Biopsych Cold Pressor

Physiology of Behaviour; Sex differences in physiological responses of the cold pressor test. Abstract This lab report aims to analyse the sex differences in a physiological responses to a potentially aversive physiological stress inducing stimuli. This was conducted by a cold pressor test. 8 males and 8 females participated. Heart rate, respiration rate, and galvanic skin was recorded whilst participants undertook the CPT test. Results showed no significant differences that there is a gender difference in experimental induced stimuli of pain. IntroductionTo say that male and females are biologically and physiologically the same is denying physical reality’s differentiation takes place immediately as the male or female begins to develop within the womb. The sex hormones –primarily oestrogen and testosterone–have a significant impact on the behaviour of males and females. Why do boys typically like to play with trucks and girls like to play with dolls? Feminists u sually claim this is the result of socialization, but there is growing scientific evidence that boys and girls are greatly influenced by their respective hormones.Within biological psychology the biology and physiological differences are studied thoroughly between male and female. In biological psychology, physiological pain has been studied frequently. Furthering this, the differences between male and female pain response and threshold for pain have been measured in several experiments. Pain is often described as an uncomfortable response to unpleasant stimuli. Different physiological responses take place when pain is perceived.The International Association for the Study of Pain's widely used definition states: â€Å"Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage†. (Bonica,1979) Pain motivates the individual to remove themselves from these unpleasant stimuli or situations, to prot ect the body. Pain is a part of the body’s defence system. Humans attempt to avoid similar painful and unpleasant experiences in the future. (Lynn,1984)Most pain resolves promptly once the painful stimulus is removed and the body has healed, but sometimes pain persists despite removal f the stimulus and apparent healing of the body; and sometimes pain arises in the absence of any detectable stimulus, damage or disease. (Raj,2007) People report a pain threshold and a pain tolerance. The pain threshold is the point at which sensation becomes pain, where as Pain tolerance is the amount of pain a person can handle without breaking down, either physically or emotionally. Men and women have reported over several studies different measures of pain threshold and pain tolerance in this following study I aim to review the literature between the sex differences of men and women in line with pain tolerance and pain threshold. Previous tests for pain threshold and tolerance that have been used are the electric shock test, tooth pulp stimulation, and tourniquet induced scheme (von Baeyer, 2007. ) The pain experiment that will be used in this lab report is the cold pressor test. The cold pressor test is a cardiovascular test performed by immersing the hand into an ice water container, usually for one minute, and measuring changes in blood pressure and heart rate. Its response is clinically indicative concerning vascular response and pulse excitability.The cold pressor test has been used for several years as a means of measuring experimentally induced pain. The cold pressor test is a preferred method to experimentally induce pain. Even though inducing pain seems unethical, as it is a necessity for psychological research, this method is preferred. It does not cause any psychology damage, it does not cause any damage to tissue or limbs, and minimum means of stimulation is used in comparison to other experimental induced pain methods. Methodology needs to be clear and con cise for carrying out the cold pressor test to be accurate.Temperature of the water is important to take into consideration when carrying out the cold pressor test, as temperature activates the sympathetic nervous system to release physiological responses. In a study researching the difference that the temperature of the water can make to the results showed significant outcomes. Twenty-six participants (12 men, 14 women) underwent 4  cold pressor  trials with  temperature order counterbalanced across 1 °C, 3 °C, 5 °C, and 7 °C,  temperatures  representative of  the  range used in previous literature.Significant main effects of temperature  were found for tolerance time, with higher  temperatures  resulting in longer times, and pain intensity, with lower  temperatures  resulting in higher intensities. Gender differences were obtained, with men tolerating  the  stimulus for significantly longer than women. Mitchell et al has found that water variati ons in CPT pain response in adults elicited by temperature variations of as little as 2 °C. The local warming changes the pain stimulus, enhancing the likelihood of longer tolerance.In conclusion, small differences in water temperature  have a significant effect on pain intensity and tolerance time. Methodology has to be carefully followed to ensure that the water temperature does not change across the study as very minor changes in experimental protocol can produce significant differences in the cold pressor test. (Mitchell, 2004). Other measures can also be obtained from the cold pressor such as pain threshold and pain tolerance. (Lowery, 2006)This is done by requiring a participant to place their hand in the cold pressor for as long as they can.Once pain is present, they let the researcher know. Once the pain is unbearable, the participant removes his/her hand. This provides a measure of threshold (first feeling pain) and tolerance (total time minus threshold). Within the hum an race, the vast majority of studies obtained results that women are more sensitive than men to experimentally induced pain, as evidenced by the cold pressor test. (Dixon, 2004) In a meta-analysis of 17 studies, Riley et al (1998) found that the effect sizes for sex differences in pain threshold and tolerance were moderate to large.Nevertheless, different experimenters suggested that these sex differences might not be as strongly supported. (Berkley, 1997) In their 1995 review, Fillingim and Maixner summarized 34 human studies. In 24 of these studies, men exhibited less pain than women, but sex differences were reported in only one of several measures or conditions examined in 7 of the 24 studies. .) In 10 of the 34 studies, sex differences were not found. . (Fillingim, 1995). The menstrual cycle plays a big part in the explanation of gender differences of pain tolerance and threshold.Studies have previously shown that higher oestrogen levels produce a greater pain perception. One study analysed the difference using the cold pressor test where 22 female students participated at two different phases of the menstrual cycle (days 2–4 and days 20–24). A control group of nineteen male students participated on two occasions, separated by a three week period were used. The results showed that men have a higher pain threshold than women, and women seemed to have a greater threshold for pain in the second period of their cycle. (Helstrom, B. amp; Lundberg, U. 2000) After reviewing and assessing the literature relating to gender differences in pain using the cold pressor test, we have decided to test the following 3 hypotheses; 1. Females and males will differ in pain threshold. 2. Females and males will differ in tolerance to pain. 3. There will be sex difference in physiological stress response (as measured by heart rate, respiration rate, and galvanic skin response) Participants The participants used were a random sample of 8 males and 8 females within an age range of 18-23. The mean age was 20.No participants were wearing tights or clothing that would disrupt the results of the physiological measures All subjects were assumed as English as a first language therefore understanding the instructions of the experiment. All subjects did not suffer from any medical issues outlined in the medical history form which included Reynaud’s Syndrome, high or low blood pressure, diabetes or epilepsy, recent injury or surgery, neurological illness, chronic pain or any type of pain that might influence the results of the experiment. Materials One bucket of iced water at 20% of ice and 80% of water.A towel was used, a biopac physiological recording unit, a computer, a thermometer, electrode pads, timers, and recording sheets. Procedure Experimenters set up the lab, got ice for the bucket and measured the temperature of the water being between 3-5 degrees using a thermometer. The biopac was opened on the computer and electrode pads were set up to be ready for use. Participants were recruited, and asked to read the information sheets and sign the consent forms. Then the participants were brought into the lab where they were then hooked up to the biopac. Electrode pads were placed on the finger, wrist, and ankles.An experiment then explained to the participant the procedure. Participants were asked to take a deep breath when they heard the calibrate button, then a to relax for 2 minutes as a baseline was taken. The participants were then told that they would place their hands in a bucket of iced water. They were told when they began to felt pain say ‘uncomfortable’ and when they could not uphold a further threshold to say ‘stop’. Participants were facing away from the computer so they could not see the recordings. The experimenters then calibrated the biopac as the subject took a deep breath.The experimenters then recorded a baseline measurement of the participants GSR, Heart rate, and respirat ion. After 2 minutes the participants were then asked to place their hands in the ice bucket of water and the experimenters then measured tolerance and thresholdThe participants were then given a towl to watm their hands and they were debriefed. Experimenters then took note of the results from the GSR, heart rate and respiration rate from the baseline measurement, when the participant said ‘uncomfortable’ and when the participant said ‘stop’. The data was then analysed through means of SPSS. Results Hypothesis 1When reviewing the overall mean for the differences in male and female response to pain threshold, there was different means found; Females 28. 0 Males; 45. 8. The hypothesis that females and males will differ in pain threshold scores was tested by means of a t-test for independent group samples. The results were as follows; t=1. 83 df=10 p;0. 98, 2tailed. The hypothesis was therefore not upheld. There was no significant difference between the pain t hreshold scores and gender. Hypothesis 2 When reviewing the overall mean for the differences in male and female results for tolerance to pain; the following means were obtained Females; 110. Males; 45. 8. The hypothesis that females and males will differ in tolerance to pain scores was tested inferentially by means of a t-test for independent group samples. The following results were obtained t=1. 16, df=10, p;0. 273. The hypothesis was therefore not upheld. There was no significant difference between pain tolerance scores and gender. Hypothesis 3 A 2 way ANOVA was carried out to asses the sex differences in physiological responses. The results showed no significant differences in relation to sex differences in Heart Rate df=1, f=. 066, p=. 802, GSR- df=1, f=. 534, p=. 82, and Respiration rate- df=1, f=. 410, p=. 885 Discussion The results that were collected from the data did not support any of the 3 hypotheses. This can be due to several different reasons. Our results were in line with several different studies, where sex differences were not found in pain tolerance and pain threshold. .) In 10 of the 34 studies reviewed, sex differences were not found to be statistically significant. (Fillingim, 1995). However, other studies have found that gender differences did support significant results. . In 24 studies reviewed by Riley et al, men exhibited less pain than women.Several variables in different studies have been taken into account which produces different outcomes of results. In several studies, it shows that hunger can be important in the threshold and tolerance of pain. One study reported the effects of 2, 10, 14, and 24 hr. of food deprivation (hunger) and of 0, 2, 3, and 4 min. of cold-pressor stimulation. This study found that the relationship between intensity of hunger and level of autonomic response is not linear and that there seemed to be no gender difference between hunger and pain. (Engel, 1959). Personality factors have also shown in some stu dies to show a difference in pain perception.This study effects of personality and pain catastrophizing upon pain tolerance and pain ratings and to examine the impact of an experimental pain induction on subsequent ratings of catastrophizing. The results found were t that sex differences in catastrophizing and pain responsivity are partially accounted for by the dispositional tendency to describe oneself as emotionally vulnerable. Females tended to describe themselves more emotionally vulnerable than males resulting in males having a higher threshold for pain. (Thorn, 2004). Anxiety can also possibly play a part in the effects of a cold pressor test.It has been found that anxiety based situations can provoke a higher intensity of pain. In Jones (2002) they found that, contrary to previous results, that men had a higher rating of intensity of pain in anxiety provoked situations compared to women. A major issue that has been addressed in the introduction plays a big role to why women can possibly have a higher intensity of pain compared to men. Previous studies have found that it can depend what time in the menstrual cycle that women are in can have an effect on their ratings and perceptions of pain.The hormone oestrogen seems to produce a higher sensitivity to pain and when conducting the cold pressor test this is a serious issue to be taken into consideration. evaluated sex differences in response to cold pressor pain in normally menstruating women (NMW), women maintained on oral contraceptives (OCW), and men. Testing occurred during 5 phases of the menstrual cycle. All participants completed 10 sessions (2 sessions per phase). During the cold presser test, participants immersed the forearm into water maintained at 4 °C, and pain threshold and tolerance were measured.The results were analysed and the study supports the notion that differences in pain perception between the sexes and among menstrual cycle phases are subtle. However, normally menstruating wome n showed an increase in pain tolerance and threshold over repeated stimulation, whereas men only exhibited a minor increase in pain threshold, therefore it shows a sex difference in reaction to repeated painful stimuli between men and women. Following our results, it is believed that our results could have been implicated due to the distractions of the participants.The cold pressor test was conducted in a lab where there was other cold compressor tests being conducted, therefore with the level of noise it was easy to be distracted. This can be an issue for methodology. A previous study has undertaken a study on how distraction can affect experimental pain results. The results were found that distraction had varying impact on different aspects of pain responding, and affectively neutral distraction during pain stimulation reduced the sensory pain ratings but not pain tolerance.Affectively neutral distraction may be used to manage a patient's reaction to brief, painful stimulation, bu t may not work in long term chronic pain (Hodes, 1990). Also as discussed in the introduction, temperature is an extremely important methodological factor when carrying out the CPT. In this experiment we found it very difficult to keep a perfect modulation of the temperature. Previous studies have shown that this minor glitch in the experiment can have an affective major impact on the results. Although water temperature only had risen to an extra one degree, this should be still taken into account for the outcome of the results.Within our sample size, we obtained 16 subjects. (8 males and 8 females). Although the results are weighted, one can feel that this is too small a sample size to draw correct inferences and conclude from. In the future a bigger sample size should be obtained as there will be a greater sensitivity to the results and different results could possibly have an outcome. In continuation with the methodology implications of the participants, they should of not known what the experiment was about. Some of the subjects stated after the experiment that they already knew this experiment via the media.Therefore, participants could of possibly tried to withstand a threshold for longer as they knew what exactly the experimenters were testing. As the experimenters were all female, in sociological aspects, men could have possibly pretended to not feel pain, in order to impress the experimenters. This can affect the results to an extent. There also could be an implication of anticipation of pain versus actual pain. If the subject is anticipating feeling pain, this can make them think that they feel more pain as they have psychologically believed that this experiment will amount to a certain level of pain.Even though some would conclude that inducing pain and stressors on individuals is ethically wrong, psychology needs a mean to test experimental pain for a growth in psychology. The cold pressor test was the best test to carry out to induce pain as it do es not cause any psychological or physiological harm, the participants’ control over the process (i. e. , their ability to withdraw the limb), and the pain only mounts very slowly, the subject can withdraw their hand if it reached a level of any severe pain.After analysing and assessing various discursive points and implications of the study, this study can conclude that there are methodological implications within the cold pressor test. Different studies all have different outcomes on whether there is an actual sex difference within pain tolerance and pain threshold, and this can be due to different variables being used within studies. Further research should progress in the areas of the affect of a difference in water temperature, and anxiety provoked situations in relation to gender difference as there has been previously little research conducted.Berkley, K (1997) Sex differences in pain Behav Brain Sci, 20 pp. 371–380 Dixon, K. E, Thorn, B. E, Ward, L. C (2004) An evaluation of sex differences in psychological and physiological responses to experimentally-induced pain A path analytic description Pain, 112 pp. 188–196 Engel, B. T. (1959), â€Å"Some physiological correlates of hunger and pain†, Journal of experimental psychology, vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 389-396. Fillingim, R. B, Maixner, W. (1995) Gender differences in the responses to noxious stimuli Pain Forum, 4, pp. 209–221 Fillingim, RB; Wright, RA (2003). â€Å"SexDifferences and Incentive Effects on Perceptual and Cardiovascular Responses to Cold Pressor Pain†. Psychosomatic Medicine 65 (2): 284–91 Helstrom, B. & Lundberg, U. (2000), â€Å"Pain perception to the cold pressor test during the menstrual cycle in relation to oestrogen levels and a comparison with men†,  Integrative Physiological & Behavioural Science,  vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 132-141 Hodes, R. L. , Howland, E. W. , Lightfoot, N. & Cleeland, C. S. (1990), â€Å"The effects of distracti on on responses to cold pressor pain†, Pain, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 109-114. Jones, A. , Spindler, H. Jorgensen, M. M. & Zachariae, R. (2002) â€Å"The effect of situation-evoked anxiety and gender on pain report using the cold pressor test†, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 307-313. Lynn B. Cutaneous nociceptors. In: Winlow W, Holden AV. The neurobiology of pain: Symposium of the Northern Neurobiology Group, held at Leeds on 18 April 1983. Manchester: Manchester University Press; 1984. Mitchell, L. A. , MacDonald, R. A. R. & Brodie, E. E. (2004), â€Å"Temperature and the Cold Pressor Test†, The Journal of Pain, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 233-238 Raj PP.Taxonomy and classification of pain. In: Niv D, Kreitler S, Diego B, Lamberto A. (2007) The Handbook of Chronic Pain. Nova Biomedical Books; Riley, J. L, Robinson, M. E, Wise, E. A, Mers, C. D,Fillingim, R. B (1998)Sex differences in the perception of noxious experimental stimuli A meta-analysis Pain, 74 pp. 181–187 Thorn, B. E. , Clements, K. L. , Ward, L. C. , Dixon, K. E. , Kersh, B. C. , Boothby, J. L. & Chaplin, W. F. 2004, â€Å"Personality factors in the explanation of sex differences in pain catastrophizing and response to experimental pain†,  The Clinical journal of pain,  vol. 0, no. 5, pp. 275-282 von Baeyer, C. L. , Piira, T. , Chambers, C. T. , Trapanotto, M. and Zeltzer, L. K. (2005). Guidelines for the Cold Pressor Task as an Experimental Pain Stimulus for Use With Children. Journal of Pain, Vol 6, No 4, pp 218-227 2!!! a b International Association for the Study of Pain: Pain Definitions [cited 10 Sep 2011]. â€Å"Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage† Derived from Bonica JJ. The need of a taxonomy. Pain. 1979; 6(3):247–8.

