Buddhist Scriptures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Buddhist Scriptures - Essay Example Buddha expects everyone to live and lead a happy and peaceful life. Buddhism does not entertain strange, unfounded beliefs and is not much concerned about what is happening over the sky. It addresses to the day to day secular problems and the procedures to meet the challenges with equanimity, and with a confident mental poise. Buddha is an enlightened soul, and he has transcended the barriers of the mind and he remains in the state of bliss. His revelations (not teachings) are delivered from the conflict-free zone, and hence they are divine-ordained, blemish-free and everlasting. He does not expect his followers to act on blind faith, and advises them to put the individual experiences to test and find out the truth with own efforts. When he says that there are many Buddhas before me and there will be many Buddhas after me and each one of you have the intrinsic capacity to become Buddha, he means that the path of self-realization is possible with one’s individual efforts only. There are no shortcuts to attain that divine state, and get freedom from dualities. Buddhism prescribes twin goals for an individual. They are, to know self and to learn the teachings of Buddha. The ordinary nature of an individual relates to the gross traits like anger, fear, jealously and other negative feelings. The other is the true nature (the divine one) that is wise, pure and perfect. That is the state of bliss and in terms of Buddhism it is called Buddha nature. The difference between the two natures is the former is the non-awakened state and the latter is the awakened state. In the Buddhist scriptures, one will find elaborate commentaries on profound topics and universal truths like, nothing is lost in the universe, everyt hing changes, law of cause and effect, the four noble truths, etc. When one reads the variety of Buddhist Scriptures, they apparently appear full of contradictions but their essence is the same. Their perplexity is

Anti Legalization Critical Thinking Essay Example for Free

Anti Legalization Critical Thinking Essay The aim of this paper is to logically apply reason to assess the arguments for the legalization of marijuana, and by doing so point out flaws in these arguments. Furthermore, this paper will assess the credibility and the source of these arguments, and present counter arguments to conclude that marijuana should not be a legal drug in California and the rest of the United States. First I will consider The National Organizations for the Reform of Marijuana Laws â€Å"Principles of Responsible Marijuana Use† which is the basis for their argument for the legalization of marijuana, and how this set of principles is flawed. Second I will consider the claim â€Å"that marijuana should be legal in a taxed and regulated manner† and also consider the source of this claim. Third I will emphasize the negative social effects of legalization of marijuana in order to counter the claims for legalization. Finally I will conclude that given these factors, legalization of marijuana would be harmful and detrimental to society as a whole, possessing little or no economic, social, or medical benefits. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law is the leading lobbyist group for the legalization of marijuana in the United States. This organization has made it their commitment to have marijuana legalized in a taxable way as tobacco and alcohol currently are. This organization rationalizes its arguments with a document called the â€Å"Principles of Responsible Marijuana Use† in which is attempts to justify marijuana reform in a socially accepted manner. The very title of the document is ambiguous, the word â€Å"responsible† is a very circumstantial term and is subject to many different interpretations. Furthermore the document assumes that if legalized, citizens will adhere to this unofficial â€Å"code of ethics†, however we can evidently see with alcohol and tobacco that there is abuse regardless of the regulating laws. Despite this, NORML attempts to lay out their interpretation for what â€Å"responsible marijuana use† is ( 4 ); their first point is that marijuana is to be for adults only, and that it is irresponsible to provide marijuana to children. The terms â€Å"adults† and â€Å"children† again are ambiguous, it is not clear where the line is drawn between what defines an adult or a child. This is a concern because many would assume a child is no longer a child after eighteen years of age, thus it can be determined that eighteen and over is considered a â€Å"responsible† user. It need not be said that current alcohol restrictions limit a user to twenty-one and over. According to a 2005 Monitoring the Future Study, â€Å"three-fourths of 12th graders, more than two-thirds of 10th graders, and about two in every five 8th graders have consumed alcohol†( 5 ), with this evidence it would be wishful thinking to assume marijuana would be any different. To further consider this point 6.8% of children ages 12 to 17 use marijuana on an occasional basis ( 5 ). It would be reasonable to conclude that if marijuana was legalized that number would increase drastically. Second the NORMLs â€Å"Principles of Responsible Marijuana Use† attempts to rationalize legal marijuana use by claiming that if legalized responsible users will refrain from driving ( 4 ). Although an illegal drug, it is not surprising that there are already statistics regarding marijuana impaired driving in many states. California who just recently had a proposition for the legalization of marijuana has some of the most relevant statistics; there are various counties in California that have a 16% or higher marijuana involved traffic fatalities ( 3 ). This number would only increase with the legalization, and that is not to include the the amount of non fatal accidents that would occur annually. A recent study by Alfred Crancer and Alan Crancer projected that traffic fatalities would increase by as much as 300% with legalization ( 3 ). Third NORML claims that â€Å"The responsible cannabis user will carefully consider his/her set and setting, regulating use accordingly†. In this claim there is much room for a line-drawing fallacy, in which it is difficult and conveniently vague and up to the individual to determine what set and setting is actually appropriate for usage. It could be assumed under this principle that its safe to use marijuana while caring for children, elderly, while driving, and also very relevantly while working. Forth NORML claims that a responsible marijuana user will â€Å"resist abuse†. They define abuse by: â€Å"Abuse means harm. Some cannabis use is harmful; most is not. That which is harmful should be discouraged; that which is not need not be.† A clever statement however invalid and illogical. Drug abuse is defined as an uncontrollable urge for constant seeking of intoxicants ( 2 ). Many users would be unaware of their abuse, until the point in which it has destroyed their livelihood, relationships, economic security, and health. Legalization would only increase the numbers of active addicts, and make marijuana readily available for them, and being legal, consequently restraining family, friends, and the courts from restricting an addicts use before to much harm is done. The final claim made by NORML is a â€Å"Respect for Rights of Others† in which they attempt to justify the fact that if marijuana was legal, non users will have to deal with it. Again it is wishful thinking to see that users will have respect for the others who are not users, however while illegal we can see that many still cultivate marijuana, drive under the influence of it, and use it as socially as possible. A strict layout of parameters that must be followed with public and private use of the drug would be acceptable, however advocates for the cause prefer the vagueness, in which there are no absolute lines that can be drawn between legal and illegal use (ie. Driving, social events, age, etc.). The entire document is a rationalization and does not seem to give a valid or true pretense to satisfy desires. The most relevant claim argued against in this paper is the claim that â€Å"marijuana should be legal in a taxed and regulated manner†. This claim by itself has the vagueness and ambiguity of a typical bill or legislation. It is this vagueness and ambiguity that encroach on the freedoms of citizens everyday. The fact is that marijuana is a drug, it was made illegal by the Federal Controlled Substance Act of 1970 to stop the violence and abuse that was common practice. We have seen in other countries failed attempts to regulate and tax drugs, like the Netherlands, and we have seen the damage drugs can have on society as a hole, like the dangerous drug cartels that rule Mexico. In evaluating this claim it is also important to consider the sources, one of the biggest supporters of marijuana legalization is Robert Lee. Lee is president of â€Å"Oaksterdam University† a school that teaches students how to cultivate, grow, process, and cure marijuana ( 3 ). It would seem highly logical to acknowledge that this man is not interested in the social repercussions of legalization. His motive is clearly for the profit that can come from legalization. Legalization would drastically increase the amount of growers and interested parties in his school. Another strong voice in pro-legalization is the company S.K. Seymour LLC which is a Medical Cannabis Provider ( 3 ), who again would see a dramatic increase in profit and sales due to the fact that they can open up their business to the public, and not just medical marijuana patients. It seems that neither of the sources, from the research done, are interested in the negative and adverse affects of legalization and only interested in the lucrative value of legalization. It is also important to analyze the negative social effects of marijuana on society, most notably the economic affects and the medical effects. Recent proposition 19 in California stated that: â€Å"No person shall be punished, fined, discriminated against, or be denied any right or privilege for lawfully engaging in any conduct permitted by this Act or authorized pursuant to Section 11301 of this Act. Provided however, that the existing right of an employer to address consumption that actually impairs job performance by an employee shall not be affected.† Basically stating that employers can no longer regulate marijuana use while working unless it can show that performance is being impaired by use ( 3 ). Proposition 19 also is in conflict with the Federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970 which prohibits the use of marijuana for recreational use. This would be a mistake by California due to the fact that the state would loose billions of federal dollars in the form of grants and aid called for by the Federal Workplace Act of 1988. Not only would government loose money but also schools and medical centers can potentially be affected ( 3 ). The health risks for marijuana usage are as noteworthy as the social repercussions. Marijuana is known to cause A-motivational syndrome, which is a depressed state of the brain in which reaction times and motivation is affected by long term use ( 3 ). Furthermore â€Å"the gateway theory† blames marijuana as the compromise that leads an individual to try harder more harmful drugs. Lastly marijuana has been placed on the California Proposition 65 list of carcinogenic materials, as proven materials that cause cancer ( 3 ). In this paper I argued that the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws definitions and reasoning for a â€Å"responsible legal† user is flawed. Many of their arguments are invalid and lack sound reasoning to a conclusion. That the claim that marijuana should be legal and taxed is not a fully developed claim and that the sources of the claims motives are not sound in reasoning for legalization. Finally I argued that if marijuana is legalized it would be detrimental to society specifically regarding medical and economic problems. The arguments for legalization are not convincing and present many fallacies, Legalization supporters have the wrong idea of controlled use.

