Frostbite Chapter 15

Fifteen I WAS TRYING TO PAINT my toenails the next morning- not easy with such a god-awful hangover- when I heard a knock at the door. Lissa had been gone when I woke up, so I staggered across the room, trying not to ruin my wet nail polish. Opening up the door, I saw one of the hotel staff standing outside with a large box in both arms. He shifted it slightly so that he could peer around and look at me. â€Å"I'm looking for Rose Hathaway.† â€Å"That's me.† I took the box from him. It was big but not all that heavy. With a quick thank-you, I shut the door, wondering if I should have tipped him. Oh well. I sat on the floor with the box. It had no markings on it and was sealed with packing tape. I found a pen and stabbed at the tape. Once I'd hacked off enough, I opened the box and peered inside. It was filled with perfume. There had to be at least thirty little bottles of perfume packed into the box. Some I'd heard of, some I hadn't. They ranged from crazy expensive, movie-star caliber to cheap kinds I'd seen in drugstores. Eternity. Angel. Vanilla Fields. Jade Blossom. Michael Kors. Poison. Hypnotic Poison. Pure Poison. Happy. Light Blue. J?van Musk. Pink Sugar. Vera Wang. One by one, I picked up the boxes, read the descriptions, and then pulled out the bottles for a sniff. I was about halfway through when reality hit. These had to be from Adrian. I didn't know how he'd managed to get all of these delivered to the hotel in such a short amount of time, but money can make almost anything happen. Still, I didn't need the attention of a rich, spoiled Moroi; apparently he hadn't picked up on my signals. Regretfully, I started to place the perfumes back in the box- then stopped. Of course I'd return them†¦but there was no harm in sniffing the rest before I did. Once more, I started pulling out bottle after bottle. Some I just sniffed the cap of; others I sprayed in the air. Serendipity. Dolce & Gabbana. Shalimar. Daisy. Note after note hit me: rose, violet, sandalwood, orange, vanilla, orchid †¦ By the time I was finished, my nose barely worked anymore. All of these had been designed for humans. They had a weaker sense of smell than vampires and even dhampirs, so these scents were extra strong. I had a new appreciation for what Adrian had meant about only a splash of perfume being necessary. If all these bottles were making me dizzy, I could only imagine what a Moroi would smell. The sensory overload wasn't really helping the headache I'd woken up with either. I packed up the perfume for real this time, stopping only when I came to a certain kind that I really liked. I hesitated, holding the little box in my hand. Then, I took the red bottle out and re-sniffed it. It was a crisp, sweet fragrance. There was some kind of fruit- but not a candied or sugary fruit. I racked my brain for a scent I'd once smelled on a girl I knew in my dorm. She'd told me the name. It was like a cherry†¦but sharper. Currant, that's what it was. And here it was in this perfume, mixed with some florals: lily of the valley and others I couldn't identify. Whatever the blend, something about it appealed to me. Sweet- but not too sweet. I read the box, looking for the name. Amor Amor. â€Å"Fitting,† I muttered, seeing how many love problems I seemed to have lately. But I kept the perfume anyway and repacked the rest. Hoisting the box up in my arms, I took it down to the front desk and acquired some packing tape to reseal it. I also got directions to Adrian's room. Apparently, the Ivashkovs practically had their own wing. It wasn't too far from Tasha's room. Feeling like a delivery girl, I walked down the hall and stopped in front of his door. Before I could manage to knock, it opened up, and Adrian stood before me. He looked as surprised as I felt. â€Å"Little dhampir,† he said cordially. â€Å"Didn't expect to see you here.† â€Å"I'm returning these.† I hoisted the box toward him before he could protest. Clumsily, he caught it, staggering a bit in surprise. Once he had a good grip, he took a few steps back and set it on the floor. â€Å"Didn't you like any of them?† he asked. â€Å"You want me to get you some more?† â€Å"Don't send me any more gifts.† â€Å"It isn't a gift. It's a public service. What woman doesn't own perfume?† â€Å"Don't do it again,† I said firmly. Suddenly, a voice behind him asked, â€Å"Rose? Is that you?† I peered beyond him. Lissa. â€Å"What are you doing here?† Between my headache and what I had assumed was some interlude with Christian, I'd blocked her out as best I could this morning. Normally I would have known the instant I approached that she was inside the room. I opened myself up again, letting her shock run into me. She hadn't expected me to show up here. â€Å"What are you doing here?† she asked. â€Å"Ladies, ladies,† he said teasingly. â€Å"No need to fight over me.† I glared. â€Å"We're not. I just want to know what's going on here.† A breath of aftershave hit me, and then I heard a voice behind me: â€Å"Me too.† I jumped. Spinning around, I saw Dimitri standing in the hallway. I had no clue what he was doing in the Ivashkov wing. On his way to Tasha's room, a voice inside me suggested. Dimitri no doubt always expected me to get into all sorts of trouble, but I think seeing Lissa there caught him off guard. He stepped past me and came into the room, looking between the three of us. â€Å"Male and female students aren't supposed to be in each other's rooms.† I knew pointing out that Adrian wasn't technically a student wasn't going to get us out of trouble here. We weren't supposed to be in any guy's room. â€Å"How do you keep doing this?† I asked Adrian, frustrated. â€Å"Do what?† â€Å"Keep making us look bad!† He chuckled. â€Å"You guys are the ones who came here.† â€Å"You shouldn't have let them in,† scolded Dimitri. â€Å"I'm sure you know the rules at St. Vladimir's.† Adrian shrugged. â€Å"Yeah, but I don't have to follow any school's stupid rules.† â€Å"Perhaps not,† said Dimitri coldly. â€Å"But I would have thought you'd still respect those rules.† Adrian rolled his eyes. â€Å"I'm kind of surprised to find you lecturing about underage girls.† I saw the anger kindle in Dimitri's eyes, and for a moment, I thought I might have seen the loss of control I'd teased him about. But he stayed composed, and only his clenched fists showed how angry he was. â€Å"Besides,† continued Adrian, â€Å"nothing sordid was going on. We were just hanging out.† â€Å"If you want to ‘hang out' with young girls, do it at one of the public areas.† I didn't really like Dimitri calling us ‘young girls,' and I kind of felt like he was overreacting here. I also suspected part of his reaction had to do with the fact that I was here. Adrian laughed just then, a weird kind of laugh that made my skin crawl. â€Å"Young girls? Young girls? Sure. Young and old at the same time. They've barely seen anything in life, yet they've already seen too much. One's marked with life, and one's marked with death†¦but they're the ones you're worried about? Worry about yourself, dhampir. Worry about you, and worry about me. We're the ones who are young.† The rest of us just sort of stared. I don't think anyone had expected Adrian to suddenly take an abrupt trip to Crazyville. Adrian was calm and looked perfectly normal again. He turned away and strolled toward the window, glancing casually back at the rest of us as he pulled out his cigarettes. â€Å"You ladies should probably go. He's right. I am a bad influence.† I exchanged looks with Lissa. Hurriedly, we both left and followed Dimitri down the hall toward the lobby. â€Å"That was†¦strange,† I said a couple of minutes later. It was stating the obvious, but, well, someone had to. â€Å"Very,† said Dimitri. He didn't sound angry so much as puzzled. When we reached the lobby, I started to follow Lissa back toward our room, but Dimitri called to me. â€Å"Rose,† he said. â€Å"Can I talk to you?† I felt a sympathetic rush of feeling from Lissa. I turned toward Dimitri and stepped off to the side of the room, out of the way of those passing through. A party of Moroi in diamonds and fur swept past us, anxious looks on their faces. Bellhops followed with luggage. People were still leaving in search of safer places. The Strigoi paranoia was far from over. Dimitri's voice snapped my attention back to him. â€Å"That's Adrian Ivashkov.† He said the name the same way everyone else did. â€Å"Yeah, I know.† â€Å"This is the second time I've seen you with him.† â€Å"Yeah,† I replied glibly. â€Å"We hang out sometimes.† Dimitri arched an eyebrow, then jerked his head back toward where we'd come from. â€Å"You hang out in his room a lot?† Several retorts popped into my head, and then a golden one took precedence. â€Å"What happens between him and me is none of your business.† I managed a tone very similar to the one he'd used on me when making a similar comment about him and Tasha. â€Å"Actually, as long as you're at the Academy, what you do is my business.† â€Å"Not my personal life. You don't have any say in that.† â€Å"You're not an adult yet.† â€Å"I'm close enough. Besides, it's not like I'll magically become an adult on my eighteenth birthday.† â€Å"Clearly,† he said. I blushed. â€Å"That's not what I meant. I meant- â€Å" â€Å"I know what you meant. And the technicalities don't matter right now. You're an Academy student. I'm your instructor. It's my job to help you and to keep you safe. Being in the bedroom of someone like him †¦ well, that's not safe.† â€Å"I can handle Adrian Ivashkov,† I muttered. â€Å"He's weird- really weird, apparently- but harmless.† I secretly wondered if Dimitri's problem might be that he was jealous. He hadn't pulled Lissa aside to yell at her. The thought made me slightly happy, but then I remembered my earlier curiosity about why Dimitri had even wandered by. â€Å"Speaking of personal lives †¦ I suppose you were off visiting Tasha, huh?† I knew it was petty, and I expected a â€Å"none of your business† response. Instead he replied, â€Å"Actually, I was visiting your mother.† â€Å"You going to hook up with her too?† I knew of course that he wasn't, but the quip seemed too good to pass up. He seemed to know that too and merely gave me a weary glance. â€Å"No, we were looking over some new data about the Strigoi in the Drozdov attack.† My anger and snarkiness dried up. The Drozdovs. The Badicas. Suddenly, everything that had happened this morning seemed incredibly trivial. How could I have stood there arguing with Dimitri about romances that might or might not be happening when he and the other guardians were trying to protect us? â€Å"What'd you find out?† I asked quietly. â€Å"We've managed to track some of the Strigoi,† he said. â€Å"Or at least the humans with them. There were witnesses who lived nearby who spotted a few of the cars the group used. The plates were all from different states- the group appears to have split up, probably to make it harder for us. But one of the witnesses did catch one plate number. It's registered to an address in Spokane.† â€Å"Spokane?† I asked incredulously. â€Å"Spokane, Washington? Who makes Spokane their hideout?† I'd been there once. It was about as boring as every other backwoods northwest city. â€Å"Strigoi, apparently,† he said, deadpan. â€Å"The address was fake, but other evidence shows they really are there. There's a kind of shopping plaza that has some underground tunnels. There've been Strigoi sightings around that area.† â€Å"Then †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I frowned. â€Å"Are you going to go after them? Is somebody going to? I mean, this is what Tasha's been saying all along†¦. If we know where they are †¦Ã¢â‚¬  He shook his head. â€Å"The guardians can't do anything without permission from higher up. That's not going to happen anytime soon.† I sighed. â€Å"Because the Moroi talk too much.