Environment: Global Warming and Current Carbon Dioxide Essay

Ansel Adams, a photographer and environmentalist, once said, â€Å"Once destroyed, nature’s beauty cannot be repurchased at any price. † Mother Earth is known as the one of the most beautiful planets and is the only planet that can support life. Unfortunately, Mother Earth is suffering due to many environmental problems that may affect humans and the ecosystem. These problems can result in major consequences for everyone’s daily life. The major environmental problems that are facing the world today are global warming, deforestation and air pollution. First of all, one of the greatest environmental concerns we have today is global warming. Global warming refers to the gradual increase in the earth’s average surface temperature. Global warming has resulted in several consequences. The rise of water temperature is related to global warming. The increase of water temperature is responsible in killing the ecosystem in the water as they could not tolerate the heat. 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Deforestation refers to the cutting down and removal of all or most of the trees in a forested area. Deforestation has resulted in numerous adverse effects. Deforestation can cause biodiversity to decline. When forest is cleared, wildlife is deprived of habitat and becomes more vulnerable to hunting. In addition, 80% of the world’s documented species can be found in tropical rainforests and deforestation puts at risk a majority of the Earth’s biodiversity. Moreover, deforestation has caused soil erosion because when the soil is exposed to sun, it became very dry and eventually, infertile and could not be cultivated. When there is rainfall, it washes away the soil to the river then to the sea. Take the case of China, from the Yellow River, over 1. 6 billion tons of sediment flows into the ocean each year. The sediment comes mainly from soil erosion in the Loess Plateau in the northwest of the country. Finally, one of the most concern environmental problems today is air pollution. Air pollution generally means the contamination of air by smoke and other poisonous gases. Air pollution has resulted in several problems. Air pollution affects the health of people adversely such as heart disease and damage to the brain, nerves, liver, or kidneys. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 2 million premature deaths are caused each year due to air pollution in cities across the world. Furthermore, air pollution can result in acid rain which can cause paint to peel, corrosion of steel structures such as bridges, and erosion of stone statues. Also, air pollutantssuch as carbon dioxide can cause ocean acidification which harm fish and other aquatic life. Air pollution has affected human’s everyday life, for instance, air pollution in Beijing has gone literally off the charts: the levels are so bad that they go well beyond the worst possible rating on the official air quality index. Mother Earth is our home and we have done so much harm to her. We should be responsible for the environmental problems we have caused. In order to prevent further destruction to Mother Earth, we have start now before it is too late. Firstly, though there is no known solution to global warming yet, there are solutions that will aid to prevent it from growing even further. For instance, planting a tree as a nation because during photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen and the cycle carry on when there is light available. A single tree can absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime. Also, through recycling half of the household waste, we can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. Secondly, there are no direct solutions to deforestation but many countries in the world have started reforestation and forestry, and East Asian nations are leading in this regard. Many East Asian countries, including China, have successfully managed to reverse deforestation. Likewise, by making suitable changes in the law, so that cutting trees in a forest area becomes a major crime. Through this, deforestation can be control. Last but not least, to solve air pollution, flue-gas desulfurisation can be use to remove sulfur dioxide from exhaust flue gases of fossil fuels power plants.  In order to reduce air pollution, cars are manufactured with catalytic converters which will convert harmful pollutants such as carbon monoxide to harmless substances such as carbon dioxide. In conclusion, we, the human race are the cause of all these environmental problems. We should work together and help preserve and protect Mother Earth. If we don’t act now, the magnificent world will vanish and soon, all living things would suffer. It is our duty to help carry out actions that will help cease the threats that our environment is facing now.

