Black Colleges Essays - Historically Black Colleges And Universities

Black Colleges In the world we live in today a person can almost choose any college or university they want to to continue their education upon graduation from high school. It really doesn't matter if it is a four year, two year, or technical school, there is a school for any person in any major. What draws a person to attend one certain kind of school compared to another? In this case why is there an increase in Black students attending Black colleges in the past decade? One might say, "Well how can you tell that more students are getting into these colleges, rather than these schools accepting an increased number of students each year?" These are all important questions to ask, and there are numerous reasons and causes for schools to increase the number of students they allow and the number of students wanting to attend these colleges. I have an older brother and an older sister who both attend a historically black college (HBCU), Central State University in Wlberforce, Ohio. I have always had a lifelong dream of attending an HBCU. In fact I was accepted to both Virginia Union in Richmond and North Carolina A&T in Greensboro before I was accepted into Wright State University. My main reason for wanting to attend these schools was the history that they have and the way they made me feel when I went for visits. Those are my personal reasons for wanting to attend these schools, but there are more than personal reasons people are starting to have a higher interest in attending these schools. Lowery 2 For the past three years my church back home in Columbus has held an annual Black College Tour. It is designed to garner the interest of the young people at my church and all around Columbus in HBCU's. I was a student the first year and a chaperone the last two. In visiting these schools one can find that the administration at these colleges and universities do anything they can to get you admitted to these schools. Almost all of them are rated among the best schools in the nation, too. These are no small time schools. Some students are finding it easier to go to HBCU's because of the recent Supreme Court rulings on Affirmative Action. They feel that it will be harder for them to have an equal chance of being accepted to non Black colleges and universities. Most of those people don't want to put up with all the mess that goes on in those universities today, where even still, in 1997, people are admitted because of physical appearances and not mental capabilities ("Straight Talk" 122 123). Speaking in those terms people just do not want to deal with downright racism. Some HBCU's in areas with lots of non Black colleges usually have increased enrollment due to past histories and events that happened at the schools. An example was in Florida in 1988. Incidents of racism on the major White college campuses caused a 19 percent increase at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, another HBCU. It was recorded as the largest increase in enrollment of any of the colleges in the state. Of the 1,876 coeds in the system, 1,327 were enrolled at Florida A&M, while the other universities enrolled the rest ("Racism" 22). Even now Florida A&M has increased enrollment at the school. They reported about 100 more freshman in this year's class than last year's (Geraghty A46). There are some students who are starting to attend HBCU's because of their feeling of deprivation of black culture in their lives. In an article in The Lowery 3 Black Collegian last year, a young man, only referring to himself as "The Invisible Man" to readers, wrote to the editor about attending an HBCU after having gone to predominantly White schools all of his life. He chose to attend a Black school because, "I felt very intimidated by my ignorance of Black history, culture, language, and everything else that I have missed in my previous education" (qtd. in Parker 21). After attending his first semester in school, "Invisible Man" found he was what he called a "Cultural Zombie." He chose to stay at the school to educate himself about the culture that he was left in the cold by his family. He says his family is Black, but never emphasized being black and the culture that comes with it. One thing he say's he has learned from his unnamed school is who he is and his role as

Quotes and Discussion on Walde essays

Quotes and Discussion on Walde essays "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." It would be wonderful to have time to live alone and contemplate life and learn what living deliberately could teach. Personally, however, I would feel, upon my death, that I missed out on many experiences by simply living alone and in the same way for a lifetime. I would like to see the world and meet many people. A person can only discover so much about himself/herself before he/she wishes to discover things about other people. "Our life is frittered away by detail." This is very true in today's society. People worry about every aspect of their lives, instead of enjoying what is right in front of them. Some things, though, should be looked at carefully and savored, like nature and "I think that there are very few important communications made through [mail]." I disagree with this statement. Important communications are made through mail. If Thoreau had to mail this piece of literature, I'm sure he would have found it very important. What is not important to one man, may mean the world to another "Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on the rails." The media often makes too large a deal of many matters. People do not need to be informed of all that goes on in the world. Unfortunately, not everyone can just leave their lives behind and live by and pond for over two years. I, for instance, cannot do this because the law does not allow me to stop going to school, even if it is to find myself in nature. "Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads." This statement produces wonderful images of all the things on the gr ...

