note of both the community needs and environmental/contextual factors in addressing the needs of the school. Moreover, the uneven number of learners from underprivileged family backgrounds who precipitately terminate their education in high school has turned into a significant matter in recent times. In spite the growth of education over the last twenty years, likelihood of accomplishment, level of taking part, and representation all remain substantial among young learners from well off regions and minimal among young learners from underprivileged areas. Therefore, it is the duty of all education stakeholders to consider probable or all environmental/contextual factors and community needs that may have an impact on a school (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009). By being aware of and comprehending the environmental/contextual factors and communit y needs, stakeholders, for example, instructors may adequately organize their class room instruction so that all students learn properly. This paper will look at environmental/contextual factors and community needs of a high school and for each of the identified needs describe some possible solutions that could be used to deal with the needs of the high school. The environmental/contextual factors and community needs of a high school include socioeconomics and the population of a community. The socio-economic status of a high school may be made up of low, middle, and high class populations. Nevertheless, socio-economic factors and needs have an impact on a high school and instruction when a low achievement is realized due to a low socio-economic level. In a high school, learners who come from households that are underprivileged have a greater chance of experiencing difficulties at school than learners who come from households that are placed in the middle or upper ranks of the socia l strata. In addition, learners from low social status households are more probable to lessen their level of participation in high school, either by foregoing the chance to continue with learning in high school or by dropping out of school. These learners are also likely to pursue complex paths in high school, such as restarting or repeating their courses due to non-learning issues, or deferring their enrollment in school. In addition, learners from underprivileged backgrounds suffer from poor nutrition. Consequently, poor nutrition can have a negative impact on their memory and attention during instruction thus leading to a decreased intelligence quotient score than learners from high socio-economic positions. Studies indicate that learners who come from low socio-economic status backgrounds have slower and lower academic attainment in comparison to students from high socio-economic positions (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009). Also, when instructors make decisions about learners on the b asis of their socio-economic position and class, they are taking the foremost step in stopping learners from gaining an equal chance for academic success. There are a number of possible solutions that could be used to deal with this need in a high school. Instructors need to play a part in dealing with the stigma of poverty. Instructors can accomplish this by not reinforcing a learner coming from a low socio-economic status or having depleted self-esteem. Learners also need to look at the learners as human beings and not as people occupying specified socio-economic positions. Looking at learners in this way will assist tutors not to be biased towards learners of particular socio-economic classes. In addition, enhancing the degree of instruction

Human Sexuality- Sex Surrogates Unit 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Sexuality- Sex Surrogates Unit 7 - Essay Example d of sexuality are responsible in ensuring that the surrogates and the client are well informed of their each individual task prior to participation in the sexual therapy. Details regarding the risk of possible sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV, herpes, etc. should be discussed thoroughly to prevent possible problems throughout the length of the treatment. Allowing the involved parties about the possible transfer of sexually transmitted diseases will make them more aware and be extra careful not to go through beyond what is necessary for the therapy. In order to maintain a healthy relationship between the clients and the surrogates, safe sex guidelines and constant medical checkups are required.3 As soon as the sex therapist uses a surrogate partner as part of the sex therapy program; the surrogate should automatically take responsibility on the client’s welfare. It means that the surrogate should all the time keep the client’s information as confidential. Also, it should be clear to the surrogate not to act as the sexual therapist but to function only under the supervision of the sex therapist. It is the responsibility of the sex therapist to make sure that the surrogate is clear about his role and obligations as a surrogate partner. There is a code of ethics that is designed for the use of professional surrogates association.1 Therefore, all surrogates are obliged to act according to the appropriate and accepted professional ethics. In line with the use of a surrogate-assisted sex therapy, the clinical procedures should always be consistent with the SSSS admissions policy that surrogates must work only under the supervision of a licensed sex therapist.

