Quantitative and Qualitative Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Quantitative and Qualitative - Research Paper Example The articles contained in the chapter by Mertler & Charles (2011) major on identifying substance abuse issues in high schools. The author of the article does not take account of the purpose of the research; rather the author goes ahead and writes on what the survey depicts. The purpose of a research is vital since it acts as an eye opener to the readers on what the survey research focuses on, and thus the reader can follow through easily. Organization In the article on maternity deaths, the organization of ideas is clear; the author gives the heading, clearly outlines the purpose of the study and then writes an abstract followed by the body which gets segmented into various subtopics. The body has the various methods of data collection, the results and analysis of the results. Mertler & Charles (2011) then stipulates the problems experienced during the research study and gives a brief conclusion. The author in the provided article on drug use by high school organizes the research wor k systematically. Though the researcher does not give the purpose, there is a clear introductory statement. Organization of any survey research is vital since it helps readers to capture every detail included in the reading. Data collection and analysis Considering research on the drug use by high school students, the data is outlined in terms of the percentage levels. The author, for example, states that 35.4 percent of students in 10th grade used drugs while the students who used drugs in 12th grade constitute of 48.6 of the student population. This is seen in the research on maternity deaths, and it helps when coming up with the discussion to act as evidence that the information is authentic (Mertler & Charles, 2011). Conclusions The authors have different ways of concluding their research. The author in the American Journal gives a brief discussion of the research and declares the research relevant while the author in the chapter reading concludes by giving future guidelines on alienating the vice. Both conclusions are vital to ensure that all information is included and renders the research relevant. According to Mertler & Charles (2011), correlational research involves observations by a researcher regarding to a previous situation and in this research there is no intervention from the researcher. In other types of research, researchers manipulate the current situation and check the results of the preliminary manipulations. When dealing with intended results, correlation research identifies the association between two factors or more than two factors while other types of research concentrate on the learning of how changes in a factor affect another factor. Other types of research focus on exclusive types such as experiments for experimental research while Correlational research deals with case studies, survey research, naturalistic observations and archival research. In experimental research, as well as quasi-experimental research, the researchers need to perform actual experiments so as to get exact results regarding the experiment. This implies that the experiment conducted especially in research laboratories forms the basis for the data sources. Though data from previous research may be useful, many researchers who want accurate and authentic results prefer to carry out their own experiments but also use the previous results as reference points for their experiments. Actual