The Disturbing Tone of Rapunzel Essay -- Grimm Rapunzel Essays

The Disturbing Tone of Rapunzel The story of "Rapunzel" has been passed throughout generations in the form of a fairy tale. Typical fairy tales come to a resolution ending ‘happily ever after’. It seems that there is always a villain, always a hero, and some sort of a moral or lesson to be grasped from each story (Rhetoric 102K/L class discussion/lecture, January 18, 2001). Most of the traditional fairy tales involve a ‘damsel in distress’, in which she is happily rescued by a true love. These types of stories leave readers feeling that those who are in pain and anguish will eventually rise above and be granted pure happiness. It is this break in the traditional style that sets the Grimm stories apart from others. Using the formalistic approach allows for the Grimm version of Rapunzel to be analyzed closely. For starters, the way a story begins and the first impression upon the reader are extremely important. The authors creatively set up a situation in which they manipulate the minds of their readers. They have to pave the road they want their readers to follow in order to have a greater impact. The road starts with the title, which is a direct indication of the main character, Rapunzel. While reading the story the authors have already given the reader a previous insight of what is to come. The story begins describing the situation of â€Å"a man and his wife, who had long wished for a child, but in vain†(Grimm 514). This opening line begins to unfold much of the story and reveals the main part of the story, how Rapunzel was the center of their wishes. The names of the characters are insightful for the reader to relate the events and make connections. In th... ...ere no one else can go without permission. They climb a golden ladder to discover beauty. Rapunzel is perceived as innocent and pure. When the witch discovers her sin of connecting to the world and ruining this purity, her beauty is lost. Hence, the loss of her famous trait, her locks of hair. This version of Rapunzel is still a fairy tale. It has the villain, the 'damsel in distress', the hero, and the happy ending. However, the tone of the story is more disturbing. The prince has a genuine affection for Rapunzel despite the loss of her gorgeous hair. The story explains how he seeked finding her originally because her "song had entered his heart"(Grimm 516). The word choice here is very effective. The prince liked her before the display of her beauty. This is a typical fairy tale idea that they are meant to be together through fate.

Spanish Civil War Essay -- essays research papers

Spanish Civil War (1936–39), military revolt against the Republican government of Spain, supported by conservative elements within the country. When an initial military coup failed to win control of the entire country, a bloody civil war ensued, fought with great ferocity on both sides. The Nationalists, as the rebels were called, received aid from fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. The Republicans received aid from the Soviet Union, as well as from International Brigades, composed of volunteers from Europe and the United States. The war was an outcome of a polarization of Spanish life and politics that had developed over previous decades. On one side (the Nationalist) were most Roman Catholics, important elements of the military, most landowners, and many businessmen. On the other side (the Republican) were urban workers, most agricultural labourers, and many of the educated middle class. Politically their differences often found extreme and vehement expression in parties such as the fascist-oriented Falange and the militant anarchists. Between these extremes were other groups covering the political spectrum from monarchism and conservatism through liberalism to socialism, including a small communist movement divided among followers of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and his archrival, Leon Trotsky. In 1934 there was widespread labour conflict and a bloody uprising by miners in Asturias that was suppressed by troops led by General Francisco Franco. A succession of governmental crises culminated in the electi ons of February 16, 1936, which brought to power a Popular Front government supported by most of the parties of the left and opposed by the parties of the right and what remained of the centre. A well-planned military uprising began on July 17, 1936, in garrison towns throughout Spain. By July 21 the rebels had achieved control in Spanish Morocco, the Canary Islands, and the Balearic Islands (except Minorca) and in the part of Spain north of the Guadarrama mountains and the Ebro River, except for Asturias, Santander, and the Basque provinces along the north coast and the region of Catalonia in the northeast. The Republican forces had put down the uprising in other areas, except for some of the larger Andalusian cities, including Seville, Granada, and CÃ ³rdoba. The Nationalists and Republicans proceeded to organize their respective territories and to repre... ...rovinces in the summer of 1937 and then Asturias, so that by October they held the whole northern coast. A war of attrition began. The Nationalists drove a salient eastward through Teruel, reaching the Mediterranean and splitting the republic in two in April 1938. In December 1938, they moved upon Catalonia in the northeast, forcing the Republican armies there northward toward France. By February 1939, 250,000 Republican soldiers, together with an equal number of civilians, had fled across the border into France. On March 5 the Republican government flew to exile in France. On March 7 a civil war broke out in Madrid between communist and anticommunist factions. By March 28 all of the Republican armies had begun to disband and surrender, and Nationalist forces entered Madrid on that day. The number of persons killed in the Spanish Civil War can be only roughly estimated. Nationalist forces put the figure at 1,000,000, including not only those killed in battle but also the victims of bombardment, execution, and assassination. More recent estimates have been closer to 500,000 or less. This does not include all those who died from malnutrition, starvation, and war-engendered disease.

Evidence Based Health Promotion Essay

Health promotion has emerged in the last decade as an important force to improve both quality and quantity of people’s lives. Sometimes termed ‘the new public health’ it seeks to support and encourage a participative social movement that enables individuals and communities to take control over their own health. (Bunton,R & Macdonald,G 1992) Health promotion plays an important part in everybody’s life and the lives our children and our children’s children. The purpose of this assignment is to discuss and give justification for evidence based health promotion, some people may ask why we need evidence based health promotion and practice, this paper goes some way to identifying the answer to this question. Health promotion can be defined in may ways, as defined by the World Health Organisation health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve their health. (www. who. int accessed November 2007) Tannahill (1985) defined health as ‘the process of enhancing health and reducing risk of ill health through the overlapping spheres of health education, health protection and disease control,’ ultimately they all accept that lifestyle and ecological elements play a critical part in any health promotion strategy. The topic of evidence based health promotion is a timely one given the resolution of the World Health Assembly that all members state: ‘adopt an evidence-based approach to health promotion using the full range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. WHO, 51st World Health Assembly, Geneva, 1998) (www. who. int accessed November 2007) In the past few years significant advances have been made in health promotion to generate readily accessible systematic reviews of evidence on the effectiveness of interventions and programs. The influence of this evidence on policy and practice has, however, been unpredictable and proponents of evidence based health practice are identifying ways to increase the use of research in decisions about health promotion interventions. www. oxfordjournals. org) Health promotion is a process directed towards enabling people to take action and control over their own health, it is not something that is done on or to people, it is done by, for and with people either as individuals or as groups. In Choosing Health (DOH, 2004) the Government insist a positive way forward is to promote and to motivate the nation to make healthier lifestyle choices. Ewles and Simnett (2003) state that health promotion is about raising the health status of individuals and communities – this means improving health, advancing, supporting, encouraging and placing it higher on personal and public agendas. The purpose of health promotion is to strengthen the skills and capabilities of individuals to take action and the capacity of groups or communities to act collectively to exert control over the detriments of health and achieve positive health. Evidence based health promotion assists people in this aim. The response to the current need for evidence has been two fold, on the one hand we have witnessed an increase in the number of published systematic reviews, together with more robust evaluations from the field. On the other hand there has been considerable debate about the nature of evidence and how we can assess effectiveness. Concerns about the possible dominance of a positive methodological agenda and its limited applicability to health promotion have been more fully discussed elsewhere. Signs are emerging that these concerns are being beginning to be addressed. There is increasing recognition of the broad epistemological basis of health promotion research, the value of methodological pluralism and the particular capacity of qualititative methods to provide illuminating perspectives. (www. oxfordjournals. org) Evidence based health promotion asks us, how do we know? who says so? , it is based on inspiration, values, experiences, statistics, data, samples and research. Research is about proving and disproving and is completed to ensure data is valid and reliable; we depend on evidence based health promotion to contribute to the development of our knowledge. It is a crucial means of producing evidence which informs practice, offers guidance and prescription, It makes the practitioner an informed individual who practice is less likely to be questioned as unsafe or unreliable. Government documents are increasingly emphasising the importance and their support for evidence based health promotion such as the document better health Wales in 1998 which covers many areas of health, although some years ago the content is still as relevant today. The dominant model for reviewing health care interventions is that established by the Cochrane Collaboration (1994). This is a bio-medical model, in which the ultimate effectivness of interventions is expressed as ‘hard’ outcomes such as changes in mortality and morbidity and behavioural outcomes. Accumulating scientific proof of the effectiveness of a clinical intervention can be complex and can involve randomized controlled trial’s meta-analysis and undertaking systematic reviews. ( Webb,D 1999) So what are these trials and why are they used? A randomized controlled trial is an experiment with a group of patients which seeks to determine which outcomes are obtained with a particular intervention. Of course it is always possible that a clinical outcome may be a consequence of some factor other than the intervention This possibility is ‘controlled for’ by incorporating into the design of the trial a second group, the ‘control group’ who do not receive the intervention. Patients are randomly assigned to either the intervention or the control group through randomising the allocation of patients to intervention or control groups it becomes likely that factors which might influence an outcome, for example socio economic differences are equally distributed and therefore cancel each other out. The random controlled trial provides the best assurance that outcome differences can be attributed to the intervention and not to extraneous factors. ( Webb,D 1999) Randomized controlled trials are the most rigorous way of determining whether a cause effect relation exists between treatment and outcome and for assessing the cost effectiveness of a treatment. They are used to establish efficiency of a treatment as well as frequency of side affects. This is meant to address issues such as, effects of treatment may only be small and therefore undetectable except when studied methodically on a large scale, also biological organisms are complex and do not react to the same stimulus in the same way, which makes influence from single clinical reports very unreliable and generally unacceptable as scientific evidence. Finally, it is also known and has been proven that when administering the treatment it can have psychological effects on a person this is known as the placebo effect. There are some limits of a randomized controlled trial such as ethical concerns, some might say it is unethical to expose a patient to treatment that is inferior to one already currently available, however some might say how can we progress until these trials are performed and results are found. It is widely acknowledged that random controlled trials are not well suited to explaining how something happens, rather than what happens (Pawson & Tilley, 1997), However, understanding how something was implemented and what effect this has on outcomes, is absolutely crucial to health promotion. Since the late 1970’s Meta analysis has emerged as a powerful tool for synthesising the results of independent trials. In essence, it is an overview of clinical trials in a particular area of treatment, in which the results are presented in the form of numeric summary. ( Webb,D 1999) There are some weaknesses of using this method, one is that sources of bias are not controlled by this. Even if you have a good design of meta analysis if you have a bad study you will get bad results, it can be argued that only methodologically sound studies should be used in meta analysis, a practice called by Robert Slavin as ‘ best evidence meta analysis’. Systematic reviews of the literature on clinical effectiveness are being undertaken to provide clinicians, managers and policy makers with a more efficient means of accessing information about effective interventions. Systematic reviews are intended to provide a synthesis of research findings in given areas and present the results in ways which are manageable, Systematic reviews can seek to establish whether research findings are consistent, can be generalised across target groups and settings or determine whether they vary by particular sub sets (Mulrow, 1995). In addition to the need for systematic reviews to incorporate less stringent inclusion criteria for research designs is the criticism that they have been predominantly concerned with the quality of the research design and have not considered in detail the range and quality of the interventions in each study. (Speller & Webb 1997) Both quantitative and qualitative research test on rich and varied traditions that come from multiple disciplines and both have been employed to address almost any research topic you can think of. To put it simply qualitative data typically consists of words while quantitative data consists of numbers. Although there are clear differences between to two anything that is qualitative can be assigned meaningful numeric values, these values can then be manipulated to help us achieve greater insight into the meaning of the data and to examine specific hypotheses. (www. socialresearchmethods. et) Qualitative data is extremely varied in nature it can include almost any information that can be captured that is not numerical in nature such as interviews, observations and written documents. Another difference between the two is that in quantitative research, the researcher is ideally and objective who neither participates in nor influences what is being studied. In qualitative research, however, it is thought that the researcher can learn the most by participating or being immersed in a research situation. These basic underlying assumptions of both methodologies guide and sequence the types of data collection methods employed. (www. writing. colostate. edu) Research in several countries provides consistent evidence of a ‘theory practice gap’ in health, clear disparities have been demonstrated between the best practice ideals and values that are taught and those actually encountered in everyday practice. (www. eprints. soton. ac. uk) Larsen et al (2002) said it is obvious that almost everyone spontaneously experiences a gap between theory and practice. Theory and practice exist in their own right as two kinds of knowledge, theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge. This statement of relations between theory and practice challenges not only theorists and practitioners but also basic thinking in modern, western cultural circles that has been in place since the enlightenment. The experience of a gap is a social construct, it is a product of history and society. While most of the literature on the subject of theory practice gap sees it as a problem it has been suggested that a positive benefit of the gap is that it can provide you with an opportunity to develop problem solving skills. Eraut et al (1995) offers a more precise typology of theory practice gaps, focusing on different types of knowledge and its implication for use in practice. The ideal and the real world for care delivery, the difference between generic and specific application of theory, the problems of translation and implementation (transfer of learning) and the need to identify the relevant from the irrelevant ( often dependent on the setting and the resources available) Research has shown that there can be many factors involved in causing the gap, such as rapid changes in the clinical setting that affect the nature and setting of care delivery, sequencing of theory and practice, lack of recent clinical experience by nurse educators, lack of collaboration between clinical areas and educational institutions and the need to be an educational generalist who can cover a wide subject range whilst clinical areas are becoming increasingly specialist and even super specialist. (www. who. org) Solutions that have been suggested to bridge the theory practice gap such as an innovative curriculum allowing closer sequencing of theory and practice, improving collab oration between clinical areas and educational institutions. The creation of joint appointments (between education and services) where the role is to facilitate the application of theory to practice, promote effective collaboration between the two services and education: promote research based practice: and facilitate the development of nursing practice. And by using the use of tools such as the skills grid that sets out the knowledge, skills, behaviour and outcomes are linked and supported by research evidence. ( Knight C M et al) Then role of evidence based practice in health promotion has amplified over the years, this is due to the increased amount of evidence available and the willingness of the specialist’s and practitioners, also the need for precision when it comes to health promotion. Evidence based health promotion is an aide to health promotion and an essential part of advancement in the health field. Health promotion, in order to be effective needs both quantitative and qualitative research to best inform practice, even with all the methods of research it still depends on the rigour and the extent to which the investigator is methodical in the collection and analysis of the data and its limitations. Qualitative approaches are able to explore the different meanings that individuals attach to health and to the different variations, given that health promotion is committed to the idea that there are many different definitions of health and that the role of health promotion is to help meet some of the diverse needs and aspirations of different communities as can be seen in the Ottawa chart. (Webb 1999) Evidence based health promotion starts from skills and qualities which many health promoters have already. It complements reflective practice by adding the experience of others, presented in various forms.