Identity in clothing

Identity in clothing THE CREATION OF IDENTITY THROUGH CLOTHING The work of Alison Lurie (Lurie, 1983) â€Å"The Language of Clothes† and Didier Gondola’s (Gondola, 2010) â€Å"La Sape Exposed! High Fashion among Lower-Class Congolese Youth† will be discussed in order to examine the concept of creating an identity through fashion. The first idea of discussion is Lurie’s concept (Lurie, 1983: 6) â€Å"Colour and Conformity†. Secondly Gondola’s comments on the Sapeurs. The third paragraph, applying the Lurie concept of Colour and Conformity to the Sapeurs and lastly the Colour and Conformity of Lurie, applied to the Smarteez. Lurie states (Lurie, 1983: 1) â€Å"Today, as semiotics become fashionable, sociologists tell us that fashion too is a language of signs, a nonverbal system of communication†. In Gondola and Corrigall’s articles, they discuss the way the sub-culture groups, Sapeurs and Smarteez used extravagant, colourful fashion to rise above their challenged, impoverished circumstances to create a flamboyant identity. Lurie’s (1983) article â€Å"The Language of Clothes† argues that wearing clothes is a form of language interpreted by all. Lurie states (Lurie, 1983:1) â€Å"†¦human beings have communicated with one another first in the language of dress†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In the section â€Å"Colour and conformity† Lurie mentions that psychologists discovered, looking at different colours may alternate our vital signs and emotions (Lurie, 1983: 1). Lurie justifies this by claiming that when someone is approached, the first thing that occupies the visual field is the colour of clothing having a great effect on the nervous system. (Lurie, 1983:2) â€Å"Loud, clashing colours, like loud noises [†¦] may actually hurt our eyes or give us a headache†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This implies that (Lurie, 1983:2) â€Å"Colour in dress is also like tone of voice in speech†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . A white evening dress communicates a different message than a scarlet one. (Lurie, 1983:2) According to Lu rie (Lurie, 1983:3) â€Å"Convention alters the meaning of colours according to the place and time at which they are worn.† The corporate environment requires conventional dress code to communicate status, but the same people would wear colourful eveningwear, suggesting that not dressing in the recognized range of colour for given situations, attracts unfavorable attention. To the Sapeurs, making an immediate impact with their colourful clothing was of greater importance than the attention they received. In his article â€Å"La Sape Exposed! High Fashion Among Lower-Class Congolese Youth† (Gondola, 2010: 157) Gondola comments on the Sapeurs, the oppression faced and the new identity created in response to that. French colonialism brought to Africa, a mission to civilize the people. Gondola states (Gondola, 2010: 158) â€Å"†¦their mission civilisatrice was predicated on redeeming [†¦] â€Å"primitive minds†[†¦] â€Å"primitive bodies† of the â€Å"naked people†. During the 1920s, the word sape(dress) and se saper (to dress fashionably) was used to describe the fashion energy that characterized Parisian socialites. (Gondola, 2010: 158) They influenced the young Sapeurs to dress fashionably, even over dress. Gondola comments (Gondola, 2010: 160) â€Å"†¦Congolese houseboys spurned their masters secondhand clothes [†¦] spending their meager wages extravagantly to acquire the latest fashions from Paris†. After independence of t he Congo’s in 1960, young Congolese flocked to Europe, because of economic chaos. Their dreams of a new life hindered by discrimination. Gondola argues (Gondola, 2010: 165) â€Å"†¦la sape became a refuge that enabled them to forge new identities away from home†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Gondola’s writing highlights that the sapeurs overcame their struggles by allowing fashion to be the essence of their identity through the use of vibrant suits. (Obv.org.uk, 2015) â€Å"Within this society, men are encouraged to have their own sense of style, bringing an individualised definition of sophistication and elegance that suits each character and enriches the group as a whole†. This image of the Sapeurs is an example of Gondala’s comment (Gondola, 2010: 158) â€Å"One could easily spot them strolling down the boulevards [†¦] in expensive and flamboyant attire†. Combining a maximum of three colours was their idea of perfection. (Michalon, 2015) â€Å"The ways of Sapeology are impenetrable for any Sapeologist who does not know the rule of 3: a trilogy of finished and unfinished colours†. They had to know the rules of elegance, which implied matching colours harmoniusly without being excessive. (Gondola, 2010) The loud and striking message the Sapeurs portray in this image does not have a negative effect, as Lurie implies (Lurie, 1983: 2) because of their stylish matching of colours. Like the Sapeurs o vercame their obstacles through their fashion identity, the Smarteez also formed an identity through their excessive colourful attire. In her article â€Å"AGAINST THE MACHINE: THE ‘SMARTEEZ’ FASHION A NEW POST-APARTHEID IDENTITY† Mary Corrigall writes about the Smarteez (Corrigall, 2011: 2) â€Å"a youth-driven street fashion sub-culture†. The image of the group above reflects their striking outfits. (Corrigall, 2011: 2) â€Å"The Smarteez outfits are garish and excessively colourful and thus immediately recognisable as in the vein of dandyism in which the subjects appear like costumed objects†. Lurie argues (Lurie, 1983: 4) â€Å" some people may avoid colours they like because of the belief [†¦] that they are unbecoming, while others may wear colours they dislike for symbolic reasons†. The defining feature of the Smarteez was combining primary colours in their outfits, referring to their name,â€Å" a bright sugar-coated chocolate confection†. (Corrigall, 2011: 3) The name smart refers to their formal wear and intellectual acuity. (Corrigall, 2011: 3) â€Å"â € ¦the Smarteez attire is a parody of the middle class values†. According to Lurie (Lurie, 1983: 1) â€Å"†¦dress is a continual manifestation of intimate thoughts, a language and a symbol.