An Energy Management or Efficiency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

An Energy Management or Efficiency - Essay Example In today’s world, thanks to the great technological strides; wind turbines have been developed to wring electricity from the breeze. Thus as more and more people resort to wind energy over the past decade: wind turbine use has increased at more than twenty five percent a year-though only still proving a fraction of the world’s energy. Undoubtedly, most wind energy comes from turbines that can be as tall as a twenty story building and have three 200- foot- long (60-meter-long) blades. These contraptions look like giant airplane propellers on a massive stick. The wind spins the blades, which turns a shaft connected to a generator that produces electricity. Other turbines work on the same principle, but the turbine rests on a vertical axis (Burton, 2011, 57). Interestingly, the biggest wind turbines generate enough electricity to supply about 600 United States homes. Furthermore wind farms can contain tens and sometimes hundreds of these turbines lined up together in particular windy spots, for example along a ridge where the wind is blowing strong. However smaller turbines erected in a back-yard can produce electricity enough to power a single home or meet power needs of a small business. Wind is a clean source of renewable energy that produces no air or water pollution. Interestingly since the wind is free, there are minimal if not, nearly zero operational costs once a turbine is erected. Mass production coupled with technology advances are making turbines cheaper, and many governments are offering tax incentives to spur wind-energy development. Even so, not all people look at wind energy favorably. Some think that the turbines look ugly and complain about the noise generated by the machine. The slowly rotating blades can also kill birds and bats. But this cannot be compared to road carnage, destruction by power lines, and high-rise buildings. The wind is also variable in

Classroom Community Investigative Paper Essay Example for Free

Classroom Community Investigative Paper Essay Feeling a sense of community is important for almost anyone. Even now, in college, the students in the Elementary Education Program at Utah Valley University are in cohorts. Why? To help us find others who we have common interests with, and who can help us learn and grow into great teachers. Because being in an environment where we feel safe as well as feeling a sense of belonging is important. Developing a classroom community for elementary students is imperative. A student who feels comfortable in the classroom will be able to learn and grow because they will not be afraid to make mistakes in front of others, and they will learn to appreciate the opinions of others. The sooner a child learns to work with and value others, the better. This not only benefits a person during their school years, but is an important part of success later in life. One tool we have learned about this semester to improve classroom community is morning meetings. Though I have not personally seen an elementary classroom morning meeting in action, the evidence of its success that I have seen and heard from our guest speaker, Sylvia Allan, as well as what I have read in our text books and researched online, has convinced me to try morning meetings in my own classroom. Our morning meeting packet states that morning meetings build a classroom community, which may improve student test scores. That is great reason to try them. Earlier in the semester when we were introduced to morning meetings, I was so excited. My goal as a teacher has always been to value every student. I was thrilled to have been given a tool that would do just that. My focus for morning meetings will be to help each child in my classroom realize how important and irreplaceable they are. Morning meetings will help to create an atmosphere of trust, which is essential for optimal student learning. The responsive classroom. org states that morning meetings â€Å"Build community, increase student investment, and improve academic and social skills. † That is exactly what I hope to do with them. Using the morning meeting tool in our own college classroom has been an effective tool for me as a student. Because I transferred from another cohort this semester, I did not know anyone else in our cohort. Participating in morning meeting has given me the opportunity to learn more about the other people in our class. Learning about the similarities I share with these people has allowed me to make connections with some of the students in my class, and has made me feel more comfortable and more willing to participate. I plan to use the morning meeting format as it is presented in the morning meeting packet with a few modifications. The greeting, sharing, group activity, and news and announcements portions are all important for the children to get to know one another and feel comfortable in the classroom. However, I will probably just write the news and announcements on the board and briefly go over it with the class because I plan to be teaching older grades. I would also like to add memorization of a poem each day, as well as a fun saying a la Silvia Allan. I like these ideas because it gives me the opportunity to prove to my principal that morning meetings are not only effective in building a classroom community, they are academic as well. I plan to initiate full morning meetings into my classroom on the first day of school. Because I have not actually used them in an elementary classroom setting yet, I am not sure if I will do every component every day. For example, the greeting may have to be on Mondays only due to time constraints. I also may not do a group activity every day. I may use this time as an opportunity to work on a concept I noticed the entire class had a hard time with. For example, if most of the class had a difficult time learning a math concept the day before, I would have a student with a good understanding of the concept explain it to the class while we are in morning meeting while the positive classroom community juice is flowing. Hopefully, the students who are having a difficult time with the concept will feel less threatened because we are working on the concept during morning meeting time, not math time. So how does a classroom community lead to differentiation in the classroom? Having a classroom where students feel accepted and accepting allows the teacher to be able to make accommodations for students who need it because the rest of the class understands why they need it. One of my favorite â€Å"Hallmarks of a Differentiated Classroom† that describes this in detail is â€Å"shared responsibility for the classroom between teacher and students, in the goal of making it work for everyone†. When students feel comfortable in the classroom and care about their fellow classmates, students are willing to share their strengths with the rest of the class for the betterment of others. They also realize their limits and are willing to strengthen them by learning from other students. A classroom community is a very important part of a successful classroom. It gives students a place where they feel comfortable and are not afraid to make mistakes. Students who feel comfortable in the classroom are more willing to make mistakes and learn from them, thus giving them a better opportunity to achieve their full potential. I am excited to use morning meetings in my classroom to build a successful classroom community.