Free Essays on Little And Big Dipper

The Big Dipper is one of the most distinctive asterisms in the sky, also known as the Ursa Major or the Great Bear. The Big Dipper is a group of seven bright stars, three that form a handle and four that form a bowl. Fugitive slaves before the Civil War knew it as "the drinking gourd", a signpost in the sky pointing the way north to safety, to Canada where slavery was outlawed. In 1926, when Alaska had to create its own flag, they used the big dipper and the North Star as a design for their flag. It is a piece of Stone Age culture thought to be at least 8,000 to 12,000 years old. In different countries, the Big Dipper has a different name. For instance, In Ireland it was called the "King David's Chariot," from one of that island's early kings. In France, it was the "Great Chariot." And in the British Isles these seven stars are known widely as "The Plough." The Little Dipper is a constellation reflecting and being the smaller version of the Big Dipper. It can be found by looking directly up from the two outermost stars which form the bowl on the Big Dipper. These two stars point us to Polaris, the Pole Star indicating the North Pole, which is at the end of the Little Dipper's handle. The Big Dipper The Little Dipper The 7 stars that are a part of the Big Dipper are: 1. Alkaid 2. Mizar 3. Alioth 4. Megrez 5. Dubhe 6. Merak 7. Phad or Phecda In the Big Dipper, Mizar, the second star from the end, is actually made up of 4 stars. The brighter 2nd magnitude Mizar, and a fainter 4th magnitude nearby star, Alcor are separated by about 11.8 minutes of arc, and being able to detect the two as separate is considered a test of good eyesight. However Alcor is not part of Mizar. Mizar is at a distance of 78 light years from the Sun, and Alcor at 81 light years. The Big Dipper is setting in the northwestern sky at 7:30 p.m. Use the two Pointer stars at the end of the bowl of the ... Free Essays on Little And Big Dipper Free Essays on Little And Big Dipper The Big Dipper is one of the most distinctive asterisms in the sky, also known as the Ursa Major or the Great Bear. The Big Dipper is a group of seven bright stars, three that form a handle and four that form a bowl. Fugitive slaves before the Civil War knew it as "the drinking gourd", a signpost in the sky pointing the way north to safety, to Canada where slavery was outlawed. In 1926, when Alaska had to create its own flag, they used the big dipper and the North Star as a design for their flag. It is a piece of Stone Age culture thought to be at least 8,000 to 12,000 years old. In different countries, the Big Dipper has a different name. For instance, In Ireland it was called the "King David's Chariot," from one of that island's early kings. In France, it was the "Great Chariot." And in the British Isles these seven stars are known widely as "The Plough." The Little Dipper is a constellation reflecting and being the smaller version of the Big Dipper. It can be found by looking directly up from the two outermost stars which form the bowl on the Big Dipper. These two stars point us to Polaris, the Pole Star indicating the North Pole, which is at the end of the Little Dipper's handle. The Big Dipper The Little Dipper The 7 stars that are a part of the Big Dipper are: 1. Alkaid 2. Mizar 3. Alioth 4. Megrez 5. Dubhe 6. Merak 7. Phad or Phecda In the Big Dipper, Mizar, the second star from the end, is actually made up of 4 stars. The brighter 2nd magnitude Mizar, and a fainter 4th magnitude nearby star, Alcor are separated by about 11.8 minutes of arc, and being able to detect the two as separate is considered a test of good eyesight. However Alcor is not part of Mizar. Mizar is at a distance of 78 light years from the Sun, and Alcor at 81 light years. The Big Dipper is setting in the northwestern sky at 7:30 p.m. Use the two Pointer stars at the end of the bowl of the ...