† Rejecting those who did not wear brightly coloured clothes. Therefore they set out to create their own unique identity. The aim of this essay was to assess Lurie’s (1983) â€Å"The Language of Clothes†, specifically her discussion of â€Å"Colour and Conformity† and Didier Gondola’s (Gondola, 2010) â€Å"La Sape Exposed! [†¦] Congolese Youth† by examining the concept of creating identity through fashion. Lurie comments on clothing as a language that communicates. Using colour attracts favorable or unfavorable attention. The Sapeurs created an accomplished and wealthy identity through colourful clothing, their flamboyance making immediate impact. The Smarteez valued their brightly coloured clothing to the extent of rejecting those that did not conform. Therefore these subcultural groups rose above their struggles by creating new identities through fashion. Bibliography Gondola, D. (2010) La Sape Exposed! High Fashion among Lower-Class Congolese Youth. Gott, S.L.K. (ed.) Contemporary African Fashion, 1st edition, Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Lurie, A. (1983) The Language of clothes, Random House Inc. Leroux, D. (2014) Forget the hipster fashion, preppy, preppy golden swag. Nothing compares to the Fire of Congo, 11 Nov, [Online], Available: http://www.tonbarbier.com/2014/11/11/oubliez-la-mode-hipster-preppy-bcbg-ou-le-swag-rien-nest-comparable-aux-sapeurs-du-congo [24 May 2015]. Edsuter (2015) The Smarteez | Ed Suter, [Online], Available: http://edsuter.com/my-work/the-smarteez/ [24 May 2015]. Obv.org.uk (2015) Sapeurs: The creativity of African fashionistas | OBV, [Online], Available: http://www.obv.org.uk/news-blogs/sapeurs-creativity-african-fashionistas [24 May 2015]. Michalon, N. (2015) Sussing out La Sape: fashion, science or religion? Clique.tv, 07 Apr, [Online], Available: http://www.clique.tv/en/enquete-sur-la-sape-mode-science-ou-religion/ [24 May 2015]. Corrigall, M. (2011) Against the Machine: The Smarteez Fashion a new post-apartheid identity, Fashion Conference, Oxford, 1-4. 1

The Future of Renewable Energy and RE Policy Mechanisms Essay -- Energ

Albert Einstein, the famed physicist, once noted that â€Å"We can’t solve our problems with the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.† Today’s world is faced with the dual threats of climate problems brought on by the use of fossil fuels and the economic challenge caused by the increasing scarcity and demand for those fossil fuels. It is time for society to look beyond the limited and dirty fossil fuels as the energy of choice and promote the use of the abundant renewable energy sources we are endowed with. Because the subsidies to wind and other alternative energies ultimately generate more income than their initial costs and because we continue to subsidize fossil fuels, we should modify governmental tax policy to incentivize and establish the renewable energy industries so that they remain competitive with fossil fuels. Estimates that the world’s population will expand from today’s 6.7 billion to more than 9 billion in 2050 foretell of a coming demand explosion for energy (Friedman 29). Increased requirements for food, transportation, and consumer goods will result in larger energy consumption on many fronts. Fossil fuels, which currently provide an estimated 80 percent of the world’s energy supply, have already been consumed for more than a century and their finite supplies are becoming increasingly difficult to find and more expensive to produce (â€Å"Prediction of Energy Consumption World-wide†). The combination of increasing energy demand and depleting fossil fuel supplies calls for government action to incentivize the production and use of the unlimited supplies of renewable energies. Inducements may come in the form of direct subsidies to the producers of renewable energy, construction of the necessary transm... ...n of Energy Consumption World-wide.† Time for change. n.p., n.d. Web. 2 March 2012. Puzzanghera, Jim and Kathleen Hennessey. â€Å"White House Unveils Corporate Tax Changes to Fix ‘Unfair’ System.† latimes.com. Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2012. Web. 2 March 2012. Shah, Anup. â€Å"World Military Spending.† globalissues.org. n.p., 2 May 2011. Web. 2 March 2012. Wald, Matthew L. â€Å"Fossil Fuels’ Hidden Cost in Billions, Study Says.† NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2009. Web. 8 March 2012. â€Å"What’s the Real Cost of Fossil Fuels?† hubpages.com. riversedge, n.d. Web. 8 March 2012. Wiser, Ryan, Mark Bolinger, and Galen Barbose. â€Å"Using the Federal Production Tax Credit to Build a Durable Market for Wind Power in the United States.† Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Clean Energy States Alliance, Nov. 2007. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.