Recent Current Event Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Recent Current Event Analysis - Essay Example 3). This was corroborated by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio whose statements during a radio interview on From Washington al Mundos show and was disclosed to expound on â€Å"how access to the Internet empowers individuals and can be used to help promote democracy† (Capitol Hill Cubans). The main argument in the article is that the "Internet use is a less effective means to mobilize citizens for democracy in extremely authoritarian countries† (Science Daily par. 4). As indicated, the relevance of the results focus on supporting the comparative method and the modernization theory which clearly demonstrates that â€Å"there are some countries that currently appear to have the right political and technological mix for the internet to play a role in social and political change. Those countries include Kenya, Senegal, Uganda, Singapore and Zambia. But countries in the survey that are run by highly authoritarian regimes, such as Vietnam and Zimbabwe, are not likely to see democracy flourishing anytime soon, regardless of use of the internet† (Science Daily par. 13 & 14). Under the modernization theory, â€Å"advanced industrial technology produces not only economic growth in developing societies but also other structural and cultural changes† (Armer and Sillis par. 7). One strongly believes that the Internet has actually accorded vast opportunities for transformations that include political change. However, as contended in the article, political change could only be possibly effectively promoted using the Internet when current political structure permits its prolific application. As validated, in countries where complete authoritarian power rules, there are expected restrictions and constraints in accessing the Internet and in freely communicating personal ideas and thoughts – for the precise reasons that these governments preclude its people to plant the seeds of democracy, as could possibly be propagated through the

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Industry overview of Yahoo company - Essay Example By means of contrast and comparison, the main competition for Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and Apple fall into two distinct groups with regards to their own value proposition. As can be expected, Google mirrors Yahoo with regards to the way in which it offers services in an attempt to garner a further level of customers. As such, Google has the value proposition of having Gmail, YouTube, Picasa, Google News and a litany of other associated services. However, both Microsoft and Apple approach the market from a somewhat different standpoint (Reingold, 2013). For example, for Microsoft and Apple, the services that are related are more oftentimes related to actual hardware that works seamlessly with the online services that they already offer; i.e. iTunes or the ability to sync hardware with that information that is being viewed online . This somewhat differentiated focus allows Yahoo to have a distinct advantage with regards to the fact that it is ultimately most closely competing with Goo gle in terms of the market that has already been defined. From an analysis and review of Porter’s five forces, with respect to Yahoo Inc., it can be determined that the threat of new entrants is not something that Yahoo should be particularly concerned with. Due to the fact that the market is already heavily stratified, the danger of new entrants is something that Yahoo need not be overly concerned by. Similarly, the threat of substitutes products is something that Yahoo must perennially be on guard against. Due to the fact that the Yahoo business model has been largely successful, although arguably not nearly as successful as Google, the threat of substitutes products that could take away their stake in the market is something that Yahoo is faced with on a daily basis. Likewise, the bargaining power of the consumer is naturally a pertinent concern due to the fact that any changes within the baseline of the

Gospel Stories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gospel Stories - Essay Example Jesus asked the servants to fill the empty containers of wine with water. After doing so, the water was turned into wine. The headwaiter tasted the wine; he remarked to the groom that they have saved the best wine for last. John commented that the "water was there for the Jewish rite of purification." The miracle of Cana happened before Jesus started His ministry. It can be recalled that in the story, Jesus told Mary that it was not yet time for Him to perform miracles. This strongly supports the fact that the time for Jesus' ministry was not yet come. Another important fact to consider in understanding the wedding of Cana is the situation which precedes it. John 1:50 states Jesus' remark to Nathaniel: "You shall see greater things than that." After the wedding at Cana, Jesus and his disciples went to Capernaum. However, they also opted to go to Jerusalem since the Feast of Passover is nearing. The wedding at Cana was followed by the story on how Jesus made a whip out of cords and drove the people who sold oxen, sheep, doves, as well as moneychangers in the temple. The prodigal son is the story of a father who has two sons. The father in the story owns a lot of property and is a very rich man. One day, the younger son went to his father and asked for his inheritance. The father, being a good man, gave his younger son the wealth that was due to him. Upon receiving his money, the younger son went to the city and spent all that his father gave him in worldly amusements. One day, the younger son found out that he no longer has any penny left. He has already spent all of his money. Having nothing to eat, he chose to be employed as a swineherd. It should be noted that among the Jews, swine is a dirty animal and a symbol of abomination and gluttony. However, the younger son didn't have any choice. In his hunger, he even thought of eating the food for the swine. Yet in this situation, he remembered the house of his father. He remembered how their servants were well fed and provided. Thus, he decided to go back to his father's home and ask him to become one of his servants. While he is still distant, his father recognized him. Longing for his son, he ran toward his long awaited son. The father took noticed of how his son his changed. He put on a new robe on him, gave him new shoes, and put a ring on his finger. He even asked his servants to prepare for a feast to celebrate his return. The fatted calf was also killed for the special occasion. Upon hearing this, the older brother became really furious. He told his father how he had been honest and industrious to him but he never gave him a kid to celebrate to his friends. However, his father told him that everything he has is already the possession of the older child. The story of the Prodigal Son is one of the best known parables of Jesus Christ. This is told when He went into the house of the chief Pharisee during Sabbath day. The parable is considered as the last sequel to the trilogy of The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin. The parable of the Prodigal Son is also regarded as the story of The Lost Son. After this parable, Jesus tells another parable known as The Unjust Steward. Lazarus and the Rich Man Jesus tells what happens after death on the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. There once was a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. Being very poor, Lazarus didn't have anything to eat

BRIEF OF CASE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

BRIEF OF CASE - Essay Example The petitioner appeals but the Court of Special Appeals concludes that the Circuit court’s decision in favor of the Bank is legally correct. FACTS: The plaintiff Jeff E. Messing sued the Bank of America in court for refusal of a cash withdrawal over the counter through a check drawn on the bank because of the bank’s Thumbprint Signature Program for non-customers. Under the Thumbprint Signature Program, a bank requests non-customer presenters of checks over the counter to place an ‘‘inkless’’ thumbprint or fingerprint on the face of the check as part of the identification process. HOLDING:  § 3-501b (2) and (3). (2)Upon demand of the person to whom presentment is made, the person making presentment must (1) exhibit the instrument, (2) give reasonable identification and, if presentment is made on behalf of another person reasonable evidence of authority to do so, and (3) sign a receipt on the instrument for any payment made or surrender the instrument if full payment is made. (3)Without dishonoring the instrument, the party to whom presentment is made may (1) return the instrument for lack of a necessary indorsement, or (2) refuse payment or acceptance for failure of the presentment to comply with the terms of the instrument, an agreement of the parties or other applicable law or rule. RATIONALE: The reduction of risk promotes the expansion of commercial practices, bringing to the conclusion the direction of  § 1-102 (2) (b) that a bank’s requirement of a thumbprint placed upon a check presented over the counter by a non-customer is

CPOE,Electronic Signature, 3 Risk Management Recommendations for Assignment

CPOE,Electronic Signature, 3 Risk Management Recommendations for Nurses - Assignment Example Secure information management system ensures integrity and trust with individual and others’ personal information. In this case, enhanced security measures should be initialized. For example; biometric signing in and out, immediate automatic log out when a computer is idle, and always encrypt information so as to be accessed the intended recipient only. For this scenario, the nurse should have either completely attended to the first patient before diverting her attention to the next case or she could have called in another nurse or primary care practitioner and give instructions accordingly with proper documentation of the extent she had examined the patient. Alternatively she could have procedurally handed over to the next shift of nurses before leaving the hospital. The fact that data/ information in the Case Study health institution is never handle with the expected care and given proper security is the most troubling issue. Professionally information is the key to success, meaning therefore that all that information kept in this institution forms the background of good management. Ethically, medical information of either inpatient or outpatient should always remain a secret between the doctor/nurse and patient for that matter. However, this scenario demonstrated neither ethical nor professional ways of handling such information in that on arrival at work the following day she found addition of medical records done, inappropriate web access, gained access to the narcotics, and a print out copy of the assessment left in the patient’s

Investigatory Project Essay Example for Free

Investigatory Project Essay It is said that Lemon Grass is an excellent insect repellant. The ancients were familiar with this attribute. This action, bug repelling, does not carry the same punch that it did in the days of the Israelites. Egypt was fertile because it had good soil and lots of water. An abundance of water meant lots of insects, specifically mosquitoes. Mosquitoes carry malaria, which was bad news in the ancient world. The ancients burned lemon grass to keep the bugs away just as we do. However, they were worried about a little more than unsightly bump on the legs. Keeping bugs away was a life or death situation. Using coconut oil for the skin is healthy, the natural way. Tropical dwellers have known this fact for at least a millennium or two. Unlike superficial cosmetics formulated in labs of profit-hungry corporations, coconut oil contains absolutely nothing that will harm your precious skin, including the rest of your body. Related Study This essential oil proved to be one of the top performers in a comparative study of insect repellents published in July, 2002 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The two commercial sprays tested kept bugs away from 1 to 3 hours. The results of a 2004 California State Science Fair project show that lemongrass is 30 percent less effective than commercial preparations containing DEET, or diethylmetatoluamide, in repelling mosquitoes. Lemongrass, or cymbopogon ciatrus, may still be a suitable substitute for persons who cannot tolerate DEET. A study published on the CBS News website compares natural-based insect repellents against DEET products. According to the news network, natural products like lemon grass and citronella work by scent and must be reapplied more often than DEET-based products. On coconut oil as a skin friendly product, Leading biochemist Raymond Peat, Ph.D., has this to say. It is well established that dietary coconut oil reduces our need for vitamin E, but I think its antioxidant role is more general than that, and that it has both direct and indirect antioxidant activities.