Philosophy 100 (2) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Philosophy 100 (2) - Essay Example There is no way to gain knowledge without something actually being believed, in other words. However, obviously there is not any way to gain knowledge by merely believing something. A viable explanation has to be provided for these beliefs. As an example, if a person who is sick believes that they will get better, this will simply not do a single thing to help the person get better. The person might get better, or the person might not get better. Simply believing something obviously has no real effect in the tangible world. A person who is sick and taking antibiotics to get better has a justifiable reason to believe that they will get better. First, the person has taken antibiotics before, and they got better after taking the antibiotics. Second, the person feels exactly lie the last time that they were sick, and they are being prescribed the same exact dosage of antibiotic. Since the conditions are identical to the last time, the person has a justifiable reason to believe the use of the antibiotics will make them better. Plato’s theory of reality serves to inform and compliment his theory of knowledge. Plato believed in Truth; he believed that it existed somewhere in the universe regardless of whether or not we are able to ever achieve it. Plato held a dualistic view of reality. First, there is the visual, that which is experienced through a posteriori, which is merely just a reflection of Truth. Second, there are the eternal Forms, which is knowledge that is gained a priori. Consider an example of a tree. Somewhere in the universe there exists in some form the Form of Tree, and it is because that we have knowledge of this form that we are able to recognize a tree when we see one, despite the fact that no two trees look alike. When we see trees, they are merely reflections of the Form of Tree. This can be seen in Plato’s allegory of the cave. The prisoners in the cave are merely viewing shadows of objects and naming them.

Personal narrative theory research, on any personal narrative topic Research Paper

Personal narrative theory , on any personal narrative topic such as prostate cancer - Research Paper Example After a few weeks, my aunt started noticing something strange; John’s movements weren’t like normal children. For example, he wasn’t able to hold up his head properly and even his suckling abilities were hampered and strained. The day we received the sad news is still vivid in all our memories; John had cerebral palsy (CP). Cerebral palsy is â€Å"an umbrella term for a group of disorders affecting body movement, balance, and posture† (Cerebral Palsy e-medicine-health). John basically had brain paralysis and couldn’t properly control his motor activities due to â€Å"abnormalities in parts of [his] brain that control muscle movements† (NINDS Cerebral Palsy). Because of this, John had trouble with moving and turning his head, holding it upright and suckling (Cerebral Palsy KidsHealth.org). My aunt had to mostly feed him milk with a spoon, since he wasn’t getting sufficient nutrition just by suckling. After a while, when John was about 6 months, we noticed that his body would be very stiff, his legs and arms becoming tense and hard. The doctors further informed us that he had the most common type of CP, known as spastic CP. It is where a muscle involuntarily contracts and the child is unable to relax it (Cerebral Palsy KidsHealth.org). At times like these, with John only a helpless baby, my aunt carried him around trying to relieve the tension in his muscles. She would often cry, not sure of what to do and blaming herself for his condition. We all tried to console her and let her know that it was never her fault. Through out the following months we all tried to be as knowledgeable as possible about CP in order to be there for our aunt. There are many things that we can’t control especially during pregnancy. Nothing was ever picked up on the routine ultrasounds and John was not even born prematurely. Abnormal brain development in the uterus, genetic disorders, blood clots, and a variety of other factors could ’ve contributed to John’s condition (Alvarez, Norberto). There wasn’t any way that my aunt could’ve predicted, controlled or prevented any of these things from happening. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. We celebrated John’s 1st birthday. It was an occasion marked with both happiness and tears. Though John was growing physically in height and his teeth had come in, he still laid there unable to sit up, support his neck or even turn on his own. After a year of stressful doctor visits, my aunt finally decided to see a specialist dealing in children with CP. She took John to see a developmental pediatrician in order to determine his progress and growth compared to other kids his age (Cerebral Palsy KidsHealth.org). Following John’s development closely for a few weeks, the specialist started him on physiotherapy exercises in order to keep his muscles loose and prevent his joint’s from stiffening (Cerebral Palsy Treatments and Therapies). Everyday my aunt would dedicate hours of physical exercise for John, such as, stretching and folding his legs, rotating his shoulder joints, flexing his fingers, and helping him to support his head. In the beginning John often cried all through out the exercise routines causing my aunt more pain and anguish. However, day by day he became used to it. I would help sometimes by holding down his body in order to prevent his spine from arching too much. John was a very special child for all of us and we all wanted him and my aunt to be as happy as possible. After a few months of

Affirmative action in higher education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Affirmative action in higher education - Essay Example These points are substantial. At the other extreme, those that oppose affirmative action advocate the repeal of the concept in its entirety. What the political process needs, in my view, is a little more compromise. It is unfortunate that a white student is denied her dream after working so hard for so many years. It is equally unfortunate that a racial minority is denied the opportunity to study. Both deserve the opportunity to study in a college or university.The conservative commentators present some valid arguments. Discrimination, for instance, is wrong. Reverse discrimination punishes innocent students for the misdeeds of their predecessors. This is a difficult argument to overcome. Nonetheless, this argument seems too rigid. We don't live in a world of absolute truths. Thus, it seems to me that minor attempts to remedy decades of racial injustice are reasonable.The liberal commentators emphasize the fact that minority students are still subject to disadvantages. There are soci al, cultural, and economic factors which affect their performance on standard entrance examinations.