Food Insecurities Essay

Have you ever seen a person yell at his colleague or his partner, overreacting on a particular matter that has caused not only the person who got yelled at to feel annoyed, but also third parties who know about it or have witnessed the scene? For the many who do not wish to get into the mess, or has enough logic sense to not judge immediately, they will most likely give out a fair statement and try to reason out that person’s overreaction by saying he probably had a bad day or he probably has dilemma at home. However, if we take a bit closer and look closely, all of us will eventually realise that it all goes down to one matter; insecurity. Insecurities are not something new and unfamiliar to the human kind. Everyone has insecurities, regardless of whether they realise it or not. The Oxford Dictionary defines insecurity as the uncertainty or anxiety about oneself or lack of confidence. Insecurities exist in every living soul on this planet. Till today, it is still seen as a negative matter as not many have addressed this issue in proper ways using proper mediums. Most parents don’t even talk about it and shove it away when their children decide to speak up about it. Little do people know that the slightest things in life are the ones that add up to our insecurities. The amount of insecurity in a person differs from one to the other. The types of insecurities that one possesses also vary. The most common type of insecurity is physical insecurity. Let’s face it; human beings are never satisfied. Even when you have all the parts of the body needed to sustain and go through your daily routine with ease, you still beg for more. Some want healthier and shiner hair, some want to be taller, but most importantly, everyone wants something. It is not just human beings as an individual who face insecurities, but also countries and states. Currently, the world is looking at the issue of food insecurity, which is also classified as a type of insecurity. Food security may be said as the availability of food and one’s access to it. Hence, the United Nations have defined food security as all people at all times having both physical and economic access to the basic food they need. For more than 2 billion of people on this planet, they are lucky to not worry about this form of insecurity. However, we might not realise this but this matter is more complicated than it seems. Food securities may result from many different causes. It is imperative that we focus on why are the food insecure, and why are the people are food insecure. Among the most common causes of food insecurities are drought and extreme weather changes. This setback, which is very commonly faced by third world countries, usually ranges from overnight floods to droughts. In short, the climate changes faced by these countries are extreme. In most African countries, like Nigeria, droughts are not new to them. It has been a setback since the time of their ancestors; nonetheless, they are helpless at it and have no comeback on solving this matter. In many comparisons throughout time, some of the most severe food crises were all preceded by drought or by other similarly extreme weather events. These extremities result in poor and failed harvests which in turn results food scarcity and high prices of the available food. As mentioned in the Climate and Development Knowledge Network report entitled ‘Managing Climate Extremes and Disasters in the Agriculture Sectors: Lessons from the IPCC SREX Report’, such force of nature causes impacts which will include not only food insecurity, but changing productivity and livelihood patterns, economic losses, and impacts on the infrastructure. Besides that, the natural resource base for the poor and food-insecure is invariably narrow and, in many areas, fragile. With the exception of Uganda only 4 to 10 percent of the land area is classed as arable, and just a small area of land suitable for rainfed cultivation. The greatest numbers of poor people are concentrated in the arid and semi-arid ecosystems and on marginal land in the higher rainfall parts of the region. It has become axiomatic to say that poverty is one of the main causes of environmental degradation. This can be seen all too clearly in the farming of steep slopes, which takes place as an increasing population is forced to cultivate marginal land. The falling crop yields that characterize the marginal areas are a result of the loss of massive quantities of topsoil throughout the region, declining soil fertility as fallow systems are replaced by continuous cultivation, reductions in soil organic matter as manure is burnt for fuel, and shrinking holding sizes. However, the poor are also the most vulnerable to environmental degradation because they depend on he exploitation of common property resources for a greater share of their incomes than richer households do. In the rangelands, the evidence for long-term secular environmental degradation is ambiguous. The successive cyclical growth and decline of herds reflects cycles of rainfall and rangeland productivity, and is perfectly normal. As animals die in large numbers, the rangelands recover remarkably quickly. However, when there i s a major drop in the number of animals, the people who depend on them for their livelihoods also suffer. Development programmes that have sought to increase animal production on rangelands through water development and animal disease prevention have all too often failed to find, at the same time, sustainable ways of increasing animal nutrition, so the resulting increased numbers of animals may wreak havoc on the range itself. Many of the available freshwater resources are in river basins and lakes that extend beyond the boundaries of individual nations. Shared water resources include lakes Victoria, Albert, Edward, Kivu and Turkana and major rivers such as the Blue Nile, White Nile, Atbara, Awash and Shebele. The potential for developing irrigation from these sources is constrained by the problem of achieving agreement on sharing the resources and avoiding conflict. Although natural climatic factors have played their part in the process of desertification, in general, it is increased