Brain Gym; Exercises

Brain Gym; Exercises Brain Gym exercises are exercises designed to help the brain function better during the learning process. As such, you can think of Brain Gym exercises as part of the overall theory of multiple intelligence. These exercises are based on the idea that simple physical exercise helps blood flow to the brain and can help improve the learning process by making sure the brain stays alert. Students can use these simple exercises on their own, and teachers can use them in class to help keep energy levels up throughout the day. These simple exercises are based on the copyrighted work of Paul E. Dennison, Ph.D., and Gail E. Dennison. Brain Gym  is a registered trademark of Brain Gym  International. I first encountered Brain Gym in Smart Moves, a best-selling book written by Carla Hannaford, Ph.D. Dr. Hannaford states that our bodies are very much a part of all our learning, and learning is not an isolated brain function. Every nerve and cell is a network contributing to our intelligence and our learning capability. Many educators have found this work quite helpful in improving overall concentration in class. Introduced here, you will find four basic Brain Gym exercises which implement the ideas developed in Smart Moves and can be used quickly in any classroom. Below is a series of movements called PACE. They are surprisingly simple, but very effective! Everyone has a unique PACE and these activities will help both teacher and student become positive, active, clear and energetic for learning. For colorful, fun PACE and Brain Gym ® supplies contact the Edu-Kinesthetics on-line bookstore at Braingym. Drink Water As Carla Hannaford says, Water comprises more of the brain (with estimates of 90%) than of any other organ of the body. Having students drink some water before and during class can help grease the wheel. Drinking water is very important before any stressful situation - tests! - as we tend to perspire under stress, and de-hydration can effect our concentration negatively. Brain Buttons Put one hand so that there is as wide a space as possible between the thumb and index finger.Place your index and thumb into the slight indentations below the collar bone on each side of the sternum. Press lightly in a pulsing manner.At the same time put the other hand over the navel area of the stomach. Gently press on these points for about 2 minutes. Cross Crawl Stand or sit. Put the right hand across the body to the left knee as you raise it, and then do the same thing for the left hand on the right knee just as if you were marching.Just do this either sitting or standing for about 2 minutes. Hook Ups Stand or sit. Cross the right leg over the left at the ankles.Take your right wrist and cross it over the left wrist and link up the fingers so that the right wrist is on top.Bend the elbows out and gently turn the fingers in towards the body until they rest on the sternum (breast bone) in the center of the chest. Stay in this position.Keep the ankles crossed and the wrists crossed and then breathe evenly in this position for a few minutes. You will be noticeably calmer after that time. More Whole Brain Techniques and Activities Have you had any experience using whole brain, NLP, Suggestopedia, Mind Maps or the like? Would you like to know more? Join the discussion in the forum. Using Music in the Classroom Six years ago researchers reported that people scored better on a standard IQ test after listening to Mozart. You would be surprised at how much music can also help  English learners. A visual explanation of the different parts of the brain, how they work and an example ESL EFL exercise employing the specific area. The use of colored pens to help the right brain remember patterns. Each time you use the pen it reinforces the learning process. Helpful Drawing Hints A picture paints a thousand words - Easy techniques to make quick sketches that will help any artistically challenged teacher - like myself! - use drawings on the board to encourage and stimulate class discussion. Suggestopedia: Lesson Plan Introduction and  lesson plan to a concert using the suggestopedia approach to effective/affective learning.

Hanoi Jane essays

Hanoi Jane essays The Vietnam War divided our country as no other war had to date. The slow build up in troops overseas began in the Kennedy administration and built progressively through the Johnson years. By the time the Nixon Presidency began in 1968, the war had become a hotly contested political and moral debate in the United States. Protests against the war and the many factions of the anti-war movement ripped at the countries resolve to be at war and win the war. As the number of wounded and killed mounted so did the anti-war movement. At the height of the tension at home in the late 1960s, Jane Fonda, movie star and activist, took over the leadership movement of the anti-Vietnam war. This paper will report three important aspects of Jane Fondas trip to N. Vietnam that impacted people involved in the war; she may have caused the death of many Americans by buoying the hopes of the North Vietnamese, the betrayal and deaths of American POWs, and participating in North Vietnamese propaganda. This paper explores the anti Vietnam efforts of Jane Fonda, who by what many considered her illegal trip to North Vietnam to encourage the communist army in their war efforts. As an outspoken communist and member of the violent Black Panther civil-rights activist group, Fonda began speaking on college campuses and at large rallies across the nation to stir up dissent to the war effort. She established the FTA (F _ _ _ the Army!) activist group in 1971 to create dissent in the United States. In 1972, with U. S. war efforts still at an intense level of conflict, Jane Fonda made a two-week visit to North Vietnam. While visiting Vietnam, Fonda visited a camp known to the prisoners as Hanoi Hilton. The prisoners were forced to see Fonda and deny that they were being tortured. Fonda then proceeded to travel home and pronounce that the prisoners were in good health. As the war moved on POWs began returning home (some of the ...