The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets Essay Example

The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets Essay Example The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets Essay The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets Essay 1. What is the typical relationship between involvement rates on three-month Treasury measures. long-run exchequer bonds. and Baa corporate bonds? The involvement rate on three-month Treasury measures fluctuates more than the other involvement rates and is lower on norm. The involvement rate on Baa corporate bonds is higher on norm than the other involvement rates. 2. What consequence might a autumn in stock monetary values have on concern investing? The lower monetary value for a firm’s portions means that it can raise a smaller sum of financess. and so investing in works and equipment will fall. 3. What consequence might a rise in stock monetary values have on consumers’ determinations to pass? Higher stock monetary values mean that consumers’ wealth is higher and so they will be more likely to increase their disbursement. 4. Why are fiscal markets of import to the wellness of the economic system? Because they channel financess from those who do non hold a productive usage for them to those who do. thereby ensuing in higher economic efficiency. 5. What was the chief cause of the recession that began in 2007? The chief cause of the recession that began in 2007 was the defaults in subprime residential mortgages led to major losingss. 6. What is the basic activity of Bankss? Banks accept sedimentations and so utilize the ensuing financess to do loans. 7. What are other of import fiscal mediators in the economic system besides Bankss? Savingss and loan associations. common savings Bankss. recognition brotherhoods. insurance companies. common financess. pension financess. and finance companies 8. Can you believe of any fiscal invention in the past 10 old ages that has affected you personally? Has it made you better or worse off? In what manner? 9. Have the rising prices rate in the U. S. increased or decreased in the past few old ages? What about the involvement rates? The rising prices rate in the U. S. increased in the past few old ages and the involvement rates decreased. 10. If the history repeats itself and we see a diminution in the rate of money growing. what might you anticipate to go on to a. existent end product? will increase b. the rising prices rate? will diminish c. involvement rates? will diminish 11. When involvement rates decrease. how might concerns and consumers change their economic behaviour? Businesss would increase investing disbursement because the cost of funding this disbursement is now lower. and consumers would be more likely to buy a house or a auto because the cost of financing their purchase is lower. 12. Is everybody worse off when involvement rates rise? No. Peoples who borrow to buy a house or a auto are worse off because it costs them more to finance their purchase ; nevertheless. rescuers benefit because they can gain higher involvement rates on their nest eggs. 13. Why do directors of fiscal establishments care so much about the activities of the Federal Reserve System? Because the actions of the Federal Reserve affects involvement rates. rising prices. and concern rhythms. all of which have an of import impact on the profitableness of fiscal establishments. 15. How does a diminution in the value of lb sterling affect British consumers? It makes foreign goods more expensive and so British consumers will purchase less foreign goods and more domestic goods. 16. How does an addition in the value of the lb sterling affect American concerns? It makes British goods more expensive relation to American goods. American concerns will happen it easier to sell their goods in the United States and abroad. and the demand for their merchandises will lift. If. nevertheless. an American concern depends on supplies/parts from British companies these merchandises will increase their costs. 17. How can alter in foreign exchange rates affect the profitableness of fiscal establishments? Changes in foreign exchange rates change the value of assets held by fiscal establishments and therefore take to additions and losingss on these assets. Besides changes in foreign exchange rates affect the net incomes made by bargainers in foreign exchange who work for fiscal establishments. 18. Harmonizing to Figure 8. in which old ages would you hold chosen to see the Grand Canyon in Arizona instead than the Tower of London? Where the dollar was weak 1991. 1993. 1995 etc. the Grand Canyon 19. When the dollar is worth more in relation to currencies of other states. are you more likely to purchase American-made or foreign-made denims? When the dollar additions in value. foreign goods become less expensive relation to American goods ; therefore you are more likely to purchase French-made denims than American-made denims. The ensuing bead in demand for American-made denims because of the strong dollar injuries American denims makers. On the other manus. the American company that imports denims into the United States now finds that the demand for its merchandise has risen. so it is better off when the dollar is strong. 20. Much of the U. S. authorities debt is held as exchequer bonds and measures by foreign investors. How do fluctuations in the dollar exchange rate affect the value of that debt held by aliens? Foreign holders of this debt are concerned that the U. S. will allow the dollar value diminution so the comparative value of its debt is less. As the dollar loses value. investors are less likely to keep assets in dollars as they wait for the diminution to halt.

Four Tough-Love, Common Sense Rules in Freelancing

Four Tough-Love, Common Sense Rules in Freelancing When a new writer asks me how to start making money freelancing, they usually ask What are the rules? You can buy many books and take classes on freelancing, but there are some pieces of advice that are pure common sense. 1) Do not pitch pieces until you already write well.   You dont start writing 2) Know that market well.   Sounds almost like a cliche, but believe it or not, most of the queries I receive have nothing to do with FundsforWriters. Same goes for most blogs, magazines, and periodicals. Many writers sling articles out hoping they fit somewhere. Editors get more than enough good articles to select from without sorting through those that dont. And yes, word count matters. Pitch smart and accurately. Clean and intelligently. 3) Do not ask for the guidelines. Editors do not have time to teach you how to write for them. Its your job to read the publication, hunt for guidelines, and pitch correctly. When you write and ask what an editor needs and how they want it, expect rejection. The exception to this rule is if you are well-established as a freelancer, can tout a serious string of credentials with superb publications, and want to write a letter of introduction instead. 4) Do not argue with the editor. Arguing with an editor is asking for rejection. They dont have time for that. They also know better than you what best fits the publication. Tough love indeed. A newbie or hob

The Founding Docs of the U.S Government Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Founding Docs of the U.S Government - Article Example It was also precursor to the social justice that was intrinsically linked to declaration of independence. It emphasized equity and freedom for people from all walks of life cutting across race, culture and color. The representative republic governance was considered as American experiment mainly because it laid the foundation of democracy that worked for people and was formed by the people through elected representatives (Stedman & Lewis, 1987). They received the right to power from the constitution to safeguard the interests of the people. The new democratic framework tested the enduring ideas of founders and proved that experiment of representative government can succeed. The Bill of Rights fulfills the ideas of American enlightenment as well resolves the differences between the federalists and non federalists. Through ten amendments, it comprehensively promotes equality and freedom of speech. The various clauses within the constitutional amendments ensure the federal and state rights work towards the wider welfare of the people and safeguard their interests through legal provisions. National interests are taken care by the federal government which enjoys huge power but the limitations imp osed by the constitution ensure responsibility and accountability in their actions thus, satisfying both the federalists and non federalists. (words:

Community Plan, Implementation and evaluation Research Paper

Community Plan, Implementation and evaluation - Research Paper Example Asthma is another disease that is prevalent among this demographic group. On an observational trip, it was noted that all classes had at least one obese student. In an interview with a school nurse, she contended that the school had disease prevention and health promotion activities and that asthma was not uncommon at the school, although obesity was the biggest issue. The paper, therefore, chose asthma and obesity as the school risks of the greatest concern. It has to be noted that whereas there has been some success countering asthma in public American schools obesity remains a major problem to date. Healthy People 2020 have put obesity as its number one health problem for eradication by using weight status and nutrition, in ensuring reduced risk of chronic disease through maintaining a healthy body weights and consuming healthy diets. Obesity is linked to other chronic diseases like asthma and through management of obesity; therefore, these diseases can be prevented. The Nutrition and Weight Status’ objectives emphasize individual behavior and environments that support healthy weight maintenance and eating habits, which, in this case, should be in settings like communities, schools, and organizations. School is an important setting for achieving a quality health culture as identified by Healthy People 2020. ... This is especially important in order to counteract advertising of junk food that is all over the mainstream media while promoting improvements to an environment that encourages outdoor recreation, biking, and walking (Shediac-Rizkallah & Bone, 2010). The plan will revolve around three objectives, one of which will be fostering the demand and availability of healthy food using involvement by family, incentives, and education. This will seek to build on an already existing program by the Healthy Corner Stores Initiative, which is an incentive program that seeks to reward business owners and consumers for making a choice for healthy food (Shediac-Rizkallah & Bone, 2010). The objective seeks to integration of education and promotion of healthy eating into all aspects of Sherwood Elementary activities. The second objective is expansion and support of fitness programs driven by the school and community around the school, which are low cost and, in the case of those at school, free. This w ill also seek to create hospitable environments for, cycling and walking along the streets around the school and within the compound. To achieve this objective, there will be an assessment of community and school based fitness facilities in existence, as well as research best practices for weight management and other groups for mutual support that will seek to design a program for Sherwood Elementary School (Shediac-Rizkallah & Bone, 2010). Leaders in the school should also be sought out for training, as well as the creation of a structure for the celebration and promotion of active lifestyles and weight reduction. The third objective will be the development and coordination of school-wide

Consider bauman's idea that central features of modernity underpinned Essay

Consider bauman's idea that central features of modernity underpinned the possibility and actuality of the holocaust - Essay Example Out of job, Bauman had enough spare time in his hands and completed his masters in philosophy from Warsaw University where he remained as a lecturer till 1968. With the outbreak of public protests in Poland against the ruling communist government and subsequent fanning of anti-Semitic sentiments by the government to deflect public criticism, Bauman shifted to Leeds University after briefly teaching in Tel Aviv University. Bauman faced anti-Semitic sentiments twice in his life and both were from non-Nazi state machinery. This experience led him to form an opinion that modernity, bureaucracy and social exclusion creates a situation where an extreme phobia against those social groups that cannot be neatly categorised and slotted into predetermined and well established hierarchical superstructure prevalent in the society. This in essence is the beginning of a potential holocaust that will inevitably result if this xenophobic attitude towards those social sub-groups that cannot be effectively analysed according to existing social norms is not brought under control. Such social mores can be brought under control only if the authority is aware of the potential dangers and initiates strong measures to counter such a mass phobia against so-called outsiders. History, however, has witnessed several instances of cynical exploitation of the deep seated distrust among Europeans against so-called killers of Christ by governments of several European nations, Poland and Soviet Russia being the main culprits, to further their narrow and selfish class interests. Bauman has worked extensively on these issues where he has clearly laid bare the intrinsic interconnection between modern society where people wilfully forego several facets of personal freedom (both in the realm of actions and in thoughts) and the inherent distrust of the ‘outsider’ who does not conform to the established mores of the society. His contention is

Educational effectiveness - International Comparison Essay

Educational effectiveness - International Comparison - Essay Example All these aspects should go hand in hand in establishing an effective educational system. But there is also one new yet already proven method of assessing the effectiveness of the educational system, and this is through international comparison. Comparisons of various schools’ students’ learning across countries are already being done 50 years ago. And recently, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) realized that this will be a good method of analyzing the level of efficacy of the educational system of the major schools around the world (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2005). Initially, IEA though of comparing the educational system of the schools so as have a clear and unbiased comparative data about the schools’ educational performances. Thus, all levels in an educational system, the teachers, the school administrators, the policymakers and even the educational facilities are being assessed and compared. As the time goes by, IEA realized that comparing the educations’ effectiveness of schools around the world can also give tremendous benefits to schools being compared and even to students and teachers themselves (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2005). The series of tests or exams for the students, the demo and several teacher valuations are known to be the proven ways of knowing if the students are learning or not or if the teachers are capable of teaching or not. But, the efficacy and efficiency of education per country as a whole cannot be assessed by those two methods. Thus, understanding and analyzing all the concepts and issues behind cross-country comparison of educational effectiveness is a good approach of appreciating education. The results of this paper can provide unlimited benefits to the students, teachers and the schools. They will be provided with ample

Observe, Analyze and Report Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Observe, Analyze and Report - Term Paper Example What are the unique characteristics and behaviors of the members of each group? These are just some of the questions which one hopes to answer after observing the social groups in a school canteen. The observation day was conducted on a Monday at around lunch time. From one’s conversation with some students, one learned that it was an exam week for high school students. One sat at a corner table of the canteen. It was around 11:30am, minutes before the students’ lunch break. One was ready with a pen and paper where the observations of the groups will be written. A few minutes later, students started arriving at the canteen, right after finishing their tests in two subjects. They will be having two more long tests in the afternoon from two different subjects. This information was volunteered by one student whom one got to talk to. The first group that arrived was a group of five Asian American girls who were talking in their native tongue while entering the canteen. They all had slanted eyes, fair complexion and dark hair. Their clothes were simple and modest. They wore shirts, denim pants and sneakers. They all carried back packs. Aside from the back packs, they have books and folders on their arms. They sat down on one of the corner tables of the canteen and put down all their bags and books on the table. One expected them to bring out their lunch boxes or go to the counter to get their food but they did not. Instead, they were discussing in English, the test questions from the tests that they just took. After around 20 minutes of talking to each other, two of the girls stood up and went to the food counter. The remaining three girls meanwhile brought out their lunch boxes. Two girls brought out what looks like rice and a viand. While the other one brought out a cup of instant noodles soup with chopsticks. The two girls who went to the food counter then came back with sandwiches, milk and juice. They all started to eat their lunch with conversati ons in between. One then focused one’s attention to a group of ten rowdy boys and girls who entered the canteen. They were obviously sports jocks as evidenced by their sports jackets. They wore branded rubber shoes. They were masculine and handsome teenage boys. They were with some pretty blonde girls who were fashionably dressed and with make-up on. They were giggling and teasing each other, oblivious of the crowd in the canteen whose eyes all turned to them when they entered the canteen. From observation, one can conclude that two pairs from the group were in a relationship. One pair was holding hands while the other pair seems extra sweet to each other. The group chose the center table at the canteen and connected two other tables to make one long table. Being an exam week, this group of students does not look like they care about their studies. Although they also carried books, one sees no sign of them discussing anything about the tests that they have just taken or revie wing for the other two exams for the afternoon. Theirs was a carefree attitude, the exact opposite of what one observed from the group of Asian American students. After socializing with each other, they all went to the food counter. Most of the boys got a hamburger and fries while the girls got salads and fruits. The third group of students that one got to observe is a group of four male nerds. This is the group known in the school as the weird, intelligent guys who lacked social skills. One knows that this is the nerd group because

Educational effectiveness - International Comparison Essay

Educational effectiveness - International Comparison - Essay Example All these aspects should go hand in hand in establishing an effective educational system. But there is also one new yet already proven method of assessing the effectiveness of the educational system, and this is through international comparison. Comparisons of various schools’ students’ learning across countries are already being done 50 years ago. And recently, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) realized that this will be a good method of analyzing the level of efficacy of the educational system of the major schools around the world (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2005). Initially, IEA though of comparing the educational system of the schools so as have a clear and unbiased comparative data about the schools’ educational performances. Thus, all levels in an educational system, the teachers, the school administrators, the policymakers and even the educational facilities are being assessed and compared. As the time goes by, IEA realized that comparing the educations’ effectiveness of schools around the world can also give tremendous benefits to schools being compared and even to students and teachers themselves (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2005). The series of tests or exams for the students, the demo and several teacher valuations are known to be the proven ways of knowing if the students are learning or not or if the teachers are capable of teaching or not. But, the efficacy and efficiency of education per country as a whole cannot be assessed by those two methods. Thus, understanding and analyzing all the concepts and issues behind cross-country comparison of educational effectiveness is a good approach of appreciating education. The results of this paper can provide unlimited benefits to the students, teachers and the schools. They will be provided with ample

The effectiveness of English subtitles in a Culturally important Essay

The effectiveness of English subtitles in a Culturally important Italian film - Essay Example Italian thinking facilitated certain closeness inside their country. "Like most family-concentrated societies, Italy is a relational culture. This stems from a history in which trust did not extend much beyond the front door or, at most, the city-state. There is an order of precedence: family first, then neighbourhood, then town, region and, finally, country," (http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.aspsubchannel_id=159&story_id=11484&name=Italy Today, Italy is a part of European Union, and in the new globalised world, she cannot be called a great player. As one of the Nation States of EU, she hobnobs with other Member States, and the close proximity of other cultures touches her in many ways. Italy's flourishing tourism, has become a national industry today and the country is reaping the harvest of her great art centres. Most of her guests are from English speaking countries and now with the world accepting English as the common language, Italian Government has made unprecedented efforts to include English as one of the languages in the curriculum in schools. "Through the foreign language we renew our love-hate intimacy with our mother tongue. We tear at her syntactic joints and semantic flesh and resent her for not providing all the words we need. In translation, the everyday frustrations of writing assume an explicit, externally projected form. If we are impotent, it is because Mother is inadequate. In the process of tra nslation from one language to another, the scene of linguistic castration-which is nothing other than a scene of impossible but unavoidable translation and normally takes place out of sight, behind the conscious stage-is played on center stage. (Johnson, 1985, pp. 143-4), http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/perform/docs/AP1Bollen.pdf On that very drive, some of the Italian cinema is given English subtitles, facilitating tourists to understand the Italian cinema and Italian culture. These movies are used as tools to teach English to students. This is a clever idea, as Italian children, while watching the movies, can have the facility of reading the English translation, and the relative meanings would be understood readily. The Italian movie, Caterina Va in Citta (Caterina in a big city), directed by Paola Virzi, a fast-paced comedy, culturally rich, has got English subtitles along with other movies like Marco Ponti, Le fate ignoranti, Pinocchio, La finestra di fronte, and many more. English subtitles, to some extent are an indication of Italy's accepting English as a common language between Member States of European Union. There is a need for large number of English teachers in Italy. "The answer is that to gather sufficient "manpower" the Ministry of Education decided to run 500-hour training courses also for tho se teachers who had no experience at all of English but wanted to have a try," http://www.onestopenglish.com/Magazine/teacher_letters/teaching_english_italy.htm People are aware of English now, due to satellite TV programmes, Internet and English magazines. In a globalised, European Unionised Italy, Italians have realised that English has gained importance as a passport to work abroad and today, Italians, with their saucy attractiveness, are anything but homebound. While being

Characters in Animal Farm Essay Example for Free

Characters in Animal Farm Essay The over worked and malnourished animals over throw the humans in charge and took power; only to find that the obligation of freedom maybe more dangerous. Out of all the animals, however, one is sure to stand out. That animal is Boxer, the farm’s hardest and strongest worker. George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm, is an allegory that reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917, and then on into the Stalinist Era in the Soviet Union. Through a depiction of Boxer, George Orwell allows the reader to make a discernment of the Russian proletariat’s loyalty and hardworking skills, by presenting him as an allegiant, reputable, diligent worker. From the beginning to the end, Boxer remains a diligent worker despite the abundance of toil. After the Rebellion, â€Å"Boxer [seems] more like three horses than one; [and] there [are] days when the entire work of the farm seems to rest on his mighty shoulders.† (46) Therefore, Boxer is precisely the hardest worker on the farm for the reason that he agrees to do the majority of the labor on the farm. In comparison to Mollie and Moses, who depart from the farm without doing any work, Boxer agrees to do additional tasks. Furthermore, after Boxer’s severe depravity, â€Å"Boxer [refuses] to take even a day off work, and [makes] it a point of honor not to let it be seen that he [is] in pain.† (114) Thus, Boxer is an eager worker for the reason that he never renounces his job. On the contrary, Mollie â€Å"[is] late for work every morning and [excuses] herself by saying that she [has] overslept.† This proves that Boxer loves to work. When the going gets bad he sees working as the solution. Boxer is truly the farm’s hero because of his hard work. In addition to his resolution to work harder, Boxer demonstrates fidelity. After Snowball’s expulsion, Boxer is worried about the farm, but he is not smart enough to figure things out on his own. Rather than thinking for himself, Boxer forces himself to believe others. Boxer tries to think things  over for himself, but all he can come up with is, â€Å"If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right,† and he takes up a new personal motto: â€Å"I will work harder.† (70) For this reason, Boxer illustrates allegiance for coinciding with authority. Furthermore, when Napoleon begins executing other animals, Boxer can only say, â€Å"I would not have believed that such things could happen on our farm. It must be due to some fault in ourselves. The solution, as I see it, is to work harder.† (94) Therefore, Boxer is devoted considering that he always falls back on his personal motto: Napoleon is always right. Boxer is loyal to the farm animals and allegiance is w hat makes a worker a good worker. Throughout the most troublesome times on Animal Farm, Boxer is praised by the animals. As time goes on, the animals are much inspired by Boxer’s work ethic than by Squealer’s clever speeches. â€Å"With his tremendous muscles [Boxer] always [pulls] them through. Boxer [is] the admiration of everybody.† (46) Hence, Boxer is admired by the other animals for the reason that he is an inspiration for them. Unlike the pigs who are considered the most intelligent, it is Boxer, who commands the animals simply because of his work ethic. Moreover, during the winter, little progress is made; the animals can not feel so impelled about it as they felt before. However Boxer never loses heart, â€Å"the other animals [find] more inspiration in Boxer’s strength and his never-failing cry of ‘I will work harder!’† (85) Ultimately, Boxer is honored by the other animals as a result of the animals being propelled by Boxer. In comparison to Squealer’s adroit speeches, the other animals find more inspiration in Boxer. This clearly identifies that Boxer’s role and personality is highly respected by the animals. These are just some of the examples that prove why Boxer is am allegiant, reputable, diligent worker. These three traits are what make Boxer unique. Unfortunately, his loyalty makes him easy to manipulate. Boxer is a very important character and without him Animal Farm would not exist. Boxer is the one who gives everyone hope and a reason to work harder. For these reasons Boxer is the farm’s hero and is one of the most beloved characters in Animal Farm.