Neorealist Theory of US Politics

Neorealist Theory of US Politics Realists believe that power is the currency of international politics. Great powers, the main actors in the realists account, pay careful attention to how much economic and military power they have relative to each other. It is important not only to have an important amount of power, but also to make sure that no other state roughly shifts the balance of power in its favour. For realists, international politics is synonymous with power politics. They are, however, important differences among realists. The most basic divide is in the answer to the simple but important question: why do states want power? For classical realists  [1]  like Hans Morgenthau, the answer is human nature. Practically, everyone is born with a will to power, which effectively means that great powers are led by individuals who are determined to having their state dominate its rivals. Nothing can be done to change that force to be all-powerful  [2]  . For Neorealists or structural realists, human nature has little to do with why states want power. Instead, it is the structure or architecture of the international system that forces states to pursue power. In a system where there is no higher authority that sits above the great powers, and where there is no guarantee that one will not attack another, it makes good sense for each state to be powerful enough to protect itself in the event it is attacked. In essence, great powers are trapped because they have little choice but to compete with each other for power if they hope to survive  [3]  . Neorealist theories ignore cultural differences among states as well as differences in regime type, mainly because the international system creates the same basic incentives for all great powers. Whether a state is democratic or autocratic matters relatively little for how it acts towards other states. Nor does it matter much who is in charge of conducting a states foreign policy. Neorealists treat states as if they were black boxes: they are assumed to be alike, save for the fact that some states are more or less powerful than others.  [4]   There is a significant divide between structural realists, which is in the answer to a second question that concerns realists: how much power is enough? Defensive realists like Kenneth Waltz (1979) maintain that it is unwise for states to try to maximize their share of world power, because the system will punish them if they attempt to gain too much power. The pursuit of hegemony, they argue, is especially imprudent. Offensive realists like John Mearsheimer (2001) take the opposite view; they maintain that it makes good strategic sense for states to gain as much power as possible and, if the circumstances are right, to pursue hegemony. The argument is not that conquest or domination is good in itself, but instead that having overwhelming power is the best way to ensure ones own survival. For classical realists, power is an end in itself; for structural realists, power is a means to an end and the ultimate end is survival. In a widely discussed essay John Mearsheimer  [5]  (1993) use the neorealist argument of Waltz  [6]  (1979) and applies it to both the past and future. He says that neorealism has continued importance for explaining international relations: neorealism is a general theory that applies to other historical situations besides that of the Cold War. He also argues that neorealism can be employed to predict the course of international history beyond the Cold War. The question poses is: What would happen if the bipolar system were replaced by a multipolar system? This question can be justly discussed with the study of the last War in Iraq. Indeed, the Iraq case throws light on the determinants of war, exposing how far decisions are driven by systemic factors. Kenneth Waltzs defensive realist image of systemic constraints shaping a prudent defensive use of power does not appear to correspond to American behaviour. Offensive realism, predicated on the notion that great powers can never have enough power in an insecure world, might seem more relevant, but even this is doubtful: its main proponent, John J Mearsheimer (2001) views hegemony as merely regional and hegemons as acting as offshore balancers outside their own regions. Seeing the Iraq War as going well beyond that, he denied that it was necessary to US security (Mearsheimer and Walt 2003). So, ultimately, How the US invasion in Iraq can be interpreted from neorealists points of view? First, in order to answer, I will study the works of Waltz and Mearsheimer in identifying their similarities and their differences. Finally, I will apply their perspective to the US invasion of Iraq. Defensive Realism versus Offensive Realism: How much power is enough? The leading contemporary neorealist thinker is undoubtedly Kenneth Waltz (1979). Waltzs Theory of International Politics (1979) seeks to provide a scientific explanation of the international political system. In Waltzs view the International relations theory is a neorealist theory that focuses centrally on the structure of the system. Actors are less important because structures compel them to act in certain ways. Structures more or less determine actions. According to Waltss neorealist theory, a basic feature of international relations is the decentralized structure of anarchy between sates. States are alike in all basic functional respects in spite of their different cultures or ideologies or constitutions or personnel, they all perform the same basics tasks. But the structure of the system changes with changes in the distribution of capabilities across the system units  [7]  . In other words, international change occurs when great powers rise and fall and the balance of power shits accordingly. A balance of powers between states can be achieved, but war is always a possibility in an anarchical system. Waltz distinguishes between bipolar systems, such as existed during the Cold War between The United States and the Soviet Union, and multipolar system, such as existed both before and after the Cold War. Waltz believes that bipolar systems are more stable and thus provide a better guarantee of peace and security than multipolar sys tems. With only two great powers, both can be expected to act to maintain the system  [8]  . That is because in maintaining the system they are maintaining themselves. According to that view, the Cold War was a period of international stability and peace. Waltz assumes that the fundamental concern of states is security and survival. He also assumes that the major problem of great power conflict is