Perceptions Of Risk And Travel Intentions Tourism Essay

Perceptions Of Risk And Travel Intentions Tourism Essay Despite its resilience, tourism is also seen as a fragile industry as it is vulnerable towards various attacks and crises events, such as wars, incidents of terrorism, outbreak of diseases, political instability, and so on. Boniface and Cooper (2005) noticed that in recent years, the global tourism industry has suffered an increasing number of serious disasters and crises. The impact of globalization of the tourism market means that events occurring in one part of the world can have a significant impact on other parts of the world. Tourism is an important economic sector for many countries. However, as the tourism industry is highly prone to risk from external factors and pressures in the operating environment, planners in charge of tourism have to develop strategies to manage the impact of crises and disasters so as to protect society in general and tourism business in particular. Against this background, this chapter offers a better understanding of the type of travel risks, touris ts perceptions of travel risks, the impact of perceptions of risk on travellers travel intentions and travel risks associated with Thailand. TRAVEL RISKS Risk is defined as the uncertainty a person would face when they cannot foresee the consequences of a decision made (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000). It has become an important factor when it comes to considering global tourism because safety, calm and peace are the fundamentals in attracting potential tourists to a destination (Sonmez, 1998). Travel risk is defined as the possibility of meeting a danger while engaging in travel (Fischhoff et al. 1984) or the consciousness of security and awareness of the likelihood of damage during travel (Wogalter et al. 1999). Tourists will experience travel risk during the process of consuming and purchasing travel services (Tsaur et al. 1997). Perceived travel risk is often referred to travellers perception of negative results of buying travel products (Murray 1991; Dowling and Staelin 1994; Zeithaml and Bitner 2003) or the unclear travel decision outcome (MacCrimmons and Wehrung 1986). Perceptions of travel risk vary according to different types of travel risk (Reisinger and Mavondo 2005). In the tourism literature, there are several types of travel risk listed out by tourism scholars such as cultural risk, equipment or functional risk, crime risk, health risk, financial risk, physical risk, natural disaster risk, psychological risk, political risk, social risk, terrorism risk and time risk (Reisinger and Mavondo 2006a, 2006b). Reisinger and Mavondo (2006a, 2006b) offer definitions of these various risks: Cultural risk: refers to the possibility of facing cultural misunderstanding, difficulties in communicating with foreigners, inability to adjust to the life and living standards in the foreign land. Equipment or functional risk: is the likelihood of equipment, mechanical, organizational problems that may occur during travel or at a destination (accommodation, attractions and transportation). Roehl and Fesenmaier (1992) found out from their research result that the respondents mentioned equipment risk as the highest perceived risk factor among the others. Crime risk: refers to the possibility of victim being robbed or becoming the subject of a murder or rape. Health risk: is the possibility of getting sick and unwell while travelling or at a destination. It was stated by Richter (2003) that health organisation such as World Health Organization (WHO) was not successful in performing its original duty of reporting and preventing the outbreak of new and serious disease. However, there is an increasing number of individuals awareness towards the seriousness of heath risk they may face while travelling abroad. Health diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the Asia-Pacific region and Mad Cow Disease in Europe have caused a significant impact towards travel flows (Richter, 2003). Financial risk: refers to the possibility of travellers not being able to obtain value for money, lost or waste money if the expectation for the trip is not fulfilled. In tourism, price was a major demand factor. Hsieh et al. (1994) found that both non-package and package tourists have the common view of getting the value for the amount that they have paid for their vacation. Physical risk: refers to the possibility of getting injured physically; it includes danger and injury that are harmful to health (accidents). It was also defined as the possibility that there is a probability that ones health will be exposed to risk, sickness and injury due to the factors like weather, law and hygiene problems found during the tour (Tsuar, Tzeng and Wang, 1997). Natural disaster risk: refers to the possibility of being affected by a natural disaster event such as eruptions of volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, typhoons, floods, tsunamis, wildfires and droughts. Psychological risk: imply that there may be a possibility of damaging self-image as the travel experience may not reflect the tourists personality or self-image. Political risk: means that tourists may get involved in the political chaos of the destination being visited. Social risk: refers to the possibility of disapproval from friends, associates or family with regards to the vacation choices. Tourist may suffer a lower social and personal status or emerge as being unfashionable. Also, as according to Reimer (1990), he argued that the style of vacation such as the number of places visited, distance travelled, regularity of travelling and destinations unusual nature may impress a travellers peers. Or that with the existence of peer pressure, it can act as a strong motivation for people to purchase upscale trips. Terrorism risk: relates to the possibility of being caught in a terrorist act, for example hijacked plane, biochemical attack or bomb explosion. Time risk: refers to the possibility of wasting too much time on travel experience, as the tourist waste time doing unnecessary stuff or that the product did not perform on time. Perceptions of Risk and Travel IntentionS One of the factors affecting a tourists decision-making process is perception of risk. In this sense, it acts as a deciding factor (Freyer and Schroder, 2007, p. 136), and has significant impact on tourism demand. For example, studies have illustrated that perceptions of high risk in a destination are associated with a decrease in the demand of tourism (Prideaux and Laws, 2007; Sonmez, Apostolopoulos and Tarlow, 1999). This could be due to the fact that tourists buying behaviour is influenced by destination image and that with the freedom to choose from a wide range of destinations, most tourists are not likely to travel to places associated with risks (Pechlaner et al. 2007, p. 158). Destination image affects not only the travel decision of potential travellers but also acts as an influential factor towards the perceptions and holiday activities of tourists at a particular location. Therefore, when a destination is linked to negative images, there will be a probability that the tour ists will choose a safer substitute destination (Freyer and Schroder, 2007, p. 136; Gurtner, 2007, p. 82). It is useful to understand how individuals are influenced by perceived risk while making the decision. In general, perceptions of individuals may be affected by external factors that are a problem for local tourism business and destination management to influence (Kozak, Crotts and Law, 2007). There are uncontrollable factors such as natural disasters (Faulkner and Vikulov, 2001; Huang and Min, 2002; Huan et al. 2004), outbreaks of diseases (MacLaurin, 2004) and terrorism attacks. These types of factors may cause a lasting effect in the perceptions of tourists when they happen. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the nature of these incidents and disasters so as to foresee the potential impacts they have on the industry and to control their consequences. Recognizing human basic needs for safety and security is needed to make potential tourists feel safe prior or during their trips. However, it is unfortunate to know that safety and security problems are often destination depende nt (Kozak, Crotts and Law, 2007). Sonmez and Graefe (1998b) identified two types of decision makers, risk averse individuals and risk seekers. Risk averse decision makers would prefer to choose a destination of lower risk and are willing to forgo some expected return in order to reduce differences in possible outcomes. On the other hand, risk seekers are likely to show less concern regarding safety factors towards the choice of destination and are most willing to sacrifice some expected return. Clearly, information about the factors influencing perceptions of risk would allow tourism and destination managers to develop a better understanding of what may potentially scare off tourism market segments as well as what they can do to attract them (Dolnicar, 2007, p. 107). Reisinger and Mavondo (2006) stated that each and every individual perceive and react to travel risk differently. It is said that tourists perceptions towards travel risk differ depending on gender (Darley and Smith 1995; Loker-Murphy and Pearce 1995; Carr 2001; Lepp and Gibson 2003). However, Sonmez and Graefe (1998) argued that there is no relationship between gender and travel risk whereas Mattila et al. (2001) identify some gender differences in health risk behaviour during travel period. It is also said that females have restrictions in their choice of travel due to their gender (Lynch and Atkins, 1998). This could be due to the fact that females generally perceive higher travel risks than men. For example, women are more concerned about food and health related risks and that experienced male travellers are less likely to change their travel plans when it comes to facing potential terrorism, natural disaster and health related risks (Kozak et al. 2007). In addition, other than g ender, personality might be influential on individuals perception of travel risk as well (Carr, 2001). Tourists perceptions of travel risk also differ depending on age as younger tourists tend to perceive higher travel risk than older tourists. This also means that travel-related risk actually declines as individuals grow older (Gibson and Yiannakis, 2002). It is said that older individuals can be more or less risk averse than young individuals depending on their wide personal and observational learning experiences, experimentations and abstract conceptualisation. However, Sonmez and Graefe (1998b) argued that there is no relationship between age and travel risk. In this case, the relationship between age and perception of travel risk remains unclear. Reisinger and Movondo (2006a, 2006b) argue that, different nationalities and cultures are differentiating factors with respect to perceptions of travel risk. Bontempo et al. (1997) found that risk perception of tourists from western countries differs significantly from that of Chinese tourists. Kozak et al. (2007) used Hofstedes (2010) concept of Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) theory to observe international perceptions of related travel risk in terms of ambiguity and uncertainty; it shows the residents comfort level in terms of low, medium and high risk avoidance. Travellers from high UAI cultures, tend to perceive higher risks when compared to travellers from low UAI cultures (Hofstede and Hofstede 2005). Typically, travellers coming from high UAI (risk-avoiding) cultures do not feel at ease in environment listed as unstructured, risky and unclear as they feel threatened by the ambiguous and unknown. Whereas tourists coming from low UAI (risk-tolerant) cultures are typically more comf ortable with environments involving uncertainty and risk. Low UAI countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and China tend to be more sensitive towards terrorist attack, infectious disease and natural disaster risks (Kozak et al. 2007). Travellers from high UAI countries, such as Germany, perceive higher travel risks and anxiety as compared to Singaporean tourists (Reisinger and Movondo, 2006a). With anxiety, there will be a significant impact on travel intention and perceptions of safety (Reisinger and Movondo, 2005). Past experiences and familiarity with a destination are also factors that affect tourists perceptions of travel risks. Tourists who are more experienced in travelling may perceive lower risks, due to the confidence in the destination gained from previous positive visits (Sonmez and Graefe, 1998b; Lepp and Gibson, 2003; Kozak et al. 2007). However, if the last visit to the destination turns out to be negative, it may cause potential tourists to be nervous about future options. Also, individuals who have travelled to the destination before are more likely to return to the place as they are familiar with the location and that increases their sense of safety in the destination. Relevant research also indicates that tourists who travel with friends/family/partner (collectivists) perceive lower travel risk than tourists who travel alone (individualists). Travel activities involving group activities help act as a cushion against potential risks whereas travelling alone expose individuals to numerous potential risks (Weber and Hsee, 1998). Lastly, tourists perception of travel risk differs according to their education background as well (Sonmez and Graefe, 1998). Better educated tourists are better informed and aware of real travel risks through information obtained from reliable sources. They do not engage, therefore, in misunderstanding of the real situation, hence perceiving lower risks than lower-educated tourists (Laver et al. 2001). Also, according to Park and Reisinger (2010), high income tourists perceive a lower influence of travel risks than low income tourists. It could be due to the availability of finances that lead to a lower concern in travel risks as they have the money to sacrifice if there is a need to pay for damages. It is important to understand the importance of safety and security concerns of potential travellers over a destination, as according to Buttle and Bok (1996) travellers are generally affected by their own perception of risk while making travel decisions. For example, it is highly possible that when travellers perceive higher potential risks as compared to the benefits they might acquire from travelling to a destination, there will be a tendency of cancelling the trip to the destination. This is clearly supported by Sonmez and Graefe (1998a), who state that there is a high probability that tourists would avoid travelling to a destination if they associate the destination with the existence of high levels of risk. As judging from past incidents, there was an indication of an increasing demand in cancellation of trips or holiday plans just right after the attack of 9/11 (Chen and Noriega, 2004; Floyd et al. 2004; Kingsbury and Brunn, 2004). SINGAPOREAN TOURISTS AND RISK PERCEPTIONS As a small country with limited choices of entertainment and natural sceneries for the locals to enjoy, many Singaporeans tend to find the opportunity to travel out of Singapore (Lim and Lui, 2009). There has been an increase in the total number of Singaporeans travelling outbound. With the data extracted from Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA, 2009), it indicates an increase of 804,234 outbound Singapore residents in year 2008 to 6,828,362 as compared to 6,024,128 in 2007. It was also reported that there are an increasing trend among Singaporeans within the age range of 18 to 65 years old to travel to nearby countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and Hong Kong (Lim and Lui, 2009). This could be due to the living lifestyle of Singapore residents as employed Singaporeans generally earn a decent amount of income, and fresh universities graduates receive a good starting pay from their first official job. Which shows a society that is willing to spend on leisu re and recreational activities as travel is considered as part of their lifestyle. According to Lim and Lui (2009) findings, wide spread of swine flu in America and Mexico did stirred up fear among Singaporeans who are intending to travel within Asia Pacific. However, it was not confirmed or known if any risk or crisis would affect Singaporeans plans towards international travelling. ABOUT THAILAND AND TRAVEL RISKS The discussion now turns to Thailand, the research context of this study. Thailand is a country the economy of which depends heavily on its tourism industry. Tourism is the major export service of Thailand, actually accounting to about 6-7 percent of the countrys national Gross Domestic Product (EIU ViewsWire, 2003). From a tourism perspective, over the years Thailand has been branded as a friendly, exotic, exciting and natural destination. It is considered to be a popular travel destination among tourists as it is considered to be a hospitable country towards visitors as well as a country rich in cultural heritage, historical tourist destinations and natural attractions (Koumelis 2004; National Identity Board, 2000). Tourists generally have many choices on attractions and activities in Thailand as there is a wide selection such as: the beautiful beaches located in the South, rainforests and mountains in the North, huge shopping malls or market located in the city, etc. According to Rogers (2003, p. 276), the most important factor attracting tourists would have to be the value for money. Staying in Thailand is cheap because of the availability of cheap accommodation and food. Engaging in activities does not cost much, which is why the destination attracts many young tourists as it is affordable. Thus, with a combination of all these favorable factors, Thailand emerges as an attractive tourism destination. However, according to Campiranon, K. (2008), there has been a rise in the number of the occurrence of crises events in Thailand has caused worries regarding their impact on the image of the country. For example, towards the end of 2004, disasters such as the Tsunami, SARS epidemic, bird flu or avian flu had caused a significant drop in international arrivals to the country. In addition, the serious worldwide recession emerging in mid 2008, caused a decrease in the desire of tourists to travel. Furthermore, Thailand was suffering from political instability crises, whereby the Suvarnabhumi Airport was closed down on 26 November 2008 by the yellow shirt or Peoples Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters, which mainly consists of royalists, businessmen and the urban middle class who are the opposition of the former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra and his allies. On 11 April 2009, Thailand was assigned to hold the East Asia Summit in Pattaya, but this resulted in an attack by the Red shirt mob, which mainly consists by a large proportion of rural-based and working-class Thais who are the supporters of Thaksin and his policies. This caused the significant delay of the summit and the evacuation of world leaders to safety. Following the cancellation of the East Asian summit was the uprising of violent riots and the declaration of emergency by the prime minister the very next day. The graph below illustrates the international tourist arrivals to Thailand between years 2007 to 2010. Source: www.ThaiWebsites.com According to the data extracted from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT, 2010), there have been a decrease in international arrivals from 3.64 million in the first quarter to 2.96 million in the second quarter of 2009. As compared to the previous first two quarters of 2007 and 2008, the figures appeared to be lower. However, despite all the serious commotions that had happen in April, tourism arrivals increased towards the end of 2009. In the last quarter of 2009, it was reported to have a higher arrival rate as compared to 2007 and 2008. It was then brought forward to the first quarter of 2010, whereby there was a significant increase in tourist arrivals. However, just when hopes of returning to healthy levels of industry growth were up, serious demonstrations held by the Red shirts during the month of April negatively affected tourist arrivals in the second quarter of 2010. From here, we can see that with the negative factors affecting Thailands tourism, the influence of it act ually seems to last just a few months each time it happen, and that tourists will resume their interest in Thailand as their selected tourist destination thereafter (ThaiWebsites, 2010). CONCLUSIONS Following the analysis presented in this chapter, the main conclusion is that a negative destination image leads to negative tourists perceptions of risk. This in turn affects tourists intention to visit the destination if there are other options to choose. Also of particular relevance to this study is the conclusion that tourists perceptions of risk is associated with factors such as socio-demographic variables (e.g. age, gender), previous travel experience, travel party size, education level and nationality. Travelling has been part of Singaporeans lifestyle as Singapore lacks the leisure activities and natural sceneries to entertain the locals in long run. Therefore, travelling to nearby countries like Thailand is an attractive destination choice as it is affordable and suitable for short holiday trips. There is however, no known data on how Singaporeans are affected by risk or crisis towards their holiday planning. In recent years, Thailand has been vulnerable towards risks such as the outbreak of diseases, natural disasters as well as political instability. Visitor arrivals were seen to have decreased during the occurrence of crises events, and various businesses were affected as a result. Thus, this study aims to study the following three researched question: Singaporeans have a low perception of risk with regards to travel to Thailand. Socio-demographic has a positive relationship with the perceptions of risk. Intention to travel has a positive relationship with the perception of risk.