Inequality of Women in Relation to Class, Race and Age

Inequality of Women in Relation to Class, Race and Age INTRODUCTION This subject is about the importance of women in our society and the way they contribute to its development. In the past many traditions portrayed women as being less important than men and that is why they had many restrictions such as : little right to education, they were prohibited to vote or to detain political functions, and even they were denied the chance to have a job. The only thing they were supposed to do was the children rearing and house keeping. There was no country in the world in which womens quality of life was equal to that of men according to the health status, education opportunities, employment, and political rights. And when they were employed, they were offered a job only in a restricted range of fields having a low pay and being treated with low respect. This situation was determined by sexual discrimination and harassment. They are also confronted with wage discrimination and with long hours of unpaid labor. Although some countries allowed women to vote, some still had not done so. And there were many informal obstacles that impeached women participation in political life. Almost everywhere, there were a small number of women representing the government[1]. But regarding women as mothers, they play an important role because even if men considered this an easy task, it was no as easy as it seemed. A mother had to be aware of every movement of her child, she had to offer the child healthy food and finally to give the child a good education. The first years of life are very important and they are the basis of the future man. Children were very much bound to their mothers, and their fathers, because of the lack of time were most of the time only some strangers whom they feared. The authority was detained by the father who did not only punish the children but he also had violent reactions. Nowadays things have changed radically. The Bill of Rights stipulates that all men are equal, and women are given other opportunities. They can attend school and even higher education, can vote and detain political functions, and they must have a workplace where men treat them with respect. More and more women are independent, and they place career as being one of their priorities. The role of a mother is still very important, but it is not their main occupation. It can be said that even the way they grow up their children has changed. If in the past the father was the â€Å"head† of the family, nowadays the roles are divided. It is an interesting subject to debate because it includes differences of an old society, the traces this has left and the way things have developed. 1. Feminist views 1.1 Women, Human Beings â€Å"Human beings are not by nature kings, or nobles, or courtiers, or rich. All are born naked and poor. All are subject to the miseries of life, to frustrations, to ills, to needs, to pains of every kind. Finally, all are condemned to death. That is what the human being really is.† Jean- Jacques Rousseau, Emile, Book IV[2]. Therefore a human being is either a man or a woman. There is only a distinction between â€Å"genders†. Starting from this idea it can be said that every person is constituted by certain traits, which characterize them as â€Å"human†, no matter what culture they belong to. These traits include the fact of mortality, the body needs for food and drink, shelter, mobility, the cognitive capacities, affiliation and concern for others etc. It also must be taken into consideration the premise that there is a common humanity that is recognized across the centuries and continents, and which aims to articulate a set of associated functions and abilities. The real difference that can be made consists on the forms of activity, of deeds and beings that constitute the human way of life and distinguish them from animals and plants. There are some essential things for an entity to be categorized as a person: autonomy, self-respect, sense of fulfillment and achievement. The autonomy of a person involves freedom of choice, of opinion and of any discrimination. Everyone should follow his own interior voice, interests according to their capacities. The interaction with others, the way in which one is perceived and accepted into a group plays an important role. Every person needs to belong to a certain social environment and the relationships they experience influence their way of being. 1.1.2 Self autonomy Self-respect, is an essential requirement of personhood which involves the sense of dignity, consciousness of autonomy and worth. It also involves consciousness of ones capacities and rights, and more importantly, commitment to ones responsibilities. A self-respecting person has a sober assessment of his/her place in the context of life and the world. The role as mother also develops a range of self-esteem because it gives a new sense to life. It makes a woman feel more responsible with her acts and it also provides her a different importance in society and makes her more mature in a way by becoming a â€Å"real woman† at last. Having a child can bring greater vitality, fun and humour, as providing her with a new insight into the world. In the past centuries almost all women saw the world through the male eyes, they occupied subordinate and inferior positions and were conditioned to limit their own life goals and self-esteem. But nowadays things have changed a lot and women dont need a man to survive. They can manage very well, they are independent because they have a job which can provide them the chance to buy whatever they like and to live without a mans support. Work is a vital part of everyones life, it intensifies confidence and self-esteem. It makes people, in general, feel complete. The way women look is an extra concern and influences the way they feel. They want to be beautiful and that is why they keep diets, do sport, go to spas, use expensive cosmetics, appeal to surgery and are careful what they put on them. Therefore self autonomy is guided by the principles of freedom and includes a series of civil liberties. Every person is free to make their own decisions and to center their deeds according to their necessities and free wills. An autonomous person lives in accordance with the dictates of reason, which is directly linked to morality. Autonomy is neutral, being placed between good and evil and the real challenge is to know what is the right way to follow, of course after passing some obstacles. 