† â€Å"They're being cautious,† he said. I felt myself getting worked up again. â€Å"Come on. Even you can't want to be careful on this one. You actually know where Strigoi are hiding out. Strigoi who massacred children. Don't you want to go after them when they don't expect it?† I sounded like Mason now. â€Å"It's not that easy,† he said. â€Å"We answer to the Guardian Council and the Moroi government. We can't just run off and act on impulse. And anyway, we don't know everything yet. You should never walk into any situation without knowing all the details.† â€Å"Zen life lessons again,† I sighed. I ran a hand through my hair, tucking it behind my ears. â€Å"Why'd you tell me this, anyway? This is guardian stuff. Not the kind of thing you let novices in on.† He considered his words, and his expression softened. He always looked amazing, but I liked him best like this. â€Å"I've said a few things†¦the other day and today†¦that I shouldn't have. Things that insulted your age. You're seventeen†¦but you're capable of handling and processing the same things those much older than you do.† My chest grew light and fluttery. â€Å"Really?† He nodded. â€Å"You're still really young in a lot of ways- and act young- but the only way to really change that is to treat you like an adult. I need to do that more. I know you'll take this information and understand how important it is and keep it to yourself.† I didn't love being told I acted young, but I liked the idea that he would talk to me like an equal. â€Å"Dimka,† came a voice. Tasha Ozera walked up to us. She smiled when she saw me. â€Å"Hello, Rose.† There went my mood. â€Å"Hey,† I said flatly. She placed a hand on Dimitri's forearm, sliding her fingers over the leather of his coat. I eyed those fingers angrily. How dare they touch him? â€Å"You've got that look,† she told him. â€Å"What look?† he asked. The stern look he'd worn with me vanished. There was a small, knowing smile on his lips. Almost a playful one. â€Å"That look that says you're going to be on duty all day.† â€Å"Really? I have a look like that?† There was a teasing, mocking tone to his voice. She nodded. â€Å"When does your shift technically end?† Dimitri actually looked- I swear- sheepish. â€Å"An hour ago.† â€Å"You can't keep doing this,† she groaned. â€Å"You need a break.† â€Å"Well †¦ if you consider that I'm always Lissa's guardian†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"For now,† she said knowingly. I felt sicker than I had last night. â€Å"There's a big pool tournament going on upstairs.† â€Å"I can't,† he said, but the smile was still on his face. â€Å"Even though I haven't played in a long time †¦Ã¢â‚¬  What the- ? Dimitri played pool? Suddenly, it didn't matter that we'd just had a discussion about him treating me like an adult. Some small part of me did know what a compliment that was- but the rest of me wanted him to treat me like he did Tasha. Playful. Teasing. Casual. They were so familiar with each other, so completely at ease. â€Å"Come on, then,† she begged. â€Å"Just one round! We could take them all.† â€Å"I can't,† he repeated. He sounded regretful. â€Å"Not with everything going on.† She sobered a little. â€Å"No. I suppose not.† Glancing at me, she said teasingly, â€Å"I hope you realize what a hard-core role model you have here. He's never off duty.† â€Å"Well,† I said, copying her lilting tone from earlier, â€Å"for now, at least.† Tasha looked puzzled. I don't think it occurred to her I'd be making fun of her. Dimitri's dark look told me he knew exactly what I was doing. I immediately realized I'd just killed whatever progress I'd made as an adult. â€Å"We're finished here, Rose. Remember what I said.† â€Å"Yeah,† I said, turning away. I suddenly wanted to go to my room and veg for a while. This day was making me tired already. â€Å"Definitely.† I hadn't gotten far when I ran into Mason. Good God. Men everywhere. â€Å"You're mad,† he said as soon as he looked at my face. He had a knack for discovering my moods. â€Å"What happened?† â€Å"Some †¦ authority problems. It's been a weird morning.† I sighed, unable to get Dimitri off the brain. Looking at Mason, I remembered how I'd been convinced I wanted to get serious with him last night. I was a head case. I couldn't make up my mind about anyone. Deciding the best way to banish one guy was to pay attention to another, I grabbed Mason's hand and steered him away. â€Å"Come on. Wasn't the deal to go somewhere†¦um, private today?† â€Å"I figured you weren't drunk anymore,† he joked. But his eyes looked very, very serious. And interested. â€Å"I assumed it was all off.† â€Å"Hey, I stand by my claims, no matter what.† Opening my mind, I searched for Lissa. She was no longer in our room. She'd gone off to some other royal event, no doubt still practicing for Priscilla Voda's big dinner. â€Å"Come on,† I told Mason. â€Å"We'll go to my room.† Aside from when Dimitri inconveniently happened to be passing by someone's room, nobody was really enforcing the mixed-gender rule. It was practically like being back in my Academy dorms. As Mason and I went upstairs, I related to him what Dimitri had told me about the Strigoi in Spokane. Dimitri had told me to keep it to myself, but I was mad at him again, and I didn't see any harm in telling Mason. I knew he'd be interested in this. I was right. Mason got really worked up. â€Å"What?† he exclaimed as we walked into my room. â€Å"They're not doing anything?† I shrugged and sat on my bed. â€Å"Dimitri said- â€Å" â€Å"I know, I know †¦ I heard you. About being careful and all that.† Mason paced around my room angrily. â€Å"But if those Strigoi go after another Moroi†¦another family†¦damn it! They're going to wish they weren't so careful then.† â€Å"Forget about it,† I said. I felt kind of miffed that me on a bed wasn't enough to deter him from crazy battle plans. â€Å"There's nothing we can do.† He stopped walking. â€Å"We could go.† â€Å"Go where?† I asked stupidly. â€Å"To Spokane. There are buses you can catch in town.† â€Å"I †¦ wait. You want us to go to Spokane and take on Strigoi?† â€Å"Sure. Eddie'd do it too †¦ we could go to that mall. They wouldn't be organized or anything, so we could wait and pick them off one by one †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I could only stare. â€Å"When did you get so dumb?† â€Å"Oh, I see. Thanks for the vote of confidence.† â€Å"It's not about confidence,† I argued, standing up and approaching him. â€Å"You kick major ass. I've seen it. But this †¦ this isn't the way. We can't go get Eddie and take on Strigoi. We need more people. More planning. More information.† I rested my hands on his chest. He placed his over them and smiled. The fire of battle was still in his eyes, but I could tell his mind was shifting to more immediate concerns. Like me. â€Å"I didn't mean to call you dumb,† I told him. â€Å"I'm sorry.† â€Å"You're just saying that now because you want to have your way with me.† â€Å"Of course I am,† I laughed, happy to see him relax. The nature of this conversation reminded me a little of the one Christian and Lissa had had in the chapel. â€Å"Well,† he said, â€Å"I don't think I'm going to be too hard to take advantage of.† â€Å"Good. Because there are lots of things I want to do.† I slid my hands up and around his neck. His skin was warm beneath my fingers, and I remembered how much I'd enjoyed kissing him last night. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he said, â€Å"You really are his student.† â€Å"Whose?† â€Å"Belikov's. I was just thinking about when you mentioned needing more information and stuff. You act just like him. You've gotten all serious since you've been hanging out with him.† â€Å"No, I haven't.† Mason had pulled me closer, but now I suddenly didn't feel so romantic. I'd wanted to make out and forget Dimitri for a while, not have a conversation about him. Where had this come from? Mason was supposed to be distracting me. He didn't notice anything was wrong. â€Å"You've just changed, that's all. It's not bad †¦ just different.† Something about that made me angry, but before I could snap back, his mouth met mine in a kiss. Reasonable discussions sort of vanished. A bit of that dark temper started to rise in me, but I simply channeled that intensity into physicality as Mason and I fell on top of each other. I yanked him down on the bed, managing to do so without stopping the kissing. I was nothing if not a multitasker. I dug my nails into his back while his hands slid up the back of my neck and released the ponytail I'd just made minutes ago. Running his fingers through the unbound hair, he shifted his mouth down and kissed my neck. â€Å"You are †¦ amazing,† he told me. And I could tell that he meant it. His whole face glowed with affection for me. I arched upward, letting his lips press harder against my skin while his hands slipped under the bottom of my shirt. They trailed upward along my stomach, just barely tracing the edge of my bra. Considering we'd just been having an argument a minute ago, I was surprised to see things escalating so quickly. Honestly, though †¦ I didn't mind. This was the way I lived my life. Everything was always fast and intense with me. The night Dimitri and I had fallen victim to Victor Dashkov's lust charm, there'd been some pretty furious passion going on too. Dimitri had controlled it, though, so sometimes we'd taken things slowly†¦and that had been wonderful in its own way. But most of the time, we hadn't been able to hold ourselves back. I could feel it all over again. The ways his hands had run over my body. The deep, powerful kisses. It was then that I realized something. I was kissing Mason, but in my head, I was with Dimitri. And it wasn't like I was simply remembering either. I was actually imagining I was with Dimitri- right now- reliving that night all over again. With my eyes closed, it was easy to pretend. But when I opened them and saw Mason's eyes, I knew he was with me. He adored me and had wanted me for a long time. For me to do this †¦ to be with him and pretend I was with someone else †¦ It wasn't right. I wiggled out of his reach. â€Å"No †¦ don't.† Mason stopped immediately because that's the kind of guy he was. â€Å"Too much?† he asked. I nodded. â€Å"That's okay. We don't have to do that.† He reached for me again, and I moved farther away. â€Å"No, I just don't†¦ I don't know. Let's call it quits, okay?† â€Å"I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He was speechless for a moment. â€Å"What happened to the ‘lots of things' you wanted to do?† Yeah †¦ it looked pretty bad, but what could I say? I can't get physical with you because when I do, I just think about the other guy I actually want. You're just a stand-in. I swallowed, feeling stupid. â€Å"I'm sorry, Mase. I just can't.† He sat up and ran a hand over his hair. â€Å"Okay. All right.† I could hear the hardness in his voice. â€Å"You're mad.† He glanced over at me, a stormy expression on his face. â€Å"I'm just confused. I can't read your signals. One moment you're hot, the next you're cold. You tell me you want me, you tell me you don't. If you picked one, that'd be fine, but you keep making me think one thing and then you end up going in a completely different direction. Not just now- all the time.† It was true. I had gone back and forth with him. Sometimes I was flirty, other times I completely ignored him. â€Å"Is there something you want me to do?† he asked when I didn't say anything. â€Å"Something that'll†¦ I don't know. Make you feel better about me?† â€Å"I don't know,† I said weakly. He sighed. â€Å"Then what do you want in general?† Dimitri, I thought. Instead, I repeated myself. â€Å"I don't know.† With a groan, he stood up and headed for the door. â€Å"Rose, for someone who claims she wants to gather as much information as possible, you really have a lot to learn about yourself.† The door slammed behind him. The noise made me flinch, and as I stared at where Mason had just stood, I realized he was right. I did have a lot to learn.

Aids in India

Why is the A.I.D.S. epidemic prevalent in India? There are several factors that contribute to the spread of the disease but in my opinion, two are more pronounced than the rest. Prevailing cultural practices and economic factors would count as one. This will prove beyond a doubt that my observation is acceptable, as the factors below would reveal.If we observe the geographical boundaries of India, it appears that the AIDS epidemic is more concentrated with the Southern provinces than it is in the North. The reason of course is the disparity in the context of economic conditions.While the South enjoys a much better standard of living, it likewise becomes more susceptible to the spread of the AIDS virus. Remember that AIDS/HIV transmission transpired first in more advanced urban centers like the West and East Coast of the United States (Atwal & Alexander).In India, the epidemic follows the same route; the influx of migrant workers is a take off point. Naturally in the course of their s tay, they are bound to have a casual rendezvous with the local sex workers. This is typical with workers coming from the Northern States (Uttar Pradesh) for example enters Mumbai to become part of the labor force, so in effect they are the source of HIV transmission.This phenomenon likewise limits the spread of the disease to the Northern States because said migrant workers stay indefinitely and often postpone trips back home, thus delaying the transmission of the virus to their wives (Atwal & Alexander).Another factor that definitely promotes the spread of HIV points to the cultural upbringing of the populace. Did you know that sex, as a topic, is taboo to most in India? Moreover, discussion of sex in public is inviolable where age-old traditions of the religious denominations abhor even the slight mention of the word. So what happens next (Indo-Asian News Service)?Besides, the majority of the population are illiterate and unschooled, so you can rule out the possibility of educatin g them on the merits of HIV prevention. Culture further contributes by keeping residents mum about the disease.Even though the symptoms manifest in them, still they refuse to enter treatment centers because of the stigma that is likely to follow. Even monogamous women become inflicted with the HIV virus, simply because their partners have illicit affairs with other women. In fact there the incidence for HIV is higher in women (Frith).Due to these cultural barriers, health workers cannot educate the majority and up to this day, inhabitants still practice unsafe sex where low condom use has been found responsible for 84% of reported cases.Migration and mobility – due to economic reasons, workers prefer to extend working hours that keep them away from a healthy social environment surrounded by their families and community. This eventually puts them at risk, being prone to unusual behavior (â€Å"Preventing HIV/AIDS in India).Recent studies indicate that a number of drug users t oday are switching from the inhalation to the injection of drugs, which is relevant to HIV transmission that is more often triggered by the use of unclean needles and syringes. Infections have also been attributed to the low status of women under the norms of Indian society.Given unequal power in relations as well as limited access to human, financial, and economic assets weakens the stance of protection in the context of demanding safer sex, thereby increasing the risk (â€Å"Preventing HIV/AIDS in India).The ethnic composition in India is likewise a big factor as the population has roughly 800 million Hindus and 150 million Muslims. This is vital because these religious sects never practice circumcision. And the health manuals are explicit in the assumption that circumcision indeed can reduce health risks, the risk being seven times for uncircumcised males (Russell).As mentioned above, aside from economic factors that helps spread the virus, cultural leanings as well helps to hid e the actual incidence of HIV transmission. Government figures are so low that they seem to downplay the seriousness of the situation.Even President George Bush of the United States has been disheartened by the fact that India shows no interest and restricts the outside world from helping curb the AIDS epidemic. That is the reason why the United States’ campaign against AIDS has been transferred to Vietnam (Russell).As of today, 22 million lives worldwide have been lost to the HIV/AIDS virus and most of these casualties originated from Southern Africa. Will India be next? All indicators point out to India to likely suffer the same fate, as 200 million of its population are already infected with the virus and a little over 5 million are actually suffering from a full blown AIDS infection (Indo-Asian News Service).When will HIV/AIDS reach uncontrollable proportion? The HIV/AIDS situation in India is starting to manifest its ugly head through government neglect and unsound progr ams. Detailed below are the failed attempts of the government as well as the unfruitful intervention of NGOs and private foundations in the drive against the spread of HIV/AIDS in India.The sub-Saharan region of Africa already registered 13 million deaths due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic while another 25 million are reported be infected with the virus. Recent reports from other countries once categorized as heavily infected have shown signs of abating (Beaubien).Thought of as the main reason for the onset of the AIDS epidemic happens to be poor rain conditions that have made a significant impact on local harvests; adding most likely to the severe food crises.During its heyday, the African epidemic pulls out healthy and productive workers from the fields due to sickness or to aid in the care for a sick relative. And due to this shortage apart from the desire to avert hunger, some women traded sex for food, which thereby increases the risk further.Africa has the highest rate of HIV infect ion in the world to date, but not anymore because as mentioned, figures could be deceiving (Evers).Given the present rate of HIV infection in India, the number for AIDS could reach a total of 25 million by the year 2010 to eclipse the cases registered in Africa. That is if the Government in India would disregard all efforts to curb the disease.The government should accept the fact that the infection has reached epidemic proportion, so a world effort from the United Nations, donor countries and NGO’s could help thwart the virus in its tracks (â€Å"World AIDS News†).A medical expert from India, Dr Ishwar Gilada presents a bleak assessment of the situation. Sooner or later, India will be home to half of the world’s HIV-infected people with around 200 million of its population infected with the virus, of which around 10 million already contracted a full-blown status where roughly 1 million patients have already died.And if the Government fails in its endeavor to co ntrol the epidemic, then the projected 25 million cases could be expected in the next two years (â€Å"World AIDS News†).The projection is bleak indeed since the Global Fund intended for the prevention of AIDS urgently needs some 700 million dollars to support its outlined projects. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for example has pledged 200 million dollars in its India AIDS initiative.The grant will be used to help support HIV prevention measures in the Indian States of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland (â€Å"World AIDS News†).What has the Government done so far? India’s fight against AIDS started in 1992 through the World Bank-financed National AIDS Program. The effort was nationwide in scope that set-up AIDS control offices in 32 states and union territories.The program somehow increased access to information, education and communication programs, using media and regular communication mediums such as folk music, festivals, HIV consciousness campaigns and even elephant parades to broadcast the risks involved in HIV (â€Å"India: Stemming the AIDS Epidemic†).Other Government initiatives include blood safety measures or the mandatory screening conducted by most blood banks, which banned professional blood donations while promoting it as voluntary and systems-wide strategy to improve blood banks services.All these somehow raised public awareness on the evils of HIV/AIDS, informing around 80% of the population; 64% in the countryside, particularly the high-risk group.Some positive observations have already been stipulated with reports coming from the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, all presenting encouraging feedback for their HIV programs (â€Å"India: Stemming the AIDS Epidemic†).There are still persistent reports that the Government effort does not suffice with the continued rise of the HIV/AIDS. The information drive and prevention measures seem to have failed in its drive to educate t he majority.The think-tank in New Delhi failed to show remarkable strides in the desire to contain the epidemic. The world may just as well brace for a 19% full-blown AIDS infection rate by 2020 or that would be around 200 million cases.