Tech Savvy Teens Essay -- Technology and Teens, Facebook Twitter, MySp

Technology has advance far beyond what our parents knew. During the time in which our parents grew up things such as ‘apps’ and ‘tweets’ didn’t exist. But these terms are quite familiar to today’s generation of teenagers. The use of Socially Interactive Technology’s or SIT’s such as online networking sites, text messaging, and instant messaging (IM) are becoming more and more popular among teens (Pierce). Social networking sites such as FaceBook, MySpace, and Twitter are examples of SIT’s. SIT’s can be used by anyone, but they are most popular among teenagers. Though SIT’s are meant to be fun ways to interact with friends, they can also be very dangerous. Socially Interactive Technology’s are dangerous to teens because they can easily put themselves in danger. There are hundreds of online social networking sites, and they range from general networking sites like FaceBook to sites aimed at certain groups such as CrunchyRoll, which is a networking site for fans of anime and manga. Of the hundreds of social networking sites MySpace and FaceBook are the most popular (Guo 620). MySpace has a current active user count of 115 million. And FaceBook which is a year younger follows with a user base of 60 million and growing (Guo 621). MySpace opened on August 15, 2003 and grew quite quickly afterwards (Guo 621). But why are these sites so popular amongst teenagers? There seem to be quite a few answers to this question, MySpace’s popularity is attributed its openness, anyone claiming to be over the age of 14 can sign up for MySpace (Guo 621). FaceBook which was created a year later by Matt Zuckerberg in 2004 originally limited its membership to college students which resulted in slow growth of success (Guo 622). However once FaceBook opened... ...fying internet information to be reported to the police. Their information is then added to the National Sex Offender Registry; social networking sites would then have access to this information and can prevent sex offenders from registering to use their sites MySpace has also begun to enact safety measures to protect their teenage users. In 2006 MySpace announced the creation an automated system that compares profiles a database contacting names and descriptions of sex offenders. It’s been reported that since the creation of this program MySpace has removed 29,000 sex offender profiles from their site (Guo 639). MySpace is also developing a program that will provide parents with their child’s profile name, age, and location (Guo 639). A program like this will allow parents to also get involved in protecting their children from the dangers of social networking.

black and red drum :: essays research papers fc

Have you ever been fishing before? Not fishing based on lucky casts with worms or a bobber but fishing based on knowledge of what the fish do under the waves. I’ve been interested in fishing since the beginning of my time here on earth. Fish fascinate me, and catching them on rod and reel excites my inner primal being. I chose this topic to get into the mind of the fish I aim to catch. I already know much about my quarry. I know that Red Drum come in from the ocean to spawn in salt water back bays. I know that Black Drum eat stuff off the ocean bottom. I also know that Red Drum get caught by anglers during their search of spawning territory. These are the few facts I know about Drum. I want to learn much more. I want to learn enough to be called ‘Ryan the Drum slayer.’ I wonder where drum go while in open ocean? I wonder where Drum spawn and why they spawn there? I wonder how big the biggest Drum ever caught is? These questions and many more encircle my head. I h ope in reaching up and snatching a circling question, then answering it, I can become the greatest fisherman in the world. What is the scientific name of the Red and Black Drums? Well this answer is easy. The Red Drum’s scientific species name is Sciaenops ocellatus.(Red Drum in Texas). The Black Drum’s scientific species name is Pogonias cromis. (Black Drum in Texas). Where exactly do the fish live? The Black Drum is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts coasts to Southern Floridian coasts. The Black Drum is found across the Gulf of Mexico an into North Mexican shores. The Black Drum rarely is found North of New Jersey (Schaltz, Ken †Black Drum†).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Red Drum are found in the western Atlantic Ocean. They inhabit the coastal waters from the gulf of Maine to the Florida Keys and all of the gulf coasts to Northern Mexico. (Schaltz â€Å"Red Drum†). The Red drum are an estuarine-dependent fish that morphs into an oceanic fish later on in life. It can be found in brackish water or saltwater. It can be swimming above sand, mud, or weeds. It is found in weeds of shallow inlets, bays, tidal passes, bayous, and estuaries (Schaltz â€Å"Red Drum†). Why the drum head out of their sheltered bays and into the ocean is a mystery.