Molecular Gastronomy During Cooking Media Essay

Molecular Gastronomy During Cooking Media Essay The art of cooking is as old as humanity and cooking is such an important part of our world which obviously needs scientific attention. Although science has contributed to food safety, hygiene and nutritional aspects, little has been done towards innovation and invention of new dishes. The ancient Greek words, gastro means stomach and nomos means law, collectively termed as gastronomy, which in contemporary hospitality industry means food and culture. It generally refers to the study of relationship between food and culture with interdisciplinary approaches. This literature attempts to explain molecular gastronomy, its origin and evolution, along with its relevance and contributions to the contemporary hospitality industry. Cooking and gastronomy Even though molecular gastronomy has attracted media attention for quite a while, still there is confusion about the true meaning of the term. To explain this, cooking and gastronomy has to be distinguished first. Cooking is the preparation of raw food into edible, whereas gastronomy is the knowledge of whatever concerns mans nourishment. Gastronomy is about chemical and physical transformation behind the preparation of any food, for example, the reason behind egg white puffs up when whipped or mayonnaise becomes firm. (This, 2006). According to HerveThis, the science of food is not new but dates back to second century BC, when preparation of meat stock-the aqueous solution obtained by thermal processing of animal tissues in water-has been of great interest. Since then, scientists have been interested in food and cooking which gave way to molecular gastronomy. If culinary history is scrutinised, it will be clear that, initially food experts studied the culinary science to steer clear of blind assumptions and unscientific ways of cooking. But today, the science of food has reached its extreme in the form of molecular gastronomy, which chemically examines the food and cooking in its molecular level to give a new face for cooking and change the total concept of commercial cooking in near future. Molecular gastronomy The scientific discipline dedicated to culinary industry and to gastronomical phenomena in general has been called molecular gastronomy the late Nicholas Kurti and HerveThis (This, 2005). Molecular gastronomy can also be defined as a field that attempts to improve the culinary techniques through understanding the composition and chemical transformations occurring in food during the process of cooking (Ankeny, Year Unknown). Gastronomy or molecular gastronomy is the science just like any other science in the world, which studies the cause and effect of anything that happens during cooking including the structural difference in same cooking ingredients of different quality, which have an effect on the final product. If we can answer the question, we can correct a mistake, use this knowledge to improve the cooking process or even invent new dishes or ways to prepare food. For example, if we know that when an egg is cooked, water evaporates, the proteins denature and polymerize to enclos e water, we can even use substitute methods to cook it, like adding alcohol to it, which denature the egg proteins and gives the same result. Molecular gastronomy also deals with the study of human senses and perception of taste, aroma, texture and temperature, in short, the sensory science known as chemesthesis (berham et. al, 2010). It studies the perception of senses in molecular level in order to understand how different dishes are perceived as awful, average, good or delicious, when they are made of similar ingredients. Although chemesthesis of human beings are the same, people of different genre appreciates different types of food. For example westerners cooking style is entirely different from Asians, and while Asians appreciate spicy food, most westerners do not. At a glance, molecular gastronomy can be described as applying the techniques of food scientists to fine dining drying, liquefying, gassing, freezing and generally transforming ingredients into surprising new forms and textures while maintaining the flavours. Early converts include French two-star chef Pierre Gagnaire, who added scallops with liquorice milk to his menu in 1991 (Hill. B, 2009). Aim of molecular gastronomy Being the science of cooking, molecular gastronomy has a few aims in the field of domestic and commercial cooking. It endeavours to remodel and scrutinise existing recipes, introduce new tools, products and methods, invent new dishes from the acquiring knowledge and use the appeal of food to promote food science (This, 2006). Before analysing the aims, a significant question is that, who is actually interested in molecular gastronomy? Is it the chefs who are interested in chemical and physical science of food or scientists who are interested in food and cooking? Answer could go both the ways. Chefs are always interested in innovation in culinary art, which obviously needed scientific help to explain the reasons for transformation that occur in the cooking process. For remodelling a recipe or innovating a new dish they had to understand what actually happens to any food when it undergoes different forms of cooking. For this reason they needed scientific help to explain the reasons behind any cooking process or transformation. But at the same time, scientists are interested in the scientific aspects of food rather than innovation and remodelling recipes. Hence, molecular gastronomy can be said to be teamwork of food science and cooking or in other words, chefs and scientists. However, chefs made use of scie ntific explanation of cooking processes which resulted in innovation in food industry or more apparently molecular gastronomy. But today, with worldwide recognition of molecular gastronomy, it has evolved as a collaboration of chefs, scientists, companies in food industry and culinary schools. In addition, efforts are being made to incorporate the new science into culinary schools to impart knowledge of molecular gastronomy into upcoming industry professionals to provide a new visage to the food and beverage industry. Continuing with the aims of molecular gastronomy, remodelling and scrutinising the existing recipes is one of the primary attempts, initially by educating the professionals about the chances of scientific approach to cooking art. Complex disperse systems formalism (This, 2006) was introduced to describe the microscopic structure of preparations with different phases, to help in this attempt. Consequently, many of the existing recipes has been modernized or modified to correct the mistakes, attain a better product and to better favour the palate of the customer. Educational efforts are equally important to standardise these remodelled recipes to achieve consistency. For this reason, several programmes were introduced in culinary schools internationally. In 2001, the experimental workshop on flavour was created in French schools. Universities in various countries, such as the Netherlands, Denmark and Argentina have set up professorships in this discipline. Since then, Canada and France have introduced new syllabus for culinary schools to include knowledge obtained from molecular gastronomy. In 2005, the Institute for Advanced Studies on Flavour, Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts was created in Reims, France, to promote gastronomy knowledge, including molecular gastronomy. New or remodelled recipes to a great extent involve new cooking techniques which need new systems and tools. So, quite obviously, molecular gastronomy is introducing or giving way to new cooking tools and techniques, taking the art of cooking into another level. In terms of new products, with the help of molecular gastronomy, it is now possible to customise the food to the need of different people with different diet requirements, without restricting the taste and palatability of their meals. For example, now a day, caviar can be artificially made (in fact something looks and tastes like caviar) from fruits and chemicals. Similarly, using the secret of food chemistry, different ingredients can be used to make several dishes which look, smells and tastes like original dishes, which have no ingredients of the original dish. Even though the dishes tastes and feel like original, the ingredients can be different, thus giving us an opportunity to try different dishes with in the diet restr ictions or in other words, altering an unhealthy food into healthy one without altering the original taste of the same. Health programmes that promote a balanced diet cannot succeed if people are unable to make intelligent choices about food. Traditional cooking is not a guarantee either for healthy food or for a rational preparation of food. This is where the scientific programme of molecular gastronomy can be useful. Science is the basis for new technology and innovation and it is not different in gastronomy. The achievements of science in the field of gastronomy have won a definite recognition worldwide. However, for chefs, and hopefully scientists as well, the main aim is to surprise and delight their guests with exciting, tasty and healthy food. Molecular gastronomy in contemporary hospitality industry With the development of tourism industry, the science of domestic and commercial cooking has moved from the hands of a few key players to the dominion of serious scientific venture. In the context of serious competition, every element in the food service industry is striving to adopt innovation and novelty using technology, to which molecular gastronomy has given a new face of distinctiveness. The cooking chemistry or molecular cuisine has helped the modern restaurants to a great extend to enhance cooking speed, service speed and very obviously the food quality along with the ability to keep the food fresh. A few techniques in molecular gastronomy Colloids Colloid is a chemical substance dispersed in molecular level evenly throughout one another. The particles of the dispersed substance are only suspended in the blend, unlike in a solution in which they are totally dissolved. This takes place because the elements in a colloid are larger than in a liquid. The colloidal system is used for making different types of foam, solid gel, emulsion and solid emulsion. Lecithin (Lecite) Lecithin is phospholipids extracted from soybean, partially water-soluble, and an emulsifier that helps fat and water stay together. For that reason, it is often added to chocolate, cheese, margarine, and salad dressing. It has health benefits, such as reducing cholesterol intensity. It is often added to flavoured liquids and then mixed to generate foams that are topped onto dishes to offer added appearance and texture. Maltodextrin powder Maltodextrin is a complex carbohydrate consisting of dextrose (glucose), maltose, maltotriose and higher polysaccharides. Maltodextrin is used in a wide variety of products, extending from bodybuilders, animal trainers (horses and greyhounds) to pharmaceutical manufacturers. Tapioca maltrodextrin is a popular product used to make powdered oil and fat products such as white truffle powder, and olive oil powder. Guar Gum Guar is a white free flowing powder, completely soluble in hot or cold water to form a tasteless, odourless, non-toxic solution. Guar gum powder has five to eight times the coagulating power of starch. It is mainly used as a binding agent, mixtures, thickener, and emulsifier in food products, such as cheese spreads, ice cream and other frozen desserts. Methylcellulose This forms a gel when heated, and melts into liquid when it cools. This is similar to gelatine. This quality can improve a food if it undergoes heating in its preparation and requires stability at cooking temperature (for example: preventing a sauce from thinning out). It is used as a binding agent for foods that need to keep their parts collectively. Products such as pasta, vegetable burgers, onion rings, and potato products are improved by its combining strength. This is due to its cohesive nature at low temperatures and the structural integrity at higher temperatures. Implementation and provision of MG in hospitality industry Molecular gastronomy principles, practices and provisions items have captured the intellect of both the chefs and their customers worldwide. Although initially intended to cater for the high purpose of the gourmet market, molecular gastronomy has been welcomed in assorted areas of the hospitality industry. Useful dining restaurants, cafà ©s and bistros, avail venues, specialist bars, prestigious and mainstream hotels; and all the more establishments that specialise in pastry and desserts are incorporating this style of cuisine to assorted degrees into their operations. As any other fields, molecular gastronomy also attracted much criticism from food writers and chefs around the world. Many established chefs did not accept molecular gastronomy as scientific gastronomic phenomena but labelled it as temporary style of cuisine (Hill, 2009). But in the context of Australian hospitality industry, hampering of successful insertion of molecular gastronomy was a lack of firsthand experience and training, which was recognized both by industry as well as the government. Another barrier facing the Australian industry is the inadequate supply and high prices for specialist food chemicals and equipments to incorporate various techniques of molecular gastronomy. The distribution of these chemicals and equipments are limited to a few suppliers and shops. Even though this is the case, Hill had identified a few restaurants in Victoria such as Fenix, Interlude and Vue de monde that offer limited molecular gastronomic techniques throughout their menus. Competition There is no doubt that hospitality industry is facing increasing competition than ever before. To withstand this pressure of competition, chefs should be able to remain innovative and attract new as well as existing customers by satisfying their demandingly increasing sophisticated expectations. In fact people are always looking for new and unique experiences. As a result of this, in recent years there has been a great emphasis on innovation, creativity and importance of innovation competency. In response, many chefs has accepted the concept of molecular gastronomy and working on it to achieve greater innovative competency and occupational competency. In his model of innovative culinary competency, Lei Hu (2010) has positioned molecular gastronomy among new technologies that helps innovation, where other factors being creativity, culture, aesthetics, product, service and management. This underpins the fact that molecular gastronomy is a scientific gastronomic phenomenon as mentioned earlier in this literature, than a temporary style of cooking. In the age of technology dominating every aspect of human life, molecular gastronomy is the new cooking technique dominating mans nourishment. Culinary tourism Culinary tourism is a relatively new industry came into being in 2003. It can be described as a subset of tourism, where tourists also consider the enjoyment of interesting and traditional or novel and innovative food and drink, while people travel. This subset of tourism promotes every gastronomic experience, with every tourist pursuit for unique and memorable eating and drinking experience. Tourists always tend to consider the local cuisine of destination or at least consider the available cuisines, as dining out is one of the top most tourist activities and nearly 100% of tourists eat out when they travel. This trend gives a huge opportunity to restaurants use molecular gastronomy to innovate and attract their patrons. Molecular gastronomy in many parts of the world has revolutionized restaurant dining experience and at the same time, led to new enjoyment and appreciation of food. A few examples include EI Bulli in Spain and the Fat Duck in the United Kingdom (Barham et. al. 2010) , two restaurants that since adopting a new scientific approach to cooking have become widely regarded as among the best restaurants in the world. This is noticeable evidence of people accepting or influenced by the new cooking science or molecular gastronomy. When we look into the tourists trends, the opportunity for success of molecular gastronomy is apparently huge. 27 million leisure travellers have participated in culinary related travel in the last 3 years in the US, while spending $12 Billion directly on culinary related activities (Schmantowsky, year unknown). The actual market segment includes more affluent people, who are highly motivated to experience unique and memorable dining experience. Studies prove that on an average, one third of total travel budget goes towards food related activities. The top six culinary tourist destinations include California (14%), Florida (10%), New York (7%), Texas (6%), North Carolina (4%) and Georgia (4%) (Schmantowsky, year unknown). Molecular gastronomy could be a catalyst to culinary tourism which has a great potential to increase tourism generated revenue and the strategic partnership of culinary schools, hospitality organisations, chefs and scientists is the key to success of it. SWOT analysis Strengths Demand: From the time restaurants started utilizing molecular gastronomy for developing new dishes, public has widely accepted the uniqueness and newness of the experience. From the chefs point of view, MG is a tool for innovation in the field to attract their customers and stay in business. Without thinking about any downsides of the technique, thus the public as well as the industry has widely accepted molecular gastronomy, while expecting and demanding more from it. This increasing demand has made or will make molecular gastronomy much popular worldwide. Hospitality industrys enthusiasm to change: from the very early time, hospitality industry is changing every now and then, because of changing trends and tastes of customers, increasing competition, technology adoptation, and varying needs of customers. In fact this is the ever dynamic industry when compared to any other industries. This enthusiasm or eagerness of hospitality industry in general provides a great opportunity to make use of molecular gastronomy in its operations and a catalyst for further changes. Thus the science of food has got great support from the hospitality industry. As technology is easily imitated now days, due to globalisation, molecular gastronomy techniques could be easily learned by enthusiast chefs around the world. Supply of raw materials: due to the increasing demand for molecular gastronomy, the demand for the ingredients also has raised especially various thickeners, stabilizers and emulsifiers. Since the success of restaurants like EI Bulli and the fat duck, in 2005-06, this demand has further elevated. The supply of these ingredients is only available in large quantities to the food industry, restricting the use of these chemicals by untrained or unprofessional people, which is on a safer side (lersch, 2007). In Australia Suppliers has positive prospects to add value and expand their product range and services to the industry. Ingredients for molecular gastronomy Weaknesses Molecular gastronomy is still gaining popularity, and the knowledge and experience of it are limited in most parts of the world within the industry and culinary training providers. It will take fair amount of time to spread throughout the industry and will take further long period for standardisation of new recipes. Also there is limited accessibility to special ingredients and equipments such as smoking machine, blow torch and gastro vac which are much needed for cooking techniques, which is a constraint for this field at the moment. Due to the scarcity and limited accessibility, most countries working on molecular gastronomy are relying on imported goods and equipments which resulted in increased costs for the same. As most countries are relying on French and Spanish resources, where molecular gastronomy originated from, there is a limitation in independent research and experiment in the field. This situation is also made worst by the language barriers between these countries. In a ddition, the existing workload in the hospitality industry provides less time to chefs for research and experiment in molecular gastronomy. Also there are limited technical books published in English language making things much more difficult. Opportunities Hill recognizes a few opportunities for molecular gastronomy in the Australian hospitality industry, which is more or less similar to many other countries. Countries with limited access to the resources could gain knowledge and skills from internationally recognised expert chefs and broaden their set of skills by integrating molecular gastronomy into the existing culinary programmes. Apart from this professional networks should be promoted with increasing research and experiments in the field. Acquiring knowledge should be transferred to culinary students and the industry professionals to develop a culture with strong gastronomic foundation. Threats When focusing on threats to molecular gastronomy, the major barriers hindering the growth are once again the increased costs of commodities and equipments due to increased demand and supply issues. Another threat is the changing trends and demand of todays customers which may lead to decreasing popularity and in turn lead to less interest among chefs and decreased need for training in this area. It is contradictory to say that customers has widely accepted and are demanding for molecular gastronomy but at the same time changing customer behaviour can hinder the growth of molecular gastronomy. This is because the popular trend created by new dishes evolved from molecular gastronomy has been widely accepted by the public due to its newness and unique nature. But once it is popular and widely available everywhere, it is not any more new or unique. Moreover, people who have tried the molecular style of cuisine may not go for it every time, but stick back to their favourite recipes, unless molecular gastronomy can create captivating recipes every now and then. However, these reasons are not at all a barrier for the growth of this particular discipline till it gains its popularity around the world. There is another aspect of molecular gastronomy which is not emphasised in any of the studies: that is about the health. Most of the chemicals which are directly harmless to human body often have side effects. So, the intense use of chemicals in the cooking process should be of great concern. For example, most of the allopathic medicines which cures disease, mostly have foreseen negative side effects causing ill health. Just like that extreme use of various chemicals in molecular gastronomy to alter the physical form of foods should be studied in detail before it is commercially popular. More over the technique to change the texture, consistency and taste of food in molecular level could be maltreated in future just like invention of atomic reactions meant for energy are later used to make atom bombs, which is now a threat for human existence. Conclusion Molecular gastronomy is a pathway to innovation in culinary industry for chefs and a wonderful new enjoyment for the customers. Even though this field of science has proved its scientific nature and uniqueness, still there is a second opinion among the chefs in the industry. This may be due to the fact that major role in this respect is limited to the French and Spanish with limited resources available to the rest of the world. Better translation of the resources and international co-operation among the professionals may help to educate everyone working in the industry, thus creating a holistic awareness about this discipline. But at the same time, while molecular gastronomy gives way to unbelievable innovations, there is a need for preserving the old traditional recipes which remain successful without any alterations for years. Molecular gastronomy is a milestone in the culinary industry, taking it into another level, while correcting the old recipes scientifically and inventing new trendy ones. Hospitality being an ever dynamic industry, and with the evolution of culinary tourism, it became essential for entrepreneurs to exhibit innovation and new trends in customer service, which is enhanced by molecular gastronomy to a great extend. Although this is the case, due to limited awareness and popularity among the public, certain areas of molecular gastronomy is still in distrust. Intense use of chemicals to change the physical and chemical properties of food is giving room for scepticism. This calls for a controlling body in each country and globally for close monitoring the work in molecular gastronomy, as there are organisations to control food hygiene and nutrition. This will provide certain norms for experiments and new recipes using the molecular gastronomic technology, before it reaches the public.