war, and that the major task of international relations among the great powers is that of peace and security. Nevertheless St ate leaders are prisoners of the structure of the state system and its determinist logic which dictates what they must do in their conduct of foreign policy. There is no room in Waltzs theory for foreign policymaking that is independent is the structure of the system. Waltzs image of the role of state leaders in conducting foreign policy comes close to being a mechanical image in which their choices are shaped by the international structural constraints that they face. Thus, Waltzs neorealist approach does not provide explicit policy guidance to state leaders as they confront the practical problems of world politics. That is presumably because they have little or no choice, owing to the confining international structu re in which they must operate. Waltz does address the question of the management of international affairs  [9]  . Waltzs argument is at base a determinist theory in which structure dictates policy. However, just beneath the surface of Waltzs neorealist text, and occasionally on the surface, there is recognition of the ethical dimension of international politics. For example, he operates with a concept of state sovereignty:To say that a state is sovereign means that it decides for itself how it will cope with its internal and external problems  [10]  . For Waltz, all states are equal only in a formal-legal sense; they are unequal, often profoundly so, in a substantive or material sense. But that means that a norm of state exists which all states without exception are expected to observe in their relations with each other regardless of their substantive inequalities of power. Waltz also assumes that states are worth fighting for. That, too, indicates that neorealism is imbued with normative values: those of state security and survival. Waltz operates, as well, with a concept of the national interest: each states plots the course it thinks will best serve its interests  [11]  . For Waltz, however, the national interest seems to operate like an automatic signal commanding state leaders when and where to move. Waltz sees states as structures that respond to the impersonal constraints and dictates of the international system. Mearsheimer builds on Waltzs argument concerning the stability of bipolar systems as compared with multipolar systems  [12]  . These two configurations are considered to be the main structural arrangements of power that are possible among independent states. As indicated Waltz claims that bipolar systems are superior to multipolar systems because they provide greater international stability and thus greater peace and security. There are three basics reasons why bipolar systems are more stable and peaceful. First, the number of great-power conflicts is fewer, and that reduces the possibilities of great-power war. Second, it is easier to operate an effective system of deterrence because fewer great powers are involved. Finally because only two powers dominate the system the chances of miscalculation and misadventure are lower. They are fewer fingers on the trigger  [13]  . In short the two rivals superpowers can keep their eye steadily fixed on each other without the distractio n and confusion that would occur if there a larger number of great powers, as was the case prior to 1945 and arguably has been the case since 1990  [14]  . The question Mearsheimer  [15]  poses is: What would happen if the bipolar system were replaces by a multipolar system? Mearsheimer  [16]  that the demise of the bipolar War order and the emergence of a multipolar world will produce highly undesirable return to the bad old ways of anarchy and instability and even renewed danger of international conflict, crises, and possibly war. Mearsheimer differs from Waltz whom characterizes as a defensive realist: someone who recognizes that states must and seek power in order to be secure and to survive, but who believe that excessive power is counterproductive, because it provokes hostile alliances by other states. For Waltz, it does not make sense, therefore, to strive for excessive power beyond that is necessary for security and survival. Mearsheimer speaks of Waltzs theory as defensive realism. Mearsheimer agrees with Waltz that anarchy compels states to compete for power. However, he argues that states seek hegemony, that they are ultimately more aggressive that Waltz portrays them as being. The goal for a country, such as United States, is to dominate the entire system, because only in that way could it rest assured that no other state or combination of states would even think about going to war against the United States. In the Western Hemisphere, for example, the United States has long been by far the most powerful state. No other state, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, would even think about threatening or employing armed force against the United States. All major powers strive for that ideal situation. But the planet is too big for global hegemony.The oceans are huge barriers. No state would have the necessary power. Mearsheimer therefore argues that states only become the hegemon in their own region of the world  [17]  . Regional hegemons can see to it, however, that there are no other regional hegemons in any other part of the world. They can prevent the emergence and existence of a peer competitor. According to Mearsheimer, thatis what the United States is trying to ensure. That is because a peer competitor might try to interfere in a regional hegemons sphere on influence and control. According to Mearsheimer, all states want to become regional hegemons. That is why he refers to his theory as offensive realism which rests on the assumptions that great powers are always searching for opportunities to gain power over their rivals, wit hegemony as their final goal  [18]  . There has always been conflict, there is conflict, and there will be conflict over power. And there is nothing that anyone can do to prevent it. This is why the title of one of his books is The tragedy of Great Power Politics. In sum, there is disagreement among structural realists about how much power states should aim to control. Offensive realists argue that states should always be looking for opportunities to gain more power and should do so whenever it seems feasible. States should maximize power, and their ultimate goal should be hegemony, because that is the best way to guarantee survival. While defensive realists recognize that the international system creates strong incentives to gain additional increments of power, they maintain that it is strategically foolish to pursue hegemony. That would amount to overexpansion of the worst kind. States, by their account, should not maximize power, but should instead strive for what Kenneth Waltz calls an appropriate amount of power  [19]  ; The War in Iraq and the neorealists : a troublesome case States operate in a self-help world almost always according to their own self-interest and do not subordinate their interests to the interests of other states, or to the interests of the so-called international community. The reason is simple: it pays to be selfish in a self-help world.  [20]   The decision made by the Bush administration to invade Iraq in 2003 can both be fit into neorealist theory, while some things also complicate neorealist theory. Realists believe that power is the controlling force in politics, and especially international politics, and power is defined as the ability to control outcomes. This is a hard thing to prove but the US certainly have shown that it is able to control outcomes, when US forces invaded Iraq without the consent of the UN or most other nations. Other countries like France also tried hard to persuade the US not to invade Iraq, which is also a sign of wanting to control outcomes. However, the US turned out to be a lot more powerful in this case. Mearsheimers theory of offensive realism states that the unrelenting pursuit of power means that great powers are inclined to look for opportunities to alter the distribution of world power in their favour. This means that the US, which is by far the greatest power in the West, will always be looking for opportunities to gain even more power at the expense of other states. Neorealist theory can explain the Iraq war in 2003 by saying that the US saw invading Iraq as an opportunity to gain even more power at the expense of foremost Iraq  [21]  . The invasion of Iraq can also be seen as a way for the US to prove to the world how powerful it is by not letting the US be taunted by Saddam Hussein, and by defying the opinion of the UN and other states  [22]  . The invasion of Iraq can be analysed as a strategy for gaining power or as a strategy for checking aggressors. By using war as a way of increasing their power, the US can exploit Iraqs economy for their own benefit and gain power by confiscating natural resources such as oil and foodstuffs  [23]  . Also, the US can gain strategic important land by gaining an ally in the new Iraq, which the US has helped rebuild. War has been used as a way of checking aggressors, which is basically a way of preventing other states from gaining power at their own expense. In reality this is done by deterring the aggressor, who in this case is Iraq. When the US did not think that Iraq was deterrable they had no other choice than to invade Iraq, according to offensive realism. This is because the structure of international politics forces states to be aggressive in order to survive. Before and during the 2003 Iraq war the US gave the impression that they were threatened by Iraq, which means that they were trying to deter Iraq, which was an aggressor. However, looking at the image as being just and democratic that the US clearly wants the world to think of them, it is hard to imagine that they would say anything different from what they did, no matter what their motives were. The conditions of international politics today for countries in the West demands them to be just and democratic or at least to appear that way and no state leader would say anything that could not be explained as being just and democratic, because it is the rules of survival in international politics today. This does not mean that states today in the West are only just and democratic, because they can do whatever they want to within reason. It just means that whatever they do will have to be camouflaged as just and democratic. However, the invasion of Iraq is hard to explain with offensive realism in some ways. According to offensive realism, the central aim of American foreign policy is to be the Hegemon in the Western Hemisphere and have no rival hegemon in Europe or Northeast Asia. How can offensive realism then explain that the US is invading a country in the Middle East, because this region should not interest the US enough to want to invade a country in other regions than Europe and Northeast Asia?  [24]  Mearsheimer has trouble seeing why the US have troops in Europe and Northeast Asia, and argues that they should be sent back, and therefore it is even harder to explain why they should have troops in a region in which the US government does not aspire to be a hegemon. Some of the most prominent realist scholars Mearsheimer and Waltz actually argued against invading Iraq, because they believed that it was unnecessary. All state leaders are rational according to realist theory, which means that Saddam Hussein is also rational although the US government kept arguing that he was irrational and therefore you could not reason with him  [25]  . Because realist theory holds that Saddam Hussein, like all state leaders, are rational, he is also deterrable because economic sanctions and threats of massive retaliation will always work on him, and they have in the past, realists argue. Therefore, neorealist theory tells us, that Saddam Hussein is not as big a threat to the US as the US government claimed and there was no reason to invade Iraq. If Saddam Hussein is rational he would acknowledge that Iraq is a weak state, and would never be foolish enough to attack such a powerful state as the US, because it is not wise to attack a state that has nuclear wea pons regardless of whether you have WMD or not. Conclusion It is impossible to create a theory about international politics, that is bullet-proof, because there will always be an element of unpredictability, which is unavoidable when humans interact. Neorealist theory has been able to predict the US foreign policy because a structural argument: the unipolar system and its instability. However, when the system level ceases to be the major constraint on behaviour, as expected by neorealism, there is much more scope for domestic determinants to drive policy  [26]  . Moreover, the war demonstrates the dangers of unipolarity in which the once-benign hegemon becomes malign  [27]  . It is no accident that small powers have traditionally put the highest value on international law and the UN and that the world hegemon uniquely deprecates the latter as unwanted constraints on its freedom to do as it pleases; their failure in the Iraq case makes for a less secure world for those at the bottom of the power hierarchy.