Deforestation In Rain Forests Environmental Sciences Essay

Deforestation In Rain Forests Environmental Sciences Essay Deforestation in all Rain Forests is a major issue. Natural forests are cleared through logging and/or burning. Deforestation is being caused by people cutting down the trees for wood, agricultural space and urbanization space. Two cause of deforestation are conversion of forests and forest degradation. Conversion of forest means other land uses including pulp, palm, and soy plantations, and things like roads and other infrastructure. Forest degradation comes from fires, illegal and unsustainable logging, fuel wood harvesting, and climate change. 12 to 15 million hectares of forest are lost each year and are responsible for 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Tropical forests are where deforestation is most prevalent, and holds more than 210 gigatonnes of carbon. There are many effects of deforestation like reduce biodiversity, release of greenhouse gas emissions, disrupts water cycles, increases soil erosion, and disrupts livelihoods. There are always two sides to a controversial i ssue. Description The first sides that I am going to be talking about are the pros for deforestation. There are many pros for deforestation like that it will help bring income for families and creates jobs, build homes, and uses wood in their daily lives. In addition, there are many wood products out in the world, and creating grazing and farming lands. Also, some forest areas contain natural resources, so mining will take place instead. Overall, there are many pros to deforestation, but people are causing extra damage, so the cost becomes expensive. There are many benefits to deforestation; it helps out people all around the world. Cutting down the trees would help bring in income for families. Logging corporations help with economy by creating jobs for people. Having the trees cut down, would help build shelters, and homes for people. People use wood for everything, like cooking and a source of energy which helps with daily lives. Wood products such as tables, chairs, dressers, wheel-barrels, construction of doors, window frames, crates, coffins, furniture, plywood sheets, chopsticks, household utensils and other items. The price of the wood is sold to wealthy people who pay 100 times more than the locals. Create land for farming and grazing land for cattle is the largest causes of deforestation. Some forested areas contain other natural resources, such as iron ore or mineral deposits. Deforestation is caused by companies that go in and mine for these resources. Most of the rain forest timber on the international market is sold to rich countries. People who have moved into rain forest areas and established small-scale farming operations cause more harm by cutting down more tree on top of the corporation log large areas of the rain forest. These are the landless peasants who have followed roads that have already damaged rain forest areas. The additional damage they are causing is extensive. Shifted cultivators are currently being blamed for 60% of tropical forest loss. On the other hand, there are many cons to deforestation. What we dont realize how much damage that we cause. Some of the cons to deforestation are that there is a reduction in biodiversity, and some of the animals are being affected by this. In addition, climate change, soil erosion, and nutrients are lost to deforestation. Another con of deforestation is the increase with greenhouse gas emissions, which will affect the water cycle causing soil erosions. The last con to deforestation is that it will disrupt animals and people living there. Biodiversity is mixture of animals, plants, humans and other organisms living together. Deforestation and forest degradation can cause biodiversity to decline. People rely on the forests, through small-scale agriculture, for hunting and gathering and by harvesting forest products. Indigenous people, plants and animals are driven out, and many plants and animals may become extinct. When forests are destroyed, wildlife is deprived of their habitat pushing them into populated areas. Considering that about 80% of the worlds documented species can be found in tropical rain forests, deforestation puts at risk a majority of the Earths biodiversity(wwf). Some animals that are being harmed by deforestation are spider monkey, Manatee, and Bengal tiger. For an example the spider monkey mainly live high up in the canopy and depends on trees and other vegetation to survive. The spider monkey also uses plant to get their food. Spider Monkeys eat fruits, leaves and nuts and occasionally insects. Spider Monkeys are located in Central and South America and some parts of Mexico. Another species threatened by deforestation is the manatee which is related to the elephant. Also manatee lives all around the world, mostly in tropical warm water areas range in central South American water that flows through the rain forest and as far north as Florida. The last species of animal that are affected deforestation is the Bengal tigers can be found in southeast Asia in parts of India, China, Bangladesh and Indonesia as well as other southeast Asian countries. The Bengal tiger is endangered. The tiger is losing its native land to loss of habitat push the t iger into more populated areas. Climate change, soil erosion and nutrients are lost making the ground insecure. Since the ground is insecure and lack of plant life holding water creates flooding in watersheds. Increased soil erosion from lack of trees and water accelerates rates of soil erosion, by increasing runoff and reducing the protection of the soil from tree litter. The flooding will also cause landslides to form. Deforestation also disrupts water cycle. As a result of deforestation, trees no longer evaporate groundwater, which can cause the local climate to be much drier. In addition, it will also dry out parts of the world or flood other parts of the world. A good example about the climate change is that in the Mediterranean, summers have become hotter, with less and less humidity and more winds. With these kinds of conditions, it will help create forest fires. There are also more intensive rains and storms during winter which leads to increased vegetation, which in summer dries out and becomes fuel for fires (wwf). With different climate changes, there are always more chances for forest fires happening. Global warming which is caused by large amounts of Carbon dioxide floating in the atmosphere. The rays of the sun go through the atmosphere, but become trapped in the atmosphere, causing the temperature of the planet to rise. Deforestation accelerates this by reducing the number of trees, which help to convert Carbon dioxide into oxygen. Deforestation causes 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Of these, carbon dioxide emissions represent up to one-third of total carbon dioxide emissions released because of human causes (wwf). The last cause of deforestation is that it disrupts people and animals living there. Deforestation pose severe social problems and leading to violent conflicts in resources. Rain forests are destroyed by heavy machinery used to penetrate the forests and build roads causes extensive damage, and gathering only few logs are gathered. Trees fallen and soil is compacted by heavy machinery which does not allow forests regenerate. Local tribes and people are disrupted; birds and animals are dislocated by logging which plays a major role in deforestation. Roads that built in rain forest which poor farmers use to get in to the rain forest and cause more deforestation. Position My position on the issue about wanting to save the rain forest and stop deforestation. I believe that the cons out way the pros because there are many threats, but there are all different kinds of solutions. One of the treats is that animals are losing their habitat and forest is being lost. In addition, the rain forest affects the climate because it helps to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Also, you would see different climate patterns and sometimes soil erosions. In addition, there is also illegal lodging. Some of the methods that we could possibly do are to restore forests that we are destroying, so that we can fix up the parts that we messed up. I think we have get out there and let more people know so we will be able to stop it. In addition, I think we should enforce the laws and treaties that are out there in order to achieve zero deforestation. I believe that if we do not stop deforestation, we wont have a planet where we are able to breath clean air and loss all different kin ds of species and plants. Overall, I believe that we should save the rain forest and stop deforestation before it gets too bad. Discussion on my Position There are many threats to deforestation in rain forests. Some of the threats that we are causing is the logging interests for cutting down rain forest for timber that we use in flooring, furniture, and other items. Hydroelectric projects flood acres of rain forest which means habitats are lost and forest communities and wildlife have to move. In addition, mining operations helps clear forest to gain natural resources, but they contaminate the forest eco-system with their runoff. Another threat to deforestation is a bunch of different types of industries and even sometimes the government. The first type is power plants and other industries because they cut and burn trees to help generate electricity. The second type of industry is paper industry because they turn huge tracts of rain forest trees into pulp. The third is governments and industries because they clear and cut forests away, to help make way for service and transit roads. Agricultural interests are also a major cause of def orestation. For example, cattle industry is one of them because they use slash-and-burn techniques to clear ranch land and the soy industry to clear forests for cropland. In addition, farmers like to slash-and-burn rain forest for firewood and to make room for crops and grazing lands. The last threat of deforestation is building roads because they are clearing the forests to make roads. In addition by making roads through the habitat, we are endangering the wildlife habitats, so we might get rid of amazing specie because it no longer has it habitat to live in. The last thing with building roads is that it helps provide a good access point for illegal loggers and other business operations to gain more access to the forest. Biodiversity is a major part of the world. It does not affect only humans, but it can also affect species and plants. In the rain forest, many different types of species and plants live there. For example, 1,500 species of flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 125 mammal species, 400 species of birds, 100 species of reptiles, 60 species of amphibians, and 150 different species of butterflies. In addition, there are many species of fish living near the rivers. For instance, in this quote there are more fish species in the Amazon river system than in the entire Atlantic Ocean (savetherainforest.org). In Indonesia and Malaysia, more and more trees are cut down to produce palm oil, resulted in the loss of habitat for the native orangutans. With the loss of many trees many animals are becoming homeless that soon more animals will show up under the Endangered Species Act. The last thing is that Rainforests are home to two-thirds of all living animal and plant species on the planet, with hundreds of millions of species still undiscovered (coolingearth.org). The rain forest helps with keeping the air clean and the water cycle on track. It also helps with soil erosions. It cycles the Carbon dioxide and creating less CO2 emissions. A hectare (2.471 acres) of rain forest absorbs one ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year (savetherainforest.org). From people clearing and destroying the rain forest is creating a less places for CO2 to be absorbed. Since people are removing trees, we are just helping with Global warming. This relates to Global Warming because the Rainforests are critical to global weather systems acting as the worlds thermostat (cooleath.org). In addition, with the climate being so weird, there are chances of more flooding in some areas and in other area dryness. There are several methods out to stop deforestation and for saving rain forests. The first method to help stop deforestation is reforestation. Basically what I am talking about is that we can replant trees that we cut down. In addition, you join environmental awareness groups that would help you advocate about reforestation. The second method to stop deforestation is support laws and programs that are made to protect forests and to end deforestation. One program that made a difference is the Forestry Action Plan. The third method to stop deforestation is that you should only cut down mature trees and keeping the younger trees intact. For every tree that is lost, you should try to replace it with another one. The fourth method to stop deforestation is by using recycle items, so you would not need to replace new raw material. The last method is that you can limit your consumption of products that contain palm oil. For example, you can limit your consumption on breads, chocolates, and e ven some cosmetics such as shampoo, soap or toothpaste. When I talk about the consumption of products, I also mean your food consumption like that you can roast or boil your foods. There are many laws and treaties out there to help achieve zero deforestation, but we have to try harder. I believe that if we all try to work together I am sure that we will be able to achieve what we want. Some of the laws that we can use are the Wilderness Act, Lacey Act, and the Roadless Rule. Theses can help protect the U.S. forests and stop illegal wood products from entering the U.S. marketplace. Another law is The Tropical Forest and Coral Conservation Reauthorization Act 2009 to help give developing countries a financial incentive to promote environmental conservation within their own borders (coolearth.org). One of the treaties that we use is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The reason why we use this treaty is to help protect forests and the endangered plant and animal species that rely on forest for habitats (greenpeace.org). Question During my research about deforestation in rain forests, some questions came up about it. The first question is what would be the point of replanting the trees if you are just going to cut the tree down again? The second question that came up during my research is if we have all these different kinds of laws, then why dont we see changes? In addition, why dont they try to enforce the laws better? Conclusion My Work Cited: Akinyemi, Aaron. New US law uses debt relief to help conserve tropical rainforests Protecting rainforests with Cool Earth Action Keeping carbon where it belongs. Home Protecting rainforests with Cool Earth Action Keeping carbon where it belongs. Cool Earth Action, n.d. Web. 5  Dec.  2012. . Benefits of Deforestation | EDU.UDYM.com. EDU.UDYM Information for your life. Get the benefit of our combined research and effort to guide your information needs. N.p., 5  Aug.  2008. Web. 5  Dec.  2012. . Deforestation the Effects It Has on a Global Scale | National Geographic. Green Living | National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 5  Dec.  2012. . Deforestation Facts, Deforestation Information, Effects of Deforestation National Geographic. Environment Facts, Environment Science, Global Warming, Natural Disasters, Ecosystems, Green Living National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 5  Dec.  2012. . Fiset, Nathalie. 8 Basic Ways of Preventing Deforestation. EzineArticle Submission. N.p., 29  Mar.  2007. Web. 5  Dec.  2012. . Rain Forest Threats, Rain Forest Species National Geographic. Environment Facts, Environment Science, Global Warming, Natural Disasters, Ecosystems, Green Living National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 5  Dec.  2012. . Rainforest Animals. Rainforest Animals. Sciennected, 4  Jan.  2001. Web. 5  Dec.  2012. . Rainforest Destruction. Save The Rainforest. N.p.,  2001. Web. 5  Dec.  2012. . Solutions to Deforestation | Greenpeace. Greenpeace International Home | Greenpeace International. GREENPEACE,  2012. Web. 5  Dec.  2012. . The Rainforest Protecting rainforests with Cool Earth Action Keeping carbon where it belongs. Home Protecting rainforests with Cool Earth Action Keeping carbon where it belongs. Cool Earth Action, n.d. Web. 5  Dec.  2012. . WWF Deforestation. WWF WWF. N.p., n.d. Web. 5  Dec.  2012. .

27 Years Of Influential 60 Minutes :: essays research papers

27 Years of Influential 60 Minutes Since 1968 America has been better enlightened than previously concerning current events and happenings around the world. A considerable factor for this occurrence is the television program 60 Minutes which debuted on the air in September of 1968. Many other television newsmagazines have been produced since its creation, however none have possessed the longevity nor the influence of 60 Minutes. Infact, 60 Minutes, which is owned by CBS News, was the first regular network news program to cover actual stories asopposed to topics. Today, similar newsmagazines can be seen every night of the week on various stations, all of whichwere sparked by the inception of 60 Minutes. All of the tabloid television programs being shown today are also a result of 60 Minutes and its bold, gutsy, "gotcha" style of television journalism. 60 Minutes changed the way that the American public receives its television news, stemming forth a whole new format of television broadcast journalism. 60 Minutes has a vast history of stories covered, yet the format has remained unchanged. Don Hewett, creator and producer of 60 Minutes, has been the subject of much criticism for his stubbornness. Since its origin, 60 Minutes has continued to adhere to the same formula that made it such a success. The hidden-camera interviews, the surprising of unsuspecting alleged crooks with a bombardment of questions, the longevity of the featured reporters, all of these are what made 60 Minutes a success--finishing in the top 10 Nielson ratings for 17 consecutive seasons and counting. Other than the fact that it changed from black-and-white to color with the new technology, the appearance of 60 Minutes has remained consistent. There is no reason to change a thing about such a prosperous show according to Hewitt. Not only has the format remained constant but the reporters have as well. Mike Wallace, and Harry Reasoner both appeared on the first episode of 60 Minutes. Reasoner, who passed away in 1991, left CBS in 1970 to pursue a news anchoring position at ABC but later returned to 60 Minutes, in 1978, until his death. Wallace and Morley Safer, who started in 1970, are still featured reporters as well as Ed Bradley (who joined the team in 1981) and newcomers Lesley Stahl and Steve Kroft. 60 Minutes would not be the same without the weekly commentary of Andy Rooney. Rooney started making a regular appearance in 1978 offering humorous, sometimes controversial annotations about everyday life. A well known prime time TV news anchor who did much of his best work at 60 Minutes is Dan Rather.

America: The Land of Opportunities Essay -- Careers Education Economic

America: The Land of Opportunities In modern day society, a college degree leads to people making specific assumptions about an individual’s capabilities, which proceed to shape social generalizations that may assist or inhibit the success of an individual in the economic system or job market. Universal standards form throughout the job market as a result of those assumptions made about students who attend college that may not encourage a full understanding of an individual’s ability to perform his duties. The assumptions made about a college education demonstrate the general principles of reductionism, in which people follow a logical approach according to his observations. As reductionists correlate the type of college degree to an individual’s intelligence, the overdeterminist looks to consider an individual’s surroundings and experiences (which include the education received) while evaluating an individuals’ aptitude. This social process becomes apparent not only in my own person al life, as I reflect upon the way in which society views me because I attend Mount Holyoke college, but also through the characters’ lives in the films: Mississippi Masala and the Boiler Room. I look to reevaluate the importance that the job market places on a college education, as well as the consequential economic trap that follows from the construction of assumptions. Society assumes that people who attend prestigious universities are capable and astute individuals. After having told people that I go to Mount Holyoke College, I have had people expect that I am a capable and intelligent woman solely based on the university’s image. While serving at a restaurant over the summer, customers frequently treated me with more respect as they found o... ..., the amount of exceptions to those clearly laid out generalizations may appear minute and trivial now, but they could grow to a catastrophic level as the theory expands on a macro level and becomes an unquestionable mentality in the job market. By affirming assumptions throughout society, it will eventually lead to huge misconceptions about groups of people that may be completely unwarranted. Although it clarifies situations, its also minimizes the complexity and ignores truths that should be considered, for example, when evaluating an applicant in the job market. Also due to the simplicity and attractiveness in the logic, a perpetuating cycle evolves that intensifies the class processes. By offering me an opportunity simply on the basis that I attend Mount Holyoke, both Mount Holyoke alumni and society follow image and deny others chances through erroneous means.