population and the related development of unsustainable production systems that have had most negative impact on the fragile natural resource base. Wood and manure have remained the main sources of domestic energy, even in urban centres. This situation has contributed to depleting the forest and range resources, resulting in an overall decrease in biomass and biodiversity, reduced water infiltration and increased runoff and soil erosion. These factors, which contribute to the impoverishment of ecosystems, have led to a vicious circle of environmental degradation, lower system resilience to erratic rainfall, decreased agricultural productivity and increased poverty and food insecurity. Not only that, the cause of food insecurity in these third world countries are also caused by the poor state of development and maintenance of roads and transport, energy sources and telecommunications in the marginal areas of countries in the Horn of Africa makes it difficult for these areas to become integrated into the national and regional economy. As with all other indicators of development, the countries of the region have some of the worst figures worldwide with respect to access to roads and water supply. A recent report suggests that, in terms of access to infrastructure, the gap between Africa and the rest of the world has widened over the past 15 years. The sparse road and communications network hampers emergency relief operations as well as the commercialization of the rural economy. The density of the road network in the countries of the region gives an idea of both how difficult it is to reach people in rural areas with services and the problems such people face in participating in the market economy. For example, in Ethiopia, every kilometre of road serves 72 km 2 and 3 000 people, compared with only 8 km 2 and 850 people in North Africa. Even after strenuous efforts by development agencies and NGOs, access to a clean water supply is still an unobtainable luxury for most rural inhabitants in the Horn. Piped systems are uncommon in rural areas and protected wells and hand pumps are the best that rural communities can expect. The burden of collecting water, as with so many other menial tasks, falls almost exclusively on women in the communities, who must spend many hours each day collecting water from unsafe sources. The statistics on access to water and sanitation reveal wide differences within the region. In three countries, namely Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, only one-quarter of the population has access to safe water, and in two others (the Sudan and Uganda) the figure is less than 50 percent. Access to sanitation is as low as 13 percent and, except for Kenya, barely exceeds 50 percent anywhere. In addition to that, the indicators of access to social services in the countries that face the setback of food insecurity are also among the lowest in the world. While the average figures are bad enough, they mask fundamental inequalities in access to services within the region. Again, rural areas, especially remote, low-potential areas are the least well served. Nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoralists are the most difficult populations to provide services to and, consequently, they are invariably the ones with the poorest health services and least education. All these indicators, combined with malnutrition and poor access to safe water, have adverse consequences for productivity and for the long-term physical and cognitive development of people in the region. Also, let us not forget the fact that crop and plants as well face diseases. Diseases affecting livestock or crops can have devastating effects on food availability especially if there are no emergency back-up plans in place. For example, an epidemic of stem rust on wheat which was spreading across Africa and into Asia in 2007 caused major concern. A virulent wheat disease could destroy most of the world’s main wheat crops, leaving millions to starve. The fungus had spread from Africa to Iran and may already be in Pakistan. A different threat, on the other hand, has attacked the African continent’s second biggest crop; wheat. In 1999, 50 years since the last outbreak, a contemporary and virulent strain of stem rust attacked the Ugandan crops. Its spores then travelled to Ethiopia and Kenya, before appearing in Iran last year. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nation (FAO) has given warning to six other countries in the Central and South Asia to be prepared and keep an eye for symptoms of this new strain while scientists in the United States of America are working diligently in searching for a resistant that combats this problem. It is important that the remedy for this will be obtained quickly as in India alone; more than 50 million small-scale farmers are at risk because they depend on wheat for their food and earnings. Most importantly, we must not overlook that politics and dictatorship also play a role in food insecurity. Many do not realise that politics play a part in something as serious as this. As mentioned by Nobel Prize-winning economist Amarya Sen, â€Å"There is no such thing as an apolitical food problem. It is more often than not that the administration of the country that determines its severity, or even whether the famine will occur. If truth be told, the 20th century is full of examples of governments undermining the food security of their own nations. Let us take a look at Nigeria, Africa’s most densely inhabited state, where a legacy of corrupted governance and an economy based primarily on oil exports has left the agriculture sector significantly undermined, leaving millions of N igerians in deep hunger. True, the neighbouring countries export food to Nigeria in exchange for money, but remember; the people in these neighbouring countries need food too. And they are much poorer than those living in Nigeria. It was reported by the United Nations that thousands of children in countries neighbouring Nigeria died because of malnutrition. These kids paid the price not because of food shortage in their country, but because of food shortage in Nigeria. The distribution of food is often a political issue in