History in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History in Education - Essay Example History of Canadian Education The Historical Events When it comes to Canadian society, the role of education has always remained pivotal. There are several historical events of Canadian education system which point out to the importance of education in society. Just like the process of learning which began in Canada when the Catholic Church started giving the formal education to the people on multiple subjects (mathematics, religion, and historical philosophy). Similarly, the French Canadian sisters of the congregation with the support of Government brought in place several schools in rural areas of the country (Angelfire 1-2). This was the beginning of an education reform (the early 17th century reform) where both the society and the government were seemed engaged in the educational establishment. The point of impression is the basic schooling which has always remained signified in Canadian education system. Likewise, the Catholic missionaries who stepped up in the mid-17th century to bring in place the Catholic schools. The point of surprise is that due to social, economic, political and cultural divides, the Canadian education system remained discriminated in the history of education. It was the presence of minorities (Blacks and Asians) which made discrimination to intrude the education system (Gaffield 1-4). ... tegration was supposed on an immediate assimilation as minority Indians were not prepared to transmute into the socioeconomic order of the Whites (Barman). Actually, the minority Indians wanted to carry on their own cultural and educational norms instead of imitating the Whites. This caused the discrimination to enter the Canadian society as the Federal government argued where education section was most influenced and got affected. The Canadian Whites of the time asserted that it was the governments’ parsimony that weakened the process of education. However, the discrimination was there in the schools and at the work places especially where the Indians-Asians were the most present (Barman 106). Cooper (2013) uncovers the story of Mary Bibb- a famous black female teacher in the nineteenth century North America, who was famous but still was unknown to the people who were writing history (Hill). The author describes Mary Bibb as a leader, a reformer and an educationist who was hi dden somewhere in the history of education- in the history of Canadian education where positions of minorities were remained undiscussed and less highlighted (Cooper 141-144). Challenges in Literature The primary challenge in reading was the text itself as the text presented in the Canadian history is not describing the position of minorities in whole. Just like the story of black teacher â€Å"Mary Bibb†, where author Cooper (2013) has tried to uncover her life experiences but still have not able to present her life in detail and comprehensive way (Hill). The literature has presented the facts in tits and pieces and is not depicting the special events like the educational discrimination between the Indian and White Girls in clarity. This has made the literature more general to connect to the

Work-life Balance In the Global Human Resource Management Coursework

Work-life Balance In the Global Human Resource Management - Coursework Example Employees could be ‘forced’ by the organisations to make maximal or even stressful physical and mental contributions as part of their work schedule, thereby negatively impacting the work-life balance. In certain cases, employees themselves could also push themselves with personal motives and also due to unstable work environments, disregarding their health. In the recent times, the need to maintain apt work-life balance is being strongly focused by the organisations and the employees themselves. Understanding how apt balance could not only optimize the employees’ personal side but also their work productivity, organisations are actualizing various initiatives in the work environment. Although, this introduction of various measures is widespread, when it comes to certain organisations in the non-Western or developing countries, there is a varied perspective. Due to specific cultural, economic and social factors, these differences occur. Thus, the focus of this report will be on how the changing nature of the workplace is having an effect on work-life balance in a global context, critically discussing and comparing, with two case studies, the range of work-life balance initiatives being followed in Western and non-Western countries, finally ending with recommendations. Work-life balance is a concept which refers to how employees with the support of organisations can aptly balance or prioritize their work aspects like their professional career, ambitions, financial statuses, etc., with their lifestyle style aspects like their family, friends, health, leisure, etc. Clark (2000, p. 751) defines work-life balance as â€Å"satisfaction and good functioning at work and at home, with a minimum of role conflict.† Heathfield (2013) further expands on the above definition by stating, work-life balance has a concept â€Å"that supports the efforts of employees to split their time and energy between work and the other important aspects of their lives†, by

Non-Invasive Ventilation in Severe Acute Respiratory Failure (ARF) Literature review

Non-Invasive Ventilation in Severe Acute Respiratory Failure (ARF) secondary to an Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pul - Literature review Example Figure 3: Kaplan-Meier plot showing cumulative survival following the initiation of NIV (Chung et al., 2010) 18 Introduction Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is among the leading global causes of chronic morbidity and mortality, being listed as fourth leading cause of death worldwide (British Lung Foundation, 2007). It accounts for approximately 30,000 deaths each year in the United Kingdom (UK) , with more than 90% of these occurring in the over 65 age group "in 2004" (Healthcare Commission, 2006). The prevalence of the disease is expected to rise in coming decades and it is projected to be the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020 (Murray and Lopez 1997). A disorder with chronic airflow limitation, the definition of COPD now gaining acceptance defines COPD as â€Å"a disease state characterized by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. The airflow limitation is usually both progressive and associated with an abnormal; inflammatory response of the lun gs to noxious particles or gases† (GOLD, 2010). Three general types of lesions are associated with COPD: emphysema, small airways inflammation and fibrosis, and mucus gland hyperplasia (Senior & Anthonisen, 1998). Excessive decline of lung function in patients with COPD leading to hospitalisation and death due to COPD is associated with presence of chronic mucus hypersecretion (Vestbo & Lang, 1996). Tobacco use is definitely the major risk factor for COPD defined by pack-year or cumulative dose, besides other risk factors such as age (Blanchette et al., 2011), familial tendencies, childhood respiratory diseases, (Senior & Anthonisen, 1998) and occupational exposure (Tomas, 2011; Blanc et al., 2009) Up to 20% of COPD patients admitted to hospital present with respiratory acidosis (Plant, 2000), characterised by deterioration in gas exchange, along with tachypnoea, dyspnoea, and crepitation (Brochard, 2000); as was observed in the case studied by the author. Studies have recomme nded the use of Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in such cases of exacerbations of COPD (Dikensoy et al., 2002). However, there are controversies to selection of patients who may be considered eligible and may actually benefit from NIV due to methodological factors. Patients with exacerbations of COPD who are not likely to respond to conventional support therapy and those in which NIV can be used for averting the needs of invasive mechanical ventilation can be selected for administration of NIV (Garpestad et al., 2007). Besides severity of exacerbations and respiratory acidosis, several other factors such as individual characteristics, timing of intervention, skill of operating

Bussines writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Bussines writing - Essay Example In fact, spending thousands of dollars on leases can be cut off already because one can use his own home to sell whatever products or services one has to offer through social networking sites or blogs. People venturing into business sure have a great advantage with the wide use of the internet these days. More and more people are advertising to their friends the products they have, for free over social networking sites like facebook and twitter, send the orders via express delivery and get paid through the bank. Such manner saves a lot of money on the part of the seller with the advantages mentioned earlier and on the part of the buyer, the time and money spent on travelling to malls to get the desired product. The internet also widens the area a business can cover because friends around the world could know and buy the products and services offered online and can also tell other friends about it if they are satisfied, which saves and earns more money to the businessman. With this circumstance, it would be very logical for a business person to engage in business through the internet not only because of the prospect of cutting expenses on renting a space but more importantly the la rge number of possible

Business Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Research Methods - Essay Example The personal interview will allow the investigator to connect with each individual which will facilitate the process and create a connection that should translate in honest and truthful answers for the investigation. It would hard to collect the information the investigator seeks utilizing other methods that utilized standardize questions. B. The best primary research method to perform poll on large group of students concerning their preference among preferential candidates is to submit the group to self-administered questionnaires. This is the best option because we are dealing with a large population which creates the necessity for a method that is effective and easy to administer (Mann, 1995). Since the scope of the information needed is simplistic a questionnaire can be utilized effectively in this research application. The questionnaire is also the best alternative because is the most cost effective solution for this particular problem. The students would fill out the questionnaire themselves without the assistance of the investigator in the process. Once all the questionnaires are collected the investigator can perform other qualitative and quantitative analysis to evaluate the data collected. C. In this example there is need to survey 58 wholesale grocery companies about their personal management policies. One of the constraints of the situation is that each of the companies is scattered in different locations in the eastern part of the United States. The best research method for this particular situation is to perform telephone interviews. A phone survey is a systematic collection of data from a sample population using a standardize questionnaire (Responsivemanagement, 2009). All the participants can be easily reached by the utilizing the telephone as the main communication device. The phone survey is effective for this particular situation because it speeds up the process in comparison with visiting

Contrast the development of the themes of justice and inequality in Research Paper

Contrast the development of the themes of justice and inequality in Langston Hughes poems the freedom train, Merry-Go-Round - Research Paper Example Hughes managed to go through the odds by working as nightclub door attendant and superintendent whereas he travelled to places such as West Africa, Italy, and Paris and it is from most of his work that he experienced heights of inequality and discriminations for being black among whites.   During this time, he developed poems that enabled him to receive a scholarship to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (Hughes and Susan 20).   In this work, the rhythmic, lyrical nature of his poetry is obvious as is his conviction that only by continuing with his African lineage could African Americans finds appreciation (Anthony and Stephanie 25); however, in most cases black or African Americans were subjected to great discrimination. His emergence occurred around the same time which is being referred to Harlem Renaissance lately. The Harlem Renaissance period was characterised by deep questioning of African American racial orientation and identity (Hughes and Susan 18). This was also combine d with the effect of slavery and racism on the generations that followed. Hughes is one of the most successful poets of the period. His success is not determined by the way he struggled to attain success but by the way, he represented the issues of the African Americans that he ever felt was being undermined and regarded as dogs especially when they were formed by their white counterparts to undertake certain chores (Anthony and Stephanie 25). For instance, in his poem Madam and Her Madam, he ironically accepted the claims of love from his madam, â€Å"I said, Madam, That may be true-- But I'll be dogged† (Madam and Her Madam22). It is notable that people liked him for his contributions in the field of equality and social justices. The way he wrote the two people attempted to question the racism and the effect of such writing on African Americans. He also questioned the hypocrisy of the correctly elected persons. He noted that while these democratically elected people enjoyed service delivery, he suggests that their focus was on the whites (Hughes and Susan 21). This was a clear an attack on the leadership so that the African Americans could also benefit from their participation in the electoral process by having the leaders put in place plans that escalate their inclusion (Hughes and Susan 20). It is notable that he served as the voice of hope and impartiality for the African Americans who lived in a highly racially segregated society. In this society, the African Americans routinely suffered from all manner of discrimination, bias, and utter violence. It was indeed very unfortunate that white Americans even considered and took the African Americans as their slaves. His artworks reminded people of the kind of life, which they really deserved yet they could not receive because the white men were in charge. He made the clarion call using the â€Å"free† where all are â€Å"equal† which he argued excluded African Americans (Hughes and Susan 18). The clarion call resonated so well with other emerging African American opinion shapers who conformed and resolved that Black Americans must have their space and enjoy the life provisions with liberty. The people were charged to ask about the rational for perpetuating inequality against fellow Americans because they had a different color. He argued that the