Spirituality Essay -- essays research papers

Spirituality plays a very sub sequential role in my personal life. First of all, spirituality helps me govern what is right and what is wrong in my life. Many of the decisions that I make everyday, I believe are a direct result of my spirituality. For as long as I can remember I have been raised to believe that I should live my life the way God would want me to live it. Therefore, whenever I have a decision to make, I have to consider, what is right? And what is wrong? Second of all, it also helps me to feel more secure about what will happen to my spirit once my life here on earth is over. I believe that there is a better place for our spirits once we leave this earth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many of my spiritual beliefs have changed over time. When I was younger I believed that in order to go to haven a person had to loyally attend and be actively involved in church. But, as I grew older I was taught that church is just the building in which we praise the lord. I was taught that the lord could be praised without the building. As a child I also had this image and belief that God was white. This white image that I had of God came from pictures that I saw as a child. These images and beliefs changed, as I got older because I was exposed to new information and a new way of thinking and I was able to investigate these things on my own.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In my opinion, there isn’t much of a difference between being a spiritual person and a religious person. If... Spirituality Essay -- essays research papers Spirituality plays a very sub sequential role in my personal life. First of all, spirituality helps me govern what is right and what is wrong in my life. Many of the decisions that I make everyday, I believe are a direct result of my spirituality. For as long as I can remember I have been raised to believe that I should live my life the way God would want me to live it. Therefore, whenever I have a decision to make, I have to consider, what is right? And what is wrong? Second of all, it also helps me to feel more secure about what will happen to my spirit once my life here on earth is over. I believe that there is a better place for our spirits once we leave this earth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many of my spiritual beliefs have changed over time. When I was younger I believed that in order to go to haven a person had to loyally attend and be actively involved in church. But, as I grew older I was taught that church is just the building in which we praise the lord. I was taught that the lord could be praised without the building. As a child I also had this image and belief that God was white. This white image that I had of God came from pictures that I saw as a child. These images and beliefs changed, as I got older because I was exposed to new information and a new way of thinking and I was able to investigate these things on my own.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In my opinion, there isn’t much of a difference between being a spiritual person and a religious person. If...