Ella Fitzgerald - The Gold Collection Essay -- Music

Ella Fitzgerald - The Gold Collection The overall illusion of Ella Fitzgerald’s The Gold Collection album is a reflection of the trials and tribulations of love. The collection consists of many tracks that have passionate lyrical value, that the words instantly relate to those moments in life when you are struggling with devotion for a significant other. The album is arranged in a precise manner, where those melancholy and heartrending songs are preceded by upbeat, catchy tunes, that even with the gloomy lyrics, make you want to return to your childhood, where everything was simple and uncomplicated. Certain songs, like â€Å"Angel Heart† and â€Å"Sophisticated Love† are prime examples of the slow, and remorseful songs where Ella’s strong and intense voice simply devours your emotions. In these songs, she has extensive use of vibrato in specific areas, where she draws out certain beats of words, and just by closing your eyes and listening, you can immediately sense the sentiment of the word, along with each and every syllable after. Her prominent voice, with solo accompaniment on the ...

Margaret Atwood- Moral Disorder

In the course of the many interrelated short stories written in Moral Disorder we tend to find out many thing about the main characters. In some ways the reader develops a sort of one on one relationship with each character, and learns more and more about them in each story. Specifically, one of the main characters who tends to stand out in the storyline as a person with a sort of mysterious personality is Tig. Tigs mysterious personality is brought to life mainly in the story â€Å"Monopoly†. When we first see Tig in the beginning of â€Å"monopoly†, he and Nell just purchased an old farm house where they plan on living. As time progresses throughout the storyline, we learn about Tigs children and how they plan on visiting the new farm house. With this point it brings up thoughts about Tigs old marriage to Oona. We now find out that the reason why Tig and Oona divorced was not because of Oona, but the two of them as a hole. It gives insite to their failed marriage with the fact that OOna would give her total life’s attention at her writing, and leave Tig to take care of the children and the house completely alone. Even though to the public eye Tig and Oona’s relationship could only be described as perfect, it is obvious that deep down being married to Oona was bringing him down. They were often seen together in magazines and in photo’s smiling as if they had not a care in the world, but according to Tig this was the furthest thing from the truth. The two of them together tried to show the sense of love and stability to the public that they both yearned for. They often appeared in magazines cooking and laughing together, but once the camera’s stopped rolling things turned back how they usually where. Oona would be off trying to finish her book, and Tig would be left with taking care of the children and the household chores all while working at a radio station. As time progressed after the divorce Tig and Nell decided to rent an old farm house. We now find out about another mysterious part of Tig’s life, his kids. Once Tig and Nell moved into their farm house, Tig’s children came to visit every weekend. So, every weekend Nell would have to pack up all her belongings and leave their house before Tig’s children arrived. Tig tried very hard in order to make his children know that the reason why he and their mother divorced was not because of Nell, and that he and Oona still were on speaking terms. This shed insight into Tig role as a father. Even though Tig usually doesn’t like to speak about his past marriage with Oona, he makes sure that his children are not affected by the divorce. Every weekend that they would visit, he would try and create a fun loving environment at the farm house in order for his children to be happy. Before this we never saw Tig as much of a family man. Instances such as Tig’s children visiting shed light on a new personality that we never knew about Tig. After Tigs children leave, and Nell returns home things start to go back to normal. Nell and Tig seem to be extremely happy living together, which serves as a complete opposite to his relationship with Oona. Nell speaks about the Sunday nights they spend together once Tig’s children leave, and the time they spend trying to get up the big hill in front of the property during the winter months. Although the some of the things they did together were simple, it was obvious that it meant something to Nell. Tig and Oona would sit together during the ride home in silence most of the time, but the silence they shared definitely meant something. During these times it became clear that the reason that Nell and Tig were together was because of Oona. Shortly after Oona finished her book, she and Tig invited Nell over for a dinner party at her house. The dinner party turned out a success, and Nell ended up staying later than all the other guests to play a game of monopoly with Tig’s children. The night was full of laughs and the conversation at the dinner table seemed as if it were to never end. Nell later saw that that dinner party was not a typical dinner party, but more of an interview session that would later wide up with her being in a relationship with Tig. After awhile life for Nell and Tig started to grow into a sort of routine were Nell would stay at the farm house during the week, then suddenly disappear and hide all traces of her existence. But one weekend this was all about to change. Tig’s mysterious personality came into play again when he told Nell that he wanted her to stay at the farm house the upcoming weekend when his children came to visit. This came as a complete shock to Nell because she never expected Tig to bring the situation up with her because he was always so quiet and to himself about the situation. Nevertheless Nell at first was extremely against this idea thinking that she would â€Å"be crossing the line†. But Tig assured her that it would be best for the children to see her in her natural environment and her home. Tig covertly spoke to his children and to Oona about the situation and they all agreed that it would be a good idea for Nell to stay a weekend with the children when they came to visit.

Central Theme in Demian

In Herman Hesses' novel, Demian, he constantly makes the point in having self acceptance. Self acceptance is a value that someone holds in which they are happy with who they are and it is sometimes referred to as self love. Herman illustrates his own journey through the character, Sinclair, on his conquest to obtain this value of self acceptance. Through the incidents that happen in Sinclair's life, he eventually under goes the process of being able to accept him self for who he is. Once this has happend he finds an inner harmoney that could only been reached through self acceptance. His novel begins with a troublesome event that causes Sinclair to acquiesce and sumbit to an older kid. This causes him to lose his morals and values and caues an inner turmoil in his character. This is when two realms are pointed out veiwed by this character as â€Å"night and day†. Night can be referred to as â€Å"love and strictness, model behavior and school†. As night can be refereed to as the darkside which it â€Å"promised and demanded different things†. Sinclair talks about how these two realms can easily overlap one another if your not careful with your actions and behavior. Growing up in a some-what put together household with religion and good education, he realizes that it is very easy to cross into the these two realms; â€Å"day and night, two different worlds†. These realms are at two opposite ends in which he describes in detail how good it is to be in ‘day' and how scary it is to be in ‘night'. Sinclair does not like to put himself into the situation of actions that would be considered night. Although at times he does think about the actions and inherit consequences of being in the darkness he would not even attempt to participate and do such a thing. When Sinclair meets Demian he is amazed by how mature and responsible and sophisticated he is. He is not one who conforms his beliefs with society and will tell you how he sees and thinks it. As they have just met, Demian immediately starts to talk to Sinclair on a Biblical lesson they had learned in school. He tells him how he has interpretated it and Sinclair is very astonished to have learned a new way of seeing the story of Cain and Abel. In fact, Demian sees the story the complete opposite way as to the rest of how the class and teacher veiws it because he has put a philosphical and questionable idea behind it. He wants to talk to the kid more about what he thinks on other things in life. Demian helps Sinclair and gives him advice on how to stop being tractable to Franz, the older kid, in a way relating the Biblical story. Demian opens up the ‘darkside' to Sinclair. He begins to think about being more of an independent person, more say, then just continuing to follow his authoratative figures. By thinking more for himself, he feels that the ‘darkside' is growing onto him and beginning to open up to him. After quickly growing a relationship with Demian, he realized that he use's a psychological act to give him power. SinClair does not understand how he is able to do such a thing in order to get his way from people, by performing hand movements and staring them down. Demian gives a little moral lesson to SinClair on how one must â€Å"desire it strongly enough so that his/her whole being was ruled by it. † SinClair though is not able to fully fulfill Demians words and does not accomplish what he wants to do making him very frustrated. Once again, Demian advises Sinclair in another one of his interpretations on theology; this time being about Crucifixion. Standing up for what you believe in is one of the processes for obtaining self acceptance. SinClair understands what Demian is implying and realizes that in order to be who he truely is, he must figure out what he believes and disbelieves to find himself along with his morals and values- once more a process to obtain self acceptance. For SinClair, it seems that a light has come through into his world as he sees a girl he names Beatrice. He decides to go and paint her but finds that it looks more like Demian. SinClair was able to see the light coming throught to him but no paying attention to the other side, it was ignored. Hesse uses Sinclair’s painting as a metaphor for his inner thoughts and desires. At first he realizes that his painting is beautiful because it is of the girl that his eyes have fallen in love with (desires) but he does not recognize that it is Demian (inner thoughts). He is, however, unsuccessful until he allows himself to give into his â€Å"imagination and intuition that arose spontaneously†¦ † When he does this, his painting seems to differentiate male and femal, light and dark. SinClair, hanging out with men who go to bars to get drunk does not confide into going to have one night stands. He veiws his sexual desire much more then a one time deal as it means love and has strong feelings and veiws towards it. It was the image of an angel and Satan, man and woman in one flesh, man and beast, the highest good and the worst evil. † Sinclair begins to love himself completely. . Sinclair was finally able to come into recogniztion with self love and loving what he truely liked and believed. â€Å"I wanted only to try to live in accord with the pro mptings which came from my true self. Why was that so very difficult? † Eventually, in doing so, his fear took over and he was not able to continue his self acceptance. Walking home from a church, SinClair had always stopped by church to sit and listen to an organist while he plays. This helps him think about himself as the music is not considered good or bad or part of ‘night' or ‘day'. He states that it's â€Å"music that seemed to listen to itself† and that is what SinClair has been trying to do his whole life- find his self acceptance. . Herman Hesse uses the character of Sinclair to give the illistration that one must over come his or her troubles and find their inner self and inner harmony to find their individuality . However, through this, the reader should ask their self â€Å"How well do they know their self? Do they accept their self? and What must they do to finally love their self? â€Å"

