Peyotism Essays - Native American Church, Native American Religion

Peyotism ?The white man's reality are his streets with their banks, shops, neon lights and traffic, streets full of policemen, whores, and sad-faced people in a hurry to punch a time clock. But this is unreal. The real reality is underneath all this. Grandfather Peyote helps you find it.? - Crow Dog Peyote, a hallucinogenic plant that is commonly used as a recreational drug, has a much greater meaning for members of the peyote religion. By examining the effects of peyote along with its role in the rituals and beliefs of the Native American Church it becomes apparent why it is such an integral part of the religion. The trade and knowledge of this sacred plant was already well defined in regions of Mexico well before European conquest and its ceremonial use was already underway in the tribes of the area in which it grew. This religious use eventually spread through North American regions. Along with its migration, the basic rituals and ceremonies changed along the way. The organization of religion involving peyote and the principle rituals had become commonly practiced among the Comanche and Kiowa tribes by the mid-eighteen hundreds. The Native American Church formed in 1921, beginning in Oklahoma. Soon after this initial formation, state and local incorporation followed in many places and continue to do so to this day. (Aberle, 19) Now, some form of peyote religion is common to most tribes of the North American continent. Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) is a very small, low growing, fuzzy type of cactus. Most of the cactus is actually underground in a long root. Both the flesh and roots can be eaten. When dried the flesh resembles brown overcoat buttons, which is where the term peyote ?buttons? came from. Peyote isn't found just anywhere. It grows in the wild over only a small portion of the Southwestern United States known as the Peyote Garden. Precisely, Corpus Christi, Texas, Deming, New Mexico, Durango, Mexico and Puebla , Mexico bind the area in which this plant can be found and harvested. (Aberle, 5) Containing eight different alkaloids, the most important being mescaline, peyote causes a number of effects. The experience begins with an euphoric quality. It heightens the sensations to sound, color, form and texture. Further into the experience, ?visions? begin to occur. These visions can include detailed, realistic pictures and sounds. The interpretation of these visions rather than the visions themselves are what peyotists consider most important. The peyote experience is characterized by a strong feeling of personal significance of the internal and external stimuli encountered during the experience. Many find themselves asking, ?What does this mean to me The Native American Church came to the Indians during their darkest hour. It was around the time when the last of the buffalo had disappeared from the plains. They were left starving, helpless and with little of their old lives remaining to cling to. In the words of a member of the NAC, Mary Crow Dog, ?The Native American Church became the religion of the poorest of the poor, the conquered, the despoiled. Peyote made them understand what was happening and made them endure. It was the only thing that gave them strength in those, our darkest days.? It was obvious that a militant religion could not have survived under white dominance. The formation of this religion was a response to the degraded status on Native Americans. It's goal- internal peace and harmony rather than competition. This idea was highly relevant to the socio-economic situation that these indigenous people were being faced with. For many, this was exactly what they needed to continue on. Since the beginning, there has been strong opposition to the Native American Church by several groups. The traditionalist Indians opposed it believing that it was a threat to traditional tribal culture. Modernist Indians as well as whites opposed the religion also saying that it was heathenistic and backward. In the early stages, peyote meetings were illegal not for the use of peyote, but because Native American rituals in general were outlawed. But, in 1934, under John Collier, the Bureau of Indian Affairs enacted a policy of non-interference with peyotism. There have been state laws prohibiting the ?sale, use or possession of peyote?, but all such laws have

Green Revolution Essays

Green Revolution Essays Green Revolution Essay Green Revolution Essay Green revolution within reach People need energy all the time. Not only electricity Is In great demand to make houses and other building operate but we need fossil fuels to use wide range of transportation. According to estimates, nonrenewable sources will run out in the foreseeable future. Scientists predict that we will be able to exploit coal for about two hundred and twenty years, natural gas about sixty years and oil will run out in forty years . They also suggest the shift from fossil-fuel-consuming civilization towards the green global community who will create a symbolic relation with nature. In practice, this means seeking alternative sources of energy that come from gifts of nature. And when you analyses the latest European union law regulation about increasing usage of alternative energy 2, or read about newest scientific experiments with hydrogen cars and energy-efficient houses you will be convince the process of becoming green has already begun. Although there are some fears and doubts In this new social movement, the benefits far outweigh and give a new chance for mankind not to act against but coexist with the beauty of nature. As a priority, alternative sources of energy as opposed to fossil fuels are clean energy. They do not cause emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Not releasing any carbon dioxide they do not contribute to the process of global warming as the popular and widespread fossil fuels do. : Besides, they can be widely used for producing and generating electricity. When you consider the share of sources In producing electricity In the world, due to BP Statistical Yearbook 2004, you will notice the huge share of fossil fuels (67%1 nuclear energy(16%) In comparison to 7% coming from hydroelectric dams(16%) and wind energy Hopefully, the world governments act for green solution and advertise clean energy giving incentives for maintaining it. Analyzing the newest European union law regulation concerning energy policy you read about plans imposed on all Its members to generate electricity from wind, sun and water In order to Increase the usage of alternative energy sources up to 20% In total European energy production with the time deadline to 2020. In Norway, for example, scientists having been working since 60-ices of last century have tried to use gig and low tides of oceans to generate cheap energy. Only one obstacle has ceased and delayed these experiments so far, an appropriate material which could resist salt sea water. Fortunately the newest technology have brought new solutions and scientists were able to create huge water turbines with special protecting Installation covered with specially designed paints that can operate without any additional maintenance. Only in 2004 Norway activated about 19 turbines of such type which can supply energy for 1 600 houses. Although the process of constructing ocean turbines still remains a secret, lots of other countries follow the ideas and test similar ones with the support of government financial programmer. Although nonrenewable sources boast with wide range of them from solar energy, wind, geothermal, tide energy or hydroelectric energy, being environmentally friendly teen cost nudge amount AT money- opponents argue. Protestor Jesse Accused Trot Rockefeller University estimates that to satisfy Aquas electricity needs, they would have to cover all of Texas and Louisiana with wind turbines what would be very expensive. Meanwhile, considering the prices of oil at their peak, continuous bill rising and perspective of running out of liquid sources, the huge input of money in making alternative sources operate equals. In addition, when you remember the idea of paying green taxes by those who damage the environment you have no doubts. Money is equal with only one difference you pay before, making the alternative sources operate, or after usage being left with high bills. Oil believers claim also that as long as benefits of alternative sources can be measure in electricity production they absolutely fail when you consider the remonstration. Our civilization stands out with the productivity of goods and their huge dislocation at the same time. This requires tons of oil and gas with the huge share of oil (90% ) in the entire world transportations. Following The Report of Peak Oil for USA department the peak of oil production will make serious problem for liquid sources in transportation not energetic crises generally speaking. They consider no other possibilities in this branch. Fortunately the world of science together with vehicle lovers offer unlimited visions and prospects in automobile development. After oil and gasoline engine, respected motor and car companies such as Toyota, Lexus, Ionians or Honda have launched their new inventions, a car which combines a small fuel-efficient gas engine with an electric motor that assists the engine when accelerating. The electric motor is powered by batteries that recharge automatically while you driver. This ecological whim called hybrid car is gaining more and more popularity and other car companies being convinced of new technology are bringing out new models. Only in 2004 Lexus ARC eh received the reward of European Car of The Year. When you insider other kinds of transportation, cities like Seattle have diesel-electric buses- these can draw electric power from overhead wires or run on diesel when they are away from the wires. Giant mining trucks, or submarines are often diesel-electric hybrids, or nuclear-electric. And the latest invention of automobile world- the hydrogen car proves the human genuine and denies the gloomy vision of oil dependence. The process of becoming green does not mean generating electricity from alternative sources or seeking innovative solutions in automobile industry, it also means reduction in consumption and perhaps less comfortable and more emending way of life. As people are becoming more and more sensitive towards environmental issues, they accept green solutions. Surprisingly, it looks as a new thriving revolution, or as skeptics prefer to call a fashion of becoming green. In the USA green industry makes huge profits and is nearly comparable with the dot- revolution in the 90-ices. Green architecture is thriving gaining new branches from new raw materials to recycled. You can admire new efficient and ecologically friendly office buildings in Japan, China, USA or in Europe, usually skyscrapers powered by mind or solar panels with rainwater collectors, insulating glass system and daylight dimming system; all constructed in one purpose to reduce energy and water consumptions. There is also widespread tendency to build self-sufficient houses powered Dye alternative sources, Walt inclement logging systems All tense symptoms prove that green global community is becoming an absolute fact not a marginal fanaticism of some forces, and if this requires, if any, some personal sacrifices like walking instead of going by car or riding a bike instead of driving a car, it is worth taking it up in the name of higher value Our Earth protection.