The Da Vinci Code Chapter 24-29

CHAPTER 24 Silas gazed upward at the Saint-Sulpice obelisk, taking in the length of the massive marble shaft. His sinews felt taut with exhilaration. He glanced around the church one more time to make sure he was alone. Then he knelt at the base of the structure, not out of reverence, but out of necessity. The keystone is hidden beneath the Rose Line. At the base of the Sulpice obelisk. All the brothers had concurred. On his knees now, Silas ran his hands across the stone floor. He saw no cracks or markings to indicate a movable tile, so he began rapping softly with his knuckles on the floor. Following the brass line closer to the obelisk, he knocked on each tile adjacent to the brass line. Finally, one of them echoed strangely. There's a hollow area beneath the floor! Silas smiled. His victims had spoken the truth. Standing, he searched the sanctuary for something with which to break the floor tile. High above Silas, in the balcony, Sister Sandrine stifled a gasp. Her darkest fears had just been confirmed. This visitor was not who he seemed. The mysterious Opus Dei monk had come to Saint- Sulpice for another purpose. A secret purpose. You are not the only one with secrets, she thought. Sister Sandrine Bieil was more than the keeper of this church. She was a sentry. And tonight, the ancient wheels had been set in motion. The arrival of this stranger at the base of the obelisk was a signal from the brotherhood. It was a silent call of distress. CHAPTER 25 The U. S. Embassy in Paris is a compact complex on Avenue Gabriel, just north of the Champs-Elysees. The three-acre compound is considered U. S. soil, meaning all those who stand on it are subject to the same laws and protections as they would encounter standing in the United States. The embassy's night operator was reading Time magazine's International Edition when the sound of her phone interrupted. â€Å"U. S. Embassy,† she answered. â€Å"Good evening.† The caller spoke English accented with French. â€Å"I need some assistance.† Despite the politeness of the man's words, his tone sounded gruff and official. â€Å"I was told you had a phone message for me on your automated system. The name is Langdon. Unfortunately, I have forgotten my three-digit access code. If you could help me, I would be most grateful.† The operator paused, confused. â€Å"I'm sorry, sir. Your message must be quite old. That system was removed two years ago for security precautions. Moreover, all the access codes were five-digit. Who told you we had a message for you?† â€Å"You have no automated phone system?† â€Å"No, sir. Any message for you would be handwritten in our services department. What was your name again?† But the man had hung up. Bezu Fache felt dumbstruck as he paced the banks of the Seine. He was certain he had seen Langdon dial a local number, enter a three-digit code, and then listen to a recording. But if Langdon didn't phone the embassy, then who the hell did he call? It was at that moment, eyeing his cellular phone, that Fache realized the answers were in the palm of his hand. Langdon used my phone to place that call. Keying into the cell phone's menu, Fache pulled up the list of recently dialed numbers and found the call Langdon had placed. A Paris exchange, followed by the three-digit code 454. Redialing the phone number, Fache waited as the line began ringing. Finally a woman's voice answered. â€Å"Bonjour, vous etes bien chez Sophie Neveu,† the recording announced. â€Å"Je suis absente pour le moment, mais†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Fache's blood was boiling as he typed the numbers 4†¦ 5†¦ 4. CHAPTER 26 Despite her monumental reputation, the Mona Lisa was a mere thirty-one inches by twenty-one inches – smaller even than the posters of her sold in the Louvre gift shop. She hung on the northwest wall of the Salle des Etats behind a two-inch-thick pane of protective Plexiglas. Painted on a poplar wood panel, her ethereal, mist-filled atmosphere was attributed to Da Vinci's mastery of the sfumato style, in which forms appear to evaporate into one another. Since taking up residence in the Louvre, the Mona Lisa – or La Jaconde as they call her in France – had been stolen twice, most recently in 1911, when she disappeared from the Louvre's† satte impenetrable† – Le Salon Carre. Parisians wept in the streets and wrote newspaper articles begging the thieves for the painting's return. Two years later, the Mona Lisa was discovered hidden in the false bottom of a trunk in a Florence hotel room. Langdon, now having made it clear to Sophie that he had no intention of leaving, moved with her across the Salle des Etats. The Mona Lisa was still twenty yards ahead when Sophie turned on the black light, and the bluish crescent of penlight fanned out on the floor in front of them. She swung the beam back and forth across the floor like a minesweeper, searching for any hint of luminescent ink. Walking beside her, Langdon was already feeling the tingle of anticipation that accompanied his face-to-face reunions with great works of art. He strained to see beyond the cocoon of purplish light emanating from the black light in Sophie's hand. To the left, the room's octagonal viewing divan emerged, looking like a dark island on the empty sea of parquet. Langdon could now begin to see the panel of dark glass on the wall. Behind it, he knew, in the confines of her own private cell, hung the most celebrated painting in the world. The Mona Lisa's status as the most famous piece of art in the world, Langdon knew, had nothing to do with her enigmatic smile. Nor was it due to the mysterious interpretations attributed her by many art historians and conspiracy buffs. Quite simply, the Mona Lisa was famous because Leonardo Da Vinci claimed she was his finest accomplishment. He carried the painting with him whenever he traveled and, if asked why, would reply that he found it hard to part with his most sublime expression of female beauty. Even so, many art historians suspected Da Vinci's reverence for the Mona Lisa had nothing to do with its artistic mastery. In actuality, the painting was a surprisingly ordinary sfumato portrait. Da Vinci's veneration for this work, many claimed, stemmed from something far deeper: a hidden message in the layers of paint. The Mona Lisa was, in fact, one of the world's most documented inside jokes. The painting's well-documented collage of double entendres and playful allusions had been revealed in most art history tomes, and yet, incredibly, the public at large still considered her smile a great mystery. No mystery at all, Langdon thought, moving forward and watching as the faint outline of the painting began to take shape. No mystery at all. Most recently Langdon had shared the Mona Lisa's secret with a rather unlikely group – a dozen inmates at the Essex County Penitentiary. Langdon's jail seminar was part of a Harvard outreach program attempting to bring education into the prison system – Culture for Convicts, as Langdon's colleagues liked to call it. Standing at an overhead projector in a darkened penitentiary library, Langdon had shared the MonaLisa's secret with the prisoners attending class, men whom he found surprisingly engaged – rough, but sharp. â€Å"You may notice,† Langdon told them, walking up to the projected image of the MonaLisa on the library wall,† that the background behind her face is uneven.† Langdon motioned to the glaring discrepancy. â€Å"Da Vinci painted the horizon line on the left significantly lower than the right.† â€Å"He screwed it up?† one of the inmates asked. Langdon chuckled. â€Å"No. Da Vinci didn't do that too often. Actually, this is a little trick Da Vinci played. By lowering the countryside on the left, Da Vinci made Mona Lisa look much larger from the left side than from the right side. A little Da Vinci inside joke. Historically, the concepts of male and female have assigned sides – left is female, and right is male. Because Da Vinci was a big fan of feminine principles, he made Mona Lisa look more majestic from the left than the right.† â€Å"I heard he was a fag,† said a small man with a goatee. Langdon winced. â€Å"Historians don't generally put it quite that way, but yes, Da Vinci was a homosexual.† â€Å"Is that why he was into that whole feminine thing?† â€Å"Actually, Da Vinci was in tune with the balance between male and female. He believed that a human soul could not be enlightened unless it had both male and female elements.† â€Å"You mean like chicks with dicks?† someone called. This elicited a hearty round of laughs. Langdon considered offering an etymological sidebar about the word hermaphrodite and its ties to Hermes and Aphrodite, but something told him it would be lost on this crowd. â€Å"Hey, Mr. Langford,† a muscle-bound man said. â€Å"Is it true that the Mona Lisa is a picture of Da Vinci in drag? I heard that was true.† â€Å"It's quite possible,† Langdon said. â€Å"Da Vinci was a prankster, and computerized analysis of the Mona Lisa and Da Vinci's self-portraits confirm some startling points of congruency in their faces. Whatever Da Vinci was up to,† Langdon said,† his Mona Lisa is neither male nor female. It carries a subtle message of androgyny. It is a fusing of both.† â€Å"You sure that's not just some Harvard bullshit way of saying Mona Lisa is one ugly chick.† Now Langdon laughed. â€Å"You may be right. But actually Da Vinci left a big clue that the painting was supposed to be androgynous. Has anyone here ever heard of an Egyptian god named Amon?† â€Å"Hell yes!† the big guy said. â€Å"God of masculine fertility!† Langdon was stunned. â€Å"It says so on every box of Amon condoms.† The muscular man gave a wide grin. â€Å"It's got a guy with a ram's head on the front and says he's the Egyptian god of fertility.† Langdon was not familiar with the brand name, but he was glad to hear the prophylactic manufacturers had gotten their hieroglyphs right. â€Å"Well done. Amon is indeed represented as a man with a ram's head, and his promiscuity and curved horns are related to our modern sexual slang' horny. â€Å"No shit!† â€Å"No shit,† Langdon said. â€Å"And do you know who Amon's counterpart was? The Egyptian goddessof fertility?† The question met with several seconds of silence. â€Å"It was Isis,† Langdon told them, grabbing a grease pen. â€Å"So we have the male god, Amon.† He wrote it down. â€Å"And the female goddess, Isis, whose ancient pictogram was once called L'ISA.† Langdon finished writing and stepped back from the projector. AMON L'ISA â€Å"Ring any bells?† he asked. â€Å"Mona Lisa†¦ holy crap,† somebody gasped. Langdon nodded. â€Å"Gentlemen, not only does the face of Mona Lisa look androgynous, but her name is an anagram of the divine union of male and female. And that, my friends, is Da Vinci's little secret, and the reason for Mona Lisa's knowing smile.† â€Å"My grandfather was here,† Sophie said, dropping suddenly to her knees, now only ten feet from the Mona Lisa.She pointed the black light tentatively to a spot on the parquet floor. At first Langdon saw nothing. Then, as he knelt beside her, he saw a tiny droplet of dried liquid that was luminescing. Ink? Suddenly he recalled what black lights were actually used for. Blood. His senses tingled. Sophie was right. Jacques Sauniere had indeed paid a visit to the Mona Lisabefore he died. â€Å"He wouldn't have come here without a reason,† Sophie whispered, standing up. â€Å"I know he left a message for me here.† Quickly striding the final few steps to the Mona Lisa, she illuminated the floor directly in front of the painting. She waved the light back and forth across the bare parquet. â€Å"There's nothing here!† At that moment, Langdon saw a faint purple glimmer on the protective glass before the Mona Lisa. Reaching down, he took Sophie's wrist and slowly moved the light up to the painting itself. They both froze. On the glass, six words glowed in purple, scrawled directly across the Mona Lisa's face. CHAPTER 27 Seated at Sauniere's desk, Lieutenant Collet pressed the phone to his ear in disbelief. Did I hearFache correctly?† A bar of soap? But how could Langdon have known about the GPS dot?† â€Å"Sophie Neveu,† Fache replied. â€Å"She told him.† â€Å"What! Why?† â€Å"Damned good question, but I just heard a recording that confirms she tipped him off.† Collet was speechless. What was Neveu thinking? Fache had proof that Sophie had interfered with a DCPJ sting operation? Sophie Neveu was not only going to be fired, she was also going to jail. â€Å"But, Captain†¦ then where is Langdon now?† â€Å"Have any fire alarms gone off there?† â€Å"No, sir.† â€Å"And no one has come out under the Grand Gallery gate?† â€Å"No. We've got a Louvre security officer on the gate. Just as you requested.† â€Å"Okay, Langdon must still be inside the Grand Gallery.† â€Å"Inside? But what is he doing?† â€Å"Is the Louvre security guard armed?† â€Å"Yes, sir. He's a senior warden.† â€Å"Send him in,† Fache commanded. â€Å"I can't get my men back to the perimeter for a few minutes, and I don't want Langdon breaking for an exit.† Fache paused. â€Å"And you'd better tell the guard Agent Neveu is probably in there with him.† â€Å"Agent Neveu left, I thought.† â€Å"Did you actually see her leave?† â€Å"No, sir, but – â€Å"Well, nobody on the perimeter saw her leave either. They only saw her go in.† Collet was flabbergasted by Sophie Neveu's bravado. She's still inside the building? â€Å"Handle it,† Fache ordered. â€Å"I want Langdon and Neveu at gunpoint by the time I get back.† As the Trailor truck drove off, Captain Fache rounded up his men. Robert Langdon had proven an elusive quarry tonight, and with Agent Neveu now helping him, he might be far harder to corner than expected. Fache decided not to take any chances. Hedging his bets, he ordered half of his men back to the Louvre perimeter. The other half he sent to guard the only location in Paris where Robert Langdon could find safe harbor. CHAPTER 28 Inside the Salle des Etats, Langdon stared in astonishment at the six words glowing on the Plexiglas. The text seemed to hover in space, casting a jagged shadow across Mona Lisa's mysterious smile. â€Å"The Priory,† Langdon whispered. â€Å"This proves your grandfather was a member!† Sophie looked at him in confusion. â€Å"You understand this?† â€Å"It's flawless,† Langdon said, nodding as his thoughts churned. â€Å"It's a proclamation of one of the Priory's most fundamental philosophies!† Sophie looked baffled in the glow of the message scrawled across the Mona Lisa's face. SO DARK THE CON OF MAN â€Å"Sophie,† Langdon said,† the Priory's tradition of perpetuating goddess worship is based on a belief that powerful men in the early Christian church ‘conned' the world by propagating lies that devalued the female and tipped the scales in favor of the masculine.† Sophie remained silent, staring at the words.† The Priory believes that Constantine and his male successors successfully converted the world from matriarchal paganism to patriarchal Christianity by waging a campaign of propaganda that demonized the sacred feminine, obliterating the goddess from modern religion forever.† Sophie's expression remained uncertain. â€Å"My grandfather sent me to this spot to find this. He must be trying to tell me more than that.† Langdon understood her meaning. She thinks this is another code.Whether a hidden meaning existed here or not, Langdon could not immediately say. His mind was still grappling with the bold clarity of Sauniere's outward message. So dark the con of man, he thought. So dark indeed. Nobody could deny the enormous good the modern Church did in today's troubled world, and yet the Church had a deceitful and violent history. Their brutal crusade to† reeducate† the pagan and feminine-worshipping religions spanned three centuries, employing methods as inspired as they were horrific. The Catholic Inquisition published the book that arguably could be called the most blood-soaked publication in human history. Malleus Maleficarum – or The Witches' Hammer – indoctrinated the world to† the dangers of freethinking women† and instructed the clergy how to locate, torture, and destroy them. Those deemed† witches† by the Church included all female scholars, priestesses, gypsies, mystics, nature lovers, herb gatherers, and any women† suspiciously attuned to the natural world.† Midwives also were killed for their heretical practice of using medical knowledge to ease the pain of childbirth – a suffering, the Church claimed, that was God's rightful punishment for Eve's partaking of the Apple of Knowledge, thus giving birth to the idea of Original Sin. During three hundred years of witch hunts, the Church burned at the stake an astounding five million women. The propaganda and bloodshed had worked. Today's world was living proof. Women, once celebrated as an essential half of spiritual enlightenment, had been banished from the temples of the world. There were no female Orthodox rabbis, Catholic priests, nor Islamic clerics. The once hallowed act of Hieros Gamos – the natural sexual union between man and woman through which each became spiritually whole – had been recast as a shameful act. Holy men who had once required sexual union with their female counterparts to commune with God now feared their natural sexual urges as the work of the devil, collaborating with his favorite accomplice†¦ woman. Not even the feminine association with the left-hand side could escape the Church's defamation. In France and Italy, the words for† left† – gauche and sinistra – came to have deeply negative overtones, while their right-hand counterparts rang of righteousness, dexterity, and correctness. To this day, radical thought was considered left wing, irrational thought was left brain, and anything evil, sinister. The days of the goddess were over. The pendulum had swung. Mother Earth had become a man's world, and the gods of destruction and war were taking their toll. The male ego had spent two millennia running unchecked by its female counterpart. The Priory of Sion believed that it was this obliteration of the sacred feminine in modern life that had caused what the Hopi Native Americans called koyanisquatsi – â€Å"life out of balance† – an unstable situation marked by testosterone-fueled wars, a plethora of misogynistic societies, and a growing disrespect for Mother Earth. â€Å"Robert!† Sophie said, her whisper yanking him back. â€Å"Someone's coming!† He heard the approaching footsteps out in the hallway.† Over here!† Sophie extinguished the black light and seemed to evaporate before Langdon's eyes. For an instant he felt totally blind. Over where! As his vision cleared he saw Sophie's silhouette racing toward the center of the room and ducking out of sight behind the octagonal viewing bench. He was about to dash after her when a booming voice stopped him cold. â€Å"Arretez!† a man commanded from the doorway. The Louvre security agent advanced through the entrance to the Salle des Etats, his pistol outstretched, taking deadly aim at Langdon's chest. Langdon felt his arms raise instinctively for the ceiling. â€Å"Couchez-vous!† the guard commanded. â€Å"Lie down!† Langdon was face first on the floor in a matter of seconds. The guard hurried over and kicked his legs apart, spreading Langdon out. â€Å"Mauvaise idee, Monsieur Langdon,†he said, pressing the gun hard into Langdon's back.† Mauvaise idee.† Face down on the parquet floor with his arms and legs spread wide, Langdon found little humor in the irony of his position. The Vitruvian Man, he thought. Face down. CHAPTER 29 Inside Saint-Sulpice, Silas carried the heavy iron votive candle holder from the altar back toward the obelisk. The shaft would do nicely as a battering ram. Eyeing the gray marble panel that covered the apparent hollow in the floor, he realized he could not possibly shatter the covering without making considerable noise. Iron on marble. It would echo off the vaulted ceilings. Would the nun hear him? She should be asleep by now. Even so, it was a chance Silas preferred not to take. Looking around for a cloth to wrap around the tip of the iron pole, he saw nothing except the altar's linen mantle, which he refused to defile. My cloak, he thought. Knowing he was alone in the great church, Silas untied his cloak and slipped it off his body. As he removed it, he felt a sting as the wool fibers stuck to the fresh wounds on his back. Naked now, except for his loin swaddle, Silas wrapped his cloak over the end of the iron rod. Then, aiming at the center of the floor tile, he drove the tip into it. A muffled thud. The stone did not break. He drove the pole into it again. Again a dull thud, but this time accompanied by a crack. On the third swing, the covering finally shattered, and stone shards fell into a hollow area beneath the floor. A compartment! Quickly pulling the remaining pieces from the opening, Silas gazed into the void. His blood pounded as he knelt down before it. Raising his pale bare arm, he reached inside. At first he felt nothing. The floor of the compartment was bare, smooth stone. Then, feeling deeper, reaching his arm in under the Rose Line, he touched something! A thick stone tablet. Getting his fingers around the edge, he gripped it and gently lifted the tablet out. As he stood and examined his find, he realized he was holding a rough-hewn stone slab with engraved words. He felt for an instant like a modern-day Moses. As Silas read the words on the tablet, he felt surprise. He had expected the keystone to be a map, or a complex series of directions, perhaps even encoded. The keystone, however, bore the simplest of inscriptions. Job 38:11 A Bible verse? Silas was stunned with the devilish simplicity. The secret location of that which they sought was revealed in a Bible verse? The brotherhood stopped at nothing to mock the righteous! Job. Chapter thirty-eight. Verse eleven. Although Silas did not recall the exact contents of verse eleven by heart, he knew the Book of Job told the story of a man whose faith in God survived repeated tests. Appropriate, he thought, barely able to contain his excitement. Looking over his shoulder, he gazed down the shimmering Rose Line and couldn't help but smile. There atop the main altar, propped open on a gilded book stand, sat an enormous leather-bound Bible. Up in the balcony, Sister Sandrine was shaking. Moments ago, she had been about to flee and carryout her orders, when the man below suddenly removed his cloak. When she saw his alabaster-white flesh, she was overcome with a horrified bewilderment. His broad, pale back was soaked with blood-red slashes. Even from here she could see the wounds were fresh. This man has been mercilessly whipped! She also saw the bloody cilice around his thigh, the wound beneath it dripping. What kind of God would want a body punished this way? The rituals of Opus Dei, Sister Sandrine knew, were not something she would ever understand. But that was hardly her concern at this instant. Opus Dei is searching for the keystone.How they knew of it, Sister Sandrine could not imagine, although she knew she did not have time to think. The bloody monk was now quietly donning his cloak again, clutching his prize as he moved toward the altar, toward the Bible. In breathless silence, Sister Sandrine left the balcony and raced down the hall to her quarters. Getting on her hands and knees, she reached beneath her wooden bed frame and retrieved the sealed envelope she had hidden there years ago. Tearing it open, she found four Paris phone numbers. Trembling, she began to dial. Downstairs, Silas laid the stone tablet on the altar and turned his eager hands to the leather Bible. His long white fingers were sweating now as he turned the pages. Flipping through the Old Testament, he found the Book of Job. He located chapter thirty-eight. As he ran his finger down the column of text, he anticipated the words he was about to read. They will lead the way! Finding verse number eleven, Silas read the text. It was only seven words. Confused, he read it again, sensing something had gone terribly wrong. The verse simply read: HITHERTO SHALT THOU COME, BUT NO FURTHER.