R.C. Sherriffs Journeys End :: Sherriff Journeys End Essays

R.C. Sherriff's "Journey's End" 'Journey's End' was written in 1928, ten years after the end of the First World War. The author, R. C. Sherriff, was injured during action in World War 1 and therefore got a ticket home. Sherriff was trying to raise money for a new boat club and so decided to write this play and perform it. The other club members refused to act out this play because it was too like the World War. There had been a tendency for men returning from the front not to discuss their experiences as they were too horrific and they did not wish their womenfolk to know the truth. So Sherriff went to the 'Incorporated Stage Society'. They agreed, after a while of asking, to have one Sunday performance at the Savoy Theatre in London. They were to judge the play and see if it was successful. It was very successful and then ran for another 600 shows. Sherriff then became a full time writer and died in November 1975. After 'Journey's End', many other books and plays were written and performed about World War 1, but Journey's End had been the first. In the play Sherriff uses many ways to portray the horrors of war and because it is set in a dugout the audience is brought right to the front line for the entire play. The conditions are conveyed in great detail and they are introduced at the very beginning of the play with Hardy trying to dry his sock out over a candle in a dugout. Sometimes the men could not get dry for days and the condition known as trench foot took its name from an infection of the feet resulting from being constantly wet. Lice affected the soldiers very badly in the trenches. The soldiers were on duty at the front for six days and then got time off to rest and be de-loused. The lice would be everywhere and even if the soldiers were clean they would be re-infested very quickly. Stanhope said the dugout 'reeked of candle-grease, and rats - and whisky' and like 'cess-pits'. During the play it was said by Hardy that there probably is over two million rats in and around No man's land. Hardy advised Osbourne not to sleep with his legs hanging too low 'or the rats gnaw your boots'. During the six days at the front the soldiers very rarely took their uniform off, not even for bed, except their shoes and wet items of clothing. They slept on beds sometimes with no bottoms, in the dugouts. They were bunk beds and had a frame and a few cross bars.

Pico Paper

Are kidney patients who received a radical nephrectomy at a higher risk of impaired renal function and cardiac related death compared to those who received a partial nephrectomy? Kiara Wilson Nursing 3163 Dr. Linda Upchurch November 12, 2012 Background Are kidney patients who received a partial nephrectomy at a lower risk of impaired renal function and cardiac related death compared to those who received a radical nephrectomy? When a patient is diagnosed with kidney damage, a surgical nephrectomy is often performed. Kidney damage may be caused by blocked blood vessels, kidney stones, masses, infection, and/or kidney cancer.With this procedure the kidney damage may be treated and also prevent further damage. A partial nephrectomy is a surgical procedure to remove a portion of the kidney. Partial nephrectomies are normally done laparoscopically with hand assistance or with robot assistance. A radical nephrectomy involves removing the kidney and the adrenal glands. A radical nephrectomy may be done laparoscopically or by open abdominal surgery. My patient was diagnosed with damage of the left kidney. Blood tests were performed and the patient was found to have a toxic WBC granulation. This toxic granulation led infection, inflammation and sepsis.An abdominal and pelvic CT scan found a 7. 8 x 5. 6 x 6. 2 cm, solid, enhancing left lower pole renal mass and parasitic vessels in the infected area. A hand assisted partial laparoscopic nephrectomy was performed. They removed the lower portion of her left kidney. The kidney was to be tested for malignancy. The concern with my patient is that she has a past medical history of hypertension, anemia, and deep vein thrombosis. She is at an increased risk of further cardiac and renal complications. I believe these factors influenced the doctors’ decision to perform a partial nephrectomy instead of taking the radical approach.To find research on this kidney condition, I accessed the Galileo database. I searched for infor mation on ways to treat renal masses and kidney cancer. I found multiple articles about laparoscopic and radical (open) nephrectomies. I found many articles that discussed the differences between the two and the affects they have on patients who receive them. I found an interesting study called â€Å"Partial Nephrectomy Is Associated with Improved Overall Survival Compared to Radical Nephrectomy in Patients with Unanticipated Benign Renal Tumours. I found it interesting because it was relevant to the health issues that were being addressed with my patient. There millions kidney patients who undergo these procedures each year. I wanted to discover which procedure provided the best outcome for my patient and others with similar kidney problems. Purpose According to this study, â€Å"a partial nephrectomy has been associated with improved overall survival in patients with localized renal masses compared to those who received a radical nephrectomy† (Weight, 2010).The purpose of this study is to test the overall survival rate of patients who had unanticipated renal masses. Another objective of this study is to also study the effect of these procedures on cardiac specific survival rates and other causes of death related to decreased kidney function. Hypothesis The hypothesis for this study are that the use of partial nephrectomies would be first line of treatment compared to radical nephrectomies in that partial