Advantages and weaknesses portrayed by GAP with regard to contemporary Essay

Advantages and weaknesses portrayed by GAP with regard to contemporary technology - Essay Example The company to focus on in the paper is GAP which has had tremendous impact on people with regard to clothing. Research Problem What are some of the value chain advantages and weaknesses portrayed by GAP with regard to contemporary technology? Literature Review Gap is one of the oldest clothing companies in the United States of America. Since its founding in the year 1969, the company has had numerous milestones that it has overcome. This built the company’s reputation in the 1990s making it one of the top clothing sellers in the United States. Despite the fortune that it made, its market went down with the dawn of the new century due to numerous factors. However, the year 2010 saw the company begin rising again against all economic odds. It is imperative to analyze the internal situation of Gap amongst other factors in an effort to gain an in-depth understanding of the company. Analyzing the resource capabilities of the company, one major aspect to observe is the incorporatio n of intangible assets. Overlooking of these assets is a contemporary trend when understanding the structure of a company because people pay more attention to the corporeal assets within a company. However, it is important to understand that these assets play a key role in either the success or failure of a company. Technology is the intangible asset to focus on. In an effort to uphold quality inventory in its earlier years, Gap ensured that it had innovative technology that would also help the company reach a larger audience. The easy to navigate website captured the attention of many customers making it very simple for people to order clothing. As years have gone by, the company has incorporated modern age technology in an effort to increase the market value of its products. In 2009, Gap introduced a software package that would assist in monitoring its workflow and make forecasts on the effects caused by various real estate decisions made. Moreover, it acquired a system that would help intensify its e-commerce trades by faster processing of orders. With the advent of new technology, the company is bound to make even higher sales (Fleisher, 2008, 48). With relation to tangible resources, it is important to note that the company has made numerous strides in an effort to keep in touch with advancements in the industry. The company has had the ability to buy new machinery that has assisted in cutting down the costs per production. This is from the fact that in earlier years, the company had faced numerous challenges having to outsource some of its departments facing the uneven market demographics. Human resource has also worked to ensure that the company gets back to its high market position that it enjoyed in the 1990s. This is from the increased number of retail shops around the world majoring in the sale of Gap products Understanding the relative price position of Gap is also vital in comprehending the internal situation of the company. With the increase in i ts sales over the 90s decade, Gap made the mistake of lowering the quality of its products due to high demands and also increased the prices of its products. However, by the year 2003, the company had reduced its income from the loss of customers. The company thus reduced the prices of its commodities with an effort to lure back the customers but it faced numerous challenges from the market entrance of other clothing lines. The year 2010 saw the company increase the sales of its products from the moderation of prices innovation introduced by a new Chief Executive. By the month of May that year, the net sales had increased by

Mining and use of Natural resouces Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mining and use of Natural resouces - Essay Example olcanoes; the awareness of these hazards has made the modern man life safe through the modification of the houses and other infrastructures (Husain, 2008). The possibility of an earthquake occurring is 100 percent and that means an earthquake can occur anytime and somewhere on the earth. Asserting that an earthquake will occur does not really mean that earthquake has been predicted (U.S. Geological Survey, 2009). Presently, earthquake cannot be predicted but the statement may be true due to the fact that a number of earthquakes (in millions) occur each year, thus, their occurrence daily is in thousands (they are too minute to be located). Earthquake prediction is a possibility in the future. There is an ongoing research done by USGC and other state and federal agencies, private institutions and universities. The reality of earthquake prediction is possible some day in the future but this is only when the mechanisms of earthquake are fully exploited (U.S. Geological Survey, 2009). Industrialization and urbanization are responsible for different types of surface/subsurface water pollution and wastes and it has become mandatory for the schools in the developing countries to offer geoscience education. The neglect of the subject at some level of education (especially at the junior level) has caused the lack of awareness about energy conservation, environmental protection, and the conservation of other geological raw materials (Husain, 2008). With the help of the geology-based assessment methodology, it is estimated that there are about 53 (TCFG) trillion cubic feet of nonassociated natural gas in undiscovered and conventional accumulations and mean volumes of 896 million barrels of oil in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and the adjacent State waters; this is according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The volume of undiscovered oil estimated by U.S. Geological Survey is lower than the one estimated in 2002 and this is due to the recent exploration drilling