Gender Difference In Exercise Addiction And the Possible Roles of Lab Report

Gender Difference In Exercise Addiction And the Possible Roles of Eating Behaviour, Anxiety And Reason for Execise In Undergraduate Students - Lab Report Example This paper stresses that existing studies do not clearly differentiate between primary exercise dependence and problem exercise addiction as an associated feature, so predictions for exercise addiction may be possible. In case of female students who exercise, if there were no associated comorbid psychologic disorders, the personality profile and psychological morbidities do not differ from healthy controls. This study will recruit free living adult volunteers as participants and they do not have any bond with the investigator. Further this study does not involve any medical treatments, restrictions or biological sample collection. Therefore participants will not carry any serious risk. Participants are briefed about the survey and their written consent is taken just before they are given the questionnaires. They will be asked to give a personal code for confidential reasons. Their personal data will be handled confidentially throughout the survey and the final outcome of the research is explained. The participants will be told of the deadline for which the data collected will be used and they will also be made aware of the fact that they are free to withdraw their data at any time for any reason. They will be given a debriefing form which will also contain information on support services or websites they can go to for help if they have been in anyway affected by this or need more inform ation. The form will also have the researcher and supervisors contact details if needed.

Globalization, Communication And Postmodernity Describing The Shift Essay

Globalization, Communication And Postmodernity Describing The Shift From Web 1.0 To Web 2.0 - Essay Example From the read-only interface offered by Web 1.0, the introduction of Web 2.0 has opened various means of web communications making the web interface not only as a source of information, but also as an interactive zone. Blogs, wikis, social network sites, online games, and even e-commerce have redefined practices of communication in the postmodern times re-introducing the processes and activities in a globalized approach. Starting from Web 1.0 as the first generation World Wide Web, the first web interface offered read-only contents via static websites with limited performance and visual parameters, zero to minimal interaction with the site, and most importantly, web communication fundamentally facilitated via e-mail. Shuen (2008) has described Web 1.0 as a digitized place for searching information, for making available and transmitting various downloadables, and for fashioning e-commerce approach from the traditional mail-based interfaces. Added by Oreilly (2007), Web 1.0 treated web as a platform for presenting information using one-way channel of communication with limited response mechanisms. For instance, Web 1.0 services, such as Mp3.com, Akamai, Ofoto, content management systems, and others, are the means utilized for conveying content, downloadables, and information. ... Meanwhile, business model of Web 1.0 follows the principles of treating users as audience and speculating consumers (Eighmeya & McCordb, 1998), admin-based web business (Oreilly, 2007) and lastly, one-way search and one-way feed of information (Sinclair, et al., 2006). These details support and explain the architectural background of Web 1.0 that stems from the identified â€Å"architecture of presentation† (Oreilly, 2007; Sinclair, et al., 2006). On the other hand, the upgraded version known as Web 2.0 is characterized by the read-write interface where values emerge from the contribution of the larger viewers instead of the traditional command and control of information (Lytras, et al., 2008). The objectives of Web 2.0 are to enhance creativity, information sharing, and collaboration among users, such as the development of so-called web communities through various social networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folknomies (Zhang, 2008). Gossen (2011) has identified four key charac teristics of Web 2.0. He claims that web 2.0 fosters web presence on the web by allowing the option of regular updating, responding to, and even creating content under a user profile. Secondly, Web 2.0 allows personal modification of web-interface affecting the personal web experience of a single user with a 2.0-based website, and more notably, website contents are user generated often a result of collaboration between users and site developers. He also asserts that, Web 2.0 is about social participation through various web activities, such as ratings, rankings, commenting, feedback mechanisms, and others all aimed at interacting with other users. Aside from its

Workbook Diseases of the Human Body Essay Example for Free

Workbook Diseases of the Human Body Essay Assignment: For each scenario that follows, explain how and why you would schedule an appointment or suggest a referral based on the patient’s reported symptoms. Be sure to first review the â€Å"Guidelines for Patient-Screening Exercises† found on page iii in the Introduction section of your Workbook. A male patient calls for an appointment. He reports experiencing the sudden onset of excessive thirst and urination. He says that he is thirsty all the time and cannot seem to get enough to drink. How do you respond to this phone call? This patient suffering from a sudden urge to drink fluids as well as excessive urination is a sign of polydipsia. What polydipsia means is excessive thirst and a way one may have this condition is to have diabetes mellitus, which means there is an excessive amount of glucose in a persons blood which travels in the bloodstream and increases the symptoms that this patient is experiences (Polydipsia, 2008). In this case, the patient needs to be seen right away to be evaluated by their physician. A female patient calls the office and says she thinks she has swelling in her neck and is beginning to experience difficulty swallowing. How do you respond to this phone call? When the female patient called, she was on the phone talking about her neck swelling and how it was difficult to swallow things. In this case, I would schedule an appointment for a physical because she may be suffering from simple goiter which means her thyroid glands are enlarged and I would advise her not to worry because it wont be cancerous but her medical history should be reviewed and see if there is any reason for this to be happening or if it just came out of no where (Dugdale, 2012). An individual calls the office stating he is experiencing periods of rapid heartbeat and palpitations, insomnia, nervousness, and excitability. He states that despite excessive appetite and food ingestion, he is losing weight. How do you respond to this call? I would listen to what the patient has to say and after noting the symptoms suggest he may have hypoglycemia. What this basically means is low blood sugar also known as insulin shock and his blood sugar may be below 70 mg and in some cases it can be very deadly so I would tell him to go to the emergency room immediately and have his blood sugars taken care of before serious harm will happen (A.D.A.M., 2012). A woman calls the office stating that her husband, who has been diagnosed with diabetes, is experiencing excessive thirst, nausea, drowsiness, and abdominal pain. She just noticed a fruity odor on his breath. She wants to know what to do. How do you respond to this call? I would listen to the womans explanations of what her husband is going through and suggest that he may be going through something known as ketoacidosis. The reason ketoacidosis gives a fruity odor off is because the body is trying to get rid of excess acetone in the breath. This can be a very life threatening issue and I would advise going to the emergency room as soon as possible (Medline Plus, 2010). A patient calls the office saying she has started experiencing weight loss, excessive thirst, excessive hunger, and frequent urination. She also tells you her mother and aunt have diabetes. She says she just does not feel right. How do you respond to this call? With the way this woman was explaining her problems describes diabetes mellitus because if ones blood sugars are high it can cause everything that this woman is experiencing and I would advise her to see a physician promptly for and evaluation and to make sure her levels are not too elevated (Wikipedia, 2012). Sources: A.D.A.M. (2012). Pubmed health. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001423/ Dugdale, D. (2012, June 4). Pubmed health. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002161/ Medline Plus. (2010, Feburary 22). Breath odor causes and considerations. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003058.htm Polydipsia. (2008). Retrieved from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/polydipsia Wikipedia. (2012, August 16). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes_mellitus