1.2 The eternal conflict It is well known that God first created man, and only after that He gave him a wife in order to multiply and to have ancestors. Because the man was first, he is considered to be the head of the family. But this headship does not mean that woman has no rights or that she is a second class citizen. On the contrary, God told the husband to love his wife and to become a single soul together with her. This headship issue is an issue of order, not of who is better or more important. Men and women are only different. They differ from the point of view of their physical appearance, ethics, behaviors, dispositions, needs etc. A man is not good or bad because he is a man. Similarly a woman is not good or bad simply because she is a woman. In other words all are subjected to mistakes. The respect to which women are different from men is important, namely because women can give birth to children, and men can not do it. This is one case in which â€Å"natural capacities† are concerned. Therefore women, having a special feature of motherhood, have the right to get special facilities to help them perform their duties as mothers without affecting their rights and responsibilities elsewhere. To perform this parental duty men also must be present in order to offer help when it comes to the childs education. In ethical and political theories, the family is often viewed as an inappropriate place for showing ones superiority, but a place for love, altruism and shared interests. If children see that sex difference is the occasion for different treatment, they could be affected in their personal and moral development. They are likely to learn injustice, by absorbing the messages, and by observing that their parents dont treat each other with respect. There is a need fo r attention to be paid in order to avoid that the children take as a negative example the way in which their parents behave and repeat it when they grow up. Empirical research in recent years has brought out clearly that women occupied lower positions than men in traditional economic and social arrangements. Thus there is a wide gap between mens and womens recorded and perceived economic participation. All the work women did such as rearing children, cleaning and maintaining the household, caring for the old and sick, and contributing in various ways to mens work, does not count as work, even if it is crucial for the survival. A first context related to notions of legitimacy and correctness is that of the gender inequalities. In a family, between women and men, or girls and boys these inequalities should be accepted as â€Å"natural†, by lining out an interesting contrast among different members. On the labor market, for example there should be rather a matter of position than of streakiness. Sometimes a man can be the manager, but a woman can occupy the same function too, in different contexts. To avoid the problem of conflict everyone must pursue the same objectives, as a result of which there will not be a disharmony of interests but a wish to collaborate in the best conditions. 2. Womens equality 2.1 Gender discrimination The concept of â€Å"equality† has been at the centre of any feminist movement. It was long been obvious that women, as a class, have remained in a state of subjugation and inferiority. They can be considered as an auxiliary of men, most of their duties being orientated towards their husbands who are frequently mentioned as their lord and master. In the Muslim countries, for example, women are given different rights regarding marriage, divorce, civil rights, legal status, dress code, and education. The marriage is arranged by the family together with the future husband. The future bride does not marry in the most cases from love, her wedding being a business for the rest of the family, because the man has to buy her from his father. In a case of a divorce, the children remain with their fathers and there are cases in which women are forbidden to see or visit them. It is a cruelty, because between mothers and children is a strong relationship in which the father shouldnt interf ere. They are not allowed to remain alone with a man if they are married, but men are allowed to have more than a wife. The employment of women varies over fields on Islamic laws. Even when women have the right to work and are educated, womens job opportunities are in practice unequal to those of men. They have limited opportunities to work in the private sector because they are expected to put their role in family first, which causes men to be seen as more reliable in the long term. While many work outside home in responsible positions, the law continues to treat them as minors. Specific fields of work clearly point out that women and children below 16 are restricted. The presumption is that women are less able to protect themselves, or that men are better able to resist in hard conditions of work. The status of women on testimony is disputed. Some jurists held that certain types of testimony by women will not be accepted. In other cases, the testimony of two women can equal that of one man. The reason for this disparity has been explained in various manners, including womens lack of intelligence, womens temperament and sphere of interest. In the other moderate nations there is no legal restriction regarding the right of women to employment, equal wages and protection before the law. But even in these places women can face the same â€Å"treatment† from men. But to start surpassing this mentality, and to become mens equals at the workplace and politics, women have to go beyond the humble image that was assigned to them in the past. Both men and women should accept each other. 