Health Care Delivery and Insurance System Essay

Health Care Delivery and Insurance System - Essay Example This paper analyses the health care delivery system as to whether it is broken or not Even though there are more than 40 million Americans who are not insured but still a major part of the gross national product of the nation is spent on health care (Iglehart, 1999). If the present problem has to be solved then it is essential that some changes take place in a lot of health financing systems (New York Academy of Sciences, 2000, pp. 1-14). The system should be best in all ways which means that the use of medical dollars should be made in an efficient way with provisions for improved medical care ostentation and promoting innovation. The new system should also incorporate quality with efficiency in prices of health care along with productive competition. The present system of health care which is driven by market and the existent governmental semi-National Health Insurance (NHI) Medicare and other Medicaid programs do not meet the requisites of best health care provisions (Brodenheimer, 1999; Riley, 2001; Pear, 2002; Krugan, 2002). Many countries are in problems due to a single payer for the nationalized health care and regular deficiency of patient selection (Krauz, 2002). 8. Areas which require attention The following areas put forward by different authors require immediate attention by the Congress government: 1. The people belonging to uninsured groups and those who are underinsured should be given immediate attention. 2. Politically and combative prescribed welfares (Jensen and Morrisy, 1999; Perez, 2002). 3. Imbalanced tax handling for health funding should not be the criteria. 4. Insured do not have any alternative to plans and providers. 5. Wayward financial bonuses for the insurance industry(Austin, 1984; Kuttner, 1999; Newhouse et.all, 1981 and Krauz, 2002) 6. Low financed and mystified Medicaid plans (Pear, 2002). 7. Inadequate national clinical tests and deficiency in limitation of preventable mismanagement suits (Institute of Medicine, 2001). 8. Unreasonable rivalry by hospitals burdening their own patients with varied amounts for indistinguishable services should not be the objective. Also the discrepancy in the amounts charged by pharmaceutical companies to individuals and small organizations should be done away with (Institute of Medicine, 2001). Apart from those mentioned above there are many areas in the health industry which require immediate attention of the creators. The Congress should create tax incentives which are individual in nature with permitted universal disastrous coverage so that the above mentioned discrepancies are removed. Discussion With reference to the number of individuals who are not insured, it only means the American medical system is a complete failure. Actually whatever be the kind of Medicaid it must have a provision for unforeseen