nephrectomies provide better protection of renal function. Decreased renal function will lead to a low survival rate.Patients who undergo radical nephrectomies will have higher rate of cardiac related deaths Design A seven year, nonrandomized study was conducted using 499 participants. Of these 499 particiapants, 111 patients had received a radical nephrectomy while 388 patients received a partial nephrectomy. The choice of which surgery to do was left of the surgeon and the patient’s preferences. They took into consideration the mass size, th e appearance, the patient’s current health, life expectancy and the comfort of the surgeon in making their decisions.The patient’s comorbidities were assessed using the Charlson-Romano Comorbidity Index. Each patient’s vital signs were acquired using the Social Security Death Index. Anyone without a Social Security Number was excluded. The cause of death information from the patients’ medical records was reviewed. From there the participants were further categorized by the condition that caused the death. Cardiac deaths ranged from death related to ischemic heart disease, CHF, ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and peripheral vascular disease.Renal deaths were broken down into death related to renal failure, renal insufficiency, or nephritic syndrome. All other possible causes of death were group together. Perioperative, postoperative data and renal function tests were collected before and after the procedures. Preoperative data was used to create the propensity model that was utilized in a multivariate model of survival. They measured the overall survival rate of the participants and cardiac specific survival rates. Findings Radical nephrectomies are greatly associated with an increased risk of death from any cause.Patients with unanticipated benign tumors that were treated with RN were more likely to die from any related health problem than those treated with PN. Participants who received a radical nephrectomy were more likely to be older, with high comorbidity scores, and larger tumors. Those with smaller masses and tumors were more likely to have a partial nephrectomy. Radical nephrectomies are associated with an increased risk of death by 2 folds from any cause. The risk of cardiovascular death was substantially higher in those with decreasing post-operative renal function.Decreased kidney function was related to an increase in cardiovascular death and death from any other cause in overall majority patient s. Sixteen participants died of cardiac related deaths. Renal preservation was increased in the group that had the partial nephrectomy with majority of the patients having an eGFR above 60 %. Radical nephrectomy participants only had an eGFR of 30 % or lower. The higher eGFR is associated with an increase chance of survival in PN patients. Discussion Previous studies indicate that postoperative impaired renal function plays a role in the overall survival of patients with renal masses.The data concluded that no matter which surgery was performed there would be a decrease in kidney function. However, those patients who received a PN had a remarkable lower decrease in renal function. It can be stated that patients have decreased function are at an increased risk of cardiac related death and death by other causes. For many of those who don’t die from cardiac related death it can be concluded that other conditions that cause death are worsened by renal insufficiency. This study wa s relevant to the PICO question I asked.This study answered my question and provided the information necessary to make it a valid question. I believe the limitations to this study are that the researchers did not randomize their study. They picked which participants they thought would influence their study. The strengths of this article are that is discusses the importance of preserving renal function when performing a nephrectomy. It also provides evidence that patients should be educated on the risks of death and further complications associated with their procedures. It could allow for better planning and managing of the care for these patients.Implications As a nurse it would be my responsibility to knowledgeable about procedures such as these and how they will affect my patient. It would be my job to educate the patients on what to expect from this surgery and what it means for their health. I could also use this information to better assess patients before and after these proc edures. This research provides material that could be used to better treat and prevent life threatening conditions that could arise after surgery. References Landman, D. (2006). Open Partial Nephrectomy.Retrieved November 9, 2012, from Kidney Cancer Institute: www. kidneycancerinstitute. com/open-partial-nephrec. html Landman, D. (2006). Open Radical Nephrectomy. Retrieved November 9, 2012, from Kidney Cancer Institute: www. kidneycancerinstitute. com/open-radical-nephrec. html Weight, C. J. , & Leiser, G. (2010, April 29). Partial Nephrectomy Is Associated with Improved Overall Survival. EUROPEAN UROLOGY, 58, 293-298. Evaluation (to be completed by instructor)| Possible Points| Actual Points| Introduction of clinical problemComments:| 20| | Purpose/Aim of the study/articleComments:| 10| |Theoretical framework of the study/articleComments:| n/a| | Hypotheses/QuestionsComments:| 5| | DesignComments:| 5| | FindingsComments:| 10| | DiscussionComments:| 25| | ImplicationsComments:| 20| | ReferencesComments:| 5| | Grade| 100/100| /100| PICO Paper Grading Rubric (submit, along with PICO OAT form, with your paper) Student Name: _Kiara Wilson______________Date: November 12, 2012_____________ Are kidney patients who received a radical nephrectomy at a higher risk of impaired renal function and cardiac related death compared to those who received a partial nephrectomy?