Media violence and society

The influence of media is characterized by theories about how mass media shape a person’s behavior and thinking.   The development of media is further evidenced by the emergence of the Internet and DVDs, which sophisticated the way an individual receives information from media worldwide (Curran and Seaton, 1988). The most well-known premises about the influence of media on the society are those related to theories having a passive audience. An example of this theory is the hypodermic needle model, which compares media with an intravenous injection, with the media message being the matter transferred.   The explanation is that the information being transmitted by media is voluntarily and obediently received by the audience.   This, however, is still dependent on the interfering factors that changes the way an individual perceives the message (Weaver and Carter, 2006). Another example is the inoculation model, which induces a long-term influence on people by making them resistant or immune to the message conveyed by the media.   Here, a person becomes somewhat desensitized by a violent film for example, making him able to tolerate the same degree of violence once encountered again (Curran and Seaton, 1988). Different theories have different fall backs and limitations but nevertheless, they can help explain how media influences the attitude of an audience.   The theory that violent media result to violence on the part of the audience, especially the younger ones, is also deficient of a logical scientific foundation.   This is the main reason why it is regarded more as a hypothesis rather than a theory (Potter, 1999). Whether or not violent media has bad influences on the society is an argument usually raised when media effects are being taken into consideration.   This has also been used widely as a topic on debates, with the usual premise that violent media indeed have bad effects on its audience, which in fact is true. This argument is supported by many researches which relate the media of violent nature to the aggressiveness and obnoxious behavior of viewers or listeners, especially the younger generations.   A study was done using an inflatable clown which was introduced to two groups of children.   One group was accompanied by an adult who ignored the clown and settled playing with the other toys.   The children also ended up playing quietly and calmly with the toys other than the clown. The other crowd was grouped together with an adult who executed several aggressive moves on the inflatable clown, such as kicking and punching.   The children imitated the moves done by the aggressive adult onto the clown when left alone with the toys.   This can be related to the effect of media since the children can see and consequently imitate the actions of the adults (MAN, 2007). Another study was done after the release of the movie A Clockwork Orange in 1971.   The lead role in the film, which also depicts a hero, was both woman-beater and a rapist.   The film ended up a controversy when gangs started to copy the character of the lead actor, resulting into many rape and death cases.   The director, Stanley Kubrick, was also very sorry that he directed the violent movie. He banned the movie to prevent further criminal cases and for his family’s protection against death threats since he was being held partially accountable for the incidences.   These are just a few examples that violent movies are being imitated by the audience (Barker and Petley, 1997). A research was performed in 1956 to demonstrate the effect of violent media in 24 children.   A dozen watched a violent episode of Woody Woodpecker, while the other half watched a non-violent one entitled The Little Red Hen.   When the children were observed during playtime after watching TV, those who watched the violent show were the ones most likely to fight with each other and smash their toys (Potter, 1999). In 1963, three professors conducted a study which involved 100 children to determine the effects of violence in reality, television, and cartoons on the subjects’ behavior.   The entire population was divided into four, wherein the first group was allowed to witness a real adult shouting at an inflatable doll while at the same time beating it with a toy hammer.   The second twenty five preschool children were shown the same incident on TV, while the third group was allowed to watch a cartoon showing the same event. The fourth was group served as the control, and did not watch any.   All the groups were then opened to annoying circumstances.   All the first three groups exhibited a significantly higher level of aggressiveness as compared to those who were in the fourth group.   The group that watched the incident on TV was as violent and aggressive as those who watched it in the real scenario (Curran and Seaton, 1998). The Kaiser Family Foundation likewise conducted a study in 2003 showing that 47 per cent of parents have reported that their children have, at one point in their lives, have mimicked the violent actions portrayed by a character on TV.   However, the organization reported that children are still more inclined to imitating the positive behaviors they observed.   The violence in cartoons, which is commonly characterized by the use of bomb, guns, and deformed bodies, can make children believe that a person can not be hurt by such violent actions which can cause death and accidents when done in the real world. Furthermore, children often imitate the actions of their super heroes as seen on cartoons and other TV shows.   They sort of internalize what they see and formulate their own script which they would resort into when they encounter trouble or something harsh, making violence a way to solve problems (Healthyminds.org, 2007). Due to the negative psychological effects of animated shows on the target viewers, many cartoons were censored and animators protested because their creations eventually became boring.   They stated that many children who watch such cartoons are not negatively affected in terms of attitude and behavior, and that no scientific evidence was established to link the negative behavior of the audience to the violent media (Barker and Petley, 1997). The majority is being considered in all cases of violent media effects, and it should always be remembered that the subconscious of the audience can still be influenced, regardless of the subject’s age, inert attitude and personality, and moral beliefs (Weaver and carter, 2006). It is a fact that even adults can be negatively influenced by violence in media.   News containing violent reports can be exaggerated in the delivery of information.   This can lead to the people being scared and overreacting to the reported situation, which they can also associate to whatever it is that is happening in their immediate environment.   They might feel unsafe even if they are protected (Barker and Petley, 1997). It should always be remembered that parental guidance is an important factor that can alter an individual’s, especially a child’s, perception of violent media.   This intervention can significantly lessen the effects of violent media on society.   This should have a stronger influence on the audience than the violent media itself.   With all the researches and studies mentioned, it can be concluded that violent media indeed has bad influences on the society.   This is particularly true to children and adolescents who received less guidance from their parents during their childhood. Violent media can cause psychological disturbances and aggressiveness in people when faced with frustrating and provoking situations.   It can also mold children to be destructive when they grow up.   As true as there are people who remain unaffected by violent media, majority can be said to agree with the premise since each and every one in the society, regardless of personality and age, can be subconsciously affected by violent media in some way. Reference List Barker, M. and J. Petley. (1997). Ill Effects:The Media-Violence Debate. NY: Routledge. Curran, J. & Seaton, J. (1988). Power without Responsibility. UK: Press and Broadcasting. Healthyminds.org. (2007). â€Å"Psychiatric Effects of Media Violence.† Retrieved May 24, 2007, from . MAN. (2007). Research on the effects of media violence. Retrieved May 24, 2007, from . Potter, W. J. (1999). On Media Violence, Thousand Oaks: Sage. Weaver, C. K. and C. Carter. (2006), Critical Readings: Violence and the Media, Maidenhead: Open University Press.      

Dinner With Friends

Within the field of psychology there are branches that explore different types of human behaviour. Some of those branches turn their attention to hidden aspects of the human nature, like for example research into our linguistic faculties, other deal with modeling of various situations to better investigate our individual or group modes of action.But perhaps one of the fields of psychology that deals with the realm of human life which is most familiar to us in our everyday goings-on is the branch investigating interpersonal communication. Interpersonal communication can be most generally defined as our communication with another person or within a group of persons. However, this overall description hides the true complexity and variety of the forms that interpersonal communication can take.Indeed, to this aspect of our social life we can attribute such fundamental elements of out interaction with people as ability to initiate and maintain conversations or arguments, to listen, to spea k privately and publicly, to generate and interpret patterns of nonverbal communication, manifest our unconscious modes of communication, and any other skills that actually enable us to be active members of society. At this point, considering the proximity of the phenomenon of interpersonal communication to our everyday life, we may wonder what are the proper ways of study of forms of interpersonal communication?Of course, psychology as a strict science has its own standards and methods of investigation. But at the same time I think that we can find a lot of examples of interpersonal communication happening on a regular basis right before our eyes. To see this we may turn to the film â€Å"Dinner With Friends† (2001) directed by Norman Jewison, which provides a lot of interesting aspects relevant to the theory of interpersonal communication. Let us take a closer look and discuss such aspects.The film â€Å"Dinner With Friends† tells a story of two married couples †“ Gabe and Karen, and Beth and Tom – that have been close friends for 12 years, and were spending their time over dinners discussing their relationships, their children, and other matters and interests that friends can share. However, when unexpectedly for Gabe and Karen Beth declares that she and Tom had decided to separate, this event inflicts a profound change in the pattern of their relationships.As both couples undergo emotional turmoils it turns out that, ironically, their mutual love of cooking may be the only thing that remains between them, while their former friendship is gone. â€Å"Dinner with Friends† is mostly built upon conversations as the vehicle to unfold the story. The personages talk a lot about different things, from their love of food to their ideas about the meaning of life, and the director managed to make dialogues in the film very life-like, akin to those that we would expect from really good friends.In this way, touching upon the theme of t he complexity of human relations that is familiar and important to most of us, the film provides very subtle insights into the nuances of friendship, marriage as a very delicate union between people, and divorce as a force that can have profound impact on lives of people. Now, speaking about interpersonal communication we may immediately begin to find examples of it in the film.Being the direct and the most personal form of interaction, interpersonal communication helps people learn about each other in an intimate way. We can see this in the film, which depicts communication between two people, also called dyadic communication. Dyadic communication occurs in privacy between Gabe and Karen, and Beth and Tom, and also between Karen and Beth, and Tom and Gabe, when due to the break-up of their traditional relations tensions develop between these women and men.In this regard, it is interesting to point out that as Gabe and Karen perceived their friendship with Beth and Tom as a close on e, after learning about the alleged betrayal of Beth by Tom Karen is angry that she had been unaware of the brewing troubles in their marriage. Thus, the previous apparent intimacy of relations between the couples was not completely true, and it could hardly be such. As Karen bitterly says, one can spend the whole life with another person, and in the end it may turn out that the person you fully entrusted your fate to is an impostor.To this, Gabe thoughtfully responds: â€Å"But it can`t be as simple as that†. Indeed, in accordance with the developmental view of interpersonal communication, with time communicators get to know more details about each another, develop ability to partly predict their behavior, and create their own rules of communication. But in the case of the couples from the movie, it seems that their established rules of communication at some point began to lag behind the changing nature of relationships within couples themselves, as most notably was the case with Beth and Tom.At the same time, being influenced and disturbed by the divorce of friends Gabe and Karen also had to reevaluate their seemingly healthy marriage. This fact hints about another quality of interpersonal communication, which lies in its effect on formation of our self-concepts through confirmation and gradual transformation of our identities. In application to the characters from the film, this can be evidenced by the belief of Gabe and Karen that they knew their friends very well, while in reality this was not the case.And when tensions between couples develop, Beth reevaluates the nature of gifts that Karen, who considered Beth to be â€Å"a mess†, had presented to her. In the scene where Beth declares that she has a new lover and Karen advises her to slow down, Beth observes: â€Å". . . you love it when I'm a mess. Every Karen needs a Beth. † It is not wonder that such aggressive stance of the person who had been your close friend can surely influe nce our self-perception. We also may interpret the interrelations between the characters of the film as representative of the small group communication aspect of interpersonal communication.While it is somewhat difficult to define a small group, some researches propose to consider as small such a group in which each participant can immediately sense and remember the presence of other participants. This definition suits the situations of the personages of the film â€Å"Dinner With Friends† very well. Judging from this viewpoint, small group communication between the couples can be interpreted as a dynamical process of receiving inputs, processing the information, and outputting certain behavioral modes.Input factors are present even before a group forms, and in our case it is the mutual background of the two couples, as Beth and Tom were in the first place introduced to each other by Gabe and Karen; process factors are developments that emerge in the process of communication within group, as exemplified in the film by rapid change of the format of individual relations between the personages themselves, and, consequently, between the couples in the aftermath of the break-up between Beth and Tom; finally, output factors are end results of the communication, and for Gabe, Karen, Beth, and Tom the end results were different, but in all cases prominent.For Beth and Tom the divorce meant the transformation of their lives, and for Gabe and Karen the separation of their friends from their small group serves as an impetus to come to conscious conclusion that â€Å"practical matters outweigh abandon† when it comes to their own family chores. On ground of what we have discussed, we can see that in the end of the film all its personages are deeply affected by the changes in the disposition of their dyadic relations and relations within their small group. In this way, it becomes clear that interpersonal communication has a very important role for all of us be cause it can influence the most important aspects of our life, friendship and marriage among them.