Effect of Parents with PTSD on Children

Effect of Parents with PTSD on Children Dushica Djurovic Does Transmission of Trauma Influence Children of Parents with PTSD? War veterans may experience traumatic events that may influence their lives after the military; moreover, such traumatic experiences may affect lives of the veterans’ family members. One of these people who experience a trauma during military service is my uncle who went to the army when he was very young. There is not anything that can be the same again for my uncle. Although he was a smiling and pretty talkative person before he went to the army, six months after he became reticent and aloof. Family members who have known him since he was born were worried about his mood and behavior, and they wondered what happened to him. When his parents and a sister heard that his best friend, Mark, was shot right in front of my uncle while Mark and he were running into a bunker, they have realized the cause of his depressive behavior. The bloody picture of his friend shot in the back of head has been flowing in my uncle’s mind for a long time, and that picture became both his dai ly struggle and a night mere. He was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder which is caused by the traumatic event he has experienced during the military combat. There are many ex-combatants who have experienced traumas during wars like my uncle, and such traumas may affect veterans’ family relationships (Bathory, page 71). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder may affect both a relationship with combat veterans’ children and relationships with their partners. According to Medscape Medical News that published the article about the high rate of PTSD in returning Iraq war veterans, the estimate rate of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans returning from Iraq embraces the range from 12% to 20% (Roehr). Individuals with PTSD tend to have a high level of anxiety and arousal, which manifests itself as difficult sleeping, impaired concentration, and the fear of being easily startled (Price). My uncle had difficulties such as sleeplessness and anxiety. Even though he had psychotherapy treatment for a few years after he returned home from the military service, his recovery was slow because of specific PTSD symptoms such as apathy and insomnia. As a result, his five-year-old son was not able to understand why his father was often pensive when he asked him for something. PTSD symptoms may be frightening for both parents and their kids. Children may also worry that their parent cannot properly care for them (Price). That is why children may be afraid of having a close relationship with their parents who are depressed or anxious, dealing with PTSD symptoms. Furthermore, such children may even become unhappy or reluctant to trust others, including their parents, because they do not feel loved and cared for their family members. Combat veterans may struggle trying to maintain relationships with their partners because people with PTSD may feel anxious talking with their wives and husbands about their traumatic experience. According to the American National Center for PTSD, the partners of the Vietnam Veterans with PTSD reported some effects of the veterans’ mental health problems such as lower levels of happiness, less satisfaction in their lives, and more demoralization that is manifested as the lack of hope, courage, and confidence (Stevens). If people who experience traumatic events do not use psychotherapy treatments, their intense emotions of guilt, grief, or fear may escalate. That may happen because they may not be able to handle their burden of war. As a result, war veterans may become physically and verbally aggressive to their partners, which may lead to divorce. The rates of divorce for Veterans with PTSD were about twice as great as for Veterans without PTSD (Kulka). Suffering from the effe cts of PTSD such as aggression, irritability, or anger, people may deal with certain relationship problems. Both parts, Maus I and Maus II emphasize two stories in which PTSD was transmitted from parents to their child. While one story is focused on Vladek Spiegelman’s survival of the Holocaust, another is focused on the relationship between Vladek and his son Artie. There is a strong bond that connects both stories. The clue lies in the different kinds of guilt that both of them feel, and such kind of guilty triggered PTSD in them. While Vladek, as a Holocaust victim, struggles when he realizes his luck by surviving from Nazi terror during the war, Artie struggles because he was lucky to be born after the war and avoid the suffering in Auschwitz that his family experienced. Furthermore, both of them have an open wound in their hearts: Vladek lost his wife and Artie his mother when she had a breakdown after the many hardships she endured through. Not only Holocaust survivors, but also their children suffer from their families experience. The main question that echoes in Vladek’s head is, â€Å"Why did he survive the Holocaust and not somebody else.† He feels guilty because he was lucky to survive the war which was responsible for millions of deaths. Vladek thinks that instead of him, somebody more worthy deserves to be alive. In order to avoid that feeling, he wants to turn his back on the painful past. He always avoids talking about it with Artie who becomes angry every time he tries to get information about his family. During my reading, I figured out that Vladek even pretends that he does not realize his son’s frustration and gets angry when Artie insists on getting the information. Instead of that, he behaves like everything between them is fine, ignoring any tension. Vladek’s experience at Auschwitz is a burden that flows in his mind, however, he desperately wants to live in the present and so he avoids talking about it. On the other hand, Artie constantly insists on hearing more info rmation about what his family experienced during the war. While he is irritated and often angry with Vladek’s behavior and cannot even imagine living with him under the same roof, his father wants to fix their relationship by spending time together. Vladek misses his wife, Anja, who had cared for him and for this reason he needs his son even more. For instance, he calls his son early in the morning to tell him that he needs his help fixing the drainpipe. Vladek tells him that he needs help by emphasizing the fact that he is an old, vulnerable man but actually it is about more than a drainpipe. He desperately needs his son’s love and attention. While he wants to enjoy spending time with his son and talking about the present, Artie wants to hear everything about the past. The more Vladek struggles with PTSD symptoms and wants to turn his back on the past, the more Artie insists on talking about it in order to get more information. That is why their relationship is broken and full of tension and misunderstanding. Every time Vladek talks about such a brutal experience that his family had, he digs deep into his heart, and becomes upset and more depressed. Not only people who experienced the Holocaust are its victims, but also their children who are born after the war as Artie was. Although he was born after the war, Artie also suffers from his parents painful memories. That memories caused PTSD and both parents as well as his son suffered from the same traumatic disorders. As the only member of his family who does not have a traumatic past, Artie struggles because he feels less worthy as somebody who did not suffer at Auschwitz. Moreover, he feels a burden because he did not do anything to deserve the comfortable life that he has. On the contrary, his family had to survive terrible suffering during the war to be still alive. Unfortunately, the majority of their relatives were not as a lucky as Vladek and Anja. Artie’s brother Richie did not survive the war. When the Germans started to take children from Srodula, Anja and Vladek, were living in the ghetto and in order to save their son’s life they sent Richie to Zawiercie with his aunt Tosha and her children, Bibi and Lonia. Unexpectedly, the Germans came a few months later to evacuate Zawiercie a nd send the rest of the Jewish population to Auschwitz. In order to avoid being sent with the children to Nazi gas chambers, Tosha decided to kill not just herself but also her children and Richie with poison. She chose the lesser of two evils. That tragedy left a deep scar on Anja and Vladek’s hearts. That scar even intensified their PTSDs. Richie was still their beautiful and intelligent baby. Even though they had Artie after the war, they are desperately trying to see their first baby in Artie’s eyes. This causes Artie to feel neglected. He would have never been able to be replaced with his brother, and that is why he feels less worthy than Richie. He feels guilty because of his inability to replace his brother for their parents, and the parents’ sorrow was transmitted to their sun making him a new PTSD sufferer. As we see from this story, Artie becomes a new Holocaust victim even though the event itself was in the past, before he was