Mom :: essays research papers

When I was little, I referred to them as Mommy Susie and Mommy Patti. Mommy Susie was the one who gave birth to me, the one who died in a car accident when I was eleven months old. Mommy Patti was the one who married my dad when I was two and a half, who adopted me as her child, and has taken care of me ever since. I have vivid memories of talking to my adoptive mother about my biological mother, a subject matter which now seems oddly inappropriate. I think that, when I was younger, I did not entirely grasp the idea of death. I had no concept of the delicate familial web that was woven when one woman was taken away and another stepped in to fill her shoes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have no recollection of ever talking to my dad and brother about my mother. My dad plays the role of the strong male figure in the family, void of emotion and distress. He gives me no hint as to what my mother was like, perhaps because of his inclination to leave the past in the past. As for my brother, I can only imagine the impact that her death had on him. He was only four years old when he witnessed the whole gruesome ordeal, and I often feel that it is not my place to inquire about her, stirring up feelings he has deliberately suppressed for so many years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although it can be argued that I have two mothers with twice the love and twice the caring, I sometimes feel that I have no mother at all. I get jealous easily when I see the bond that many people share with their mother. To no fault of anyone, my relationship with my adoptive mother seems lacking in that area. They say that the love a mother feels for her child the first time she sees it is incomparable. I often feel as if I have been cheated out of such affection, as if part of me is missing. The bond that I had with my mother was broken before I even had the chance to experience it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Perhaps the most difficult part of my situation is discerning right from wrong. Is it wrong for me to call my biological mother my â€Å"real mother†? Does that take away credibility from the woman who has loved me and taken care of me for fifteen years?