most countries. The government will always give priority to urban areas and cities, since most influential and powerful families and enterprises are located there. The ruling government over and over again for generations overlooks the subsistence farmers and rural areas in general. In other words, the more rural an area, the less likely the government will pay attention to solving its needs. What’s more is that the governments of these countries would normally keep the price of basic grain at extremely low levels that subsistence farmers cannot accumulate sufficient capital to make investments to improve their production. Hence, they are prevented from getting out of their precarious situation. In addition, food has always been a political arsenal by the dictators and warlords, where they reward their supporters and deny food supplies to those areas that are against them. Under this condition, food has become more like a currency instead of a basic need that cannot be denied rights of. Food has become the money to buy support and used against the opposition. Even in Guatemala, income inequality is amongst the worst in the world, with indigenous communities at a disadvantage. In some areas, an estimated 75 percent of the children, ranging from infants to children ages six and seven years old, are severely malnourished. And this is a shocking statistic relating food scarcity coming from a country that is merely a four-hour flight away from the USA. Furthermore, it was pointed out in William Bernstein’s 2004 publication entitled ‘The Birth of Plenty’ that individuals without property will lead to starvation and it is much easier to bend the fearful and the hungry to the will of the state. If a farmer’s property can be arbitrarily threatened by the state, that power will inevitably be used to intimidate those with different political and religious opinions. It is fundamental and crucial that we understand and be aware of the consequences of this global food scarcity. The effects might be similar to the effects of malnutrition and hunger, where, at the outset, the human population will be affected greatly in the sense where stunted growth may occur. The stunting starts in when the baby is still in the mother’s womb and happens till the age of three. Once stunting happens, giving proper nutrition to these helpless children will not help in reversing the damage or improving the child’s condition. Pregnant mothers who do not receive the correct amount of nutrition needed may risk of having a higher chance of infant and child mortality later on, which is, of course, a very heartbreaking circumstance. Apart from that, severe malnutrition during one’s early childhood also leads to defects in cognitive development. Stunted individuals also have a higher chance of getting diseases and illnesses as compared to those who have not experienced stunting. It must also come to the attention that food insecurity is also associated with various developmental consequences for children in the United States. A research was conducted by Diana F. Jyoti, Edward A. Frongillo, and Sonya J. Jones to prove that food insecurity is linked to specific developmental consequences for children, and whether these consequences may be both nutritional and nonnutritional.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Intuitionism Essays

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Intuitionism Essays What are the strengths and weaknesses of Intuitionism Paper What are the strengths and weaknesses of Intuitionism Paper Intuitionism came about as a post-utilitarian perspective, and was largely developed as an ethical theory by Moore, Pritchard and Ross. As the name of the theory tells us it is concerned with humans intuition, Sidgwick came to the conclusion that ethics was not based on a unifying principle but rather on human intuition. Today, an intuitionist is thought of as someone who holds particular views about the way in which we come to find out what actions are right and which are wrong. Apparently, we group basic moral principles because of our intuition. Moral principles are capable of being true and known through a special faculty; moral intuition. W. D. Ross and Pritchard, claimed that they are facts about what is morally right and wrong and that our understanding of these is sufficient to deserve the title knowledge. We know that something is good by intuition: it is self-evident, good is something known directly by intuitionism1 G. E. Moore wrote that what is good, or morally good, cannot be defined by humans, just as yellow also cannot. We all know what yellow is in sensory terms but the only way to describe yellow is to use other colours which does not help someone who is colour blind, Good can be defined no more successfully than yellow. 2 However, we know instantly what yellow is, and we know instinctively what is morally good; they are both self-evident to us. Moore thought that what makes an action good or otherwise are the aims of the person in question when carrying out that action. Moore then went on to make a distinction between the aims and the consequences of an action: the aims are decided intuitively before the action and determine its moral nature. The consequences are determined retrospectively, therefore not determining morality. Harold Arthur Pritchard developed Moores ideas further, he thought that moral obligation just is, and it can be perceived by our intuition. This means that moral obligation is something that a person could just know, it was not quite the same as feeling certain or failing to think or not questioning. The most evident strength of intuitionism is that the Judaeo-Christian tradition teaches that human beings are made in the likeness of God, therefore having his laws written in their hearts. This clearly supports the intuitive approach. The good person knows what is morally good because he/she is designed to know. Paramount to this idea is a) there is an absolute moral code b) that we have the ability to recognise it. Moreover, it is likely in practice that the majority of moral agents act at least partly from intuition on the majority of occasions when they have to make a moral decision. A weakness of