Ethnicity and Racism Essay

Introduction Ethnic identity in varied urban society is maintained against force to assimilate, in part, by an opposing process of pejorative and odious distinction. Name-calling serves to expound and to restate demarcations against which one positively mirrors oneself and one’s group. Schermerhorn, cited in Sollors (1996), illustrates an ethnic group as follows: A collectivity within a larger society having actual or reputed common ancestry, memories of a common historical past, and a cultural focus on one of more figurative elements defined as the epitome of their people hood. Instances of such symbolic element are: relationship patterns, physical contiguity (as in localism or sectionalism), religious affiliation, language or vernacular forms, tribal association, nationality, phenotypal features, or any combination of these. An essential accompaniment is some consciousness of kind amongst members of the group. (Sollors, 1996, p. xii) Jones ( 1997) characterized ethnic group as â€Å"any group of people who set themselves apart and/or are set apart by others with whom they interrelate or co-exist on the base of their perceptions of cultural delineation and/or common descent† (p. 1). According to Jones, ethnicity contains all of those social and psychological phenomenon linked with a culturally defined group identity. Ethnicity centers on the ways in which social and cultural practices intersect with one another in the recognition of, and relations between ethnic groups (p. 1). The development and expansion of ethnic identity that takes place when an individual recognizes and affiliates with a particular ethnic group is multifarious. This significant personal and group identification has decisive emotional, behavioral, and cognitive implication that affects all aspects of development. Ethnic Groups Perception Phinney (1989, 1990) and others illustrated ethnic identity through components consciousness, self-labeling, attitudes, behaviors that consequence in the individual’s recognition with a particular group and with the attainment of group patterns through membership. Similarly, Bernal and Knight (1993) viewed ethnic identity as a psychological build that includes â€Å"a set of thoughts about one’s own ethnic group membership† (p. 7). These definitions deal with the evocative content and apparent distinctiveness of ethnic identity. Of significance to note is that these components operate at two levels individual and group (Branch, 1994) and within two areas self-given and other credited. Though components are a decisive part of the definition, components in and of themselves do not have expounding capabilities: why and how identity forms and develops. As ethnic groups in the United States are professed as occupying sociopolitical, cultural positions within a hierarchical system, the implementation, demonstration, or privatization of ethnic practices are inclined by factors such as physical, cultural and ethnic markers, antagonism, emulation, social facsimile, power, situational events, and scales of inclusion and contribution ( Hollins, 1996; Jones, 1997). These factors influence the scale to which ethnic identity attribution, or self-labeling, is internally driven, outwardly imposed, or both. Some scholars think that evenness in self-labeling and the acknowledgment and performance of established modes of behavior in social areas in which ethnic identity is reconfirmed and authenticated begins around 8 years old (Aboud, 1984, 1987). However, Spencer ( 1985) pointed out that identity is a developmental process in stable transformation. Developmentally, the traditions young children accept, display, and integrate ethnic identity content into their personal and group identity diverges from the ways they are demonstrated and given significance at other life ages. We know that young children (birth to three and four years old obtain ethnic values, customs, language styles, and behavioral codes long before they are competent to label and know them as ethnic ( Sheets, 1997; Spencer, 1985). Intellectuals who study ethnic identity development in young children from a socialization viewpoint believe that the ethnic identity progression for children of color begins at birth, at the initial interactions between the child, family, and community (Sheets, 1997; Spencer, 1985). Sheets (1997) sustained that the continual existence of personal and societal markers such as skin color, language, food choices, values, and association in a dominant or non-dominant group instills in children ethnic roles and behaviors that practice them for eventual self-labeling. Likewise, Alba (1990) referring to White ethnics, continued that this early home-life frame of satisfactory alternatives creates a exceptional identity. He argued that this personality, conversant by ethnicity, exists at deep levels, present even while individuals reject their ethnicity. This agrees with identity theory in social psychology, which conjectures that the multi-identities within an individual function at diverse levels of importance. Stryker (1968) recognized this degree of confession and commitment as salience. This constituent of choice in identity labeling for White ethnics seems to be less challenging for White ethnics than for ethnics phenotypically or ethnically marked. However, for a developing ethnic identity, feelings of shared aims with a particular ethnic group implies explicit movement toward a conscious acknowledgment of and assurance with the group (Alba, 1990), resulting in self-identification with diverse degrees of salience. Thus, deliberately or unconsciously, cognitively or behaviorally, individuals use ethnic identities to classify themselves and others for the rationale of social interactions in varied settings. The Consequences of Stereotyping There is an immense and admired literature on the effects of stereotyping, The overt rationale of an ethnic epithet is to slur and to injure. But calling names is also an endeavor, whether quite deliberately realized or not, to control the behavior of the ridiculed group. This attempt at social control by disparaging labeling is an effort to influence reality by the mysterious identity of the spoken symbol with the nonverbal fact. The belief is that if one can name or add a label to an object, in this case, an ethnic individual or group, then one can use power over it by just calling its name. If the name is abusive, condescending, scolding, or ridiculing, it is expected that this description will elicit an proper response, such as causing the wounded to cower, to be degraded, to be scolded and thus to feel blameworthy, or to act out the prediction of ridiculousness. Usually this prediction is fulfilled in the eye of the beholder by selectively perceiving or misperceiving the genuine behavior of the group over which he seeks control. Yet the resultant social process of labeling and stereotyping at times also leads to redefinitions of the relations between groups and sometimes eventually has the portended effect upon the behavior and self-concept of the victim, a consequence that has been called â€Å"in authentication.† The social psychosomatic process of being proscribed entails losing one’s legitimacy by acquiring a fake image of one. The stereotypes expressed by nicknames are one device by which several minority group persons are deindividualized or depersonalized. Minority group members recognize numerous of the values of the society in which they live, including at times the conventional images of themselves. Blacks, for instance, in the past had many nicknames for other ethnic blacks that were a system of color-caste coding and gestured an recognition of one decisive factor of white racism. This and other examples prove to one of the disastrous implications of name-calling-eventual self-derogation of a group. Not simply do groups sometimes understand the stereotyped image of themselves, but at times they emphasize it by conforming to its behavioral expectations. They have then avowed the other’s image and are thus proscribed. Conversely, minorities, particularly blacks, have opposed stereotypes in creative ways. Derogatory labels, together with names such as nigger, through inversion, have been given optimistic meanings within the group. Broader stereotypes, such as robbery, sexual abandon, juvenile behavior, and laziness, through conversion, are acted out as techniques of hostility and mockery against whites. For these and other reasons, the issue of ethnic slurs is typically regarded, analytically, as a predicament in social psychology and, normatively, as a social problem. Situational and Environmental Context The context and circumstances (e.g., locations, sociopolitical radicalized ramifications, economic circumstances, and time) in which ethnic identity opens out is another element of ethnic identity (Branch, 1994). This is an area in require of research. Family socialization outlines that inspire values and social and behavioral codes in their progeny vary within similar groups and are reliant in part on particular circumstances such as socioeconomic status, generational influences, and geographic location (Hollins, 1996; McAdoo, 1993). If home-rearing performs finds out how people use their cultural resources to settle in to new and discrete environments ( Mintz & Price, 1992), this signifies that the mechanism of ethnic identity not only activate differently at diverse developmental ages, but also might be expressed another way in different contextual settings. For instance, attainment of values and behavioral and social prototypes are mechanism in the ethnic identity improvement of young children that can herald self-labeling and appreciation. Also, self-labeling informed by framework is not as easy as suggested. It may or may not designate recognition, commitment, and salience; the capability to self-label does not mean that contextually the same decisive factor is used to determine the labeling of others. Sheets (1998) found that five year old children from African, Mexican, Minh, Loatian American, and Black/White racially mixed groups were capable to categorize themselves ethnically. These children willingly provided distinctive physical markers (eye shape, skin tone, and hair texture) and cultural fundamentals (native language, food preferences, and ways of eating) as proof to discriminate themselves from others. though, they used trustworthy or communally accepted reasons to categorize others. For instance, they say an individual is â€Å"Loas† because â€Å"My daddy said so† or someone is â€Å"Mexican† because â€Å"He was born in the hospital.