Safety and quality

I believe that there are positive and negative consequences in the safety and quality affecting the delivery of healthcare today. For example, in the past patients used to be on prolonged bed rest following surgical procedures thus the promotion of atelectasis, pneumonia, thrombus formation and so on†¦ Positively, the safety and quality has evolved by enforcing patients to ambulate early, use tri-flows, apply ted hose and sequential compression devices have eliminated the amount of these post operative complications. Also advanced technological inventions, such as laparoscopy, have lessened the extensive hospital stays. According to Dr. Porter-O’Grady, â€Å"Thirty years ago today when somebody entered the health care system for surgery, 86% of the times, they were inpatient. Today, 83% of the people who come through the health care system are outpatients. † However, negatively, after several procedures patients are sent home in a matter of hours and many of these patients wind up in emergency rooms. This was my experience last month, after a diagnostic laparoscopy. At the hospital I felt fine. After a couple of hours when the anesthesia wore off at home, I was in an incredible amount of pain, had urinary retention, and to this day my voice after being intubated is not the same. The staff was professional and comforting but I was disappointed that no one told me about these potential adverse effects. Also, many patients who have cesarean sections and are discharged after 2 to 3 days visit the OB/GYN triage with wound infection, wound dehiscence, and other complications. We are steered by such strict guidelines placed upon us by insurances and Medicaid that we do not have adequate time to monitor the patients for side effects from the procedures and I believe this is a negative impact on the nursing practice. It has become a prominent concern on OB/GYN triage, due to insurance and Medicaid does not pay for re-admits, thus meaning the unit is losing money when it is bombarded with these patients. We need to remember as nurses patients expect us to be proficient and will advocate for them. â€Å"We need to hold on the fact that nurses have been leaders in the health care and society, and that is something we need to act on and emulate and leave for the next generation. † (Mason, 2005) This issue does affect our job because the patients’ experience will be negative if they assume that they are receiving insufficient care.

Popcorn Lab Essays

Popcorn Lab Essays Popcorn Lab Paper Popcorn Lab Paper A indicate that the average density of a sample of 10 kernels is 2. 3 g/ml which is according to industry standard classified a ready for sale. However the sample size of 10 kernels is well below the size sample in the popcorn industry, and is considered to be only valid for a small batch of popcorn. This is due to the fact that the sample densities were close except for one trial #2 which had a density that was about 0. 4 lower than the other samples. The errors could have been the time for wince rater ten samples winner measures wince would nave change a ten results Another error could have been incorrect measurement of volume and/or mass and that would have significantly affected the results. Part B Measurement of Kernel Damage: The outcome of part B indicates that out of the 10-15 g sample of 35 kernels that none have been damaged revealing a 0% kernels damaged. This result could have been flawed in many ways one which is the iodine solution could have not fully covered the kernels which would leave some kernels as undamaged due to improper procedure. Another error could be that due to the number of kernels the iodine solution was left with too much to handle and did not fully uncover the kernels, deeming the experiment as flawed. Part C Kernel Water Loss: The calculations of part C indicate that the average % of water lost is 5. 8% and this indicates that these popcorn kernels are below proper popping standard and would robbery be deemed as low market value popcorn. These results could be due to the fact that the popcorn water content has decreased due to evaporation of the water when it was left for x amount of time before the experiment was conducted. Another error could be that the kernels were either put on too much heat or too little which in hand would change the water content, an example would be if it was put on low heat before measure and then put to high heat after measure which could cause burning to change the % water lost.

The Vietnam Conflict The Vietnam War was a long and

The Vietnam Conflict The Vietnam War was a long and The Vietnam Conflict The Vietnam War was a long and frustrating experience for the American people. Even before the United States involvement began, North and South Vietnam were in conflict with each other. ?When Vietnam was divided in 1954, many Viet Minh who had been born in the southern part of the country returned to their native villages to await the 1956 elections and the reunification of their nation?(Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 99). When the elections did not take place as planned, these Viet Minh sought to overthrow Diem?s government (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 99). ? The Viet Minh were greatly aided in their efforts to organize resistance in the countryside by Diem?s own policies, which alienated many peasants? (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 99).Beginning in 1955, the United States created the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) in South Vietnam. Although Diem was not liked by the U.S. he was the only man that the United States had out there, so they had to back him (Karnow 214).Scene of Viet Cong terrorist bombing in Saigon, Re...Using these troops, Diem took land away from peasants and returned it to former landlords, reversing the land redistribution program implemented by the Viet Minh. Many villagers were moved from their homes to controlled settlements in order to stop Communist activity. Diem also drafted their sons into the ARVN. ?By the late 1950s police-state measures directed against anyone who disagreed with the prevailing edicts of the Diem Regime forced all opposition into the agonizing choice of self-imposed exile (if rich), total silence (if less fortunate and thus forced to remain in Vietnam) or armed 2 resistance? (Fall 138). By 1959, however, opposition to Diem was so widespread in rural areas that the southern Communists formed the National Liberation Front (NLF), and in 1960 the North Vietnamese government gave its formal sanction to the...

7 Signs of Trouble at Home Teachers Should Know

7 Signs of Trouble at Home Teachers Should Know As teachers, we arent only in charge of our students homework assignments and spelling tests. We also need to be aware of the signs of possible trouble at home. Our vigilance and responsible action help our young students be happy and healthy both at home and in the classroom. It can feel uncomfortable to bring up touchy subjects with a students parents. But as responsible adults in our students lives, it is part of our duty to look out for their best interests and help them live up to their full potential. Sleeping at School Sleep is exceedingly important to the health and well-being of young children. Without it, they cant concentrate or perform to the best of their abilities. If you notice a student regularly catching up on sleep during school hours, consider talking to the school nurse for help in formulating a plan of action in conjunction with the parents. Sudden Change in Behavior Just like with adults, an abrupt change in behavior usually signals a cause for concern. As teachers, we get to know our students very well. Keep an eye out for sudden changes in behavior patterns and work quality. If a formerly responsible student completely stops bringing his or her homework, you may want to broach the subject with the students parents. Working as a team, you can enlist their support and implement strategies to get the student back on track. Lack of Cleanliness If a student shows up at school in dirty clothes or with substandard personal hygiene, this can be a sign of neglect at home. Again, the school nurse may be able to support you in addressing this concern with the students guardians. Not only is dirtiness a health issue, but it can also cause isolation and teasing from classmates if its readily noticeable. Ultimately, this can contribute to loneliness and depression. Visible Signs of Injury As mandated reporters in some states, teachers can be legally required to report any suspected child abuse. There is nothing more important (and morally imperative) than saving a helpless child from harm. If you see bruises, cuts, or other signs of injury, dont hesitate to follow your states procedures for reporting suspected abuse. Lack of Preparedness Observant teachers can notice the outward signs of neglect at home. These signs can come in many forms. If a student mentions not eating breakfast each day, or you notice the student doesnt have lunch (or money to buy lunch), you may need to step in as an advocate for the child. Alternatively, if a student doesnt have basic school supplies, make arrangements to provide them, if at all possible. Small children are at the mercy of adults at home. If you notice a gap in care, you may need to step in and help make it right. Inappropriate or Inadequate Clothes Be on the lookout for students who wear the same outfit virtually every day. Similarly, watch out for students who wear summer clothes in the winter and/or lack a proper winter coat. Worn-out or too-small shoes may be additional signs that something isnt right at home. If the parents arent able to provide appropriate clothing, you may be able to work with a local church or charity to get the student what he or she needs. Mentions of Neglect or Abuse This is the most obvious and clear sign that something is wrong (or maybe even dangerous) at home. If a student mentions being home alone at night or getting hit by an adult, this is definitely something to investigate. Again, you should report these comments to a child protective services agency in a timely manner. It is not your job to determine the veracity of such statements. Rather, the relevant government agency can investigate according to ​its  procedure and figure out whats really going on.