History Us Essay

The Dawes Act, also known as the â€Å"General Allotment Act of 1887,† was – in theory – meant to protect the â€Å"property rights† of indigenous peoples during an anticipated â€Å"land rush† when â€Å"Unassigned Lands† in present-day Oklahoma were opened for settlement. Its sponsor, Senator Henry Dawes (R-Massachusetts), was a believer in the power of land ownership to â€Å"civilize† Native peoples, defining the term as the wearing of â€Å"civilized† (i. e. , manufactured and/or Euro-American type) clothing, the practice of agriculture, residing in homes made of wood and/or brick, the use of horse-drawn vehicles, formal schooling for children, consumption of alcohol and the ownership of property (Oates, 2000). While Dawes’ intentions may have been sincere, the nature of the Act and its results demonstrate that, unlike his detractor, Senator Henry Moore (R-Colorado) – who had actually lived in the West and had a better comprehension of Western land issues – Dawes had little understanding of indigenous culture and traditions. In fact, the U. S. government had spent the better part of a century in attempts to â€Å"register† native peoples and individuals. The Dawes Act was an attempt to â€Å"bribe† Indians with promises of land allotments prior to the land rush, partly in compensation for treatment of the previous 100 years. Not surprisingly, many Indians were not particularly trusting. Wars against, and subsequent relocation of the Nez Perce, Sioux, Yakama and other western tribes were not far in the past; even the painful forced relocation of the Cherokee and other Southeastern peoples a half-century before was within living memory of some. Fearing reprisals, many Indians who had refused to submit relocations in the past would not sign the Dawes Rolls. Either (Oates, 2000). Another provision of the Dawes Act required Indians to give up their given names and take on a more English-sounding name; therefore, someone whose name might translate as â€Å"Running Bear† would wind up having to register as â€Å"Richard Bill,† for example. This made it all too easy for government agents to slip in the names of friends and family members, resulting in the transfer of Indian lands to political cronies (Oates, 2000). The Dawes Act appears to contain an interesting conflict; whereas Section Six refers to Land Patents – which according to the law, grants the landholder unconditional rights to said property in perpetuity, Section Ten asserts Congress’ right of â€Å"Eminent Domain,† allowing the government to confiscate the land for any public use â€Å"upon making just compensation† (USC, 1887), creating a large loophole that was taken advantage of often in the ensuing four decades. The record is clear; nearly half of the treaty land passed into the possession of non-native settlers, and the Meriam Report of 1928 clearly showed how government agents had used provisions of the Dawes Act illegally to deprive indigenous peoples of their property – people who had very little concept of land ownership in the Euro-American sense on the first place. Most Native societies were built on communal living within the context of an extended clan-kinship grouping, which more often was matrilineal. This is significant, because of gender roles; traditionally, males were the hunters, while females gathered or – among the few Native peoples that practiced agriculture at all – engaged in the cultivation of food plants. The imposition of Industrial-Age and hyper-patriarchal Victorian values in which the man was the head of a small nuclear family dependent upon a capitalist system led to the disintegration and ultimate destruction of their traditional kinship support system (Norton, 2003). Ultimately, this was yet another â€Å"divide and conquer† strategy that allowed more Indian lands to pass into the control of Euro-American settlers. II. Reconstruction was an attempt on the part of the U. S. federal government to gradually bring the states of the former Confederacy back into the union and resolve social issues of the conflict. The initial phase of Reconstruction began in 1863 under Abraham Lincoln and his successor, Andrew Johnson. Lincoln’s intentions were to restore the Southern states as quickly and with as little rancor as possible; his moderate program mandated that as soon as 10% of a former Confederate state’s electorate signed a loyalty oath, that state could then form a government body and send representatives to Washington D. C. During the mid-term elections of 1866 however, Congress fell under the control of hard-liners of Johnson’s own party. These â€Å"Radical Republicans† – most likely out of vindictiveness toward ex-Confederates rather than any genuine concern for African-Americans – attempted to enforce â€Å"instant equality† onto Southern society. This â€Å"Radical† phase of Reconstruction lasted from 1866 to 1873, and emphasized civil rights and universal suffrage for freed blacks, many of whom were appointed to offices for which many were not necessarily qualified. Numerous well-meaning Northerners moved to the South as well with the intentions of educating blacks and providing relief for blacks and whites displaced by the war; however, they were accompanied by a large number of fortune seekers, who became known as â€Å"Carpetbaggers. † Along with free blacks and native white southern Republicans known as â€Å"Scalawags,† the Carpetbaggers formed a Republican coalition that managed to gain control of every southern state except for Virginia (Norton, 2003). The third phase of Reconstruction started when conservative Democratic coalitions of white supremacists – known as â€Å"Redeemers† – began taking back state legislatures, a process that was complete by 1877. (The former Confederacy would not elect another Republican president for 103 years). It would appear – at least from the perspective of a Southern landowner or former landowner – that such a backlash was inevitable. Many southern slaveholders operated under a sincere belief (misguided as it was) that their Negroes were better off under the â€Å"care† of their masters. When slaves went â€Å"on strike,† and even deserted plantations, surrendering themselves to oncoming Union troops, there were genuine feelings of betrayal. Meanwhile, Northerners often had little love for blacks; for example, an 1863 law that allowed rich whites to buy their way out of the draft led to perceptions among working-class whites that they were being expected to die for the benefit of blacks; this resulted in major riots in New York and Detroit in which many blacks were attacked and killed (Zinn, 2003). Once the white supremacists were back in control, they wasted little time in excluding Afro-Americans from mainstream society, banning them from restaurants, schools, and other establishments as well as suppressing the vote in a number of ways. When challenged in 1883 under the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court interpreted it in a way that made it useless as a guarantor of civil rights, essentially nullifying the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The majority ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment applied to states only, and not private citizens; therefore, discrimination by private individuals was completely within the law. In a dissenting opinion, Justice John Harlan – himself a former slave owner – wrote that discrimination was a â€Å"badge of slavery,† and therefore illegal under the Thirteenth Amendment banning the â€Å"peculiar institution,† as well as Article 4, Section 2 of the Fourteenth: â€Å"†¦the citizens [one born in the U. S. ] of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States† (Zinn, 2003). Nonetheless, the court then – as now – was swinging toward interpretations that favored Big Business and corporate capitalism, which has never had any use for equality of any kind. This eventually paved the way for Plessy v. Fergusson and the subsequent decades of â€Å"Jim Crow† apartheid in the south. III. On the eve of the First World War, class struggle between the workers and corporate capitalism was intensifying. On one side were socialist movements whose members clearly saw what the war was about: the struggle between capitalist power-brokers, through their bought-and-paid-for national governments, over land, colonies, resources, power and wealth – none of which in the working class, who nonetheless wound up fighting an dying in the trenches for these concepts, had any stake whatsoever. On the other side – then as now – were the corporate capitalists, who had a great deal at stake over the outcome of the war. American corporations had substantial investments in British companies and vice-versa; meanwhile, Britain was draining its treasury as well as its people for a war that historians today has never been shown to bring â€Å"any gain for humanity that would be worth one human life† (Zinn, 2003). The German announcement in April of 1917 that they would sink any ship carrying supplies to their enemies (i. e. , Britain) has long been cited as a reason that Wilson eventually sought a declaration of war from Congress. However, German-Americans had for some time been sending aid to the ancestral homeland, while the British had been interfering with the rights of U. S. citizens on the high seas during the same period. Because of economic reality however, Wilson had to find other reasons to enter the war on the side of the Allies (Zinn, 2003). According to historian Richard Hofstader, there were a number of economic reasons that shaped Wilson’s policy on the war; a recession that had begun in 1914 had begun to ease starting the following year because of orders by the Allies that totaled over $2 billion by 1917. By the time the war had begun, foreign investment in the U. S. totaled $3 ? billion. Foreign markets were considered vital to the U. S. economy. Since the outbreak of hostilities, Britain was buying not only durable goods and war materiel from U. S. companies, but since the lift on a ban on private bank loans to the Allies, were taking out many interest-bearing loans as well. The result is that the U. S. economy became closely tied to British victory. African-American author and activist W. E. B. DuBois clearly saw that the wealth of the U. S. and Europe was built on the backs of people in the lands which they had colonized – chiefly Africa and Asia, control over which were at the heart of the conflict. War, he said was a â€Å"safety valve† for the tensions of class conflict. Warfare created an â€Å"artificial community of interest† between the corporatist/investor class and that of the workers (Zinn, 2003). This was not lost on the workers of the nation. Only 73,000 men volunteered in during the first six weeks following the declaration, and there was little indication of public support. Socialist anti-war rallies throughout the country were attended by thousands of working people protesting the war and corporate profiteering. A conservative newspaper in Akron, Ohio admitted that the nation â€Å"had never embarked upon a more unpopular war† (Zinn, 2003). The federal government – at the behest of the corporate interests who then (as now) had the legislature in its back pocket – had little choice but institute legal and punitive measures which included both military conscription and the Espionage Act – a law of dubious constitutionality passed for the purpose of silencing dissent (Oates, 2000). While ostensibly the law was to protect the nation from spies, a clause provided for a penalty of up to twenty years imprisonment for anyone found guilty of causing â€Å"insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny or refusal of duty,† although another clause stated that â€Å"nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or restrict†¦any discussion, comment, or criticism of the acts or policies of the Government. † Nonetheless, Socialist leader Charles Schenk was arrested in September 1917 for the distribution of leaflets arguing that conscription was a violation of the Thirteenth Amendment. Another Socialist, Eugene V. Debs, was arrested the following June for making a public speech against the war. Eventually, nine hundred people were incarcerated under the Espionage Act and dissenters buried under an intense propaganda campaign by the government and their corporate lapdogs in the media. IV. â€Å"Prohibition† – the perhaps well-intentioned, but misguided attempt to outlaw the consumption of alcohol and spirituous liquors – dates back to the beginning of the republic. During colonial times, moderate alcohol consumption was tolerated, but over-indulgence was not. Alcohol was a â€Å"gift of God,† while drunkenness was seen as an abuse of that gift, but alcohol itself was not seen as a problem – only the behaviors associated with its excessive consumption. By the time of the revolution however, this had changed significantly. The shift from an agrarian to an urban society brought with it the usual consequences of poverty and unemployment, which in turn resulted in crime. With a strongly Puritan-influenced mindset, most devout Americans were unable to make the connection between poverty and crime, so alcohol became the scapegoat. The complete prohibition of alcoholic beverages was promulgated by religious Protestant groups on the grounds that it was the cause of crime and domestic violence. Prohibition movements met with limited success in the years running up to the Civil War. After a twenty-year hiatus, the concept was revived by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the Prohibition Party, which gained significant political power in the forty-year period on either side of 1900. Prohibition laws were enacted locally throughout the nation, even to the point of becoming state law in Kansas. A number of southern states as well as individual counties within those states, with their streak of religious conservatism and intolerance, followed suit (Norton, 2003). (This patchwork of laws had some rather odd results that persist to the present day; for example, Jack Daniels Whiskey is still manufactured in Lynchburg, Tennessee, but local ordinance makes it illegal to sell or purchase it there. )