† The self-labeling at this age was also detach from attitudes of relationship, obligation, and salience, but not from exclusive cultural behaviors linked with group patterns. Research that scrutinizes how environmental framework affects children’s ethnic identity development–and its effect on present and successive development–or what types of sociopsychological events influence change in the development of individual and group ethnic membership were not accessible. The mechanism and progression of ethnic identity appear to be extremely receptive to changing contextual social, political, and economic conditions. Ethnic identity cannot be sufficiently examined as secluded elements, rather it must be examined as suggested by Mintz and Price ( 1992), as systems or patterns in their societal context. Jones (1997) argued that ethnic identity is â€Å"based on uneven, situational, subjective identification of self and others, which are entrenched in continuing daily practices and chronological experience† (p. 13). Future Prospect The diverse reactions are due to a numeral of factors, which are not essentially mutually exclusive: an enthusiasm for the immediate surcease of bigotry; an intolerance with the slowness of progress thus far; an indecision about the permanency of newly gained perfection; a premonition, anxiety, or resentment about enduring injustices; and, most lately, a belief that being renowned as a disadvantaged minority will take group preferences and remedies or that being denied such appreciation will dispossess them of just treatment. Obscured in history are the colonial exclusions, whippings, tongue borings, and hangings of heretics, rebels, and witches; the mob attacks on Mormons, Asians, Mexican Americans, Filipinos, and Italians; the blazing down of Catholic churches; and the lynching and shootings of Blacks and Indians. Neither amongst American Indians nor between Whites and Indians, Whites and Blacks, French and English, Dutch and Swedes, Russians and Americans, Catholics and Protestants, and Protestants and Protestants are there the defensive and regal wars that once raged on American soil; nor have American ethnic groups pretended the wide-ranging violence that existed or exists in numerous parts of Europe and Asia, such as between Russians and Poles, Greeks and Turks, Jews and Arabs, Spaniards and Basques, Irish and English, Japanese and Chinese, and Tibetans and Chinese. Gone are the Anglophobes, Francophobes, Spanophobes, and Germanophobes, who alleged that Britain, France, Spain, and Germany correspondingly were plotting to destroy our government. Also gone are the once popular beliefs that Masons, Illuminati, the pope, communists, and international Jewry had permeated government and courts or that America was jeopardized by Chinese and Japanese invasions. On a local level, the Florida parliament in 1995 awarded compensation to nine Black survivors of White mob attacks seven decades earlier. In that similar year, Mississippi finally ratified the Thirteenth Amendment eliminating slavery. Some hundred years after 31 Chinese gold miners in Oregon were cruelly killed in 1887 were the files on what had happened first made public. On a state level, four decades passed before Congress chosen compensation for the unfair internment of American Japanese and Aleuts during World War II, and not until 1993 did Congress pass a declaration making an apology for the overthrow a hundred years earlier of the Hawaiian monarchy. Religionists, too, have more and more recognized past wrongs. On almost a hundred diverse occasions Pope John Paul II apologized for Catholic wrongs against Jews, Africans, Indians, Protestants, women, and even the astronomer Galileo. In 1995, on the 150th anniversary of its beginning, the Southern Baptist Convention overwhelmingly voted to request forgiveness of â€Å"all African-Americans† for past support of slavery. Two years later, Lutheran, Anglican, Catholic, and United Methodist leaders in South Carolina issued a statement owning up their sins of racism. Last has been a development of minority community and political action groups, which as never before look for civic and political acknowledgment and power. No longer are hyphenated groups viewed as unpatriotic, and no longer are they reliant on the altruism of others to resolve their problems, or, in the case of immigrants, to rely on motherland governments to speak on their behalf. Rather, much in the way of Blacks, they hold marches, pageants, demonstrations, and political forums, often with the support of second- and third-generation local or federal politicians of their own group. Both the Democratic and Republican parties have outreach programs to all main minority groups, together with the solicitation of funds. On both local and national levels, political officeholders are sure to have famous minority representatives as advisers or staff. Assistance all of the above were the press, radio, and television, which no longer disregarded prejudice, discrimination, or violence against minorities, but depicted such behavior as communally unacceptable and ethically wrong and called upon political and public officials to take corrective action. In brief, today’s minority groups have more fortifications, opportunities, and freedoms than their parents or grandparents had or dreamed of perhaps having and they are challenging and taking advantage of them as never before. Increasingly, changes for the better have taken place. Admitting such does not mean that there still is not victims and troubles, but rather proves that vary is possible and that cynicism and suspicion are unwarranted. A subsequent principle is comparing intergroup relations in America to those in other countries. Here, too, America detachable very well, as is obvious by what is and has been going on in other countries, as well as by the needs of so many foreigners to leave their homelands. We merely do not have the wars, ethnic conflicts, and calls for secession, self-determination, or ethnic sanitization that take place in Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Spain, England, Northern Ireland, India, Indonesia, Rwanda–or in our border neighbors, Canada and Mexico. Few Native Americans, Hawaiians, and Alaskans want secession, and few Puerto Ricans want whole independence from America. Still fewer are the figure of Americans who relinquish their citizenship and leave to live in another country. Third, intergroup relations can be evaluated to the nationally appreciated values of equal rights and opportunities for life, autonomy, and the detection of happiness, where individuals are moderator in spite of their race, religion, ethnicity, age, and sex. By this decisive factor, it is very understandable particularly to minorities that problems still exist, that racism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Asianism, anti-Hispanicism, anti-Native Americanism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and sexism have not moved out. The fourth criterion entailed comparing a group’s progress or need of it to other groups. The consequences, certainly, depend on the groups being compared. while the situation of American Blacks is evaluated to that of American Indians or Haitians, Blacks are doing very well, but when contrasted to that of Irish Catholics or Jews, they are far behind. If being murdered and robbed of one’s home are the most terrible that can happen a group, then Indians were the leading victims, followed by Blacks, who were the only group brought here against their will as slaves, alienated from their families, and not permitted to enable their customs, languages, and even names. Mexicans all through the Southwest were made strangers in their own land, as were national Hawaiians, both of whose lands were taken by fraud and conquest. Alaskan natives were not asked whether they required their land sold by Russia to America. Asians were the most redundant groups, and Catholics the most hated religious group. Frequently derelict in group comparisons are the momentous numbers of minorities who, despite discrimination, achieved, such as Arabs, Armenians, Asians, Cubans, Greeks, Huguenots, Jews, Latvians, Mormons, Quakers, and West Indians. Also derelicted are the ethnic and socioeconomic subdivisions within a explicit victimized group as with late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century comparatively well-off northern Italians and poor southern ones, as well as with moderately poor eastern and well-off western European Jews. These days, too, perceptible differences in accomplishment exist between such Hispanic groups as Cubans, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans–with Cubans usually having a much higher mean income and educational attainment than the two other groups and than Whites usually. Briefly, the picture that appears from group-to-group comparisons is a mixed one, depending on which groups are being evaluated. A fifth principle is that of Utopia. All too perceptibly, America is not a Garden of Eden, Elysian Field, Happy Isle, Golden Land, or heaven on earth. Yes, we have approach a far way from the discrimination and favoritism of early America or of Europe, Africa, and Asia, but we have a long way to go before it can be realistically said that Americans live by the Golden Rule. The last and politically latest criteria (at least in America) are those of assortment and relative representation. originally, the terms usually implied that if a group did not have a percentage of jobs, school admissions, positions, elections, and so on, equal to its percentage of the local or state population, or to its percentage of the workforce, it was a sign of being discriminated against. For instance, since African Americans are some   twelve percent of the population, or women some fifty percent, it was argued, they should have that percentage of jobs, college admissions, political appointments, and the like. Consequently of the enduring nonrepresentational or exclusion of minorities, and the growing public and court refusal of race-conscious solutions, calls began being made for ascertaining multiculturalism and diversity. Schools, workplaces, political offices, media, and much else, were reproved to form workforces that replicate the makeup of America, thereby reassuring a greater minority inclusion than by just calling for equal opportunity for all minorities. By this decisive factor, with the omission of the armed forces, sports, and civil service jobs, few arenas of society are free of discrimination. It mean First, bad as prejudice was, it has been waning for all minority groups, though differentially so. Second, how much of a reject has there been, how fast or slow has it occurred, what has caused either, and how best to spiral the speed of reform are justifiable topics of concern and debate. Third, the dearth of usually agreed upon criteria for measuring progress distorts the realism of the progress made and not made. Worse yet, in numerous cases, the absence has aggravated intergroup relations, wherein one group’s self-interests conflict with those of other groups. Instead of figuring coalitions to resolve problems of common concern, numerous groups believe in centering on their own priorities. Without a coalitional conformity on what needs to be done, the speed of further development will be delayed, but not stopped. Too much goodwill subsists in America, and too numerous reforms have taken place, at too high a cost in lives and energy, to be stopped. The recognizable glass is neither empty nor full, but being filled and the earlier the better. References: Aboud F. E. ( 1984). â€Å"Social and cognitive bases of ethnic identity constancy.† Journal of Genetic Psychology, 145, 227 – 229. Aboud F. E. ( 1987). â€Å"The development of ethnic self-identification and attitudes.† In J. S. Phinney & M. J. Rotheram (Eds.), Children’s ethnic socialization: Pluralism and development (pp. 32 – 55 ). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Alba R. D. ( 1990). Ethnic identity: The transformation of White America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Branch C. W. ( 1994). â€Å"Ethnic identity as a variable in the learning equation.† In E. R. Hollins , J. E. King, & W. G. Hayman (Eds.), Teaching diverse populations: Formulating a knowledge base (pp. 207 – 224 ). Albany: State University of New York Press. Hollins E. R. ( 1996). Culture in school learning; Revealing the deep meaning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Jones S. ( 1997). The archaeology of ethnicity: Constructing identities in the past and present. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul. McAdoo H. P. (Ed.). ( 1993). Family ethnicity: Strength in diversity. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Mintz S. W., & Price R. ( 1992). The birth of African-American culture: An anthropological perspective. Boston: Beacon Press. Sheets R. H. ( 1997). â€Å"Reflection 1: Racial and ethnic awareness.† In J. Carnes & R. H. Sheets (Eds.), Starting small: Teaching tolerance in preschool and the early grades (pp. 16 – 21 ). Montgomery, AL: Southern Poverty Law Center. Sheets R. H. ( 1998). Ethnic identity behavioral displays in an urban Kindergarten classroom: Implications for practice. Unpublished manuscript. Sodowsky G. R., Kwan K. K., & Pannu R. ( 1995). â€Å"Ethnic identity of Asians in the United States.† In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (pp. 123 – 154 ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Sollors W. (Ed.). ( 1996). Theories of ethnicity: A classical reader. New York: New York University Press. Spencer M. B. ( 1985). â€Å"Cultural cognition and social cognition as identity factors in Black children’s personal growth.† In M. Spencer, G. Brookins, & W. Allen (Eds.), Beginnings: The social and affective development of Black children (pp. 215 – 230 ). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates