Justifiable Homicide At The Hands Of The State Essays - Penology

Justifiable Homicide At The Hands Of The State Justifiable Homicide at the Hands of the State Several problems exist in society today, and we are doing everything we could to correct these complications and to possibly diminish them. Some are as minor as traffic violations, and some are as serious as deaths. Many innocent lives are being taken due to the careless and unforgivable acts of a few people. Something has to be done to stop this from happening. In other words, we, as society, need to play our part in preventing these nightmares and tragedies from taking place. This is where capital punishment, which Webster's School and Office Dictionary defines as ?punishment by death for a crime; the death penalty,? can play a crucial role (p 125). The death penalty is a form of punishment that, when applied in the correct context, is morally and ethically justified by the philosophies that shape our society. If capital punishment was legalized in all fifty states and was carried out more frequently, our country's problems would significantly decrease. Family and friends of the victim would feel better knowing that the punishment of the criminal would fit the crime, and less innocent lives would be taken as well (Roark 58). We are not the first civilization to invoke the death penalty. Both Biblically and historically, the death penalty was found to be an effective method to end the criminal acts of convicted offenders. For instance, in ancient Israel, it was socially acceptable to throw stones at an adulterous woman until she died from the injuries (New Oxford Annotated Bible 563-OT) . In the colonial periods of our great nation and even in more modern circumstances worldwide, treason is a crime punishable by death. Shields 2 In recent times, the culture of the United States has become more humane in its methods of execution. No longer will crowds of townspeople gather at the square to witness the hanging of thieves and murderers. Instead, the United States has opted to do away with any punishment viewed by the citizens and by the Supreme Court as violating the Eighth Amendment (Lowi and Ginsberg A20) This guarantees every citizens protection from what the courts perceive as ?cruel and unusual punishment? (Constitution of the United States, 1791). It is important to note that the 74 men and women that were put to death in the United States in 1997 were not killed in such a way that could further detract from their, or their families dignity (U. S. Government: Bureau of Justice Statistics December 1998) The methods of execution to be used are delegated by each individual state. Of all the possible alternatives, only three are found humane in most of the United States (Bureau of Justice). These are the lethal injection, the gas chamber, and the electric chair. None of these are considered to be, by many, more painful or dehumanizing than the next. Some people still choose to oppose these methods too, citing that all form of the death penalty are ?cruel and unusual?. Such was the case when the Supreme Court decided against its invocation in the case of Furman vs. Georgia in June of 1972 (Hood 47). (Due to the court's decision in this case, many death sentences given prior to 1972 were reopened. Also, all state and federal laws prescribing the death penalty were thrown out (Knowenwetter 88).) Others who choose to oppose the death penalty base their arguments on the fact that they believe that life, in itself, is a commodity worth preserving despite the circumstances of the crime. This theory may be valid in a very abstract manner, but only Shields 3 as long as that abstraction perpetuates. Even the most devout believer in the ?Sanctity of Life? is sure to consider the options when the victim of some heinous crime is a sibling, a child, or a parent. Retribution for such crimes at the hands of some monster is sure to be demanded swiftly by the public as well as the grieving family enduring the loss Such retribution can also have a second purpose. Davis notes that the death penalty, like no other form of punishment of those humanely available, has the ability to deter potential criminals from committing such horrible acts (9-13) Any criminal, whether or not he is a reasonable man, will consider his options when the consequence of his actions may lead to his own finality. A finality within itself can be

Raving is a lifestyle essays

Raving is a lifestyle essays One of the most rapidly expanding scenes in the world is raving. The dictionary defines "Rave" as To utter in madness or frenzy; to say wildly; as, to rave nonsense, which makes you wonder why raves were ever called raves to begin with, unless of course you have been to one. I will never forget my first experience at a rave. Media portrays Raves as cesspools of filth, sex and drugs, so naturally I was very nervous about attending my first party. We sit in a circle inside the party with the lights and music assailing my senses and take out the pills. I stare at mine and sweat nervously. I have never really done drugs before, and I am going to put a pill in my mouth that someone that I do not know has manufactured in their basement. Little did I know that this was a common theme in the scene, quality control for basement pharmaceuticals is a difficult thing. I down the ecstasy and wait nervously for some thing to happen to feel something that had been extensively described to m e, but for which I still had no idea what to expect for words can do it no justice. After forty minutes, I start to stand up to get some water, and before I know what is going on, I am already standing. It feels like I have no joints in my body, and everything is fluid. My mind is rushing and I let this sense of pure energy, goodwill and friendliness wash over my body. I feel the need for something different and wander off to make some new friends. I sit to talk to a beautiful girl by a pillar. Normally, I would be very shy and never dream of talking to a goddess such as she. Before I know what is going on, I am laying on my back with my head in her lap and she is massaging my face and neck gently, her touch so light that there seems to be almost no touch, just energy passing from her fingers to my face. I start to imagine strange worlds in my minds eye, seemingly rendered by computers full of brilliant glow-stick colors like fluorescent blues, purp...

Using Technology within the Prescription and Medication Process Essay

Using Technology within the Prescription and Medication Process - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the CPOE system used by hospital administrator made errors in the dosage prescribed and prescribed dosage as per the availability in the warehousing rather than as prescribed by the physicians. Moreover, the various screens, small font, and similarity in names also led to errors in matching prescription to the correct patient. Several scholars believe that structural-functional paradigms and organizational development processes are critical determinants of change. The structural-functional paradigm promotes the view that functional efficiency and structural modification increase the productivity. Thus innovation and new processes are identified to enhance organizational performance. Theory of organizational development is hugely pertinent as highlights organization’s willingness to change in order to improve productivity. It not only creates facilitating an environment of constant learning but also introduces new technology to inc rease efficiency and productivity. The flexibility in approach is vital ingredient within the organizational changes that require the constant involvement of the management and workforce to implement the changes successfully. Effective communication becomes an important factor to empower workers with relevant information so that they are better equipped to accept change and exploit it for higher productivity. The theories become important because structural and functional changes are accompanied by dissemination of information and training on new processes. It helps the workforce to understand change and become proficient in using new technology to meet fresh challenges. These theories of change management identify, evaluate and implement the changes through empowerment of the people and therefore would help administrators at Springfield Hospital to solve the problem of medication error.

Discuss the importance and role of Corporate Social Responsibility in Essay

Discuss the importance and role of Corporate Social Responsibility in event management in the 21st Century - Essay Example For many years, the idea of corporate social responsibility (CSR) focused on its validity and importance for effectiveness and image of organisations. Currently, the concern is not whether to practice CSR or not but is what and how. In short, in the 21st century, the CSR concept remains an important part of organization management strategy (Zheng, 2008). In the 21st century, CSR concerns are growing and are mainly focusing on organization sensitisation to systems and dynamics of management. It involves the growing alignment across many organization. CSR marks the progressive development of organizations as bodies of both corporate and societal management; venues for the integration of both private and public interests; participants in the organization and society oriented regulation; and possessors of shared, relational and other ways of connected external looking and internal looking responsibilities like event management. Issues revolving around CSR are tending primary for many par ticipants in multiple roles across organizations and community (Horrigan, 2007). In event management, a lot must be done behind the scenes in order for an event to be successful. The event management starts with writing proposals, negotiating fees and considering safety issues before dealing with timing, menus or even location. All aspects of organizing and strategic planning of an event should be conducted carefully. The planning includes proposal preparation, management fee determination, designing events in multicultural situations and identification of new ways that raise the efficiency of event operations (Allen, 2002). Event management with proper CSR practices is more likely to synchronise the strengths to the location, operational scope, and organisational levels placing it at a better position to combine the challenges. In this way, they will also be able to maintain environment related awareness and apply the relevant practices and hence achieve organisational success (Ach ieveGlobal, 2010). Event management deals with the coordination of activities that involve groups of people coming together to achieve certain objectives for example, parties, promotions, weddings etc. Event managers always conduct proper research before the event, come up with a design, locate the event and ensure other logistics like refreshements are in order. The main agenda of an event is to cause an impact among the host community and also effectively market the organization. Organizations implementing CSR measures experience various benefits, which include increased productivity; motivation and commitment among workers; minimised operating costs; increased sound and transparent practices. Other benefits include customer loyalty; decreased regulatory oversight; minimised wastage and utilisation of environmental-friendly production procedures; improved brand image, etc. (Balboni, Bute, & Sookram, 2007). Organizations competition for skilled workers, investors and loyal customer s is on the rise because of globalisation. The way in which an organization relates with its employees, its host communities, and the marketplace significantly contribute to its sustainability and success (Rionda, 2002). Example of the importance of CSR Nike. Considering the case in Asia in the 1990s, it shows how labour standard issues can destroy a firm’s global reputation. At the same time, it shows the importance of understanding CSR and its practices. Nike had to pay

Comparing poems. william blake the little black boy and john agard Essay

Comparing poems. william blake the little black boy and john agard half-caste - Essay Example ### ########################################################################### ###!###"#######$###ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½&######(###)###*###ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½##ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½# ###[###########b###ï ¿ ½##b#####D#e#f#a#u#l#t########$#a$#1$#*$#A$##/#B*#OJ##QJ##CJ##mH #sH #PJ##nHï ¿ ½#^J##aJ##_Hï ¿ ½#tHï ¿ ½####################B#A@ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½#B#####A#b#s#a#t#z#-#S#t#a#n#d#a#r#d#s#c#h#r#i#f#t#a#r#t#############B#ï ¿ ½#ï ¿ ½Ã¯ ¿ ½#B#####A#b#s#a#t#z#-#S#t#a#n#d#a#r#d#s#c#h#r#i#f#t#a#r#t#####H#ï ¿ ½#ï ¿ ½##H#####W#W#-#A#b#s#a#t#z#-#S#t#a#n#d#a#r#d#s#c#h#r#i#f#t#a#r#t#####J#ï ¿ ½#ï ¿ ½##J#####W#W#-#A#b#s#a#t#z#-#S#t#a#n#d#a#r#d#s#c#h#r#i#f#t#a#r#t#1#####L#ï ¿ ½#ï ¿ ½!#L#####W#W#-#A#b#s#a#t#z#-#S#t#a#n#d#a#r#d#s#c#h#r#i#f#t#a#r#t#1#1#####N#ï ¿ ½#ï ¿ ½1#N#####W#W#-#A#b#s#a#t#z#-#S#t#a#n#d#a#r#d#s#c#h#r#i#f#t#a#r#t#1#1#1#####6#U#ï ¿ ½A#6### #I#n#t#e#r#n#e#t#

Organ Black Market

Organ Black Market Response Paper 2 In the world of modern medicine, there is no question that organ transplants are capable of saving countless lives. However, a problem exists because there are not enough organs available to meet the existing need. The buying and selling of human organs is illegal around the world, and this has resulted in the creation of a black market in order to meet the demand. Basically, this black market consists of rich patients from developed countries using â€Å"brokers† to arrange for the purchase of organs from poor people in underdeveloped countries. Although a great deal of the black market activity has centered on the buying and selling of kidneys, there has also been extensive trading in other organs as well as in human tissues. This paper will argue that the best solution to the problem is to create a system for the legalized, regulated marketing of human organs. Such a system would help somewhat in alleviating the current organ shortage, while at the same time reducing the op portunities for corruption and exploitation that are found in black market practices. At the present time, the demand for kidneys and other organs far exceeds the available supply. In Western Europe, for example, approximately 40,000 patients are on waiting lists for kidney transplants; however, it is expected that only about 1 in 4 of these patients will be able to receive the organs that they need (Erin and Harris 137). Because of the current situation, it is evident that many patients will die before receiving a transplant. In 2001, it was claimed that â€Å"an average of 15 patients die every day in the US whilst awaiting an appropriate organ† (Weekes n. p.). Medical experts have also pointed out that organs from living donors are much better than those provided by cadavers (i.e., recently deceased persons). Because the blood flow is disrupted as a result of death, â€Å"cadaver organs are always, to some extent, damaged† (Munson 115). In spite of the urgent need, most of the worlds nations have laws that prohibit the buying and selling of human organs. In the United States, for example, the 1984 National Organ Transplantation Act prohibits the sale of human organs by both live donors and by the families of the recently deceased (Weekes n. p.). Many developing nations have likewise banned the commercial trading of human organs. However, this practice â€Å"has come at the risk of driving the trade underground† (Nullis-Kapp 715). Although the buying and selling of organs is illegal in most places, the demand for such organs has continued. In addition, many impoverished persons have shown that they are willing to sell a kidney or other non-vital organ for the sake of increasing their income. As a result of this situation, a global black market in human organs has developed. The problem of â€Å"transplant tourism† has emerged, in which wealthy patients travel to other countries that are lax in enforcing their laws in order to receive transplants using organs from desperately poor people (Scheper-Hughes 1645). For example, members of an international syndicate were arrested in South Africa in 2004 (McLaughlin, et al. 1). This syndicate had been bringing poor Brazilians to South Africa in order to buy their kidneys and then sell them to well-to-do Israeli patients. Many other illegal organ-trading rings are known to exist. Organ Watch, a project founded by Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Lawrence Cohen in 1999, monitors the illegal organ trade in order to uncover the human rights violations that result from it. This is accomplished by tracing the â€Å"routes† through which the sellers and buyers of human organs make their transactions. As reported by Scheper-Hughes, â€Å"in general, the circulation of kidneys follows established routes of capital from South to North, from East to West, from poorer to more affluent bodies, from black and brown bodies to white ones, and from female to male or from poor, low status men to more affluent men† (1645). In other words, the black market for human organs is contributing to the exploitation of the poor. Clare Nullis-Kapp, writing in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, has claimed that the illegal trade is based on the coercion of vulnerable Third World donors who are â€Å"frequently impoverished and ill-educated† (715). Organ Watch and other organizations have reported that more than 80 percent of the poor people who have donated organs in the international black market have experienced serious health problems as a result (McLaughlin, et al. 1). Furthermore, there is clear evidence that poor donors are greatly underpaid in comparison to the market value for their organs. There have also been allegations of unscrupulous doctors or authority figures abusing the system for their own profit. As an example, in 2001, â€Å"two Chinese government officials were charged with the sale of organs of executed prisoners† (Weekes n. p.). A proposed solution to this problem is to create a legal and tightly regulated system for the buying and selling of human organs. The advocates of this approach note that it would be a step toward meeting the demand that currently exists for organs from living donors. According to Ronald Munson, an expert in medical ethics, â€Å"the kidney shortage could be ameliorated, if not solved, by allowing people needing a transplant to pay a healthy and willing donor to supply a kidney† (116). In the Journal of Medical Ethics, Charles A. Erin and John Harris note that a legal market would help to increase the supply of other needed organs (and tissues) as well. According to these authors, â€Å"to meet legitimate ethical and regulatory concerns, any commercial scheme must have built into it safeguards against wrongful exploitation and show concern for the vulnerable, as well as taking into account considerations of justice and equity† (137). Erin and Harris further argue that t he system should consist of a single purchaser (presumably a government-based agency) and that there should be clearly defined penalties in order to help prevent abuse. There are various arguments in favor of having a legal, regulated system for the human organ trade. First of all, increasing the supply of available organs would help to save numerous lives. In addition, â€Å"legalisation of the sale of organs will eliminate the corruption that has led to reported executions and ‘thefts of organs† (Weekes n. p.). If the sale of organs were legal, there would be no need for a criminal market to exist in that area. In turn, a legalized system would result in the donors being more fairly compensated for their organs. In the black market, doctors and brokers make hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits as a result of their efforts (McLaughlin, et al. 1). By contrast, the impoverished donors are offered only a tiny amount of money for their organs; sometimes this is as little as a few hundred dollars. In the current legal system, which depends on the voluntary donation of organs, the donors are not given any kind of financial compensatio n at all. However, the doctors, nurses, and transplant coordinators are all paid for the roles they play in the process. This raises the question: â€Å"Why should the donor of the organs, arguably the most important actor in any transplant, not also receive remuneration?† (Weekes n. p.). One of the arguments against having a legal market for human organs is that it will do nothing to prevent poor people from being exploited by the processes of â€Å"financial coercion† (Munson 116). Scheper-Hughes, for example, has claimed that the poor, because of their desperation, are not in a position to make free and rational choices in such matters and that the legalization of organ selling merely creates â€Å"the semblance of ethical choice in an intrinsically unethical context† (1645). In fact, some opponents have argued that legalization would result in increased â€Å"discrimination between rich and poor† because â€Å"the opportunity for those unable to afford to purchase to receive a donated organ will be eliminated† (Weekes n. p.). In fact, however, poor patients as well as rich patients would benefit from a legalized system of organ purchase because â€Å"for each successful kidney transplant operation, valuable hours on a dialysis machine will be left vacant† (Weekes n. p.). Furthermore, it has been noted that it is â€Å"patronizing† to assume that individual donors (or the families of recently deceased persons) are incapable of making a reasoned decision about whether or not to sell their organs (Weekes n. p.). Some opponents of legalized organ selling have claimed that such a system would take away the â€Å"psychological benefits that reward a voluntary donor† (Munson 112). According to this viewpoint, being a living donor should be based solely on having a sense of altruism, and not on having a desire for financial compensation. In actuality, however, â€Å"sellers of organs would know they had saved a life and would be reasonably compensated for their risk, time, and altruism, which would be undiminished by sale† (Erin and Harris 137). After all, as Erin and Harris point out, â€Å"we do not regard medicine as any the less a caring position because doctors are paid† (137). Some have argued against the legalization of organ selling on the basis of the health risks that are involved. However, it is the illegality that increases such risks and, in a well-equipped hospital setting, â€Å"both a kidney and a piece of liver can be removed without a significant detrimentà ¢â‚¬  (Weekes n. p.). Yet another argument against a legalized organ trade can be seen in the claim of Scheper-Hughes that the legalization perspective is based on purely economic and rational claims as opposed to claims of â€Å"social justice.† According to Scheper-Hughes, the idea of an organ market creates â€Å"a medical, social, and moral tragedy of immense and not yet fully recognised proportions† (1645). Still others have expressed a sense of â€Å"revulsion† at the idea of buying and selling human organs (McLaughlin, et al. 1). Such moralistic arguments make use of emotional language (â€Å"tragedy,† â€Å"revulsion,† etc.). However, when the situation is viewed objectively, it can be seen that having a legalized, regulated system would be safer as well as making economic sense. As for the ethical issue, the black market shows that people are going to buy and sell organs anyway, despite the illegality of the practice. Obviously, it would be much better for the p ractice to be regulated, the donors fairly compensated, and the corrupt nature of the black market removed. As argued in this paper, a serious problem is found in the fact that the demand for human organs is much higher than the existing supply. This has given rise to a black market in which poor people are lured into giving up their bodily organs at a price that is far less than the organs actual â€Å"market value.† The best solution to this problem is to develop a legalized system for buying and selling organs, with various protections built into it. Although this would probably not result in the demand for organs being fully met, it would certainly be a step in the right direction. In addition, a legalized system would undermine the black market and help to prevent the types of abuses that can occur in an illegal trade situation. There is no good reason to not fairly compensate organ donors, especially in view of the fact that large sums of money are involved in the organ transplantation business. Some people have argued that poor people would be unjustly â€Å"coerced† b y the financial incentives of selling off their organs. However, this is a decision that they alone should make; furthermore, the loss of a single kidney or other non-vital organ is not particularly risky if it is done by a competent surgeon in a legal setting. Works Cited Erin, Charles A., and John Harris. â€Å"An Ethical Market in Human Organs.† Journal of Medical Ethics 29(3), June 2003, 137-138. McLaughlin, Abraham, Ilene R. Prusher, and Andrew Downie. â€Å"What is a Kidney Worth?† Christian Science Monitor, June 9, 2004, 1+. Munson, Ronald. Raising the Dead: Organ Transplants, Ethics, and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Nullis-Kapp, Clare. â€Å"Organ Trafficking and Transplantation Pose New Challenges.† Bulletin of the World Health Organization 83(9), September 2004, 715. Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. â€Å"Keeping an Eye on the Global Traffic in Human Organs.† The Lancet 361, May 10, 2003, 1645-1648. Weekes, Rob. â€Å"Should We Legalise the Sale of Human Organs?† Debatabase International Debate Education Association, October 4, 2001. Available:

Science, Technology, and Morality as Perceived in Mary Shelleys Franke

  Ã‚   In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley challenges the motives and ethical uncertainties of the scientific developments of her time. This critique has become increasingly relevant as modern scientists endeavor into previously unimagined realms of the natural world through the use of cloning and genetic engineering. Through careful analysis, we can see how the novel illustrates both the potential dangers of these exploits and the irony of the conflicts between science and creationism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Prior to the birth of the story, Mary Shelley had begun to learn of advancements and speculation in the scientific world of the early nineteenth century; in Frankenstein's introduction, editor M. K. Joseph asserts that "Mary Shelley wrote in the infancy of modern science, when its enormous possibilities were just beginning to be seen" (xii). Interest in electricity, premature concepts of evolution, and other post-Enlightenment developments seized the attention of Mary and her lover, English writer Percy Shelley. Scientific news and rumors provided as numerous topics for discussion between the Shelleys and their peers: "Many and long were the conversations between Byron and [Percy] Shelley . . . various philosophical doctrines were discussed, and among others the principle of life, and whether there was any probability of its ever being discovered and communicated," wrote Shelley in her 1831 introduction.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Marylin Butler, in her article "The first Frankenstein   and Radical Science," describes how William Lawrence, a physician, lecturer, and friend to the Shelleys, may have had a profound influence on the Shelleys' perceptions and opinions of science. Butler reports how Lawrence was a passionate student of "materialist science," a re... ...ngman York Press, 1992. Garber, Frederick. The Autonomy of the Self from Richardson to Huysmans. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982. Kass, Leon R.   Toward a More Natural Science.  Ã‚   New York: The Free Press, 1985. Levine, George. The Endurance of Frankenstein. Los Angeles: Moers, 1974. Nelkin, Dorothy.   "Genetics, God, and Sacred DNA."   Society May/June 1996: 22-25. Patterson, Arthur Paul. A Frankenstein Study. http://www.watershed.winnipeg.mb.ca/Frankenstein.html Shelley, Mary.   Frankenstein.   Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. Smith, Christopher. Frankenstein as Prometheus. http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/class/sf/books/frank/papers/FrankCS.html Spark, Muriel. Mary Shelly. New York: Dutton, 1987. Williams, Bill. On Shelley's Use of Nature Imagery. http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/class/sf/books/frank/papers/FrankWJW.html Science, Technology, and Morality as Perceived in Mary Shelley's Franke   Ã‚   In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley challenges the motives and ethical uncertainties of the scientific developments of her time. This critique has become increasingly relevant as modern scientists endeavor into previously unimagined realms of the natural world through the use of cloning and genetic engineering. Through careful analysis, we can see how the novel illustrates both the potential dangers of these exploits and the irony of the conflicts between science and creationism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Prior to the birth of the story, Mary Shelley had begun to learn of advancements and speculation in the scientific world of the early nineteenth century; in Frankenstein's introduction, editor M. K. Joseph asserts that "Mary Shelley wrote in the infancy of modern science, when its enormous possibilities were just beginning to be seen" (xii). Interest in electricity, premature concepts of evolution, and other post-Enlightenment developments seized the attention of Mary and her lover, English writer Percy Shelley. Scientific news and rumors provided as numerous topics for discussion between the Shelleys and their peers: "Many and long were the conversations between Byron and [Percy] Shelley . . . various philosophical doctrines were discussed, and among others the principle of life, and whether there was any probability of its ever being discovered and communicated," wrote Shelley in her 1831 introduction.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Marylin Butler, in her article "The first Frankenstein   and Radical Science," describes how William Lawrence, a physician, lecturer, and friend to the Shelleys, may have had a profound influence on the Shelleys' perceptions and opinions of science. Butler reports how Lawrence was a passionate student of "materialist science," a re... ...ngman York Press, 1992. Garber, Frederick. The Autonomy of the Self from Richardson to Huysmans. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982. Kass, Leon R.   Toward a More Natural Science.  Ã‚   New York: The Free Press, 1985. Levine, George. The Endurance of Frankenstein. Los Angeles: Moers, 1974. Nelkin, Dorothy.   "Genetics, God, and Sacred DNA."   Society May/June 1996: 22-25. Patterson, Arthur Paul. A Frankenstein Study. http://www.watershed.winnipeg.mb.ca/Frankenstein.html Shelley, Mary.   Frankenstein.   Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. Smith, Christopher. Frankenstein as Prometheus. http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/class/sf/books/frank/papers/FrankCS.html Spark, Muriel. Mary Shelly. New York: Dutton, 1987. Williams, Bill. On Shelley's Use of Nature Imagery. http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/class/sf/books/frank/papers/FrankWJW.html

Comparison Between Chinese and American Food Culture

Lee Hiu Man Instructor Wynn ESLG 1001 29 November 2012 Comparison of Chinese and Western Food Culture Food is closely related to people's lives and it is considered the most important element in Chinese culture. Chinese food is famous all over the world too. American Chinese cuisine differs significantly from the traditional Chinese cuisine and even though the variation in taste can be so it is still attractive to many people. When it comes to food, Chinese people always care about the color, taste, smell and shape of Chinese dishes.In 1784, a group of passengers on the ship Empress of China became the first Americans to land in China and they were also the first group of people to eat Chinese food; it was the first time the American palate encountered eastern cuisine(Coe 45). There are many differences in food culture between China and the United States. Strong differences exist regarding cooking methods, ingredients, desserts and cutlery. There are many cooking methods in Chinese f ood and it may be confusing by terms such as saute, marinade, stir-fry and deep-fry especially for someone new to Chinese food (Travel China Guide).Boiling is the most common form of Chinese cooking; Chinese boiling means cooking food in boiling water. It wastes fuel. It does not cook the food any faster and it tends to make the food break up and so spoils the appearance. Frying is divided into deep-frying, slippery-frying, quick-frying, and several types of stir-frying; this method mainly deals with vegetables. One cooking method that American dishes seldom use is steaming. It is a kind of slow process and time consuming.Chinese cooking uses two methods of steaming, which are basic steaming(zheng) and placing one tightly-closed pot inside a larger pot(steaming dun) (Lee 3). The product is usually very soft because the pot is half-immersed in boiling water for two to three hours. One of the famous traditional Chinese foods is Chinese rice dumplings and it is made of glutinous rice s tuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. On the other hand, the cooking methods in American cuisine were affected by the European countries (Cuban Cuisine, 1).Grilling meats and spit roasting over a pit fire are both common even today. Americans use barbecue smokers to cook chicken, pork and corn. Frying is the most common in Western countries because almost every famous dish is related to frying. Examples include fried chicken, French fries, burgers and fries, etc. Local families in America like to do baking, which is generally applied to breads, lasagna, manicotti, pastries and other sweet confections. There is a big difference between Chinese and American cooking methods. One is mainly concentrated on the color, smell and shape.The other is always speedy, convenient and cheap. Secondly, the ingredients in Chinese and American food are different. Chinese cuisine involves rice, flour, beans, and vegetables. American cuisine is relatively simple and mainly includ es meat, bread and vegetables. For the Chinese one, most dishes include rice, because it is the main crop of many Asian countries and is used in almost every capacity. Not only steamed rice, but rice paper and noodles can be included in a meal. Second, tofu is often used in vegetarian meals, because it is high in protein.It is used heavily in regions with a tradition of Buddhism. Third, sauces are important to flavor rice and stir-fry. Soy sauce, oyster sauce, black bean sauce, and fish sauces are easy to keep on hand (Yang 3). Rice is a major staple food for people from rice farming areas in southern China and Chinese people always use rice to produce by-products like vinegars and wines (Mashpedia, 3). Noodles are important to Chinese people too and they usually come dry or fresh in a variety of sizes, shapes and textures and are often served in soups or fried as toppings.Some varieties such as  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Shou Mian† are literally noodles of longevity, are symbolic of long life and good health according to Chinese tradition. Noodles can be served hot or cold with different toppings and broth. On the other hand, a part of the American food is based on traditional German dishes such as hot dogs and hamburgers (Wynn 3). Pre-packaged American meals tend to be high in carbohydrates, fat, sodium, and various preservatives. However, they also tend to be vitamin fortified.Examples of pre-packed American meals include various  casserole  type dishes such as  Hamburger Helper, as well as bakeable and microwaveable foods such as  Hot Pockets, frozen pizzas, frozen burritos, and various types of  TV dinner  meals (Cuisine of the United States Research Materials, 3). About the desserts in these two countries, Chinese desserts are sweet foods and dishes that are served with  tea, along with meals or at the end of meals in Chinese cuisine. Chinese candies and sweets, called  Ã¢â‚¬Å"tang†Ã‚  are usually made with cane sugar, malt sugar, honey, nuts and fruit.Gao or Guo  are rice based snacks that are typically steamed  and may be made from glutinous or normal rice. Ice cream  is commonly available throughout China. Another cold dessert is called  Ã¢â‚¬Å"baobing†, which is  shaved ice  with sweet syrup. Chinese jellies are known collectively in the language as  ices. Many jelly desserts are traditionally set with agar and are flavored with fruits, though  gelatin  based jellies are also common in contemporary desserts (Zickler 5). Chinese dessert soups typically consist of sweet and usually hot soups  and custards.For the American desserts, there are a wide variety of choices like cakes, cookies, biscuits, gelatins and pastries and most of them are considered as sweet and greasy. Famous ones like apple pies, cupcakes, caramels and chocolate brownies are customary desserts for Americans compared with Chinese as they viewed it as a part of the meal. Lastly, the cutleries that are used in Chinese and Amer ican food are different also. Chinese people use chopsticks to eat food. Americans use knives and forks to do dining.Chopsticks convey the concept of harmony in Chinese culture (The Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Blog). In ancient  written Chinese, the character for chopsticks was ?. Although ? may have been widely used in ancient spoken Chinese, its use was eventually replaced by the pronunciation for the character ? ; meaning â€Å"quick†. The original character, though still commonly used in writing, is rarely used in modern spoken Chinese languages, which maintains the old usage. Knives and forks are kind of promoting the independence, freedom and violence.Due to its role as humankind's first tool, certain cultures have attached spiritual and religious significance to the knife. It has impact of the concept of people's lives; knife and fork will necessarily bring about eating apart and chopsticks share dinner with the family members gather around a table. The major items of cu tlery in the  Western world  are the  knife,  fork  and  spoon. In recent times, utensils have been made combining the functionality of pairs of cutlery, including the  spork  (spoon / fork),  spife  (spoon / knife), and  knork  (knife / fork) or the  sporf  which is all three (Attards, 2).Actually, chopsticks are commonly used in Chinese, Japanese and Korean dishes but it is generally believed to have originated in ancient China. To conclude, there are a number of differences between Chinese and American food culture and they are a part of human civilization. It is great for everyone to know the food that people would like to eat, cooking method and also ingredients between two countries. Even if there are some differences between Chinese food and Western-style food, they can still get along harmoniously. For example Chinese food of U. S. A. s suitable for Americans’ taste, because through Americans’ improvement; similarly, the Western-styl e food of China is more suitable for Chinese’ taste, because through the Chinese’ improvement. There is a folk adage in China â€Å"If want to conquer your heart, I will conquer your stomach first†. It can clearly show the importance of food in Chinese culture. Works Cited Helen Wang. Cooking Methods in Chinese Cuisine. †Ã‚  Chinese Cooking Tips. Chinese Food DIY Fall 2009. Web. Nov. 17 2012 Giblin, James Cross. From hand to mouth: How we invented knives, forks, spoons and chopsticks, & the manners to go with them.New York: Crowell, 1987. Print Knoblauch, Mark. Chop Suey: A Cultural History Of Chinese Food In The United States. Booklist 106. 1 22, 2009. Print Lv, Nan, and J Lynne Brown. Chinese American Family Food Systems: Impact Of Western Influences. Journal Of Nutrition Education And Behavior 42. 2 106-114, 2010. Print Richard Pillsbury. No Foreign Food: The American Diet in Time and Place, Westview Press, 1998. Print Peter Zickler. Askives. â€Å"Wha t is common Chinese desserts† Web, Nov. 16, 2012

Design and Control of Motorized Foot-rest for Electric Powered Wheelchair

Design and Control of Motorized Foot-rest for Electric Powered Wheelchair Free Online Research Papers In this project, we aim to enhance some of the features of an Electric-Powered Wheelchair(EPW). With the aim of having simple accessories with user-friendly features, we decided to focus on the foot-rest of the EPW. Extensive literature search and brainstorm creative and new ideas were conducted. We finally decided to design a working prototype of foot-rest. To build the foot-rest to actual size is too difficult for us given the time frame and with our limited knowledge and experience with engineering design; hence we built a scaled-down model using materials from a modeling kit to demonstrate the basic functions of the foot-rest. We tested the performances of the foot-rest model for both the leg lifting function as well as for exercise mode by connecting it to the electrical power source. We also used two batteries of 3V in total as an alternative power source. The foot-rest is driven by Direct Current (DC) motors: two for the rotational motion and one for the linear motion. Using the experimental results, we have developed an idea about where to modify and improve the existing scaled-down model so as to obtain a more desirable full-fledge product to help more people. For future development of our project, we would like use a microcontroller to run the foot-rest in the exercise mode in a smoother and more convenient manner. Introduction Wheelchair foot-rest are known by many names including front rigging, foot rest, wheelchair leg supports, or just wheelchair legs to name a few. The existing foot-rests act as base of support to prevent sliding and improve positioning manually [1]. Usually, EPWs wheelchair users often have limited strength in their arms and torso, and thus most of the time they depend on the wheelchair in sedentary position. Hence, the users hardly move their legs or feet due to weakness in their lower part of their body and the foot-rest is fixed. In this case, it leads to some inconvenience, for example, there must be somebody helping to lift the users’ feet from the ground onto the pad of foot-rest. Moreover, if the users’ legs are too short and the pad is too far down from the seat, it would be uncomfortable to dangle his legs and feet in the air since the foot-rest is unmovable. Another problem found by EPW users is that, as a result of long-time staying still on the wheelchair, th e users lack chances to exercise; and thus it brings out the problem of poor blood circulation and physical inactivity [2]. All these difficulties need to be resolved and with this query in our mind, we found it necessary to make a change on the foot-rest. With considerations of the problems sated above, we decided to develop a simple model which can help people to lift up their feet from the ground without anybody’s assistance and adjust the length and angle of the foot-rest to provide a most comfortable position for the user to put their feet. The foot-rest can also help the users to exercise their legs in order to improve blood circulation in the legs. Material and Methods Design Before we sketched the draft of our design, we took pictures of the present foot-rest so as to have a general idea about the foot-rest. The original one is fixed in position, with fixed length and angle. Therefore, the pad is also unmovable, providing a fixed position for the users to put their feet on. With the purpose to create a mobile position, we designed two types of new foot-rest in total as following: ? The L shape one with two linear motor (Fig.1) ? The I shape design (Fig. 2) After careful considerations and discussions about the pros and cons of each design, we decided to centre on this I shape design. Basically, we have considered many factors when designing the foot-rest like weight of the foot-rest, number of motors used, construction of the design, amount of materials needed and cost, etc. Specifically, the first design including two motors to drive the whole construction is obviously more expensive. Moreover, it also adds weight to the wheelchair; thus it requires more electrical forces to lift the foot-rest up and down. Lastly, as the design involves construction of two motors and more circuit connections, the overall construction is deemed to be more complicated. Judging the designs in these aspects, we find out that the current design is more advantageous because of following reasons: ? The motors are placed at the top and it effectively minimizes the weight on the pad of foot-rest. Hence, it does not need much power to lift up the lower part of foot-rest, so we could we can choose small and low-powered motor which can reduce the cost. Benefiting from this, our design saves much power and is basically environmental friendly. ? For the present design, we use one rotational and one linear movement rather than two linear movements in the first design. It is done so to change the angle more directly and effectively. Moreover, this design makes it easier to control the speed and spare our need for complicated calculation work. Name Explanation controller Switch plate: the place the main controlling system/connection and the batteries are Switch arm and control stick: act as joysticks to control the rotational and linear movements by moving the control stick to the left, right, forwards and backwards. Rotational and linear motions This part includes the motors and gearbox which control the rotational and linear movements. Movable mast This part includes movable mast, and threaded shaft/lead-screw. When the motors start to work, the lead-screw rotates accordingly to produce the linear motion. Besides assembling all the parts together, we also add in a couple of resistors to reduce the voltage applied to the motor. It is necessary as if the voltage applied to the motor is too high, it would cause the speed of rotational motion to be very fast. If that is so, it is inconvenient and too fast for the user to adjust the position of the foot-rest. Therefore, in order to slow down the speed, we construct the motor equivalent circuit according to the theories we learnt before (i.e. the four basic equations pertaining to Direct Current motor) In the equations, Va is the overall voltage of the circuit and Ea is the electromagnetic motive force/ the voltage over the motor. The speed of the motor is proportional to the back e.m.f. induced by the motor. When the DC power source (Va) is reduced, the value of Ea would then slow down the motor’s speed. As a result of this, the speed of the rotational motion of the foot-rest would also be slowed down. Results After the whole construction is completed, we use two batteries of 3V in total as the power source and supply the foot-rest model with a current of 1.5A. Under these conditions, the foot-rest moves up and down with the linear motion at an average speed of 6 mm/s. It can extend to a maximum length of 30cm from the original/minimum length of 18cm. For the rotational motion, if only one foot-rest is working, it can reach a maximum angle of 90 degrees. If two of them are working together, the maximum angle they can reach is 60 degrees. This is because when two of them are working together, they will share the voltage and the voltage applied to each of them is smaller. Therefore, there will not be enough electrical forces to rotate one to 90 degrees. As abovementioned, our new design of foot-rest is capable of lifting the user’s feet from the ground. Firstly, we can apply the linear motion – the length is increased – until the pads touch the ground. Then when the user’s feet are dragged onto the pad and the user is sitting in the wheelchair, apply the linear motion again. Consequently, the user’s feet on the pad can be lifted up in the air, sparing the need of others helping to lift up the feet. Next, the user could adjust his sitting position in the seat to a most comfortable one and then adjust the position of the foot-rest accordingly. In order to achieve this, the user could simply control the joy sticks/control sticks in the switch plate to apply both the linear and the rotational motion. Both the vertical length and angle can be changed. For example, if the user had longer legs, he can increase both the length and the angle to stretch his legs and to seek a suitable position. If he is obst ructed by objects in front, he merely needs to decrease the angle and increase more in length (as shown in Fig.5 to Fig.7). Furthermore, our foot-rest can provide an exercise mode to help users exercise their legs. This can be done by applying the linear or rotational motions continuously; as in making the foot-rest moving up and down (Fig.8) or rotating the angle continuously (Fig.9). It is achieved by pushing the control sticks forward and backward alternatively to apply linear motion; it is similar with the rotational motion. In this sense, the users’ legs are moving all the time, just like walking. This encourages blood circulation and physical reaction, which is beneficial to the users’ health and recovery. In conclusion, our new design is very convenient and requires little strength from the user. Furthermore, as we have adjusted the speed to moderate, the user could adjust the length and angle bit by bit in a more accurate way. Discussions In overall, we feel that we have achieved our main objectives under our continuous and arduous efforts. Our model is completed in time and successfully demonstrates all of our suggested functions. As we connect our model to the power source, we manage to control the movement of the foot-rest using the controller. Any movement is seen immediately. However, there are still some areas that we can work on. Firstly, when there is any movement on the foot-rest (rotary or vertical motions), much noise is produced. Partially, it is due to the friction between gears and we need to apply oil on the gear constantly, which is very inconvenient. In addition, according to our estimation, the speed of linear motion is a bit slower and it may not lift up users’ legs. The major reason lies in the small power of the motor. Therefore, the model is merely for demonstrating the fundamental working principles of the new foot-rest. For the real one, we still need motor with larger power to load efficiently. Further development of project We plan to extend our project as we find out that it is very inconvenient for the users who are weak in strength to manually control the foot-rest for exercise mode. Therefore, we foresee the need to improve our model with more effectiveness to make it more realistic and feasible. We plan to add microcontroller into our design and thus it can automatically manipulate the foot-rest. When the user is stepping on the pad, the microcontroller can help to exercise his legs like riding the bicycle in a circular motion. In other words, it can adjust the length and angel continuously and simultaneously and thus a more convenient exercise mode is created to help the users to automatically exercise their legs and even lower body for physical recreation. Acknowledgement We would like to thank our mentors and teacher in charge for patient and continuous help and support. Reference: [1] Colin A McLaurin and Peter Axelson, 1990. Wheelchair standards: an overview Journal of Rehabilitation Research Development, vol. Suppl, pp. 100-109. [2] R.A. Cooper, K. L. Stewart, D. P. VanSickle, S. J. Albright, T. Heil, 1994. Manual wheelchair ISO-ANSI/RESNA fatigue testing experience in Proc. RESNA 94, Nashville, TN, pp. 324-326. Research Papers on Design and Control of Motorized Foot-rest for Electric Powered WheelchairThe Hockey GameBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfQuebec and CanadaAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalWhere Wild and West MeetThe Project Managment Office SystemPETSTEL analysis of IndiaOpen Architechture a white paper

What Is the SAT Adversity Score What Does It Mean for You

What Is the SAT Adversity Score What Does It Mean for You SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Last Thursday, the College Board announced via the Wall Street Journal that it has been testing out a project where, along with students' SAT scores, colleges see each student's "Overall Disadvantage Level," or their "adversity score." In this article, we'll go over what we know so far about the adversity score and how it might affect college admissions. We'll also give some tips on how to limit what information about you the College Board can use to calculate your adversity score. We'll keep this article updated as new information comes out on the adversity score, so be sure to check back periodically. What Is the SAT Adversity Score? The SAT adversity score, also known as a student's Overall Disadvantage Level, is a number that the College Board calculates from information it has about different aspects of an SAT test taker's life about the disadvantages they've faced.This score is visible to colleges and institutional score report recipients only; if you're a test-taker and you look at your SAT scores in your College Board account, you won't see this information. The College Board states that the adversity score is on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 denoting test takers with the least amount of hardship and 0 the test takers with the most amount of hardship. Just what information goes into the adversity score calculation, though? The Wall Street Journal initially listed 12 factors that were used to determine a test taker's "adversity index." Further elaboration about how this adversity score is shared with colleges can be seen in the screenshot posted by the College Board: In the above image, you can see that the "Overall Disadvantage Level" (aka the adversity score) appears as part of an "Environmental Context" report, which is just one of several reports shown on the dashboard through which colleges view test takers' scores in context. From this screenshot, it's also possible to see that the "Disadvantage Level" calculated by the College Board draws from data in broad categories like college attendance, family stability, median family income, housing stability, education level, and crime, for both the applicant's high school and neighborhood. The only information on the Environmental Context Dashboard based on information about test-takers as invididuals is their SAT score. As per the College Board, the Environmental Context Dashboard (including adversity scores) was first used in a pilot study of 50 schools 2018-2019, with expansion to 150 schools planned for Fall 2019 and a more widespread release in the following year. Specific schools named as having had access to the adversity score for this past year's admission cycle include Florida State University, University of Michigan, Trinity, and Yale. How the SAT Adversity Score Is Calculated In contrast to the initial reporting from the Wall Street Journal, the adversity score does not take things like whether test-takers are English Language Learners or have differing AP opportunities into account. The following information is included on the Environmental Context Dashboard but is not actually used to calculate a student's "Overall Disadvantage Level" (aka adversity score). SAT Score in High School Context Applicant's SAT score compared to the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile scores from their high school* High School General Information Senior class size Free/reduced-price lunch rate Rural/urban Average SAT score of colleges students from that high school attend* %age of seniors taking an AP Exam* Average number of AP Exam taken* Average AP score from that high school* Number of unique AP exams administered at that high school* Instead, the adversity score is calculated using the following 31 publicly-available data points on test-takers' neighborhoods and high school environments*: Income and Family Structure median family income poverty rate % of families with children in poverty % of families that are single-parent families with children % of families that are single-parent families with children in poverty % of households with food stamps Housing % of housing units that are rental % of housing units that are vacant what % of income rent is Educational Attainment % of adults with less than a 4-year college degree % of adults with less than a high school diploma % of adults with agriculture jobs % of adults with nonprofessional jobs % unemployed college-going behavior Probability of being a victim of a crime (neighborhood-level only) *As of this article's publication, it's not entirely clear how the College Board is calculating things like "percentage of housing units that are vacant" for test-takers' high school environments (since in general, teachers do not actually live in schools). We'll update with more information as it becomes available. Why Did the College Board Create the Adversity Score? Based on quotes from the College Board's CEO David Coleman, it's clear that the main reason for this score is that the College Board is trying to show that the effort and "resourcefulness" needed to get a certain score differs drastically between test takers, depending on certain advantages or disadvantages the test taker starts out with. This is not the first time the College Board or the SAT's creator ETS has tried to contextualize SAT scores for colleges. According to the Wall Street Journal, one attempt to do this happened in the early 1990s, when Winton Manning (an ETS researcher) worked on creating a modified SAT score that took "background factors" into account called the Measure of Academic Talent. Far more extreme a change than the current adversity score, the MAT ended up being scrapped ostensibly due to lack of resources. In 1999, the ETS decided to take another crack at giving colleges more information about how SAT scores should be weighed. Through the Wall Street Journal, ETS announced that it was creating a program called Strivers, which would identify students whose actual SAT score exceeded their expected SAT score by 200 points or more as strivers. This expected SAT score was calculated using "14 different categories, including family income, parents' education level and high-school socioeconomic mix" (Wall Street Journal). (Sound familiar?) After public outcry, ETS decided not to go forward with the Strivers program in 1999. Archival footage of ETS circa 1999 before they announced the Strivers program. In 2019, it's not entirely surprising that the College Board is yet again trying out the idea that they should give more information to colleges about SAT test takers than just a single test score. As more and more colleges are becoming test-optional or test-flexible and events like the recent college admissions scandal and the more regular SAT/ACT cheating scandals continue to occur, it makes sense that the College Board would want to give colleges a reason to continue using the SAT as part of college admissions. While the information that the College Board is using to calculate the adversity scores for students is available to colleges anyway, being able to use a single score to compare students will save schools a lot of work; it's part of the logic behind using standardized test scores in the first place, after all. Or to look at it from a more optimistic point of view, the new adversity score will make it easier for colleges to identify students whose got the score against the odds, rather than with them. Now that we've discussed some of the general reasons why the College Board might have decided to implement the adversity score, we're going to move on to going over specific positive and negative aspects of the program. Pros of the SAT Adversity Score Although it's easy to dismiss as pointless or silly, the SAT adversity score does have some positive features. #1: It's a Sign the College Board Is Trying In recent years, the College Board has taken substantial steps towards trying to level the SAT prep playing field. By providing the entire Official Guide to the SAT, including eight official practice tests, for free on CollegeBoard.org, the College Board instantly became more accessible to test takers around the world of varying income levels. College Board's partnership with Khan Academy is another step in the direction of removing economic barriers from SAT prep (even if some aspects of the partnership means that relying on Khan Academy alone to prep won't necessarily be enough for everyone). As positive as they are, though, none of these measures so far have resulted in eliminating the gap between students of different races, income level, and parents' education level. So the fact that the College Board is seeking to account for this difference by giving test takers an explicit score that says "oh, this is why there might be that difference" could be seen as another attempt to get rid of SAT score gaps. #2: More Data = More Robustness The College Board regularly releases data on how certain factors like race and household income can affect SAT scores, even controlling for other factors. However, these reports don't really get into more complicated effects of how multiple factors interact (e.g. gender, household income, and highest level of parental education achieved), likely because it is difficult to explain these interactions and because the effects might not reach statistical significance. For the adversity score, however, statistical significance is not really relevant. Rather than having to justify why the 31 factors used in the adversity score have a significant effect on SAT scores, the College Board is just calculating the adversity score and handing it to colleges with a "Here, this is the Overall Disadvantage Level of the test taker." The colleges can then decide whether or not that's a metric worth considering, which brings me to the next pro of the adversity score. #3: It's Not Mandatory for Colleges to Consider Just because the College Board provides this data to colleges doesn't mean that admissions officers have to take it into account. In contrast to the proposed early '90s MAT, the adversity score will not actually change an applicant's SAT score. Colleges who want to build more economically diverse classes can use applicants' adversity scores to inform their admissions policies, while colleges who place less importance on this can choose to ignore it. #4: It Doesn't Explicitly Use Race as a Factor Unlike the previous "Strivers" program, which worked best when race was used as a factor, the current SAT adversity score skirts using race as an explicit factor in its calculations. Many of the factors used have traditionally been strongly correlated with race when it comes to SAT performance, so the adversity score still captures some of that discrepancy, even though race itself is omitted. Why is the College Board using this roundabout approach to try to account for SAT performance differences between test takers of different races? The recent Wall Street Journal article makes the insightful observation that this may help schools maintain diversity if even the appearance of race-based affirmative action is outlawed. Since the adversity score is calculated by the College Board, a third party, and the schools (presumably) don't know exactly what weight is given to various factors, only that race isn't one of them, then they may have a better chance at keeping the right to use the adversity score as a way to create diversity in their incoming classes. Because of this, we've landed on the side of the adversity score not including race being a marginally positive factor, but we'll have to see how things play out. Cons of the SAT Adversity Score Despite the positive aspects of the adversity score, we have some concerns about how this new feature will affect testing and admissions. #1: It Doesn't Actually Close the Score Gaps While it's admirable that the College Board is willing to publicly acknowledge that there are score differences between students from different backgrounds, and that it's harder for some students to get to a certain SAT score than for others, the adversity score doesn't actually change any of this. Imagine that you're talking to a teacher about how you've noticed that there is one female composer on the syllabus for a music survey class, and your teacher responds by giving you background into why it was harder for women to make their livings as composers or publicly assert they were composers, particularly if they were women of color. Yes, it's helpful to have that background to contextualize why fewer female composers are widely known, but that still doesn't change the fact that you're only listening to music by men. And don't get me started on Amy Beach Mrs. H. H. A. Beach. #2: None of This Is New Information The data going into the adversity score calculations is data that colleges can access from the public domain anyway. In compiling the data necessary to calculate the adversity score for each test taker and then presenting schools with those numbers, the College Board is essentially doing a huge amount of labor for free for schools. I discussed earlier in this article that a possible motivation for the College Board doing this free labor is to give schools a reason to keep using the SAT as part of college admissions. The fact that the College Board is doing admissions offices' jobs for them with this adversity score does not directly harm test takers and applicants. However, it does indirectly mean that the College Board is spending more of its resources trawling through data to give colleges information they have already and less resources on improving the SAT and making actual progress on eliminating score gaps. #3: It Will Increase Anxiety Among Test Takers and College Applicants It's not surprising that the College Board has so far declined to explain exactly how they calculate each student's adversity score; there's really no advantage to them doing so. The opacity of the whole adversity score program, however, from students not knowing it was going on at all last year or what schools were/are using it to students not being able to see it or know how it was calculated, is likely to increase anxiety and stress levels among SAT test takers and college applicants using SAT scores. We'll update this if and when more information comes out, because some of the categories listed are so broadly named ("college-attending behavior," I'm looking at you) that it's hard to know what they mean. And, speaking as a former high schooler, knowing that there's yet another part of the college admissions process that you can't control, can't see, but affects your admission would have driven me even further up the wall. #4: There's a Disproportionate Effect on Domestic Applicants Something the College Board didn't really address in any of its public statements through news organizations is how the new adversity score is going to be more easily calculated for US test takers than for international test takers. All of the data used to calculate the adversity score come from public records. And although some countries may have this information published freely in easily accessible formats, it's not a stretch to imagine that it's going to be a lot easier to gather things like housing values and vacancy rates for students who live in the United States. If schools are aware of this discrepancy and are specifically looking to increase their diversity when it comes to test takers in the US with certain adversity scores, fine. But it's inevitable that this is going to lead to some US applicants feeling like international applicants are getting a leg up in this regard. #5: Factors Are Still Too Broad Even though the adversity score takes 31 factors into account, some of these factors are still relatively broad or limited. Take a factor like "college-going behavior." Does this refer to the percentage of people in the neighborhood/parents who went to a 2-year college/some college but dropped out/any college at all? (If so, that's a double factoring of "% not attending a 4-year college" into the adversity score.) Whether people attended public or private schools? What degree you earned? What the average college-going rate is for parents of students at your school? In your county? State? Country? I realize that it's impossible for the College Board to get really granular with all of these factors, particularly since they're relying on publicly-available data, but that's why college admissions offices look at specific information about things like parent education level, rather than a score that aggregates that along with other information. What Does the New Adversity Score Mean for Your Admissions Chances? Because the fact that there is an adversity score is still relatively fresh, it's possible there may be changes to how the adversity score is used by schools or if the College Board continues with this program (since it's still being tested on a relatively small sample of schools). The best evidence of how the adversity score might affect your chances comes from the two schools discussed in the Wall Street Journal article, Yale and FSU. The dean of undergraduate admissions at Yale was quoted about how the adversity score was a positive influence in building a freshman class with more diversity. In the article, it was also noted that the assistant vice president for academic affairs at FSU stated "SAT adversity scores helped boost nonwhite enrollment in the incoming freshman class." If you use your SAT Essay-analytical skills, you'll notice that the Yale and FSU representatives are pretty vague about the affect the adversity score has had (e.g. "boost nonwhite enrollment" could mean either that nonwhite enrollment doubled or that one more nonwhite student enrolled). Still, based on this admittedly small sample size, the clear commonality is that the adversity score is being used by colleges who have access to it to increase diversity in admissions to some extent. This is unsurprising- it's hard to imagine what else schools would admit to using the adversity score for. If you're a test taker who could reasonably assume you'd have a low adversity score (two-parent household in a wealthy neighborhood with lots of parents with jobs involving post-graduate degrees), then it is possible your chances of admission may be negatively affected by the adversity score (assuming the schools you apply to are one of the 150 schools the College Board plans to have this program rolled out to in the fall). The provocative quote from the assistant vice president for academic affairs at FSU with which the Wall Street Journal chose to end its article puts it this way: "If I am going to make room for more of the [poor and minority] students we want to admit and I have a finite number of spaces, then someone has to suffer and that will be privileged kids on the bubble." (Wall Street Journal). Granted that the Wall Street Journal literally has "Wall Street" in its name and its own motivations for choosing the quotes it did to publish, the FSU representative isn't necessarily wrong (and presumably would know for his own school, at the very least). If a school you're applying to uses the adversity score and you're a middle-of-the-road applicant with few disadvantages, it might not be as easy as it was previously to get into some of the colleges you want to get into. One of the pieces of anecdotal feedback the College Board reports in its post about the adversity score tends to back up this assumption: "For some admissions offices, the tool was most useful for borderline acceptances and students who went to committee. For others, it was valuable for students from nonfeeder high schools and areas they are less familiar with." (bolding mine) So it's likely that the effect of the adversity score will be most felt by applicants who were already on the edge of acceptance/rejection for schools. If there are two applicants who have the same SAT score, have borderline GPAs, letters of recommendation, and personal statements, it's conceivable that colleges who see and use the adversity score would some of the time choose the applicant with the higher adversity score. But as you can tell from our qualifying and italicizing throughout this article, it's not a certainty. One final point about the adversity score is that college admissions is not actually a zero-sum game. Yes, each school has a target number of students that they want to admit, but they're not going to reject you because they're one over their quota of admitted students with overall levels of disadvantage. The adversity score as a way to attempt to recognize the achievements of students who had to overcome certain disadvantages does not nullify the achievements of students who didn't. Recap: Understanding the SAT Adversity Score We know this is kind of a long article, so here's a quick rundown of some of the main takeaways: The College Board is trying out giving some schools an adversity score for individual test takers, which is supposed to indicate how the test taker's "Overall Disadvantage Level" compares to the average test taker. The adversity score uses information about test-takers' neighborhood and high school environments, but does not use any information specific to any individual test-taker The College Board may be doing this to try to account for the score gap between students with different backgrounds or to try to make sure colleges don't do away with standardized testing as part of admissions (or a combination of the two). The factors used to calculate the adversity score include some traditionally associated with race, but do not explicitly include race. The existence of an adversity score could be good because it shows the College Board is at least making some attempt to ameliorate score gap issues, draws from different factors that it was previously hard to account for, and isn't mandatory for colleges to consider. The existence of an adversity score isn't great because it doesn't actually fix the score gap problem, doesn't actually provide new information, is likely to increase anxiety among test takers and college applicants, will disproportionately affect domestic test takers, and still relies on some undefined categories of data for calculation. The people most affected by this will likely be students on the cusp of admittance, where having a high adversity score might tip the scales in favor of one applicant over another. As a final take away, we want to stress that admissions is not going to necessarily be "easier" for applicants with higher adversity scores than it is for students with lower ones. The College Board just wants colleges to take into account that it was likely harder for a students with high adversity scores to get the scores they did on the SAT than for students with the same SAT score but lower adversity scores. We expect to see more in the news about the new adversity score in the weeks and month to come, so stay tuned for updates to this article. Us to the College Board right now. What's Next? Interested in reading about more standardized testing shenanigans? Check out our articles on the Harvard race-based discrimination lawsuit and past SAT/ACT cheating scandals. What does it take to be an outstanding applicant, adversity aside? Learn how to get into the most elite universities in the US with PrepScholar co-founder Allen Cheng's guide on Harvard and the Ivy League. You don't get to see the adversity score, but your SAT score report does show you lots of other interesting information. Find out what you can learn from your score report here. Disappointed with your scores? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

The effect of oil price changes on stock markets of the GCC Essay

The effect of oil price changes on stock markets of the GCC - Essay Example In addition, the effects of the oil price trend to the leading beneficiary of oil in the GCC, Qatar, will be addressed. Over the past year, the price of oil has reduced significantly. Numerically, the price of oil has lost 40% of its value. The minimized price of oil has led to the global decrease of oil and oil products. The trend has been welcomed by the consumer as countries enjoy a record low price of oil. Regardless of the benefits, oil producers have suffered massively due to losses incurred. Specifically, GCC countries have recorded reduced low markets. With the price of oil dwindling further, the stock market of GCC countries face the risk of an economic crisis unless an intervention is developed to minimize the risks (Arouri, Bellalah & Nguyen, 2011). Over the years, GCC countries have been best placed to manipulate oil prices thus creating price targets that would suit their economic demands. With the new changes, how much of effect does it have on the GCC countries? The GCC comprises of six countries. They are Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, United Arab and Saudi Arabia. The six nations develop their economic background from the export of oil. The nations produce 20% of the world oil (Arouri, Bellalah & Nguyen, 2011). This places them as the greatest oil producers globally. In addition, the GCC has 47% of the global oil reserves. This is in addition to that the control 36% of the global oil exports. It is evident that the GCC is massively dependent on oil. In an argument by Arouri, Bellalah & Nguyen (2011) the influence of the oil prices has a massive influence on the stock market of the GCC countries. The change in oil prices is directly proportional to the changes in the stock market. Specifically, an increase in the oil prices influences a massive influence on the GCC stock market. This is based on that there is massive investments in the oil industry in the market. Arouri, Bellalah & Nguyen (2011) are of the assumption that the

Should our courts, as Jane Stapleton has suggested, wipe out recovery Essay

Should our courts, as Jane Stapleton has suggested, wipe out recovery for pure nervous shock on the basis that no reasonable bou - Essay Example It goes without saying that existed times in the history of the English society in general and the world community in particular when ‘harm’ as it goes in the law was considered to be a gross and visible injury caused to a person or persons1. As the science of psychology and psychiatry evolved and gained formal recognition, it dawned upon the society and the associated disciplines and institutions like law that the notion of a ‘psychiatric injury or harm’, sometimes unaccompanied by blood or gore was a valid, acceptable and plausible possibility. So, the institution of law attempted to commensurately extend the available remedies and recoveries, albeit to accommodate within its ambit the notions of psychiatric injury or harm. The concept of ‘nervous shock’ within the English law is a direct outcome of such humane and propitious developments.2 The problem is that the ‘nervous shock’ inflicted on a person is often not quantifiable lik e physical injuries, not to mention the many other pragmatic problems associated with this legal concept. In the light of this problem, there exists a school of intelligentsia represented by luminaries like Jane Stapleton who advocate the abolition of the legal remedies associated with such harm.3 Yet, it will be utterly sensitive and reasonable to hold that considering the problems and confusions associated with a form of injury or harm, necessitates and calls for a further evolution of the English law, rather than vying for the already scarce remedies available for it. Nervous Shock As per the English Law, ‘nervous shock’ stands to be a psychiatric illness caused to a person, usually intentionally. This legal provision also includes the psychiatric illnesses caused to a person owing to the negligent behaviour of somebody. It goes without saying that the term ‘nervous shock’ is somewhat misleading in the context of the issue it intends to cover. Yet, the E nglish Law has chosen to continue with the usage of this term to refer to the complex notion or concept it alludes to. As per the English Law, a person can claim damages, owing to the nervous shock caused to one by the intentional or negligent behaviour of a person or a party. However, recovery due to nervous shock is to some extent restrained if not impossible in the English Law. This development is influenced by the fact that mostly no reasonable boundaries for the course of action can be traced in such cases. ‘Nervous shock’ is this context is an issue that the English Law is still trying to grapple with so as to somewhat concretize and positively solidify the remedies and provisions associated with this form of wrong or injury.4 Problems Associated with the Concept of Nervous Shock In the realm of law, which depends to a great extent on logic, rationality and the analysis of reasonable and verifiable facts, the concept of ‘nervous shock’ almost seems to be an aberration and anomaly. In that context, the possibility of a mental injury or shock appears to have a predilection towards the realm of philosophy or metaphysics. Mind, no doubt, since times immemorial has been considered to be a metaphysical term, which is known and understood by many but which evades all attempts at generalization or the possibility of arriving at a common agreement as to holding some universal definition.5 Mind is an attribute that has to do