Detrimental effects to real women by women portrayed on TV Research Paper

Detrimental effects to real women by women portrayed on TV - Research Paper Example These women are to serve as an example of how a female should look and behave; they radiate magnetism that can generate all imaginable and unimaginable feelings and thoughts. Nevertheless, the arguments behind this suggestion are not unmistakable. It is essential to understand the line between the TV world and the real life, between natural and virtual. It is not infrequent that many women feel themselves imperfect and unworthy in comparison to their TV counterparts (Doane, 1991). A woman who regularly judges herself against the females from TV usually becomes not very self-assured. The images created and shown on TV decrease women’s self-esteem as they do reflect the ideas of feminism women have been struggling for for many years. And it is a well- known fact, that self-respect guarantees proper attitude of other people and consequently, self-assurance, approval, and finally, the impression a women makes. TV shows talk about and show women different from those we meet in the real life. Surely, it would be more beneficial for female population to look for other samples for assessment (Hyde, 2005). Men and women have very different self-appraisal and the attitudes towards each other are formed through years. These attitudes and stereotypes are formed inside of our souls by what we see and hear around. As we watch TV every day, many of our stereotypes are formed with the help of it. Women were struggling for their rights and self-respect for ages however, sometimes there is an impression that these efforts are not taken into account. Almost every ad contains something offensive for the representatives of fair sex, because what they see on TV can’t even be compared with what they see in everyday life (Juhasz, 2001). Modern famous serials like Sex and the City make women think about their lives. Here we can see four women, free and successful who does not need any marriage or children and just have fun enjoying life. Such life is not natural for

Touch Interfaces Essay Example for Free

Touch Interfaces Essay Introduction Pointing at an object is the most basic human interaction, which is very important in human-machine interfaces. Similarly, creating gestures such as using ones hand and arm can provide information. For instance, pointing to a chair indicates asking for permission to sit down or pointing to indicate directions. The main goal of all the research done on touch interface and gesture recognition is to develop a system that can identify specific human gestures using human touch and use them to interact with Software application. Humans habitually use gesture to interact with other humans. Gestures can be used for everything such as pointing at an object for attention to conveying information about space and temporal characteristics [1]. Biologists define gesture, as the notion of gesture is to embrace all kinds of instances where an individual engages in movements whose communicative intent is paramount, manifest, and openly acknowledged [2]. Gestures that are related with speech are called gesticulation and gestures that are independent from speech are called autonomous gesture. Autonomous gestures have its own communicative language such as American Sign Language (ASL) as well as motion commands. There are many other types of gestures such as Semiotic – communicating meaning, Ergotic – manipulating objects and Epistemic – groping. There are six types of semiotic gestures and they are Symbolic (arbitrary), Deictic (pointing), Iconic (descriptive), Pantomimic (use of invisible objects), Beat (indicating flow of speech) and Cohesive (marker indicating related topics) [3]. Symbolic or Arbitrary gestures are gestures that can be learned but are not common in a culture setting and can be very useful because they can be specifically created for use of device control. An example is the set of gestures used for airport plane control. Deictic gestures are used to point at important objects and these gestures can be specific that refers to one object, in general that refers to class of object, or functions that symbolize intentions. An example is a simple hand gestures such as pointing to ones mouth when he or she is hungry. Related Technologies Today, there exist many image-based or device-based hardware techniques, which can be used as touch interface. For example, an image-based technique can detect gesture by capturing pictures of users hand motions gesture via camera. The captured image is then sent to Computer-vision software, which tracks the image and identifies the gesture. For instance, television sets that can be controlled by hand gesture instead of a remote control have been developed [4] [5] [6]. Basically, to turn the TV on, the user raises his open hand and the computer recognizes the gesture, which in return turns the TV on. Device-based techniques such as instrumented gloves, stylus and other position trackers have been developed, which recognize the movements and send the signals so that the system can understand the gesture. For example, Dexterous Handmaster [7] developed in 1987, initially used to control robot hand, which was very accurate but was not suitable for rapid movement. Power Glove [7] developed in 1989 by Mattel, which was resistive ink sensors for finger position, plus ultrasonic tracking and the Space Glove [7] developed in 1991, which was a plastic rings around fingers. Other gloves such as 5DT Data GloveTM [7], SuperGlove [7], Pinch Gloves [7] and CyberGlove [7]. However, the latest in computer technology is the G-Speak Gestural Technology System [8], a glove which is faster and easier to use compared to mouse and keyboard and using it one can move anything anywhere on the screen. At present, there exist many products, which are closely related with the hypothesis of this thesis. For example, the GyroPoint is a product of Gyration, Inc. in Saratoga, CA [9] [10]. The device can operate in two different modes. First, it can operate as a regular mouse and second, it can operate in the air (3D). Another example, the Bluewand, [11] which is a small pen-like device used to control Bluetooth enabled devices by hand-movements. Basically, a 6-axis accelerometer and gyroscope system detects devices full direction and movement in space. Bluewand can be used with verity of applications such as remote control for TV-set, cell-phone, MP3-player, etc. Overview of the Technology (Touch Interfaces) The ability to touch a computer screen and manipulate objects or control is a advance way of communication between human and computers and due to this advancement many types of touch system is developed such as point-of-sale systems, to information kiosks, to electronic whiteboards, iPod, iPhone etc. However, these systems have different ways of implementation in different applications. For example, using a desktop display for touch input as well as pen input, recognizing finger for touch on the screen. Other ways of implementation are such as Gesture recognition is a process through which a computer can recognize human gesture. Such interaction can make interface with computer more accessible and expressive for both the physically impaired and for young children who might find this type of interaction more natural. Gestures can be used in applications such as word processing, hand sign language, games, entertainment and educational approaches. There are other forms of gesture recognition than hand gestures. For example, finger pointing a way to select or move objects around, face tracking, eye motion and lip reading, etc. Technology that implements gestures has the ability to change the way humans interact with computers by eliminating input devices such as joysticks, mice and keyboards. Lots of conventional whole-hand input devices creates interface using non-contact methods or through some physical medium and such interfaces often needs contact of the hands and fingers with a hard, firm surface. As displays get larger, multi-user interaction is important as well as the ability to recognize two or more simultaneous inputs. As a result, wall-size touch displays became important for users as it enables to work with computer application and in the future human-body sized interfaces will become a natural way of interaction with the multiple users. Other related system is â€Å"A Camera-Based Touch Interface for Pervasive Displays† [13] developed by Gerald D. Morrison. Basically, the system contains smart camera in the corners of a 17-foot-wide wall display to determine the location of an object in front of, or in contact with, the display. The main object the user’s finger and the collected image are processed in such a way that it can recognize various attributes of the object’s, such as location relative to the display in three dimensional space. The information sent back to computer which generates the display, enabling touch control. Advantages of such system Many companies have established research centers all over the world to conduct research in developing new technologies. They emphasizes on managing its process in order to deliver product that are cheap and fast maintaining a good Information Management strategy. Manipulation of information using different applications and technologies became a potential information overload for many similar companies. Hence taking advantage of the new advance technologies to manage and maintain the information overload. Other advantages are such as having to interact with software application more closely compared t traditional ways of interactions. The term software was used in the early days of the software engineering field. It was used to describe how the rapid increase in computational power and the complexity of problems which now could be tackled. It refers to the difficulty of writing correct, understandable and variable computer programs. Having touch interface will help developer to interact with developing tools to developed advance software application. Today in the 21st century software is every where imaginable, when you check out at the grocery store, using a credit card, driving your car or listening to music in your new MP3 player just to name a few. Software development has undergone a change from its early days, the awareness of the software crisis has forced engineers to address the problems by various processes and methodologies and the industry are realizing that changing to more efficient ways of communicate with computers lead to better products with higher quality and reduced costs. However, there is always a problem that the tools and techniques invented today will need time to mature, to be introduced into industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The security implications of the system will be strong in order to assure safety for both the user and the system using finer print recognition. The main security issue such as data access must be implemented in such a way that the privilege given to the user is controlled and manipulated. Controlling the web-browsing habit such as browsing illegal or unwanted web sites need also to be controlled, hence providing user access to email, web sites using password and encryptions is essential. Keeping off the malicious users from accessing valuable company information and other external information that can be used against the company stuff and the company authorities needs to be taken under consideration. Sending emails and other attachments must be allowed according to hierarchy of access permissions. Other issues that need to be taken under consideration are such as the network password and security tokens needs to be changed constantly and most off all securing the connection to local devices that are connected to the network such as print servers and touch screen connected printers. Routers and switches should be organize and installed as securely as possible and web based configuration should be disabled as well as network access to the devices should be limited to the Grenada networks. To have a perfectly feasible operation and conduct the most proper ethical business functions is the first priority for most companies and businesses. The most critical issue related with IT is IT security where the objective is to take effective measures to decrease the threats exist today in IT related business such as e-commerce. Today, most companies prefer electronic information over traditional ways of storing and manipulation of information. Data are stored in huge database and process using different front-end software’s form anywhere in the world. IT security is made up of three main categories and they are Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability. Confidentiality is when company or an organization has sensitive information and does not want to disclose such information to anyone outside the company. Integrity is when companies want to update the system to adapt to future needs. As for availability, it is when a business implements a system it needs to make sure the system is up and running when needed. Threats such as customer’s information can be disclosed which can affect the credibility of any company; company’s information can be hacked by illegally, etc. There are many ways to improve the correct securities such as protecting data and information using different sophisticated firewall software, understanding threats and its impact in order to be protected forms it, calculating risk and deciding how to eradicate such risk. There are two basic ways to improve security and they are Bottom Up and Top Down. Bottom Up approach is not that precise but in order to implement such approach it is advisable to properly understand company policies, network topology and companies operating procedure. Top Down approach is methodical and more precise compared to Bottom Up approach but is slow and expensive. The main advantages of the touch interface are that it is centralized where it can access its information from using human touch. Therefore, if there are any security issues it can be dealt with using by tracking the finger-print. It is also flexible and scalable enough for new technologies to integrate with the system. Many flexible system and architecture can be designed so that it can be interoperable making all components work together in a synchronized fashion. This system can be used to backup critical information which is vital for both the system and the end-user. Conclusion As the information age advanced the need for computers became a daily part of human life. Computers have emerged from early abacus, papyrus and ENIAC to today’s main frame computer and super computers that can manipulate huge amount of information across the globe. The use of Touch screen was discovered by military in order to share information and after the first dial up connection; the use of touch screen became popular amongst local public. Today, computers are the most essential part of human life starting from basic calculators to storing and manipulating of terabits of information. Use of Touch screen is mostly possible if one uses computers or other devices such as mobiles. Need for speedy information has become an important issue in today’s business. Using such devices Touch screen caused a revolution in our society. Peoples shopping style is also changing because of Touch screen. Selling products over the touch screen is cheap, fast and easy for both the company and the customer. Hence issues such as privacy and ethics are most important and needs to be concentrated on by the governments and education institute. Many of the ethical issues involve privacy. For example, privacy concerning e-mail uses by the employees, head office of a company and individuals. System such as malleable surface interface [12] can be used in applications that require physically touching the screen and its objects performed by the human hands or finger, such as sculpting and massage. Even though, many touch technology systems are suitable for small displays such as iPod, iPhone, the system can be also used in big screen such TV, or directly interacting with the pc monitor. This way of communication is very attractive because they are more versatile than other input devices as well as can be made inexpensively. While touch sensing is very common but having multi user interaction has become more essential. Having to interact with a system with more than one finger at a time useful for larger interaction scenarios such as interactive walls and tabletops. Many researchers experimenting with a wide variety of application scenarios and communication modalities that utilize multi-touch input. It is a rich area for research, and has potential for advances in efficiency, usability, and intuitiveness of the future UI designed. Today there exist mobiles with touch screen and stroke interfaces as compared to those with button, thumbwheel, trackballs, and stylus etc interfaces. The traditional ways of interaction for example using buttons, and cognitively arbitrated by the need to roll a wheel to scroll the cursor focus kept us distance with the technology invented. Hence, to touch something would be to minimize the distance between human and the computer. Using gesture similar to Nintendo Wii, is a breakthrough in advancement of GUI. Other devices such as LG Prada, HTC phone and Apple iPhone help us to use our fingers to feel the system rather just using the system. The touch system is already been used in wireless devices successfully. Wireless communications offer organizations and users many benefits such as portability, flexibility and lower installation costs. Wireless technologies cover a broad range of capabilities toward different uses and needs. Wireless local area network (WLAN) devices, for instance, allow users to move their laptops from place to place within their offices and homes without the need for wires and without losing network connectivity. However, risks are natural in any wireless technology. The most significant source of risks in wireless networks is that the technology’s underlying communications medium such as the airwave, is open to intruders. Having touch screen developers and interact and develop application using advance GUI’s. Today, touch screen technology is used everywhere to cut down cost as well as speed up the development process by keeping the quality of the application insured. Touch screen based development helps to build software applications by connecting multiple components together which are produced independently. In order for this communication to take place we must have an interface between the components in such a way that is helps to develop the overall application as well as implementing it in the future applications. However, it is the compatibility between connected component interfaces that determines the success of the implementation of the components. To be precise, an interface is made of number of operations which can be manipulated by the user. The operations play a vast role in implementing the interface and use of the interface by the client or the user. Today, Internet is a good way of doing business and use of internet is constantly increasing. Improving the GUI and converting to touch screen will become very important in the future for the use of World Wide Web because it helps to communicate globally and deliver products to customers who can not purchase the products. It also helps to increases advertising and by providing one to one marketing. E-commerce is a very easy way of gathering information form its customers or potential customers. One of the biggest advantages of using the internet is its efficient ways of reducing warehousing and inventory. A Company needs a network that provides fast and efficient way to manipulate its information. Compared to its traditional manual filing system accessing, touch screen will provide information with speed, accuracy, and accessibility. A sophisticated design of the system will allow access from anywhere in the world which helps to manipulate and send information through the world. Hence, the touch screen is reliable in assuring speed, data reliability, cheap and strong security. However, it is extremely reliable and main important thing is that no extra input device is needed. Touch screen gives fast and superior performance which is sufficient for file sharing, gaming, and high-speed access. As for security, touch screen will have software application that recognizes finger print. Traditional GUI and access can be three or four times expensive compared to touch screen. A both traditional ways and touch screen can be a good option for any company depending on the difficulty of accessing the information the company. However, touch screen is easier to install, more reliable and mobility is excellent where as traditional is more difficult to install with limited mobility. Reference [1].  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A Brief Overview of Gesture Recognition by Charles Cohen. http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/CVonline/LOCAL_COPIES/COHEN/gesture_overview.html ; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [2]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jean-Luc Nespoulous, Paul Perron, and Andre Roch Lecours. The Biological Foundations of Gestures: Motor and Semiotic Aspects. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, MJ, 1986. http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/CVonline/LOCAL_COPIES/COHEN/gesture_overview.html; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [3].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   GESTURE BASED INTERACTION; Steven Damer; http://www-users.itlabs.umn.edu/classes/Fall-2004/csci8980-1/slides/gesture.pdf; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [4]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Computer Vision for Computer Interaction SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics magazine, November 1999 W. T. Freeman, P. A. Beardsley, H. Kage, K. Tanaka, K. Kyuma, C. D. Weissman. Also available as MERL-TR99-36. [5]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Computer Vision for Interactive Computer Graphics; IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, Vol. 18, No. 3, May-June 1998; W. T. Freeman, D. B. Anderson, P. A. Beardsley, C. N. Dodge, M. Roth, C. D. Weissman, W. S. Yerazunis, H. Kage, K. Kyuma, Y. Miyake, and K. Tanaka. Also available as MERL-TR99-02. [6]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Computer Vision for Computer Games In 2nd International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition, Killington, VT, USA. IEEE. W. T. Freeman, K. Tanaka, J. Ohta, K. Kyuma . Also available as MERL-TR96-35. [7]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gesture Based Interaction; Steven Damer; http://www-users.itlabs.umn.edu/classes/Fall-2004/csci8980-1/slides/gesture.pdf; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [8]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gesture Glove Not Science Fiction;   LOS ANGLEES, Aug. 23, 2005; http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/23/eveningnews/main792311.shtml; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [9]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An Evaluation of Two Input Devices for Remote Pointing; Scott MacKenzie and Shaidah Jusoh; http://www.yorku.ca/mack/ehci2001.pdf ; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [10]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gyration, Inc., Saratoga, California. http://www.gyration.com/ ; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [11]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bluewand. A versatile remote control and pointing device; Thomas Fuhrmann , Markus Klein, and Manuel Odendahl; http://i30www.ira.uka.de/research/documents/p2p/2003/fuhrmann03bluewand-KiVS.pdf ; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [12]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Florian Vogt, Timothy Chen, Reynald Hoskinson, Sidney Fels; A Malleable Surface Touch Interface; Human Communication Technologies Laboratory; The University of British Columbia; http://hct.ece.ubc.ca/publications/pdf/vogt-chen-hoskinsin-fels-SIGGRAPH2004.pdf; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007 [13]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gerald D. Morrison; A Camera-Based Touch Interface for Pervasive Displays; SMART Technologies Inc., 1207 – 11 Ave. SW, Suite 300, Calgary, AB, Canada T3C 0M5; http://ubicomp.algoritmi.uminho.pt/perdisplay/docs/Morrison-Camera%20Touch_SV_Rev1.pdf; Accessed 7th, Nov, 2007;

Classical hollywood systems

Classical hollywood systems ABSTRACT: The main objective of this course work is to provide various similarities and differences in the classical Hollywood systems. The classical version of the Hollywood studio systems are roughly between 1910 and 1960. Though its the longest period to evaluate, the films between 1930 and 1949 are considered. There are huge number of studios are present in the Hollywood cinema where only few studios exist from the beginning. The two major film studios are UNIVERSAL STUDIOS and WARNER BROTHERS. In this project, these 2 studios are analyzed in detail. In particular their studio systems, similarities and differences in their style of film making. WARNER BROTHERS: Warner bros studios were found by four brothers harry warner, Albert warner, Sam warner and jack warner. The four brothers were Jews emigrated from Poland. They started the business by having a own projector. The projector was used for the exhibition business. The first theater was opened in Pennsylvania in 1903. In the initial stage, they begin to produce some ordinary movies to bag success. Getting successful response from the people warner brothers started thinking differently with sound, color and style. The movies produced before are soundless motion pictures. This sound movies was the idea gave by the youngest Sam warner. Initially the request was not been accepted by harry. But to produce movie at different area, the request was acknowledged. Screen play was the division which was concentrated more by the warner brothers. Their ultimate goal was to explicate the art of screenplay in classical Hollywood cinema. Warner brothers divided the studio system into various tasks such as directing, sound, cinematography, art direction, story acquisition and editing. The screenplay was further divided into discrete tasks such as synopsis, treatment continuing, shooting script conclusion. These categories are evenly distributed among three writers while a writer can easily concentrate on a particular field. 1930 to 1950 is the golden period for warner brothers. Because they categorized the motion pictures into various genres. Such as Crime Gangster Horror-detective-murder Comedy Womens films Western Musical War Social drama Prestige movies. To illustrate important variations in narrative form each and every category was chosen. The gangster movies were produced based on the social problems. The myth of success was the first influence defined America as an open classless society. The second influence was the boss politics and the third influence was prohibition. Some example for the successful gangster movies are 1931-Little Caesar 1931-Public enemy 1932- Scarface 1933- Blondie Johnson. Considering the first category, James Cagney dominated the genre during 1930s. In the second category dark streets, bars, clubs, penthouse apartments and some stations are shown as a genres vital part. The third category shows the gangster as a modern city man and holds most of the parts on his own. The myth of the G-Man is the movie which enforces the stiffer production code. This major turn back is considered to be the second cycle of gangster pictures. In 1936, bullets or ballots shows the same gangster movie but shown in a different context such as the hero joins the gang and works as an undercover and destroys the gang. As far as social dramas, the black fury was the first movie which has been released in the year 1935. This movie reveals the dramatized labor and industrial unrest. Basically social dramas fells into three categories. They are social consciousness, yellow journalism and working mens movies. The social dramas as a production strategy was eclipsed by problems of greater concern during the 1940s as America entered World War II. The next genre is musical movies. Warner brothers produced all kind of movies in a certain time span. The first musical movie was produced in 1926. Jazz singer was the first musical movie which was directed by Alan Crosland. In 1928, the singing fool was created by warner brothers. As a variation of the gangsters genre, warner brothers potentially find a perfect formula as crime movies. Warner uses the same stars as gangster movies as well as crime movies. Among crime movies, prison pictures are very popular. The first groups of prison movies were produced during 1930s and 1933s. The second group of crime movies in 1936. Alcatraz Island in a movie with more action sequences and was a good tough movie. The next important genre was war movies in which warner brothers concentrated more because of spirit. From 1915 to 1970 warner brothers created more and more war movies which virtually shows the American fighting as determined, brave and successful. After the first world war, the war genre enters the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. These movies depicts Tolerance to intolerance Progressivism to reaction Pacifism to militarism. During the interval between the two world wars, warner started producing patriotic movies with admiration. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS: The toughest competition for warner brothers during their production is universal studios. Universal pictures concentrated on a very few genre movies such as Womens movies Detective movies Horror movies Western movies. Though womens movies are consigned to a very minor status and not all the studios took risk in producing such movies. This genre movies was mostly produced between 1935 and 1950. These years gave more womens movies in which all credit goes to universal studios. The womens films antecedents are found at melodrama and these genres were not developed until 1920s. The genre appeared to be different in various studios. In 1940, universal studios decide to develop some noir womens film. This second phase was considered to be an amalgamation of the personal taste of universal pictures. Some elements sustains womens films. They are Flashback sequences Cynical themes Voice over narration Realistic action Lighting techniques and Expressionistic camera. Universal studios now have the thought about horror movies. Dracula and Frankenstein were the movies which attains a greater success during thirties. Then the company begins to unleash the mummies and werewolves. These horror movies begin to haunt the people. This encourages directors and the universal studio to create various monsters based movies with completely different thought. Mystery of the wax museum was a sequel and it is a modern horror film. During these productions, some original stories are planned to make as a movie. These kind of plans gave some good movies to Hollywood cinema which are even perfect in the present technical world. During the thirties, detective movies did some good service to not only film producers and the audiences as well. Sherlock Holmes did the job to universal pictures whereas the thin man series for MGM. Sherlock Holmes becomes a model for all directors for making a detective movie. Aiming at juvenile audiences, universal pictures produces a lot of Nancy drew and torchy blane movies. Nearly nine movies were represented by torchy blane who stars with Glenda Farrell. On the other hand, the Nancy drew series were starred by Bonita Granville which was adopted from a novel of Carolyn Keene. There are four movies in this series and all were directed by the same person William Clemens. Murder movies are the next front line genre which attains success because of the thrilling and mystery sequences present in the movie. Western movies are the most richest and enduring genre in Hollywood. It consists of a heroic story with some visual elements and narrative formats. The only genre whose life span is long is the western movies. Even though the genre face a strong set back due to the lack of technical factors. SIMILARITIES: We have discussed about various genres and movies in the previous sections. Those films are produced in two different studios and they possess different qualities. Now let us discuss the common factors that these studios possess and how these factors made them common. Filmmakers developed formal methods that made shooting relatively quick and easy: Shoot whatever scenes are most economical to shoot at a given time (shoot out of Sequence when necessary) Cover any given sequence from as many different angles as possible and with multiple Takes of each angle to give the producer and editor a lot of material to choose from Edit the material to create linear continuity, cut on movement, and keep eyeliners matched (Maintaining the direction a person is gazing from one shot to another). Among various genres, both universal studios and warner brothers pictures use some common genre movies. War, musical, women, western, horror is some of the common genres. Cross cutting is a vital device used for continuity style. This technique was used by both the studios. The main objective of this technique is to increase the tension during narration. Meanwhile is a simple narrative technique which is literary equivalent to cross cutting. The cross cutting technique used for the story line at the time of introducing two leading characters in a movie and intriguing way. The next common aspect is point of view shot. In this technique, editing is important device used by filmmakers to create good audience identification with the film characters. It replaces the audience in place of main character in the movie. This technique is common for the horror genre in which the director often places the viewer within the viewing position of the monster. The next similarity will be cinematography. The key feature in this technique is three point lighting. These classical studios are the good example of three point lighting. In order to light the subject, key, fill and back lights are used. Three point lighting scheme is the commonly used lighting scheme and it helps us to enable and understand how lighting gives good effect on ones perception of a character. The key light is used as a common source of illumination. Even though another light will be needed. So in order to cover the areas of darkness and to soften the shadows, the key light contains cast. It is called as fill light which is a secondary source. The combination of key and fill light should be supplemented further. The back light which is the third source provides necessary depth and placed above and behind the subject. High key and low key lighting are the common divisions of the lighting techniques. These are some similarities between the two studios. DIFFERENCES: The two studios namely warner brothers and universal pictures had some similarities. But they possess some differences too. Some common differences are Setting Props Costume, Hair and Make-Up Movement, Positioning and Performance Lighting and Cinematography. Settings are mostly backgrounds but they are integral to atmosphere creation and narration building in a movie. In some rare cases, a location or building can be considered as a character in the movie itself. Props are the objects which can be viewed within the movie world. it also forms some integral part in the action of the film. It also carries some symbolic meaning. Costume and makeup plays a vital role in a scene because it can provide immediate sense and their status in the movie. They also give an instant idea of what period that the film is set. Movement, performance and positioning of characters within a frame is important for both characterization and narration in a film. Positioning can be utilized as an indicator for people relationships. Performance includes the expression coming from the actors face and body language. The feelings and emotions can be identified through performance. These are some common factors that these film makers differs in their way and let us see some more technical factors in which they differ while making movie. Camera framing: There are 3 key areas in camera framing. They are shot type, camera positioning and camera angle. Shot type refers to the positioning and distance between the camera and its subject. Camera positioning indicates the presence of the camera. High angle and low angle are the two camera angles. Camera movement: panning, crane, tilting, zooming and tracking are the divisions in camera movement. In panning, cameras move from side to side. Crane is used for lifting cameras which will be mounted on it. Tilting makes camera move up and down from fixed axis. These are the key areas in which both the studios differs in film making. CONCLUSION: After discussing about various factors, it is clear that not all the aspects are same for all the studios. Warner brothers involved in many film productions in different genres. But the universal studios produce few genre movies. This essay clearly gives the information about the key principles in film making and their efforts to bring their thoughts to screen. Later on, we discussed about the similar facts that these two studios possess. There is some technical differences in implementing them. REFERENCES: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vq=cache:ySBtrN746HQJ:www.digitalfilmarchive.net/clda/moving_image_arts/film_lesson_plans/documents/ALLlessonplans.pdf+classic+hollywood+cinema+stylehl=engl=ukpid=blsrcid=ADGEESjPLijkM8_RBqQ3o0l7ZexF-Rq7DNB1dhjvn37r0ijZPrIS7rDvR1ljfjXEb9CDnHfZXo4bE8MqmUEj9Ivk6b-yaV-Y2YnQuVm_CXNQRiB-ALlq9FwyIPdC-qS4CaJPHVh2Cj7msig=AHIEtbSCneArhSdp0RNFHyFA0YZt9B8Kqg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Studios http://microformguides.gale.com/Data/Introductions/20560FM.htm http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Genre-THE-CLASSIC-STUDIO-SYSTEM.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Hollywood_cinema http://www.fathom.com/course/10701053/index.html http://screen.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pdf_extract/27/6/74 http://www.uoregon.edu/~jlesage/Juliafolder/CLASSICALNARRATION.HTML http://knol.google.com/k/classical-hollywood-cinema-film-style-analysis-of-the-crowd# http://www.umsl.edu/~gradyf/film/classhollnarr.htm

life in the factories :: essays research papers

Western Civilization Life in the Factories The 19th century in England was an expanding time especially considering England was enveloped in the Industrial Revolution. Many factories were expanding and growing and needed people to fill the jobs that they had. Although many these factories were growing they were not able to keep up with the population, which was growing more rapidly than anything. When these factories went to find people they were able to find many that would need jobs and would work for less than the people that had the jobs. When these factories wanted to keep more money they simply looked for the one group of people that could work for as long as they asked, for as low as they asked, with no questions asked. That group of people was children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since many families had control of their children and some families didn’t want to send their kids these factories, so many factories were not able to find the amount of workers they wanted so they went to look for the kids other places. A few places that they went to look were orphanages and workhouses and bought these children and forced them to sign contracts, which virtually made them slaves. The factories then went on to house and feed them, which was a lot easier then to house and feed a grown person. By the 1790’s almost all workers in the factories were children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When these factories went and bought these children they knew that they had to feed and clothe these kids and then provide them with a place to sleep. The factory owners went at this problem with the same cheapness that they had when buying the children. Children were forced at many places, to eat while working and the kids often complained about the food. Most of the time the food was covered in dust by the time they were beginning to eat. When most of these children came from the workhouses and were made to come with a change of common clothes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most factories were able to work the kids from dawn till dusk and sometimes beyond. Some people wanted to change the law of how long a person under the age of 18 could work to 10 hours, but parliament wouldn’t pass that law. A man by the name of Lord Ashley was a doctor and concluded that a child’s body could only endure 10 hours of labor at a time without damaging the child’s health.