The Official Instructions to Start a Super PAC

The Official Instructions to Start a Super PAC So you want to start a super PAC. Maybe youre worried that your vote doesnt really matter. Maybe youre tired of other super PACs raising and spending unlimited amounts of cash from corporations and unions to sway elections and youre asking yourself If you cant beat em, why not join em? Not a problem. Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court and Citizens United, anyone can start a super PAC. And the best part: It doesnt cost a dime. Never mind the Steven Colbert super PACs Super Fun Pack, which hilariously offers prospective activists, All you need is a burning desire for civic engagement and $99. Heres how to start a super PAC. For free. Just by signing your John Hancock on a couple pieces of paper. Step 1: Pick a Cause or Candidate First things first. Your super PAC doesnt have to target a politician, though it certainly can. Restore Our Future Inc., for example, is the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC that spent considerable sums of cash in Election 2012 going after the former Massachusetts governors Republican opponents, including Rick Santorum. Your super PAC can raise awareness about a particular cause or issue such as hydraulic fracking, abortion, or taxes. Yours can be a liberal super PAC or a conservative super PAC. Got a burning desire for civic engagement, as Colbert would put it, on a particular topic? Go for it. Step 2: Pick a Clever Name for Your Super PAC Youll want to name your super PAC something catchy. Something people will be able to easily remember when they break out their checkbooks. Already taken are Joe Six PAC, a super PAC that proclaims it is for the average Joe; the Sick and Tired of Washington super PAC, whose goals seem pretty obvious; and DogPAC, a super PAC representing Dogs Against Romney. Step 3: Other Essentials for Starting Your Own Super PAC All you need to create and run your official super PAC now are a bank account, a charming personality to raise all that money from corporations and unions, and a friend to serve as treasurer to keep track of your super PACs fundraising and spending. Pick someone who is trustworthy and responsible. Theyll need to file spending reports with the government. Step 4: File the Paperwork To officially launch your super PAC you will need to file whats called a Statement of Organization, or Form 1, with the Federal Election Commission. Check box 5(f) under Type of Committee. Also, write a short cover letter to the Federal Election Commission. Youll want to be sure you make it clear your new committee will be functioning as a super PAC. You can do that by including the following paragraph verbatim: This committee intends to make unlimited independent expenditures, and consistent with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decision in SpeechNow v. FEC, it therefore intends to raise funds in unlimited amounts. This committee will not use those funds to make contributions, whether direct, in-kind, or via coordinated communications, to federal candidates or committees. Make sure to include your Statement of Organization your name, address, contact information, and the name of your super PAC and its treasurer. Mail your form to: Federal Election Commission 999 E. St., NW Washington, D.C. 20463 Step 5: What To Do With Your Super PAC As the proud new owner of a super PAC, you are permitted to raise unlimited amounts of money from people including your friends, neighbors, and families. But you can also solicit money from political action committees, corporations, and labor organizations. You can turn around and use all that money to produce and air TV commercials or take out a massive billboard along a busy highway to roundly criticizes a politician you dont like. Have fun and be creative! A Note of Caution: What You Cant Do With Your Super PAC This is pretty simple. You are not allowed to use all that money youve raised from corporations and unions to make direct contributions to candidates or their political action committees. You also cant take out TV ads or billboards in coordination with any of those candidates or their PACs. This is a fairly gray area, so play it safe and steer clear of planning your attacks with any candidate or elected official.

Baryons essays

Baryons essays All particles can be classified into two broad categories: leptons and hadrons. The main difference between the two is whether they interact through the strong interaction. Hadrons are particles that interact through all four fundamental interactions of nature, which include, strong, electromagnetic, weak, and gravitational interactions. Hadrons, the strongly interacting particles, can be further subdivided into two classes based on their internal composition: mesons and baryons. Originally, mesons and baryons were classified according to their masses. Baryons were heavier than mesons, and both were heavier than leptons. Today mesons and baryons are distinguished by their internal structure. Baryons have masses greater than the proton mass. All hadrons are composed of two or three fundamental particles, which came to be known as quarks. A quark is always combined with one or two other quarks. According to the original model proposed by Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig in 1963, there were three types of quarks indicated by the symbols u, d, and s. These were given the arbitrary names up, down, and sideways (now referred to as strange). Associated with each quark is an anti-quark, which are the antimatter equivalents of quarks, opposite in electric charge. Later evidence allowed theorists to propose the existence of several more quarks: charm(c), top (t), and bottom (b). These six quarks species are paired with their flavors: up and down, top and bottom, and charm and strange. A baryon is a "heavy" subatomic particle having strong interactions (a hadron) which either is a nucleon or can transform or decays into a final state of stable particles including a single nucleon plus eventually some additional electrons, photons, neutrinos and/or nucleon-anti-nucleon pairs. This definition is only suitable if the quality characterizing a baryon is conserved in all involved reactions or decays and this ...

Workaholics Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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The Gaia Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Gaia Theory - Essay Example An example of this is the central belief in Gaia Theory that says the composition of the atmosphere is closely regulated by biological reactions to changes in the atmosphere. For example, an increase in CO2 in the atmosphere should result in a corresponding growth in vegetation that would absorb the additional CO2. In this way, Gaia theorists say that the biological reaction to changes in the atmosphere help keeps the earth in a state of habitable stasis. Some Gaia theorists argue that instead of stasis, the biological changes will actually work to optimize earth’s ability to sustain life. I agree with the criticism leveled against the Gaia Theory. While I find the thoughts and hypothesis generated by this theory, I think the author’s discussion of how historical evidence shows that once earth cools, it actually works to keep itself cool and after it has heated it tends to stay hot is at odds with the theory. The levels of C4 and C2 evidenced in arctic ice core samples seems to show that biological changes cannot counter all changes in the atmosphere to create a situation of stasis or even optimization. Forests affect global climate change in several important ways. The manner that they affect global climate change is different depending on whether the forest is located in a tropical, temperate or sub-arctic region. Tropical forests affect global climate change greatly through high levels of evaporative cooling and carbon sequestration. The humid climate contributes to rapid growth in woody flora of all types. The competing species of trees organize themselves into a climax forest consisting of a deeply shaded floor with low surface temperature with massive amounts of carbon stored in the trunks to the trees. Much study has been made of the clearing of tropical forest for agricultural uses.