the system is to assume that we can know A because of B. We cannot, in fact, say something is right because we intuit it to be that way. An intuitionist would say that humans only have their moral hunches and intuitions to guide them, so we have to rely on this by default. Unlike the scientific world in the world of morals, an intuitive moral decision is often held to be right because the person feels it to be so. This can be seen as a criticism of intuitionism because moral decisions making is more of an art form that an exact science. The apparent weaknesses of intuitionism could be summed up by saying when asking why should I be good? Because you just know you should. Emotivism, as its name suggests, is the moral theory based on peoples emotive responses to other people, events, situations, viewpoints and principles. Emotive response in this context is simply referring to a persons feelings about something. Thus, Emotivism is concerned principally, if not exclusively, with how people feel about something. This can be clearly seen in someone who says abortion is wrong, because according to Emotivism all they are doing is announcing how they feel about abortion. Even if they give a number of reasons why they feel this way, for example it goes against the sanctity of life. All the person is doing is finding other reasons which appeal to their emotions in order to support their initial position. When we remove all the so called rational reasons or arguments for doing A rather than B or believing in X rather than Y, then at root what we are left with is just a personal preference based on feelings of approval or disapproval. This is why the theory is commonly known as the Boo-Hurrah theory; when a statement is approved of the response is Hurrah and when a statement is disapproved of then the response is Boo. The weaknesses of the emotive theory of ethics are as follows; most people believe the need for a moral code. Most moral codes prescribe anti-social acts such as murder, stealing, cheating, deceiving, offending others. Integrity, honesty, loyalty, decency are also common moral requirements. If there is such a thing as a basic moral code, then Emotivism which is relative cannot be an exhaustive or complete system. Also, if everyone operates morally solely on their emotions then there should never be the problem of what to do, they would simply follow their strongest feeling on the issue. However, reality is different. For example; I may have huge sympathy for an elderly patient in pain, imploring me as her doctor to put her out of her misery. I have to force myself against my feelings, reasoning that her life is sacred, and I have no right to play God. Another problem with the relativism inherent in Emotivism is the difficulty of deciding where to draw the line of tolerance. If a Satanist is preaching hatred or murder as a good thing in his eyes should he be opposed vociferously, or in any other way, or not at all? After all, if he feels the emotion of hatred is the best basis of his moral code; from an emotive-relativist point of view I should do nothing unless he actually harms someone. Moreover, Alasdair McIntyre believes that Emotivism is bankrupt as an ethical theory because it lacks any moral absolutes. According to McIntyre the implications of Emotivism on society would be that social relations become manipulative because each person relates to everyone else morally in terms of their own individual emotions, not in terms of absolute moral values. This leads to people being a means to our own ends, instead of being ends in themselves.

Ecology Definitions Essays - Ecology, Systems Ecology, Symbiosis

Ecology Definitions Essays - Ecology, Systems Ecology, Symbiosis Jose Luis Martinez Jr. September 23, 2013 Ecology Definitions 1.Ecology- scientific study of all the interrelationships between organisms and their environment. 2.Biosphere- relatively thins layer of Earth and its atmosphere that supports life. 3.Biotic factor- any living factor in an organisms environment. 4.Abiotic factor- any nonliving factor in an organisms environment such as soil, water, temperature, and light availability. 5.Population- group of organisms of the same species that occupy the same geographic place at the same time. 6.Biological community- all the inter acting populations of different species that live in the same geographic location at the same time. 7.Ecosystem- biological community and all the interrelationships between organisms and their environment. 8.Biome- Large group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have similar types of communities. 9.Habitat- Physical area in which an organism lives. 10.Niche- Role, or position, of an organism in its environment. 11.Predation- act of an organism feeding on another organism. 12.Symbiosis- close mutualistic, parasite, or commensal association between two or more species that live together. 13.Mutualism- symbiotic relationship in which both organisms benefit 14.Commensalism- symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other organism is neither helped nor harmed. 15.Parasitism- symbiotic relationship in which on organism benefits at the expense of another organism. 16.Autotroph- organism that captures energy from sunlight or inorganic substances to produce its own food; provides the foundation of the food supply for other organisms; also called a producer. 17.Heterotroph- organism that cannot make its own food and gets its nutrients and energy requirements by feeding on other organisms; also called a consumer. 18.Carnivore- Heterotroph that preys on other heterotrophs. 19.Herbivore- heterotroph that only eats plants. 20.Omnivore- heterotroph that consumes both plants and animals. 21.Detritivore- heterotroph that decomposes organic material and returns the nutrients to soil, air, and water making nutrients available to other organisms. 22.Trophic level Each step in food chain or food web. 23.Food chain- simplified model that shows a single path for energy flow through an ecosystem. 24.Food web- model that shows many interconnected food chains and pathways in which energy and matter flow through an ecosystem, 25.Biomass- total mass of living matter at each trophic level.