You Can’t Say That: The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from Antidisc

You Can’t Say That: The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from Antidiscirmination Laws You Can’t Say That is a truly important book, for it reminds us that no social revolution, even the most morally justified, is costless. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 did indeed precipitate a social revolution, one that at long last began to deliver on the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation. Over the nearly half-century since its passage much has changed in America, and for African-Americans that change has been both grievously overdue and remarkable in its sweep, although still very much a work in progress. However, this is not a book that catalogues the successes of the antidiscrimination movement that burgeoned in the wake of the 1964 Act, but rather an elegy to what must count on the other side of the ledger, to what has been compromised in the noble quest for racial equality. In this eloquent and accessible book, remarkably free from the lawyer’s propensity to stultify the laymen with a blizzard of case law, it is clear that the principal cost has been to First Amendment values, sacrificed too cavalierly when they conflict with antidscrimination principles. One need only look to the publisher of Bernstein’s book, the Cato Institute, to see that the ideological landscape has been radically altered since the 1960s, when New Deal liberals still dominated the left, and the First Amendment comprised the heart and soul of their United States Constitution. Even earlier, before World War II, when Communists held sway on the left, the First Amendment was sacrosanct: to Communists it was their second favorite constitutional amendment, after the Fifth, prized as a stratagem to protect their freedom to subvert. For... ...ork’s most prestigious museums did not display enough art produced by women. Housing and Urban Development officials used the Fair Housing Act amendments to intimidate neighborhood groups that sought to exercise their free speech rights to campaign against group homes for the disabled, while those charging discrimination have sometimes been allowed by courts to enter into evidence a defendant’s past political speech. These examples are the tip of Bernstein’s iceberg. Even good causes can run amuck if fundamental constitutional principles are set aside: noble ends can be compromised by hasty or tainted means. This book is a red flag, which we ignore at our peril. Works Cited: You Can’t Say That: The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from Antidiscirmination Laws by David E. Bernstein. Washington, DC: CATO Institute, 2003, 197 pages, $20.00

Profile of Adolf Hitler (1889 -1945) Essay -- Papers

Profile of Adolf Hitler (1889 -1945) Family Background Adolf Hitler was born on April 20th 1889 in Braunau-am-Inn, Austria. The town is near to the Austro-German border, and his father, Alois, worked as a customs officer on the border crossing. His mother, Klara, had previously given birth to two other children by Alois, (Gustav and Ida) but they both died in their infancy. Adolf attended school from the age of six and the family lived in various villages around the town of Linz, east of Braunau. By this time Adolf had a younger brother, Edmund, but he only lived until the age of six. In 1896, Klara gave birth to Adolf 's sister, Paula, who survived to outlive him. When his father died in 1903, Hitler saw this as a relief to him. However when his mother Klara died of cancer in 1907, Hitler was devastated, as she was loving and caring of him and his siblings, unlike his father, who was a strict disciplinarian. Childhood/Youth =============== Hitler grew up with a poor record at school and left before completing his education, with an ambition to become an artist. During his school years Hitler only showed and interest in two of his subjects which were Gymnastics and Art. After his father's death in 1903, Klara Hitler brought up the thirteen year old Adolf and Paula on her own. Between the ages of sixteen and nineteen, Hitler neither worked to earn his keep, nor properly studied, but had gained an interest in politics and history. During this time he unsuccessfully applied for admission to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. When his mother died, 19 year old Hitler had no relatives to support him any more. So in ... ...920 Hitler chose the swastika as the Nazi party emblem. By 1921 Hitler had virtually secured total control of the Nazi party, however this was not to the liking of all Nazis. In July of that year, whilst Hitler was away in Berlin, the angry members of the party proposed a merger with a like-minded political party in Nuremberg in the hope that this would stop Hitler's influence. On hearing the news, Hitler rushed back to Munich to confront the party and threatened to resign. The other members were aware that Hitler was bringing funds into the organization, from the collections following his speeches at meetings and from other sources. Thus they knew they couldn't afford his resignation. Hitler then turned tables on the committee members and forced them to accept him as formal leader of the party with dictatorial powers.

Grapes of Wrath Theme Essay

The main theme of The Grapes of Wrath is the idea that all men are part of the family of man. This is closely related to the philosophical movement of transcendentalism, what the author Ralph Waldo Emerson followed. There are four main points of the story that express this in the story; the ex-preacher’s search for purpose, Ma Joad’s understanding of working together, Pa turning from making money for himself to providing for the group and finally Tom’s decision to leave the family. First the preacher, Casy, displays the point that transcendentalists think we all need to find out our purpose in life. When he is first introduced, he can be recognized as the old preacher, but we soon find out that he abandoned that career. He states that the Oakies â€Å"need help no preachin’ can give ‘em.† It can be inferred that he no longer sees his purpose in life as a preacher and is in search for something new to do. Next, is Ma Joad’s understanding that the family must work together and stay together in order to get through the tough times. This connects the theme to transcendentalism because transcendentalists believe in setting your principals and following them at any cost. When the children crowd around for food, instead of giving the family the rest of the food, she shares it with them because she knows it’s the right thing to do. When Pa Joad is first seen, he is talking about becoming a picker, getting wealthy and having tons of grapes to gorge on, all to himself. Once the family gets on the road though, he realizes that there is a much greater need to provide for the family and get to where there are jobs. Transcendentalists would agree that we all play a role in life, and we are all should work together, because we all are in the family of men. Pa Joad’s actions follow that principle. Lastly, Tom decides that it is best if he leaves the family. Ma expresses her concern that she won’t know if he is doing well or not. His reply tells us that he believes in the oversoul, because she will see him in everything, because they all are part of one greater existence, such as an oversoul. He also sees this action as something he must do, and doing what you believe in is very important to the oversoul idea. Ralph Emerson clearly displayed his ideas and beliefs in his writing in hopes to create a positive movement. With the use of the preacher, Ma, Pa and Tom, he clearly expressed his opinions. This is why it is easy for one to infer that the theme of the book, and the oversoul described in this work are closely related.

Social Experience

Social Experience Social experience is a lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn culture. The interaction of humans has been studied through the ages by thinkers of all types Darwin, Watson, Freud, Meade and Paigets. They all came up with a different view of how we develop socially. How important are the roles of family, school, peer groups and the media on our personality development or is it all preordained and instinctual. There are two different theories of what happens in the beginning.Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud believed that human behaviors were biologically based, that we have instinct for human competitiveness, sexual and emotional bonding, and aggressive behavior. The other school of thought as studied and proven by John B. Watson, Jean Paigets, and George Herbert Meade was that behaviorism or instincts are learned. Home is where the heart is and the beginning of the most important part of our skill set in interacting with oth ers and molding our personalities? Family is where we look for nurturing in the early childhood stages.Ideally family would be the foundation where the child would be given a safe and caring environment, teaching them skills, values and beliefs. In situations that lack this there are various levels of dysfunction that appear. This was proven by Harry and Margaret Harlow in the study of social isolation of young children. Total isolation of the child for six months or less will cause them to become passive, anxious, and fearful when introduced to groups of people, anything longer than that and the child will never fully regain the ability to function in society.Young children learn from their environment and are in the sensorimotor stage as Jena Paigets proclaims in the theory of cognitive development. They experience the world only through their senses in the ages of 0-2 years. Preoperational stages follows after that from 2-6 years using symbol, language and the beginnings of imagi nation and mental thought. The progression of learning in the family teaches us about our race and class in society. People born into a lower class family are not only affected financially but expectations can be lower.Families in struggling environments push conformity to help the family get by but these stresses of social inequality can make disobedience more prevalent. Families of higher standings or wealth can focus on good judgment, creativity and looking to the future. Schools become the second agent of socialization. It enlarges the social world of the child. Gender roles start to emerge. Boys tend to engage in more physical activities outdoors and behaviors inside the classroom can become more aggressive. Girls on the other hand typically do chores like help the teacher. They are quieter and better behaved.This brings into play the concrete operational stage of cognitive theory when children become aware of their surroundings. They focus on the how and why of things. Schools also teach an education curriculum some of which is apparent but there is also a hidden curriculum, such as spelling bees teaching children there are winners and losers, sports teaching skills of cooperation and competition. School is the first exposure to how the bureaucratic world works with the impersonal rules and strict schedules. This gives them the skill set to cope with the large organizations that may employ them.The third agent is the peer group; a social group whose members have interests, social position and age in common. George Herbert Meade has a theory of the social self. The Self or personality is composed of self awareness and self image; it develops only with social experience. It requires imagining the situation from the others point of view. The peer group can facilitate the knowledge of forming relationships outside of the family. It gives individuals a chance to discuss things of interest that might not be interesting to a parent or a partner.It produces soci al ties that lead to loyalty and pride in their peer groups which can lead to putting other groups down. We strive for anticipatory socialization which is the learning that takes place to help a person achieve a desired position, like Eagle Scout in Boys Scouts. The power of peer groups can be positive or negative to an adolescent. Challenges of gaining their identities in the absence of the family can leave the peer group as their only source for information. Teenagers are growing up faster every day because of divorce and both parents working.They become self sufficient sooner out of necessity rather than choice. The mass media it’s everywhere 24/7 and it is teaching our children. Is that bad? Socialization through the media is with us for good. There is one set for every person today. We spend half our free time watching it. Critics on both sides of the political arena have reservations about it. The liberals feel television plays a part in promoting racial and ethnic ster eotypes. The conservatives think television is dominated by the liberal elites and their message. The true concern for socialization is the amount of violence on the airways.Can it be healthy for a young child to watch people killed or better yet play a video game and be the one doing the killing? Media should never become the babysitter, parent and friend. The mind will become an unimaginative place if we stare to long at someone else’s imagination. It is already taking a toll on the health of our children with obesity rates getting higher every day. I can remember playing outside on the neighborhood streets till dusk. Riding bikes and walking to the local grocery store. Television is a good form of entertainment I fear based on the material in the book.It is becoming an obsession. The most important part of socialization will always be the family. This is where you should be able to go to feel safe. This is where you start and can continue to have a foundation to life. In t he reading of the many theorists there is development along the way but none of it as important as the things you learn in the beginning. Family is your tribe, your survival group. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a blood relative but the socialization needs to begin somewhere with someone for us to become a responsible member of society.