Computer Forensics 2015 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Computer Forensics 2015 - Research Paper Example The user data can be extracted from personal storage devices like computer hard disk, flash drive, memory cards etc (Computer forensics – a critical need in computer, n.d ) Whenever a person online on internet he/she leaves behind the logs on performed activities. This provides the digital traceability of the person’s activities which he/she has performed on internet by using these logs of visited websites. Flash templates and videos buffered can also be gathered from temporary file of the computer which the person was using. This accessibility to trace the logs, cookies, files and templates can help in analyzing the crime committed computers and may help in providing the strong evidence against the cyber-criminal or hacker. Many users think that after deleing data from hard drive it cannot be traced but there are many techniques and methods by which the deleted data can be recovered. The computer system does not usually thrash the data completely even if it is removed from recycle bin. These files remain alive until it is replaced or overwritten by new data. These methods of tracing can facilitate in forensic investigation to trace down the cri minal by investigating the computer system used by the criminal. For instance, during the execution of search warrant of serial killer John Robinson at the residence, law enforcement agencies seize five computers along with badly decomposed two dead bodies (Computer forensics, n.d ). After investigating the computer used by the serial killer John Robinson, it was discovered that he used the internet to find them and then schedule the meeting, after sexual assault they were killed. These facts cannot be gathered with physical evidence techniques and evidence and without computer forensic technique (Computer forensics, n.d ). There are many computer forensic techniques which can be used to trace the criminal but they are usually categorized

Land law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Land law - Essay Example Over a period of time she gained ascendancy over him. Her action against him was set aside as she failed to disprove this presumption (Re Craig , 1971). In Dunbar Bank plc v. Nadeem, the bank provided a mortgage loan to the couple in their joint names. In the trial court it was held that there had been undue influence brought to bear on the wife, as she had not made any contribution to the purchase, but all the same she was being held jointly liable with her husband. The appellate court set aside this judgment and ruled that she had not suffered any disadvantage and as she had failed to establish undue influence (Dunbar Bank plc v. Nadeem , 1998 ). The courts of equity, in their role of a court of conscience, initiated undue influence as a basis for the obtention of relief. To this end the courts endeavour to determine the underlying reason for entering into a transaction. In all cases, where the cause proves to be objectionable, the transaction will be rescinded. From the perspective of equity, undue influence occurs in the following cases. If there are threats or other overtly improper or intimidating acts and if the relationship between the parties accords to one of them a superior position, which is exploited by that party to the detriment of the other party. In O’Brien, the House of Lords specified the measures to be adopted by a bank, in order to avoid the ill effect of a husband’s undue influence, while granting loans to a couple. The outcome of this decision was that a contract could become unenforceable if one of the parties to the contract had done so as a consequence of a third party’s transgression (Barclays Bank v. OBrien, 1993). In Etridge it was held that it was the duty of the bank to take all such reasonable steps as would ensure that the wife should be properly apprised of the consequences of the transaction that she was about to enter into. To this end an

Land law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Land law - Essay Example Over a period of time she gained ascendancy over him. Her action against him was set aside as she failed to disprove this presumption (Re Craig , 1971). In Dunbar Bank plc v. Nadeem, the bank provided a mortgage loan to the couple in their joint names. In the trial court it was held that there had been undue influence brought to bear on the wife, as she had not made any contribution to the purchase, but all the same she was being held jointly liable with her husband. The appellate court set aside this judgment and ruled that she had not suffered any disadvantage and as she had failed to establish undue influence (Dunbar Bank plc v. Nadeem , 1998 ). The courts of equity, in their role of a court of conscience, initiated undue influence as a basis for the obtention of relief. To this end the courts endeavour to determine the underlying reason for entering into a transaction. In all cases, where the cause proves to be objectionable, the transaction will be rescinded. From the perspective of equity, undue influence occurs in the following cases. If there are threats or other overtly improper or intimidating acts and if the relationship between the parties accords to one of them a superior position, which is exploited by that party to the detriment of the other party. In O’Brien, the House of Lords specified the measures to be adopted by a bank, in order to avoid the ill effect of a husband’s undue influence, while granting loans to a couple. The outcome of this decision was that a contract could become unenforceable if one of the parties to the contract had done so as a consequence of a third party’s transgression (Barclays Bank v. OBrien, 1993). In Etridge it was held that it was the duty of the bank to take all such reasonable steps as would ensure that the wife should be properly apprised of the consequences of the transaction that she was about to enter into. To this end an

Morality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Morality - Essay Example The word Morality carries the concept of: moral standards, with respect to behavior; moral responsibility, referring to one’s own conscience; and a moral identity, that is one who can differentiate between his right and wrong actions. Morality defines the boundaries that have been set forth in our society and following them can only lead to harmony and respect within the society. It’s one of the core founding pillars of a sophisticated society as it not only characterizes what is right and wrong but also instills a sense of guilt within individuals. This makes sure that no matter how badly one wants to commit that action, morality takes over and stops one from doing that bad or unfavorable deed. For example, if a pharmaceutical company has decided not to withdraw a medicine from the market that causes severe side effects just because they will endure huge losses if they do so, it can clearly be stated as unethical. As playing with the lives of thousands of innocent peop le is not justified it is thus established as being an immoral act in society. Ethics, also termed as moral philosophy, is a prominent branch of philosophy that caters to questions about morality and its concepts, such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc. Ethics can be broadly divided into three categories namely: Meta ethics, Normative ethics and Applied ethics. Meta ethics inquires about the roots of our ethical principles and how they came into being in our society. It usually deals with questions related to the role of reason in ethical judgment, the will of God and the issues of universal truths. Normative ethics on the other side takes a more practical task in determining the moral standards that set apart the right from the wrong. This often includes pursuing good habits in general, following duties that are considered favorable and the consequences that others might face because of one’s actions. Lastly, Applied ethics simply inv olves examining specific controversial issues, such as abortion, animal rights, environmental protection, homosexuality, capital punishment and chemical or nuclear wars. Although this branch looks quite simple but it has the highest opposition since opinions differ from person to person. For example, If a country starts discriminating against the immigrants of another country on the basis of race or religion than it is highly unethical of them in this developed world. Since the immigrants hold their rights to live freely there, basing differences on religion or on one’s race is prohibited in the civilized world. It is very important to know that reason is not the root for every answer. Although being rational and reasonable might help to achieve understanding of a certain situation but every situation at hand demands a different perspective. People argue that every right thing can be determined through reason, nevertheless that is not the case. It is futile to reason against something that is already established as a norm unless there is ample evidence that a change is needed. There are a lot of wrong things that need no reason, for instance hurting a human being or animal, using harmful means to acquire money or disrespecting elders. Likewise, there are uncountable right things that need no reason to perform, for instance loving and caring for ones parents, treating others respectfully, caring for human lives, living a healthy life and the

Desert of the Skeletons (full documentary) Essay

Desert of the Skeletons (full documentary) - Essay Example Women cover their body with thick reddish cream and wash their hair with ash. People bath only once in their lives before getting married; this fact is disappointing from the western point of view because people care about high hygiene standards. The Himba live in small huts made of clay, branches and other available materials. They move across the desert according to the season in order to get enough water for their cattle to survive. All in all, this movie reveals the fact that not all people accept the changes of the world. Bushmen and the Himba prefer to hide from the rest of the world and follow their traditional way of life. The influences of globalization are obvious even in their tribes; some of hunters wear snickers. The survival skills of these people are amazing; they know all edible plants and animal species in their area. Their respect to their tradition is very relevant for other people to understand how people lived before the civilization. This movie inspires to read more about indigenous peoples to understand their customs at least a little better. Also, Bushmen people can teach other nations how to live in harmony with their

The Nature and Importance of Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Nature and Importance of Leadership - Essay Example Ms. Rodgers served as an Assistant Manager of a local state bank for more than 10 years before assuming the position of a Unit Manager for the health institution. She had been the Unit Manager for five years now. Through her educational background, having graduated with a master’s degree in business administration from a reputable university; in conjunction with years of experience in a managerial position, makes her the perfect candidate for the current project. Leadership was deemed to be crucial in the organization Ms. Rodgers serve due to the relevance of according high quality in patient care. As such, she asserted that the subordinates who she governs should be regularly motivated, monitored, and evaluated to perform according to explicitly defined roles, responsibilities, and goals. Likewise, she believes that learning to lead is important for students like me so that we would imbibe the pertinent theories and discern how these should be applied in current and future se ttings. As a coach and motivator: She was asked to design strategies to motivate the followers into achieving identified goals; while taking into account the needs, drives, and professional growth of her followers. As a technical problem solver: As a manager, she has addressed various problems in the work-setting which required evaluating various alternative courses of action and selecting the option which maximized the benefits and minimized costs. As an entrepreneur: She makes decisions after taking the perspectives of senior management, or the real entrepreneurs; and assumes a proactive role in capturing opportunities, as well as addressing threats in the external environment. As a strategic planner: Ms. Rodgers noted that she is consistently a strategic planner through acknowledgment of goals as her standards and designing strategies that facilitate the attainment of these goals.

Summary Issue Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Summary Issue Analysis - Research Paper Example The facilitator will reduce one full letter on the grade marking for any completed template, because of a student has not entered her or his responses in the appropriate box. Enter responses using single space and the font type and size should be the pre-determined one for the template (Times New Roman, 12-point). The facilitator will reduce one full letter on the grade for any completed template, if a student has used other spacing conventions, font type or font size. Wherever grammatically appropriate and helpful, include paragraph breaks and bulleted lists to organize responses. Responses must not exceed the maximum word count limit for each section [as set forth in brackets next to each heading]. Determine the number of words included in the response to each section and input the word count to each response in the spaces provided within the template. (To determine word counts, in MS Word, highlight the response, select the â€Å"Tools† drop-down menu and select Word Count. ) Again, the facilitator may reduce one full letter on the grade marking for any completed template (a) If the response in any section exceeds the related maximum word count limit, or (b) If the student fails to provide his/her own word count. Completely and successfully check grammatical error as well as spelling mistakes in the responses (using the related MS Word capability) prior to submitting the completed template to the facilitator. For this purpose, make certain that ALL â€Å"grammar– and style– check† options and settings are active. In MS Word, select Tools, Options, Spelling & Grammar. Under Writing style, select Grammar & Style. Then select Settings †¦ and check all Grammar and Style boxes except Use of first person. Also, under Require select always Comma required before last item option; for Punctuation required with quotes select inside; and for Spaces required between sentences select 2. The facilitator will reduce one full letter on the gr ade on any completed template, if it (a) is not successfully spell-checked and grammar-checked using the required settings or (b) uses any instance of â€Å"passive voice.† Submit the completed template to the facilitator via the course drop box. The facilitator will grade and comment on the electronic files submitted and subsequently return the files to students via the course drop box. Use the following file naming convention, a student should submit the completed template to the facilitator. Modify the course term indicator as appropriate: A603_M8W2-12_Analysis_StudentLastName_StudentFirstInitial.doc Example: A603_M8W2-12_Analysis_Smith_J.doc The facilitator will not accept assignments after the due date, without exception. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine and discuss the ethical issues, economic consequences, and political context of accounting standards and financial reporting for stock-based compensation (most commonly in the form of employee stock optio ns). This paper begins by identifying the stakeholders and the nature of their stake in the decision of a company, about whether it has to (a) adopt the optional fair value method of

The Nature and Importance of Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Nature and Importance of Leadership - Essay Example Ms. Rodgers served as an Assistant Manager of a local state bank for more than 10 years before assuming the position of a Unit Manager for the health institution. She had been the Unit Manager for five years now. Through her educational background, having graduated with a master’s degree in business administration from a reputable university; in conjunction with years of experience in a managerial position, makes her the perfect candidate for the current project. Leadership was deemed to be crucial in the organization Ms. Rodgers serve due to the relevance of according high quality in patient care. As such, she asserted that the subordinates who she governs should be regularly motivated, monitored, and evaluated to perform according to explicitly defined roles, responsibilities, and goals. Likewise, she believes that learning to lead is important for students like me so that we would imbibe the pertinent theories and discern how these should be applied in current and future se ttings. As a coach and motivator: She was asked to design strategies to motivate the followers into achieving identified goals; while taking into account the needs, drives, and professional growth of her followers. As a technical problem solver: As a manager, she has addressed various problems in the work-setting which required evaluating various alternative courses of action and selecting the option which maximized the benefits and minimized costs. As an entrepreneur: She makes decisions after taking the perspectives of senior management, or the real entrepreneurs; and assumes a proactive role in capturing opportunities, as well as addressing threats in the external environment. As a strategic planner: Ms. Rodgers noted that she is consistently a strategic planner through acknowledgment of goals as her standards and designing strategies that facilitate the attainment of these goals.

Canada Before Confederation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Canada Before Confederation - Essay Example Though the conquest occurred, there are historians who see it as a disaster to the Canadians. One example of such a historian is Michael Burnet. It is argued that people look at the Canadians as people who belong to the second-class or middle-class. They are no longer bourgeoisies but proletariats. The British have made businesses to be monopolies. They have also made the high levels of governments to be monopolies (Jerry, 2003). The conquest really devalued the Canadians. There warriors are now seen not to be strong enough to defend there country. The conquest completely injured their pride as a nation. They see that the white people look at them as though they are irrelevant (Bumsted, 2004). The British introduced industrial projects and commerce to Canada. The impact of the white bourgeoisies led to the decline stature of the native language, French. The people of Canada had to learn English. The commercial organizations and industries were run by the British people and it was an obligation to learn English to be employed. Moreover, the language that was used by the federal government was English. This led to so many English speaking individuals to migrate to Canada. It greatly affected Montral. The city was confused to be an Anglophone one because of the signs it used in its commercial language. Due to the use of English commercial signs, Quebec French was forced to incorporate American and Canadian English so as it could conduct some businesses for example, governmental roles, running businesses and trade. Many Canadians who went to the USA came back with some knowledge of English that led to incorporation of the words in the language. The British had taken over ther e vast share of land leaving them to occupy very small areas. There was worry for all the historians who were against the conquest that there would be survival of the Catholic and French culture in the industrial and urban English-led surrounding. They viewed the conquest as having enabled the British to control the economic, social and political ways of Canada. The only way Canadians could join the public offices was by denouncing catholism and becoming Protestants. The main suggestion from historians is that, the Canadians could use their culture and past experiences to organize their economic, political and social way of life. The British introduced democracy that the French Canadians were very much against. They were used to their nationalism concept of leadership. The Roman Catholic teachings guided them. Democracy was just but too secular for them (Bumsted, 2004). There was excess industrialization by the British that led to a division over conscription. The Canadians who were speaking English were blamed for this division. The Canadians who were speaking French did not have an equal place as those who spoke English. The new generation that was coming up in Canada did not inherit the Canadian religious ways. This has been largely blamed to the industrialization by the British. The conquest has made the new generation to be very secular and yet it was a Catholic dominated environment. Until the recent age, the French Canadians have extreme fear that they will lose their people to the Anglo-Saxon surrounding that was brought about by the conquest. They have been forced to form racial unity to protect their traditions and their own. They greatly insist on the differences between them