Philosophy 103

According to Sartre, a philosopher from the World War II and Cold War eras, people will create the world around them, thus manipulating their lives. By doing this, they create certain limitations, while also creating more possibilities. Sartre created his philosophical theory at a time in history when more people were able to afford more amenities and luxuries for themselves. More and more industries, companies, and manufacturers were popping up around the world. This created a global human interest in possessing more amenities, especially in a democratic society.People were now able to not only afford the items they needed in order to sustain a normal lifestyle, but they could own things that could entertain them and bring them happiness. This is a lifestyle that has continued on through today. Many people argue that the habit of buying unnecessary items as opposed to buying those that are vital has become worse over time. Many of us wonder why this is the case. Sartre states that p eople â€Å"may not become what they wish to be† because they are too busy focusing on their material possessions instead of focusing on improving their moral selves.It is the responsibility of the person to decide what is really important in their lives. Sartre also makes a few more important notations towards his theory. First, many people think that they will only be defined by the items in which they possess. People think they will only be accepted socially if they possess items that are considered to be attractive to others. People also think they are only defined by what they have, not by who they are as people. However, Sartre also says, in reality, the world in which we live in is not composed of all the material possessions.But we tend to feel complete when we do possess these. It is our way of â€Å"escaping responsibility†. A free market constantly manipulates us, and it is easy for us to fall into its trap. When choosing whether or not to splurge on luxury items, we tend to evaluate our lifestyles and consider what are values truly are. When we evaluate our lifestyles, we fulfill ourselves in which we think will improve our overall lifestyle. Our values become our material possessions, therefore forgetting what is morally significant in our lives.It is all up to the way in which we evaluate things and our ability in attempting to resist our negative and insignificant assumptions of ourselves and the lifestyles we choose to maintain. When doing this, we usually create standards for ourselves to abide by. We only will invest in the most expensive items because we believe it will make us appear more superior to everyone else. By doing this, we forget about what is important: our consciousness of our spending habits with our money.For example, when it comes to buying a car, we forget about the role a car is meant to play in our lives. As opposed to focusing on its ability to get us from place to place, we only focus on the way it looks, h ow fast it can go, how good the sound system is, how high we can have it lifted, etc. By doing this, people lose sight of what is morally important like shelter, food, and one’s own livelihood. We see this a lot in our everyday lives. You see this on billboards, over the radio, in magazines, in movies, and especially on television. According to dictionary. om, a â€Å"Marketer† is defined as â€Å"A person whose duties include the identification of the goods and services desired by a set of consumers, as well as the marketing of those goods and services on behalf of a company. † This means that the job of the marketer is to convince the average consumer that they need their product, and this is where more often then not people confuse Luxuries versus needs. First lets start by defining â€Å"need. † In the strictest sense of the word, a â€Å"need† is something that you have to have to get by in this world – a necessity.You need food, shelte r, clothing, medical care, which are all examples of the basics. You will probably experience physical suffering of some sort if you don't have your needs met. On the other hand, a â€Å"Luxury† is something that you desire — something you would like to have. But by no means will you suffer in any way except perhaps mental anguish, if you don't get the thing you want. â€Å"Wants† quite often fall into the category of Luxuries, nice to have, but the world won't end without them. The hard part comes when you live in a prosperous capitalistic society, like ours.The â€Å"western† standard of living is so high that even many of our poor tend to live above the level of basic needs. In 1998, 97% of â€Å"poor† Americans (as defined by the Census Bureau) owned a television — something that could definitely be considered a luxury. In many third-world countries, less than 30% of the population even has access to electricity, which most westerners wo uld consider an absolute necessity. My intention is not to make anyone feel guilty — it's simply to point out that the distinction between want and need is often relative.It depends on the area in which you live, the company you keep, the lifestyle you choose, and the expectations of the society around you. We are influenced, every day, by the popular culture around us. Television, magazines, movies, and advertising have all done a splendid job of programming us to think that we need a lot of excess consumable goods. Pretend that you are watching TV or flipping through your favorite magazine and see an ad for something awesome. Suddenly, your heart speeds up, and you get a tingly feeling in your gut. It's perfect, how had you ever lived without it before?You rush right to the store, what?! You don't have any left in stock?! Your heart sinks and you feel a rush of disappointment. You spend the rest of the day moping because you couldn't find it anywhere. Now, this might be a b it of an exaggeration, but it's not far off the mark for some people. How often have you learned of a new product and were certain that you absolutely had to have it? What if you had never seen the ad? Would your life be any worse off? It's as if the knowledge that something exists causes the need for it. Thus brings up the age-old saying of keeping up with the Joneses.With the advent of the â€Å"global society,† the Joneses are not just the people next door anymore. They include movie stars and billionaires and imaginary people on TV that don't even really exist. But we hold these folks up as the standard against which we should measure our own lives. Just because Bill Gates has a multi-million dollar house, we think ours is too small. Certainly, no one is suggesting that one gives away everything they own and become a monk, but it is important that one strikes a balance between those things that they have to have and the things that they would like to have.It is also impor tant that people be able to prioritize their spending. The goal is to focus on those things that will really improve one’s quality of life, rather than just look flashy. Here's a perfect example of prioritizing between two â€Å"wants. † Wouldn't it be nice to retire early? Not have to work, spend your time doing what you want? And let's say that while you are thinking about retiring early, you are also looking to buy a house. You could choose the $500,000 home with 10 bedrooms, or you could choose the smaller, less-expensive house that meets all of your basic needs.If you choose the expensive home, you can probably kiss retiring early goodbye. But, if you decide that retiring early would improve your quality of life more than having a huge flashy house, the choice is simple. This coincides with Sartre’s theory of self-responsibility. He defines it as â€Å"individuals are responsible for their choice, i. e. , they are the incontestable author of their act. â⠂¬  This means that whatever decision a person makes, whether it be good or bad, is their own personal responsibility.For example, when a professional athlete is caught cheating by using steroids, throwing a fight, or betting on themselves, etc. they are personally responsible for the actions that take place thereafter. This also applies to Sartre’s theory on responsibility for others. He states that, â€Å"in choosing for one's self, one is thus also choosing for others and is to that extent responsible for the others. † So by having the professional athlete cheat, he or she is also affecting others, such as fans, the team’s image, and their teammates, with their actions.Sartre’s teachings on existentialism are a perfect example for the topic of Luxuries versus necessities. His idea of personal responsibility and the responsibility of others shows that in Sartre’s eye’s every consumer is responsible for themselves and if their actions caus e a negative reaction on the rest of society they person responsible for this change be held accountable. When choosing between necessities and luxuries its up to one’s own moral judgment to decide what is considered a necessity or what is a luxury. So next time your out buying something think to yourself what kind of effect could this it have on society?