born. Another thread that connects both stories, Vladek’s escape from the Holocaust and the relationship between his son and him, is Anja’s death. Vladek, as her husband, blames himself for not having been able to save her. Artie blames his father because he destroyed Anja’s diaries which were his only reminder of his mother. After the war, Vladek did not pay enough attention to her and was not as kind as he had been before they were forced to go to the concentration camp, for this reason she became even more depressed and committed suicide. After her death, he wanted to destroy everything which reminded him of her. Furthermore, he became very depressed and cried when he read the comic called â€Å"The prisoner on the hell planet† that Artie published about his mother years ago. This is the only time readers of †Maus† are faced with Anja’s personality as a Holocaust victim. She felt alone and became more depressed after her son answered by say ing just â€Å"sure† and did not even looked at her when she asked him if he still loved her. From Artie’s comic strip about his mother, I realized that Artie’s cold reaction was not just one more thing for an already very depressed woman, a small step which pushed her over the edge. She already felt unloved and Vladek did not support and care about her. Artie called his father a murder when Vladek told him that he had destroyed her diaries. In my opinion, Vladek destroyed them in order to hide not just from his conscience but also from Artie the fact that he, as her husband, was guilty for the suicide his wife committed. Once again, the past influences Artie’s life and he is suffering because of the PTSD consequences his father and mother experienced after being in Auschwitz. Both stories, Vladek’s survival of the Holocaust and the broken relationship between Artie and him, are interlinked with the guilt they feel. Vladek feels survivor’s guilt, and although his son insists on it, he avoids talking about the past. Although he was not a victim of Auschwitz, Artie indirectly suffers from his parents PTSD and feels inadequate for having an easy life, while his parent’s had been put under so much thread. Moreover, Anja’s death forever left a deep scar on their souls, which intensified painful memories in Vladek and triggered PTSD in Artie. For this reason both, the father and son would have never been able to step completely into the present. Part of both of them would have always been in the past. This book teaches us that the more people tend to ignore their past, the more it holds onto them and their past experience, good and bad, can be passed from one generation to the next, and that is how PTSD transmission becomes intergener ational illness. Analyzing the literature, researchers found that in most studies, the children whose father were diagnosed with PTSD participating in combat, were more likely to suffer from distress than those children whose fathers did not participate in combat but experienced PTSD. However, there were a few clinical cases in which the number of fathers with PTSD but who did not participated in military was larger than the number of those fathers with PTSD but who experienced their traumas in military. Additionally, there is not clear definition of traumatic status that is still an ambiguous and inconsistent term (Kallerman, 2007). Davidson, Smith, and Kundler analyzed 108 outpatient veterans with PTSD, including 24 major depressives and 15 alcoholics, and reported the higher rate of psychiatric treatment among children of PTSD sufferers (Davidson, Smith, Kundler, 1989). Furthermore, PTSD were found in 6 families of PTSD, but none in the control group. Similarly, Parsons, Kehle, and Owen observed cases that were consisted 45 children of veterans, and 47 children of nonveterans, when they found that PTSD sufferers perceived children as having more dysfunctional social and emotional behavior, and difficulties in establishing and maintaining friendships. In these cases the types of behaviors were function of child’s gender and age (Persons, Kehle, Owen, 1990). In both of described studies, the fathers had status of those who were diagnosed with PTSD but the second study also included those fathers who were without PTSD. The target groups in both studies were consisted of Americans who participated in the Vietnam War or the World War II. Furthermore, Jordan et al. reported that veterans with PTSD showed markedly elevated levels of severe and diffuse problems in marital and family adjustment, parenting skills, and violent behavior. In his research the author was focused on 1,200 Vietnam veterans and 376 spouses or coresident partners of the veterans. Ruscio, Weathers, and King found that emotional numbing was the only aspects of PTSD uniquely associated with veterans’ perceived relationships with their children. The group included 66 male Vietnam veterans, and all of them had one or more children (Ruscio, Weathers, King, 2002). There is another research, done by Westerink and Giarratano, and such study consisted 22 children of veterans over the age of 15 years, and their fathers had the status of veterans with PTSD. The findings show that children of veterans reported higher levels of conflict in their families; there were no significant differences on measures of psychological distress and self-esteem from control groups (Westerink, Giarratano, 1999). In the case of my uncle who was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder which is caused by the traumatic event he has experienced during the military combat, I realized that his son is more likely to become a new PTSD sufferer. That is because of the bloody picture of my uncle’s friend who was shot in the back of head, and such a bloody picture has been flowing in my uncle’s mind for a long time affecting even the behavior of his son. According to Maus, the book about the lives of Holocaust survivors after the Auschwitz, I realized that they transmitted their PTSDs to their son Artie. That caused many struggles in their relationships. I got sense that the clue lies in the different kinds of guilt that both of them feel. While Vladek, as a Holocaust victim and PTSD sufferer, struggles when he realizes his luck by surviving from Nazi terror during the war. On the other hand, Artie struggles because he was lucky to be born after the war and avoid the suffering in Aus chwitz that his family experienced. However, their parents’ PTSDs made him a new PTSD sufferer. According to studies I was reading, the results about transmission of PTSD from father to child show a various range of different findings. While some researchers reported that the children of fathers with PTSDs that were caused by military traumas, are more likely to suffer from the same, numerous others think that military traumas of ex-combatants cannot directly affect their children. To conclude, there are many researchers who are trying to narrow the scope of findings about PTSD transmission from father to child, however, a large range of multiple different results show that this area is much deeper and ambiguous than scholars expected. Works Cited Dekel, Rachel, and Hadass Goldblatt. Is There Intergenerational Transmission Of Trauma? The Case Of Combat Veterans Children. N.p., 2015. Web. 7 May 2015. Kellerman, N. (2007). Ha’avara shel traumat hasho’ah [Transmission of the Holocaust trauma]. In Z. Solomon J. Chaitin (Eds.), Yaldut betzel hasho’ah: Yeladim nitzolim ve’dor sheni [Childhood in the shadow of the Holocaust–survived children and second generation] (pp. 286 –303). Davidson, J., Smith, R., Kudler, H. (1989). Familial psychiatric illness in chronic posttraumatic stress disorder. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 30, 339 –345. Parsons, J., Kehle, T. J., Owen, S. V. (1990). Incidence of behavior problems among children of Vietnam veterans. School Psychology International, 11, 253–259. Ruscio, A. M., Weathers, F. W., King, L. A., King, D. W. (2002). Male war-zone veterans’ perceived relationships with their children: The importance of emotional numbing. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 15, 351–357. Westerink, J., Giarratano, L. (1999). The impact of posttraumatic stress disorder on partners and children of Australian Vietnam veterans. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 33, 841– 847. Spiegelman, Art. Maus. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986 Kulka, Richard A. Partners Of Veterans With PTSD: Research Findings PTSD: National Center For PTSD. Ptsd.va.gov. N.p., 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. Bathory, Dalia. History Of Communism In Europe: Vol. 4 / 2013. Google Books. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. Roehr, Bob. High Rate Of PTSD In Returning Iraq War Veterans. Medscape.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. Price, Jennifer L. Children Of Veterans And Adults With PTSD. Aaets.org. N.p., 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. Stevens, Susan P. Partners Of Veterans With PTSD: Common Problems PTSD: National Center For PTSD. Ptsd.va.gov. N.p., 2015. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.