Summary of The X-files and the Aesthetics and Politics of Postmodern Essay

Summary of The X-files and the Aesthetics and Politics of Postmodern Pop - Essay Example ion is presented, with contrasts made between modernist notions of the art artifact and the largely kitsch or disregarded artistry that emerged in the television medium. Within the early incarnations of television it’s argued that there were largely traditional representations of reality that occurred within well-defined genre conventions. During the late 1980s the establishment of increased networks allowed for increased experimentation. It was in this wave of stylistic change that shows such as the X-Files emerged and subverted traditional genre and television assumptions. As the research article progresses Kellner considers specific elements of the X-Files that subvert these genre conventions and implement the post-modern aesthetic. One of the indications of these subversions is the implementation of traditional gender characterizations of the two main characters. Kellner notes, â€Å"This conventional delineation between reason and faith, science and the paranormal, functions critically in The X-Files since the usual gender associations are reversed† (Kellner, pg. 4). Another major subversive element the article notes is the implementation of complexity and ambiguity. It’s argued that the show’s implementation of these elements goes against traditional genre standards and as such represent one of the major enjoyment elements of the series. The article then goes on to consider how the series wavers between modernist and post-modernist notions of aesthetic production. In the third section of the article, Kellner examines pastiche as social critique within the series. One of the main examinations in these regards are the psychological and mythological elements related to the implementation of various monsters. Kellner argues that while the traditional depictions of monsters are through natural forces, the X-Files increasingly emphasizes their existence as element of social forces and societal ills. The article’s final section considers ‘the postmodern

Men in Nursing Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Men in Nursing - Literature review Example Such understandings can cause escalation in the understanding of the obstacles that influence the staffing and retaining of men in the occupation, and they are dynamic if nursing is to grow, not only staffing policies focused on males, but more significantly, retention strategies that address current and uninterrupted gender relations that impact all nurses lives. Historical accounts of the monastic movement, dating back to the fourth and fifth centuries, show that people of the male gender participated actively in the provision or nursing care and protection to the ailing as members of religious groups. The Command of St John of Jerusalem, an order of military knights or knight’s hospitallers was the first of many orders of nobility established in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The Cavaliers of St John of Jerusalem who defended Jerusalem during the crusades, later provided protection to travelling pilgrims and also built hospitals and castles across Europe that served as both lodgings for pilgrims and places to nurse the sick. This order continues to operate as the St John Ambulance Link, an organization formed to offer people the necessary training required to caater for the health needs of the injured and ill, in 1877. Men as nurses also participated in non-military nursing orders such as the Brothers of St Anthony. This order, founded in 1095, cared for victims of erysipelas, a disfiguring skin disease later called St Anthony’s fire. Other orders included the Hospitallers of St John of God, founded in the late sixteenth century in Spain, and the Alexian Brothers, who became a religious order in 1472 (Kauffman 1976). The Alexians, an order of uneducated craftsmen, preached the word of God and provided basic healthcare to the lowly in society in ancient Europe (Kauffman 1976). It was a culture of the Alexians to burry the dead, and the ministry gained momentum and appreciation during the plague years of the fourteenth and fifteenth centurie s. With the final disappearance of the plague in the eighteenth century, the Alexian Brothers gained fame because of their work. The insignificant, but rising number of males in the nursing occupation does not herald a liberal integration of male and female sex roles. The confirmation presented in this paper proposes that even in female-conquered jobs such as nursing, male-controlled gender associations which reflect a tall estimate of all that is manlike and masculine, play an important role in situating an uneven number of males in managerial and elite department positions. At the core of this sex dynamic is the need to detach the masculine from the less valued female. Male harbors do this by staffing plans that allow them to detach themselves from female coworkers and the quintessential female image of nursing itself, as a precondition to uplifting their own status and authority. They are assisted in this mission by male-controlled cultural organizations that craft and spread mal e benefit, as well as by female nurses themselves who, deliberately or automatically, nurture the vocations of male coworkers (Wheeler 1991). The low status of women in a society controlled by the male gender is manifest in the female dominated occupation of nursing. Here, stereotypical feminine traits of nurturing, caring, dependence and submission