The North American and Western Larch

The North American and Western Larch The native range of the Tamarack, or Larix laricina, occupies the coldest regions of Canada and the northern-most forests of central and northeastern United States. This conifer was named tamarack  by native American Algonquians and means wood used for snowshoes but has also been called eastern tamarack, American tamarack, and hackmatack. It  has one of the widest ranges of all North American conifers. Although thought to be a cold-loving  species, tamarack  grows under extremely varied climatic conditions. It can be found in isolated pockets in West Virginia and Maryland and in disjunct areas of interior Alaska and the Yukon. It can easily survive average January cold temperatures from -65 degrees F to warm July temperatures that exceed 70 degrees F. This toleration of climate extremes explains its wide distribution. The extreme cold of northernmost strands will affect its size where it will remain a small tree, attaining a height of about 15 feet. Larix laricina,  in the pine family  Pinaceae,  is a small to medium-size  boreal  conifer that  is uniquely  deciduous where needles annually turn a beautiful yellow color and drop in autumn. The  tree  can grow to 60 feet in height on certain sites with  trunk  growth that can exceed 20 inches in diameter.  Tamarack can tolerate a wide range of soil conditions but grows most commonly, and to its maximum potential, on wet to moist organic soils of  sphagnum and woody peat. Larix laricina is very intolerant of shade but is an early pioneer tree species that invades bare wet organic soils by seeding. The tree typically appears first in swamps, bogs, and muskeg where they start the long process of forest succession.   According to  one U.S Forest Service report, the principal commercial use of tamarack in the United States is for making pulp products, especially the transparent paper in window envelopes. Because of its rot resistance, tamarack is also used for posts, poles, mine timbers, and railroad ties. The key characteristics used for the identification of tamarack: This is the only eastern conifer with deciduous needles arranged in radiating clusters.Needles are growing from blunt spurs in groups of 10 to 20.Cones are small and egg-shaped with no visible  bracts between scales.Foliage turns yellow in autumn. The Western Larch or  Larix occidentalis Western larch or Larix occidentalis is in the pine family Pinaceae  and often called western tamarack. It  is the largest of the larches and most important timber species of the genus Larix. Other common names include  hackmatack, mountain larch, and Montana larch. This conifer, when compared to Larix laricina, has a range that is much reduced to just four U.S. states and one Canadian province- Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. Like the tamarack, western larch is a deciduous conifer whose needles turn yellow and drop in autumn. Unlike tamarack, western larch is very tall, being the largest of all the larches and reaching heights of over 200 feet on preferred soils. The habitat for  Larix occidentalis  is on mountain slopes and in valleys and can grow  on swampy ground. It is often seen growing with Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine. The tree does not do as well as tamarack when dealing with broad changes in climatic factors as a species. The tree  grows in a relatively moist-cool climatic zone, with low temperature limiting its upper elevational range and deficient moistures its lower extremes- it is basically limited to the Pacific northwest and to the states mentioned. Western larch forests are enjoyed for their multiple resource values including timber production and aesthetic beauty. The seasonal change in hue of larchs delicate foliage from light green in the spring and summer, to gold in the fall, enhances the beauty of these mountain forests. These forests provide the ecological niches needed for a wide variety of birds and animals. Hole-nesting birds comprise about one-fourth of the bird species in these forests. According to a U.S Forest Service report, western larch timber is used extensively for lumber, fine veneer, long-straight utility poles, railroad ties, mine timbers, and pulpwood. It is also valued for its  high water-yielding forest-areas where management can influence water yield through harvest cuttings and young stand culture. The key characteristics used for the identification of western larch: A larch trees color stands out in forests- pale grass green in summer, yellow in the fall.Needles grow from blunt spurs in groups like  L. laricina  but on hairless twigs.Cones are larger than L. laricina  with visible yellowish, pointed bracts between scales.

We Are The Future essays

We Are The Future essays In an age where the phrase Youve got mail is second nature and the infinite stretches of knowledge on the information highway are only a click away, we have to stop to think. What are we doing? Where are we going? If there are problems, how do we solve them? There are three main points Id like to present to you and would like to share my opinion with you. First and foremost, if the world expects us to deal with social, environmental, and political problems, how do we know what they are and what to do about them? Secondly, our generation needs to plan and organize to place itself in a better position to make decisions in our daily lives. We cant let computers do everything, and let human interaction go to waste. Third and lastly, in my personal opinion, I believe that service to community, will help us strengthen the bonds of confidence and fill the gaps of age between my generation and yours. Lets take the first main point. Riots, fascists, discrimination, robberies, poverty, school violence, alcohol, drug, and physical abuse, just to name a few. Many of these problems have been have only been attempted to be resolved. Some of them will remain until a meteor falls from the sky. Humanity, and our generation need to know these things. The reality is that were only beginning to notice what is happening to our society. Immersed in makeshift fashions, one-week death diets, and a constant reminder that this is only the beginning are what keep us from accomplishing things. Solution? Currently, none at the moment. Were too busy pretending to discover rocks, too tired to get up and change the channels manually, and undecided on whether we should colonize Mars and search for aliens or stay here and go out with friends to a movie on Saturday night. Secondly, where communication is all but minimized - it is called telecommunications. Where it ...

Business and Management Research (Leadership topic) Coursework

Business and Management Research (Leadership topic) - Coursework Example According to several eminent authors around the world, leadership activity plays critical roles in initiating the actions of the organization, motivating the workforce, providing guidance to the team followers, building a proper working environment and also coordinating with the upper management in order to ensure smother work flow (Duke, 2009; Mackay, 2007; Harrell, 2008). This segment of the study will undertake a critical review of the article, â€Å"Combinative aspects of leadership style and the interaction between leadership behaviours† by Gian Casimir and Yong Ngee Keith Ng. This journal article was published in the year 2010 in Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 31 No. 6, and can be found in pages 501-517. The authors carried out this study for the principal purpose of testing an alternative standpoint of interaction, which is purely based on the technique or way leaders amalgamates various leadership behaviours (Casimir and Ng, 2009). The two principa l leadership behaviours considered by the authors are socio-emotional leadership and task oriented leadership. The subsequent section of the study will enumerate brief summary and review the findings of the paper. In addition, this paper will also critically review the study by Gian Casimir and Yong Ngee Keith Ng in the context of its weaknesses and strengths. Review and Summary of the Paper The study by Gian Casimir and Yong Ngee Keith Ng was about examining the interaction between socio-emotional leadership and task-oriented leadership. According to the authors, there were two major underlying principles for which the subject of study was opted. The first and most important reason was that these two leadership styles have always been the centre of attention when it came to test of interaction in the field of leadership literature. The second reason was that the authors identified that a number of day-to-day organizational leadership involve attitudes and behaviour that can be arti culated as task oriented behaviour or socio emotional behaviour (Luthans, Hodgetts and Rosenkrantz, 1988; Judge, Piccollo and Ilies 2004; Komaki, 1986). Lastly the topic of interaction is also considered to be significant (Blalock, 1965; Cronbach, 1987). In the meantime, it is also necessary to define the two leadership style being discussed here in the study. A proper definition will help in better understanding of the subject and will also help in reviewing and summarising the paper. Task oriented leadership is often deemed as multifaceted and encompass wide range of behavioural traits (Glass, 2010; B. Bass and R, Bass, 2009; Northouse, 2011). Some of the typical function of task oriented leadership is allocation of resources, assigning the particular job to the followers, emphasizing on the deadlines, to cross check whether the followers are actually following the rules and regulation and maintaining the decorum of the organization and pressurizing the followers to work hard towa rds the achievement of the goals (Delamater, 2006; Heinemann and Zeiss, 2002; Lussier and Achua, 2009). Therefore, from the perception of the authors, it is evident that one of the most vital features of a task oriented leader is pressurizing the followers to accomplish the task in timely manner by delegating the tasks as per the capabilities of the followers (Misumi, 1985). On the

Search and Rescue in Residential Fire Structures Research Paper

Search and Rescue in Residential Fire Structures - Research Paper Example It is vital to the safety of our society that researchers continue to enhance the technologies that allow fire fighters to do their jobs in the safest and most effective fashion possible, especially those working in residential structure fires and residential search and rescue. Residential structure fires are responsible for approximately two to three thousand civilian deaths per year since 1997, but these numbers have been dropping due to improved fire prevention education, early fire detection, and fire suppression technologies being used, and also the improved technologies and equipment available for search and rescue efforts (USFA, 2008). These search and rescue technologies fall into two major categories: those devices that make it easier for fire fighters to find and save those victims trapped within a burning building and those technologies that protect the fire fighters' own lives, which indirectly will save even more lives than the direct equipment. Technologies that allow f ire fighters to rescue those victims who have been trapped within a burning building mainly include those which allow the rescue workers to find those individuals more quickly. The primary and most impressive piece of equipment in this category is the thermal imaging camera. A thermal imaging camera helps the fire fighters to see people more easily through dense smoke or haze, by analyzing the image of a trapped figure and â€Å"convert[ing] the 'thermal signature' to a visible image† (Marlow Industries Inc, 2008). These cameras are able to convert the most minute differences in the temperature of objects into a visible light image for the fire fighter using the camera to view, and they work even in complete darkness as they do not require any ambient visible light to resolve the images (FLIR Commercial Vision Systems, n.d.). This combination of processes means that a thermal imaging camera can be used by a fire fighter to look into a dark or smoke-filled room and determine i mmediately if there are any people within the room who need to be evacuated from the building. The image will also show the fire fighter if there are any flames or ignition sources within that room (FLIR Commercial Vision Systems, n.d.) Such cameras work by visualizing an image using infrared radiation instead of visible light sources. They are able to produce images at high resolution through heavy smoke due to the fact that the infrared radiation used has a longer wavelength, reducing scattering off of particulate matter in the air. (FLIR Commercial Visions Systems, n.d.). Some cameras are even able to transmit these images to a commander outside the building, allowing him or her to better control the situation within the building based on the real-time data being received (Santa Clara County Fire Department, â€Å"High-Tech and Specialized Equipment, n.d.). These cameras are also sometimes of adjustable sensitivity, to allow for varying temperature ranges in the space being view ed. They can be more sensitive for narrow temperature ranges, such as looking into a hot room, and less sensitive cameras for situations where temperatures vary more widely, such as trying to locate an individual in a smoky but relatively cool room (Amon, Bryner, & Hamins, 2005).