baseball turnaround Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The title of this book is Baseball Turnaround and the author is Matt Christopher. This is a story of baseball and how it is a team sport. The book relates with the title by showing how this boy named Sandy Comstock that plays on the Grantville Raiders and has a big game coming up. It was against the Newtown Raptors. He wanted to beat them and become one of the best teams. By the time he knew it he ended up on the Newtown Raptors team and he was going to play is old team. It was kind of like a baseball turnaround. Sportsmanship is an important when you are in sports. When Sandy was coaching the Dolphins, an orphanage baseball team, he gave good comments like â€Å"you’ll get ‘em next time† and â€Å"nice job†. He always kept the kids motivated and ready to go by giving high fives and slapping each other’s hands. When he was playing on the Raiders he missed an easy catch and some people would go off on a rampage but Sandy he just kept going like it never happened. When Perry Warden Showed up to one of Sandy’s games he kept saying negative remarks like â€Å"nice job†¦not† and â€Å"get him out of there†. That doesn’t only hurt Sandy but it hurts his teammates. One game Sandy was playing, the other team lost and a kid went wild and he started insulting Sandy’s team and threw his glove and he was mad. One night, Sandy went to the store because everybody was busy at his house and it seemed to him they did...

Our Culture Today Essay

Personal Beliefs, Attitudes, Values, Basic Assumptions, these values are universal to every human being living today, in the past and in our future. These values shaping our behavior relate to cultural context. Today our Societal attitudes toward homosexuality widely range in different cultures, historical periods, and locations, as do attitudes toward sexual desire, activity and relationships in general. In general many cultures have their own values regarding appropriate and unsuitable sexuality; some sanction same-sex love and sexuality, while others may condemn of such activities in part. Our culture today has changed a lot especially how we view the human body. In my first paragraph I will discuss personal beliefs and how it a tremdous effect on homosexuality community, including social attitudes in general. The issue on Gay sex in religion will have a variety of different views, but you will see the more firm believers that homo’s is a bad thing will be among the older generations, and they will be the ones that also have a harder time accepting it into their lives. Religions such as Judaism, Islam, and various regions of Christianity, are old school and forbid any type of sexual interactions between people of the same sex and preach highly that such an act is to be deemed sinful and that you will burn in hell. The reasoning behind this is very simple like stated above, those religions follow the bible very closely and if you search for it you will find this in the Old testament and New testament, which talks about their beliefs on that topic. Unlike our western religions Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, homosexuality is barely discussed although it may not be brought up as often these religions frown on this type of intercourse between two people to be considered a sin as well. Further In addition to the religions of East Asia, along with Chinese religion that passionate homosexual love is most often discouraged because it is believed to not lead to human satisfaction, and that human satisfaction can only come from opposite sex’s  In early religions it’s been said that since early middle age times, people who had sex with the same type of sex were blamed for bringing a deadly plague upon the land, and that their pleasures with each other were blamed for the frequent epidemics of disease which dramatically decreased the population. Crops were dying people didn’t have food, and people were falling over dead for no reason at all. The only thing they thought that was causing this was the â€Å"Homo’s. People were frightened and they thought the only way in order to rid their lands of this disease would be by being cleansed by fire, as a result homosexuals paid a drastic price from the people of the towns in which numerous individuals were tied down and burned at the stake or if they got somewhat lucky just had to have white-hot iron rods ran through them because they thought that this would cleanse the souls and stop the disease. Although the staking and hot ironing ended in the late 1980s similar thoughts have been made, inspired by the AIDS epidemic. In the years since, the epidemic has spread and now has many more heterosexual victims than homosexual. In the next paragraph I will further discuss the Values and basic assumption of play another key role into how our culture views the human body. Off the top of your head when you hear the word gay males, what’s the first thing your brain processes? Most often gay males are viewed as being effeminate. Or maybe you the first thing that comes to mind is that gay males are viewed as showing an interest in women’s fashion such as fashion design or hairdressing, which a lot are. Or perhaps when you think of a gay male it would be a guy would having a huge group of friends consisting females, Sadly we categorize â€Å"homo’s† like this in our culture today What would comes to mind when the word lesbians is thrown out there? Our culture society usually views them as having more of the manly features or what we call â€Å"Tomboy/ Dyke. † When then word Tomboy is thrown out there are society already has them categorized. The typical thought of a tomboy is one having a preference for short haircuts, tattoos and male clothing. Then of course we have both bisexual men and women. What pops in mind when you think of a Bi person? Some people might be seeing them as being sexually immoral, controlling, insincere or undecided. Male bisexuals and female bisexuals are usually on the down low about the choice they have made. Although the cause for most Bi’s is that because our culture is so rough and doesn’t welcome the gay community very well they have a hard time accepting it themselves an call themselves as Bi’s for the fear of how much we demand perfection. Another basic assumption about homosexuals is association with pedophilia. This is the major thing that always pops up and which as a result, some people fear exposing their children to homosexuals in unsupervised settings. This fear assuming that about all â€Å"Gay’s† had led them into making and assumption that their children might be molested, or converted to be gay themselves which in our culture that would just ruin families. Today in our society that is true many Homo’s that finally come out and tell their families just only ends up destroying them. As a result many homosexuals have committed suicide for the fear of judge-ment. What has left a bitter taste in the mouth about â€Å"gay† community and made an impact on how their viewed is that everyone is familiar with the publicity about the Catholic sex abuse cases, which in result has heightened these concerns for many parents. A group of establishments focus on these dawning concerns, drawing linking relations between homosexuality and pedophilia. Recently a number of small scale studies where done and shown that they have not found evidence that homosexuals are more likely to molest children than heterosexuals. Tests done showing that male homosexuals with a preference for adults; are no more attracted to adolescent or younger boys than male heterosexuals with a preference for adults are to adolescent or younger girls. Other research also suggest men who molest boys prefer adult women rather than men as sexual partners.

Research Propsal Draft Example

Research Propsal Draft Example Research Propsal Draft – Research Proposal Example Research Proposal Draft Theoretical Framework The prime objective of the research study attempts to develop an illustrative elaboration on the effectiveness of nurses in teaching patients on smoking cessation. In this regard, the major problem to the nurses is to be highly effective in managing the cessation of smoking practices among patients who are intensely habituated to such habits. As smoking is considered quite addictive in nature, the effectiveness of nurses in this regard becomes highly challenging that expands beyond conventional medical care facilities to providing psychological assistance to the patients. Nevertheless, the theory of trans-theoretical model greatly supports the nurses in their objectives. In this regard, trans-theoretical model supports an individual to change patient’s behavior overcoming such cessation (Kolundzija, Gajic, Misic-Pavkov & Maras, 2011). The theory of trans-theoretical model suggests of the certain stages of behavioral changes, which are highly applicable in controlling the cessation of smoking. In this regard, pre-contemplation is regarded as the stage in which, the patients do not intend to change. The next stage is denoted as contemplation, where the patients realize the need of behavioral changes. The subsequent stage is the preparation, where the patients intend to implement certain actions for the change. Correspondingly, in the following stage i.e. action, the patients are encouraged and driven towards efficiently changing his/her behavior to a non-smoking individual. The next stage of change according to trans-theoretical model is maintenance. This is quite an important stage, where patients need to maintain his/her non-smoking behavior. The last stage in the process is Termination, where the patients are noted to have the desire to quit their addiction (Boston University School of Public Health, 2013). Thus, it is also evident that the theory of trans-theoretical model is highly applicable to the curren t project related to cessation of smoking (Kolundzija, Gajic, Misic-Pavkov & Maras, 2011). The underneath diagram herewith depicts the stages of behavioral change as per the theory of trans-theoretical model that will be implemented in the study initiated. Source: (Boston University School of Public Health, 2013)ReferencesBoston University School of Public Health. (2013). The transtheoretical model (stages of change). Retrieved from http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/SB/SB721-Models/SB721-Models6.html Kolundzija, K., Gajic, Z., Misic-Pavkov, G. & Maras, J. S. (2011). Core constructs of the trans-theoretical model of behavior change. Curr Top Neurol Psychiatr Relat Discip, 19(1), 48-52.