Ethnic Group and Diversity Essay Example for Free

Ethnic Group and Diversity Essay According to information provide by ask. com â€Å"Cultural diversity has affected society many ways. It has affected everything from how we speak to the clothes we wear and the food that we eat. † â€Å"America is widely known as the melting pot of the world. This means with immigrants coming and going so rapidly over history, we have a very diverse nation. † Some of the benefits of such a diverse nation is that we can learn from each other. We are able to learn of the languages, culture, and backgrounds of others. Having such a diverse nation allows us to see that all humans are equal. According to chacha. com â€Å"Cultural diversity best illustrates the want for equality. † This diversity that we have in the United States has allowed for so many learning experiences from each other. In the schools our children are learning from each other. Without diversity children would not learn that there are different people in the world. One of the negative impacts from such diversity is prejudice. There are groups that are still teaching children and adults that not all people are equal and this is a sad and unjust way to teach someone. What will U. S, Population look like in the year 2050? â€Å"The results of the 2010 U. S. Census project that the racial and ethnic makeup of the United States will undergo dramatic changes over the next few decades. In particular, by the year 2050 there will no longer be any clear racial and ethnic majority because the most rapidly growing number of residents in our nation today are of Hispanic and Asian descent. † This according to: The Center for American Progress. Also according to The Center for American Progress: The United States is undergoing a remarkable and profound demographic shift. Today, in eight states across our union, the majority of children are children of color. This by itself is not significant, but what is worth noting is that the very communities that are growing are the ones that are experiencing significant obstacles and disparities. Sadly, this too is unsurprising. For too long we have been watching the racial and ethnic disparities in education, employment, health, and wealth widen. We know the stories well. Communities of color suffer from high dropout rates, economic insecurity, and lack of health care while wealth gaps rise to record highs between whites and communities of color—the largest gap, in fact, since the government began publishing such data. We know so much about these challenges in part because of the comprehensive work by groups that focus on closing these gaps and in part due to the work of demographers who outline the urgency of reducing these disparities before we reach a point in American history when communities of color together make up a numerical majority. But there is a pressing need today to analyze the implications of the demographic change for local and national policy. We need to better understand how local communities are managing these changes in the face of daunting obstacles so that ultimately we can outline a positive vision of what our country could look like in 2050 if we truly work to close the gaps that exist over the next 40 years. Doing so will enable our nation to harness the full talent and drive of all our people. Progress 2050, a project of the Center for American Progress, seeks to do just that by: Working with the Center’s policy teams to create a more informed and inclusive policy agenda Exploring the implications of this demographic change for our economic, political, and cultural landscape Fostering a localized dialogue about the challenges and opportunities of diversity in communities across our country Helping craft a policy framework and narrative squarely focused on the opportunities of diversity for the future prosperity and well- being of our nation. Without open and frank discussion about the opportunities and challenges of diversity, anxieties about where our country is headed combined with the coming demographic change may generate more division and disturbing stories that counter the fundamentals of American democracy. We as a nation have been down this road before many times as wave upon wave of new immigrants, new Americans, arrived on our shores—often to face brutal discrimination and hardship. We triumphed each time, sometimes after many decades of discrimination, enabling the latest generations of Americans to assimilate and thrive, breathing new life into our economy and our democracy. But the stakes are even higher today. Today, discrimination abounds Escalation in voter suppression tactics. Hate crimes. Anti-immigrant sentiment. And a general sense across the country that our federal, state, and local governments and social and economic institutions are failing to provide the leadership needed to move us meaningfully beyond the economic crisis of the Great Recession. Progress 2050 is uniquely positioned to counter these challenges by offering an alternative. Certainly a progressive voice is needed now. We cannot allow the conversation about the future of this country to be dominated by voices on the right who advocate a very narrow definition of the American ideal. The demographic shift is a reality we must accept and embrace. And a clear vision of where we want our country to be in 2050 and how to get there is urgently needed . Working in collaboration with progressive and civil rights organizations, Progress 2050 will help devise that path forward. If there are not changes made in policies for the poorer people and not just ethnic groups, but all poor people I feel that the United States will lose chances to make a better nation. It would be better to figure out how to advance the poorer people so that they would be an investment to our own Country. Including the people that are already citizens here that were born citizens here. I know that immigrants are offered money to begin their own businesses, why not offer that to citizens that are already here as well that can not afford the cost to start their own business. † What Challenges does the United States face due to the diversity of its people? â€Å"For all the platitudes about melting pots, mosaics, and rainbow coalitions, many regard the browning of America as a profoundly disturbing trend. Miscegenation is still regarded as culturally taboo on Main Street. As recently as 20 years ago, some states still had laws in place forbidding interracial marriage. † Scott London also said â€Å"Many people complain that miscegenation waters down their culture. Some Jews, for example, blame the disintegration of Judaism on the growing rate of interfaith marriages in America. Similarly, a number of Indian tribes are concerned that thinning bloodlines will lead to the statistical extermination of their people. A century ago, half of all Indians in the U. S. were considered full-bloods. Today the number is down to about 20 percent. On Indian reservations, there is now a suicide problem among young half-breeds who dont feel sufficiently pure. Also from an article from Scott London: â€Å"As writer Richard Rodriguez has pointed out, â€Å"we have never had an especially rich vocabulary for miscegenation. † While other cultures speak of themselves as mestizos, mulattoes, and creoles, we persist in referring to ourselves using clumsy designations like Asian-American, African-American, Native American, and even Anglo-American. Curiously, the 1990 census form had boxes for white, black and other, but not for multiracial. Bureaucrats in Washington are now preparing a form for the 2000 census. It seems that as much as the United States thinks it is ready for more diversity we as a Country are not. More still must be done to include all races and ethnic backgrounds. From the way things seem one day we may just be all one big mixed race. What are the benefits of such a diverse society? There are many benefits to having such a diverse society. Some of these include learning from each other. Learning thins such as cultural differences and the why of it. We can even learn languages from each other. In a culturally diverse nation we learn that all humans are the same with just different backgrounds. Our children then do not even realize that there ever was a place in American history where others were treated as less than human. In an article by Scott London he says â€Å"As I see it, the mingling and the mixing of race is a sign that we are evolving toward a higher, more integrated state as a culture. One indication of this is the fact that, as the French theologian Teilhard de Chardin put it, union differentiates. â€Å"The smaller the differences are between people, the more they insist on them. † â€Å"Anthropologists have long observed that as people and cultures evolve, they become more and more distinctive. They dont shed the qualities that make them unique, they refine and develop them. Diversity appears to be a function of social evolution. † â€Å"Of course, diversity doesnt mean a thing if it doesnt challenge us to be more open-minded and inclusive. All too often, what passes for diversity are merely brown, black, and white versions of the same political ideology. There will always be those who overemphasize our diversity and fail to appreciate our essential unity, just as there will always be those who overemphasize our unity and fail to recognize the virtues of diversity. Its a delicate balance. Our founding fathers captured this tension in our national motto, E Pluribus Unum — from the many, one. Its the great paradox of America: what we have in common is diversity. When the founders laid out Americas first principles two hundred years ago, they took inspiration from the Iroquois Indian Confederacy. The Indian tribes modeled this principle of unity in diversity by retaining their individuality while at the same time belonging to a common network in the name of progress and mutual protection. † America can benefit from diversity when Americans are taught that all human beings are equal. Education is the key to this perfect diversity. Yes, education of our children, but why not education of their parents as well? Parents prejudice has been passed down to. How can society foster a climate of acceptance and cultural pluralism in the United States? According to: MEDIA, CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND GLOBALIZATION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Zayani, Mohamed, PHDView Profile. Journal of Cultural Diversity18. 2 (Summer 2011): 48-54. Fostering an environment that is tolerant of and conducive to cultural diversity is necessary for upholding democracy in an age dominated by information and communication technologies. In democratic societies, media have been central to the democratic process, giving an outlet to diverse voices and channeling diversity into a process of democratic integration or public opinion and will formation. A free debate is necessary to reach an integrative unity, and media pluralism goes a long way toward achieving such a goal (Tehranian, 1999). In much the same way freedom of expression is important to assert cultural and individual identities, access to information is important for an active participation in decision making and contribution to democratic processes. Although media plays a vital role in society fostering a climate of acceptance and cultural pluralism in the U. S. it still must begin with education. The Government will have to begin a campaign in the nation’s schools and provide education for parents as well. Parents that have been taught prejudice and to deny acceptance and cultural pluralism. Many of these parents, especially in the South, have been taught that African Americans are a lesser human race, the same for any race or culture except the white race. The prejudice has also been taught to the African American children as well. The thinking that all White people are racist and prejudice has been passed down from generation to generation of African Americans as well as white Americans. Spanish/Mexican Americans are taught the same thing and many prejudice white Americans teach this negativity about any race that is not white. These people have some where gotten the idea that the white race is superior to any other race, this can just not be ignored by the Government. It must start with our children and a campaign for them and their parents as well. Then the media could come in at this point and focus on the greatness of such teaching. In what ways does the media perpetuate stereotyping and prejudice? Provide examples to support your assertion. â€Å"The pace with which media have been changing over the past few decades is phenomenal, to say the least. The increased global connectivity along with the convergence of communication infrastructures, media content and electronic devices have dramatically changed the way we experience media and interact with it (Jenkins, 2006). More than ever before, there has been an exponential multiplication of information and communication technologies and growth in media services and modes of delivery. For Tehranian (1999), the changes in technology, the transformation of media and the globalization of communication have a strong bearing on the ability of individuals and groups to safeguard diversity. Three interrelated types of media can be identified with different implications: Macromedia of communication (which are associated with global satellite and computer networks, trans-border data flows, scientific and professional electronic mailing, and commercial advertising) support the globalization of national markets, societies and cultures, though they privilege the power centers more than the periphery; Mesomedia of communication (such as the press, print media, audio-visual media, the film industry, and news agencies) are usually under the control of national governments or commercial and pressure groups and, as such, function mostly as agents of national integration and social mobilization; and Micromedia of communication (such as the telephone, copying machines, audio and video recorders, tapes, PCs, and the Web) have primarily empowered the centrifugal forces of dissent at the peripheries of power. They provide channels for counter-hegemonic projects of cultural resistance, socio-political participation and autonomous development. The affordability and accessibility of micromedia are not without implication on world peripheries which have increasingly been focusing on modernization, indigenous development, cultural identity, and political communication formation (Tehranian, 1999). † This from MEDIA, CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND GLOBALIZATION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIESZayani, Mohamed, PHDView Profile. Journal of Cultural Diversity18. 2 (Summer 2011): 48-54. The effect of media is neither monolithic nor uniform. Media plays a central role in fostering the effect of the culture industry; they shape our relationship with each other. Individuals have developed a taste for what media shows, we as a nation consume what media promotes, and it seems that we as a nation act with the information media reveals, we also interpret things by what the media communicate to us. In what ways does the media help foster appreciation for diversity? Provide examples to support your assertion. Fostering an environment that is tolerant of and conducive to cultural diversity is necessary for upholding democracy in an age dominated by information and communication technologies. In democratic societies, media have been central to the democratic process, giving an outlet to diverse voices and channeling diversity into a process of democratic integration or public opinion and will formation. A free debate is necessary to reach an integrative unity, and media pluralism goes a long way toward achieving such a goal (Tehranian, 1999). In much the same way freedom of expression is important to assert cultural and individual identities, access to information is important for an active participation in decision making and contribution to democratic processes. This from MEDIA, CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND GLOBALIZATION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIESZayani, Mohamed, PHDView Profile. Journal of Cultural Diversity18. 2 (Summer 2011): 48-54. The media helps foster an appreciation for diversity when the owners, reporters, journalists, and so forth all have an agenda to do so. We also have to look at what the owners of a station, reporters, and other employees believe themselves. If they appreciate diversity themselves then they are more likely to promote diversity. For example: Take a white reporter and give him the assignment of reporting on diversity. His report is going to be based on what he believes. If he has an appreciation for diversity then he will help to foster that. But if he is prejudice and does not support the coming together of races and cultures as well as immigration, then his report is going to reflect that. The sad thing is if his report is negative he will impact many people just due to the fact that people have their favorite news and other media channels. If he supports diversity he will win over many or at least make many start thinking about their own beliefs and feelings on the matter. How might individuals and the United States work together to reduce prejudice and increase appreciation for diversity? According to Building One Nation: A Study of What is Being Done Today in Schools, Neighborhoods, and the Workplace. â€Å"Race has played a paradoxical role in American society since the founding of the country. While our racial and ethnic diversity has been a source of great strength, it has also been our central moral challenge. Our nation has made great strides in addressing prejudice and discrimination during this century. Laws that denied citizenship to people because of their race or ethnicity have been repealed. Discrimination at the ballot box and in housing, employment, education, and public facilities is illegal. Segregated lunch counters, movie theaters, water fountains, and restrooms are no longer part of the American landscape. Racial tolerance and understanding have increased manyfold. At the same time, research and everyday experience demonstrate that discrimination continues to infest American society, resulting in lost opportunities for too many individuals. † To make changes we as individuals and the United States as a Country must work together to reduce prejudice and increase appreciation for diversity. The first thing we must do is to bring these issues to light by discussion. Without these issues being discussed by individuals and the United States it will never be addressed. We must also increase intergroup contact situations. We must create intergroup panels of mixed racial and ethnic backgrounds. From these discussions the debate must be discussed in detail among the groups. Through this discussion changes must be made in institutions, schools, churches, and other group forums. If we implement these things we must implement them to each individual group at age appropriate levels. â€Å" Educational Approaches And Strategies (K-12) A school is a natural setting in which to forge enduring bonds among children from different backgrounds. Research primarily in integrated educational situations clearly demonstrates that when individuals are permitted to deal with one another across racial and ethnic lines in cooperative, equal-status activities with plenty of room for one-on-one exchanges and with support from authority figures, there is an excellent chance that positive intergroup relations will evolve. In this section we consider numerous strategies for improving the rapport among children in Kindergarten through high school, under the following headings: Curriculum Reform Training and Retraining of Teachers School Desegregation Cooperative Learning Paired Programs Conflict Resolution Youth Leadership Training in Desegregated Settings. Diversity In Higher Education Given the level of segregation in our nations communities as well as in our primary and secondary schools, many students meet across racial lines for the first time when they reach college. Colleges and universities therefore play a pivotal role in conveying an appreciation of American diversity and in breaking the cycle of intolerance. Educational Approaches And Strategies (K-12) A school is a natural setting in which to forge enduring bonds among children from different backgrounds. Research primarily in integrated educational situations clearly demonstrates that when individuals are permitted to deal with one another across racial and ethnic lines in cooperative, equal-status activities with plenty of room for one-on-one exchanges and with support from authority figures, there is an excellent chance that positive intergroup relations will evolve. In this section we consider numerous strategies for improving the rapport among children in Kindergarten through high school, under the following headings: Curriculum Reform Training and Retraining of Teachers School Desegregation Cooperative Learning Paired Programs Conflict Resolution Youth Leadership Training in Desegregated Settings. Diversity in Higher Education Given the level of segregation in our nations communities as well as in our primary and secondary schools, many students meet across racial lines for the first time when they reach college. Colleges and universities therefore play a pivotal role in conveying an appreciation of American diversity and in breaking the cycle of intolerance. † This according to: Building One Nation: A Study of What is Being Done Today in Schools, Neighborhoods, and the Workplace. We must also intergrate neighborhoods and make them more diverse. This is another area where the United States and individuals must come together to discuss and come up with plans to intergrate neighborhoods. How might a person change their own behaviors to be more inclusive and pluralistic? People can change their own attitudes by educating themselves. They can also inter-relate with diverse groups of people, different racial groups and different ethnic groups. People can start by going to their children’s school and meeting all of the classmates. Parents can encourage their children to interact with all students in their class. When parents give their children parties they can make sure that they and their children invite individuals from all races and ethnic groups. Adults can also have intergroup relations in the workplace. If a person wants to make a change the workplace would be a great place to start. Individuals could take the initiative to have conversations with individuals of different races or ethnic backgrounds. They could start inviting those of different racial and ethnic groups to have lunch with them. There are many things that individuals can do to change their own behaviors and include multi-cultural individuals into their own daily lives. The question is Are they willing to make the change? Sources and References: http://www. americanprogress. org/issues/race/report/2011/10/18/10477/progress-2050/b http://www. ask. com http://www. scottlondon. com/articles/newface. html http://search. proquest. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. com/docview/884629314? accountid=35812 MEDIA, CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND GLOBALIZATION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Zayani, Mohamed, PHDView Profile. Journal of Cultural Diversity18. 2 (Summer 2011): 48-54. http://www. civilrights. org/publications/reports/building_one_nation/.