Starbucks Coffee Essay Example

Starbucks Coffee Essay Example Starbucks Coffee Essay Starbucks Coffee Essay This one phrase sums up Starbucks Coffee’s approach to attracting more customers. They want the customers to feel that they are not â€Å"primarily about coffee† (Holmes, 2004). Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz explains further, â€Å"You get more than the finest coffee when you visit a Starbucks – you get great people, first rate music and a comfortable and upbeat meeting place† (Starbucks Corporation, 2007). Indeed, from that single coffee shop in 1971 (Gallo, 2006), Starbucks has evolved into a global brand that is a hybrid of a place where you can get good coffee, good music, a good book and where you can meet up with friends or business partners. Initially just another coffee shop, Starbucks morphed into a cozy hang-out place in the mid 1980’s – an idea brought about by Schultz’s visit to Italy. Charmed by the pleasant environment enveloping Milan coffee places, Schultz got convinced that this set-up could work in America; hence, the Starbucks of today (Gallo, 2006). Central to the transformation into a comfortable meeting place is not just Starbucks’ irresistible coffee but also a more personal kind of customer service that was achieved through a two-fold approach. First leg of this approach was the inclusion of a wider variety of coffee flavors and other drinks such as chocolate, juice and iced drinks in the menu – as this move gave the customers a wider array of choices, it expanded Starbucks’ market, which initially just covered the coffee-drinking public. Also part of this strategy allowing customers to individualize products by giving them the option to dictate the size, temperature and extra ingredients (i.e. whipped cream, coffee strength, caramel, etc.) of their favorite Starbucks drink (Gallo, 2006). To strengthen this image of personalization, Starbucks made an effort to build a personal relationship with their customers. In fact, a coffee giant that expanded to 12,440 location sin 36 years, Starbucks like to operate like a small, local store where the customers feel like they know the people behind the counters and vice versa (Kiviat, 2006). â€Å"It’s part of the reason [people] go [to Starbucks],† attests CEO Jim Donald (Kiviat, 2006). And to make sure they keep their base of loyal customers (and make sure they continue to add to this base), Starbucks invests a lot on the people working for them – whom they fondly call as â€Å"partners† (and not employees). â€Å"We realize our people are the cornerstone of our success, and we know that their ideas, commitment and connection to our customers are truly the essential elements in the Starbucks Experience,† Schultz expounds (Starbucks Corporation, 2007). Maintaining a ‘knowledgeable workforce’ requires Starbucks to give its partners a rigorous 24 hours of training (divided into six classes discussing different aspects of the job) before being able to stand in the front lines. The logic behind this is that, as Sarah Lockyer writes, Starbucks believe that â€Å"employees should be fully versed in how to make [drinks] and how to market them as well. They should be able to describe the contents and, especially if it’s part of the job description, spell the item correctly on a chalkboard or a menu† (as cited in Ablanalp, Reiliey, Bigler, Laracuente, n.d., p.5). This seemingly hard process of getting incorporated into the Starbucks Company comes with benefits, though. Partners are given stock options and health care benefits and are encouraged to share their opinions on operations and to make their own decisions regarding customer relations. And because partners feel more like their own managers than mere â€Å"worker bees†, partners start feeling good about their work, which in turn equates to a positive relationship with customers (Ablanalp et al.). It is also this commitment to an intimate set-up of operations that prevents Starbucks from using machines in churning out coffees. Schultz explains that it is in their utmost concern that the company’s culture does not get diluted with growth – they pride themselves for their hand-crafted beverages and their beverages are going to stay hand-crafted. Despite criticisms and harsh suggestions that they should snap up and accept the fact that machineries are important to increase efficiency, Starbucks remains firm. Jim Alling, president of Starbucks Coffee US, argues, â€Å"As much as we want to meet people’s desire to produce beverages quickly, we also realize that people want a smile with their drink, that they don’t want to feel rushed† (Kiviat, 2006). Another ploy to making sure Starbucks keeps it edge over the competition is their constant attempt at venturing to other endeavors that will greatly compliment their coffee and enhance what they proudly call as the Starbucks Experience. Like most of their other undertakings, Starbucks crossing over to the music business started from something that they already had and just expanded to cater to customers’ demands. When Schultz noticed that while waiting for their orders customers would often get up and ask about the song playing in the background, it gave him the idea of selling CDs of their ‘house music’ at the cash register (Holmes, 2004). Today, Starbucks has extended to more than just selling CDs – it has now partnered with music labels, started its own 24-hour digital music channel on XM Satellite Radio (genre of which is more adult-oriented jazz, blues, and alternative rock), and built the alternative record retailer HearMusic Coffeehouses in Santa Mon ica, San Antonio, Miami and Bellevue, Washington (Starbucks Corporation, 2007). And Starbucks coverage just keeps getting wider. Kiosks and stalls that sell Starbucks coffee can now be spotted on Barnes Nobles bookstores and some campuses (Ablanalp et al.). With the help of Kraft, their products are now also being sold in supermarket shelves and are now featured as Dreyer’s ice cream flavors. The company may now even start to attempt competing with McDonald’s and Burger King in attracting midday crowd – something that will surely boost sales because as of the moment, 60% of Starbucks’ sales are made before 6 a.m. (Gallo, 2006; Kiviat, 2006). Despite the fact that Starbucks’ price list is not exactly the most affordable in the market, people still continue to support its products. This may be traced to the fact that customers, like Starbucks, believe that â€Å"with any product, there is an inherent link between quality and price† (Starbucks Corporation, 2006). Starbucks got it right when they said that quality is the best and most sustainable driver of higher prices paid. Since Starbucks pledge to deliver uncompromising quality on their coffee, people are almost always willing to pay premium prices to have the privilege of sipping from a Starbucks cup. But Starbucks is not all about making money. The company always insisted that â€Å"putting people before products just made good common sense† (Starbucks Corporation, 2007), they always made a point to not forget that aside from an entrepreneurial mind, they also have a social responsibility. They have maintained environmental stewardship and literacy campaigns on top of producing great-tasting coffee. This, Starbucks shares, endears them more to the people and makes them truly part of a community where a Starbucks is located (Starbucks Corporation, 2006). Some business onlookers may get critical of Starbucks seemingly spreading themselves thin. The company looks like they have tried to cover –and is still trying to cover – a lot of other business endeavors. John Glass, who covers Starbucks for CIBC, says that Starbucks has fallen into a trap. â€Å"You have to have new products. That’s the retailer’s dilemma,† he says (Kiviat, 2006). But who is to say that this game plan is not working for the company? Surely, with its recent efforts at global expansion, Starbucks strategy is – contrary to what the pessimists will say – making them a stronger coffee magnate. On top of their already uncountable stores in America, Starbucks continues to reach out to Europe and Asia. Currently, there are now more than 13,000 Starbucks Coffee Shops in 40 countries, including Japan, Philippines, China, Hongkong, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Egypt. In 36 years, Starbucks Corporation has indeed grown into something that nobody may have envisioned when it first came into operation in 1971. Nowadays, Starbucks is not only parallel to good coffee but also to good music, books, food, and community service. Its influence has blown up to include not only the business people and the old who are wont to grab their daily dose of caffeine but also to kids, who now have the option to order chocolate or juice when they tug along with their parents as they drop by for their cappuccino, and students, who has found the perfect study place in Starbucks’ comfortable couches and mellow music. Undeniably, Starbucks has managed to employ a marketing strategy that is not in need of the aid of countless TV and radio advertisements – the image they painstakingly built throughout the years becomes enough for them to survive in an industry where coffee shop companies mushroom so fast. Lucky for the company, they have found the perfect mix of good product, incomparable customer service, and global brand imaging that keeps customer tied to their name. And, as they continue to move forward with the same approach, Starbucks Coffee is sure to stay afloat for a very long time.

Ethical Problems of Cloning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethical Problems of Cloning - Essay Example The doctors are hopeful, that they can induce a remission again. However, the most effective treatment would be a bone marrow transplant. Jim and Gwen have no other children and neither of them are a close enough match. They decide to attempt to conceive another child who will be a match for Ruth and seek assistance from an IVF specialist. They will then be able to use the cord blood for the transplant. They undergo three attempts involving the collection and fertilization of ova. Each embryo is tested but none of the eight embryos are a match. Ruth has finished the repeated courses of chemotherapy and is in remission again. However, her parents are not sure, how long she will remain in remission and are disheartened by the failure to find an embryo that is a match. They ask the doctors to consider cloning Ruth, using an egg from Gwen with the nucleus removed. The doctors are reasonably sure, that they could successfully clone a child, even though it has only been trialed with animals. However, they are seriously concerned, that the child would be born with birth defects. Jim and Gwen acknowledge this concern but feel there is no other way to save Ruth. Is cloning a human real Should human clones exist The question is not in technical peculiarities now, but in the moral and ethical implications of cloning. On the one hand, this act may be considered immoral. It is known, that a person has got not only body, but thoughts, deeds, moral standards. People can be happy and sad, angry and kind. And people have got reason. This is the fundamental difference of humans and animals. There is the risk, that a human clone won't have human thoughts or traits, which won't make him different from animals. This creature will be like an empty cover without soul. The so-called cloning technology distinguishes only material, and not spiritual nature of people. Thus it may create a mass production of humans without any relation to the real act of conception and with giving a little individual no mind or soul. Transplantation of organs from a clone, whose donor attributes are similar to those of the patient, may not be a desirable objectivity. The life of a human, even of a cloned one, should not be considered as the consumer product. Even an embryo at its initial stage of development possesses life. That's why it may be considered immoral to create human life for further killing it. It is rather difficult to accept cloning from the ethical point of view. But there is also some concern from technological point of view. Though cloned animals exist, but it has been noticed that they often have physical defects or are overtaken by untimely death. This very fact was outlined to Ruth's parents - there is the great risk of the cloned child having many physical defects, and there are no guarantees, that the child will live a long life. According to the research, the probable rates of death among children may reach 50%. Taking into account this fact, some people may consider cloning to be a crime. No one should strive to acquire hundreds of embryos, which stand in front of the danger of being destroyed. This fact is enough to suppose cloning to be immoral. Moreover, the children, who were born through cloning, may meet a lot of terrible problems in their lives, as

Measuring Business Performance Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Measuring Business Performance - Coursework Example According to Chary (2009: 19.7) efficiency is defined as the ability of a business to produce a desired effect, service or a product with a minimum amount of effort. While effectiveness is defined as the degree or extent to which objectives are achieved, it is being successful in realizing or achieving what is required. Wharton (2012) defines effectiveness as the total output that is generated while efficiency refers to the economy in the utilization or use of resources to perform a task. Assume a lathe operator assigned to make bushes, makes 500 bushes per shift using 25 kilogram of steel rod. The effectiveness is that the operator makes 500 bushes per shift while the efficiency is that the operator produces 25 bushes per kilogram of steel rod. i) Higher levels of effectiveness and efficiency contribute to better results. They enable the company to increase their productivity by producing lower cost goods and services than competitors. This therefore makes the company to make higher profit for each unit sold or offer lower price than competitors to the customers (Wharton (2012: 24). ii) The company is able to develop a competitive advantage over its competitors. Higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness enable organizations to produce high quality goods and services. The organization is able to utilize their resources optimally to achieve desired output thus being ahead of their competitors (Chary, 2009: 19.8). iii) Finally, achieving higher levels of effectiveness and efficiency enables businesses to learn how to energize their workforce to focus on common goals. It helps the organization to manage and direct their human capital towards goal achievement and mission fulfillment. The organization is therefore able to create better communication, leadership, interaction, direction, adaptability as well as positive environment (Chary,