2.2 Gender discrimination in China and Mexico Another example concerning inequality between men and women can be seen in countries such as China. The problems that women were confronted with were the same everywhere. The revolution helped to raise the status of women. The legislation like the Marriage Law of the 1950 did not only reveal the most extreme forms of female subordination and repression, such as prostitution, concubinage, selling of women and children, but it also gave women the opportunity to make their own marital decisions. Their life was no longer restricted to the home, and they joined the agricultural and industrial work forces. Education, which was denied to women in traditional China, has become more accessible. But the education system had first given priority to men, and illiterate schools had been mainly attended by female. Many companies refused to hire female graduates from universities because their parenting responsibilities may impede business. They were also permitted to enter in the area of politics. However, many of them had lower-paid and less challenging jobs,[3] the leadership positions being dominated by men. The Chinese women were told to be â€Å"free†, but they were discouraged when they expressed their opinions. Growing up in the shadow of the Chinese morality, they were becoming accustomed with a certain degree of inferiority. Many of them got used with the idea that they are not accepted on the labor market. This mentality leads them to set low standards of life. The situation of women in Mexico is almost the same, but they are not forbidden to participate in different spheres of public life. However they suffer from inequality and injustice. Statistics on education and employment reflect that even women had the same rights as men to be actively involved in all fields of activity their actual participation is limited.[4] Regarding education, 15 % of the female population is illiterate and from the rest only 38% attended a High School. Because of this issue they are denied the opportunity to work as a qualified worker. If they managed to get a job they were paid less than man for doing the same thing. The little money they got, was for the family subsistence, and except for some privileged cases, when they had been responsible for the young children even if she had an outside job. There were cases when another woman, member of the family is employed as a domestic worker who did the house keeping. Traditional women nowadays seem to accept the unjust social arrangement in which those women had lived before and take action in order to change this situation. Even if they accept the old cultural rules and respect them, they want to be independent, to work freely and to be accepted as equals to men from all points of view. Now there is no argument, no â€Å"principle of difference† for denying women the freedom to function in all fields of activity. The need to survive and the fact that men could no longer gain enough to support his family helped women to abolish the traditional division of work according to gender. Women are more educated, many of them graduated one or even two universities. There is no reasonable matter that could be invoked to justify that men are more capable than women. The government also helps widows and single mothers and the fact that they have to grow up their children it is not an impeachment to get a good paid working place. Many of them can leave their children with their close relatives who look after them without expecting any payment. Employment makes women to improve their status within the family and enables them to have a better treatment from the part of men. 2.3 Migrant women Many women from all over the world needed to move from their home countries as part of global division of labor which was underpinned by colonial exploitation. Some came as migrants in their own right, while others came as the daughters, wives and mothers of migrant men. All of them met the institutionalized racism of the state in which they had gone. They occupied some specific locations in time and space such as America, England, Italy, Germany coming from Asia and Africa. For many of women coming to these places meant their first encounter with paid work outside home, in domains such as manufacturing or in the state sector, where they were low paid. Even if they expected to have a better life, they encountered a lot of difficulties, serving an economy designed for the metropolitan centers. It was very clear that minority family workers find themselves at the periphery and part-time jobs were never for them. The life of migrant families is in many ways distinct from the life of the others. Each year migrant families travel to remote parts of the country seeking employment on the labor market to work under bad and hazardous conditions. For example those who arrived in United States were born outside it and many had and continued to have difficulties speaking English. Due to the extreme economic conditions of migrant life, children must often take a job and family responsibilities at a young age, sometimes to the detriment of school attendance. The cost of migrating is high and is common for migrants to arrive at a new destination with little or no money or food. Living conditions are cramped such as a camp housing units consisted of one small room for each family that serves for cooking, eating and sleeping. Regarding their health even minorities have the same heath problems like the others, they use fewer health services and suffer more from diseases, disabilities and an early death. Nowadays there are organizations such as MRI[5] whose mission is to advocate for the respect, protection and fulfillment of a full range of human rights of migrants around the world and to foster unity and the inclusion of migrants in all fields. 2.4 Black women Black history is very wide and during the time it has served whites as an antidote for racism indoctrination. Blacks and whites are two separate cultures, with separate traditions and diametrically opposed past experiences. Black women have been denied important implications in the history because they were profoundly affected by having to see the world through male eyes, as the majority of women did in the past, including the white women, too. They were also conditioned to limit their own life goals, being doubly victimized by scholarly neglecting and racist conceptions. Belonging to two groups which have traditionally been treated as inferiors blacks and women- they have been almost invisible. They have always been more conscious of race oppression and sex discrimination, being subjected to all the restrictions against Blacks and against women. In no area of life they havent ever been permitted to attain higher status than white females. Additionally, because of the slavery system they were sexually exploited by white men through rape or enforced sexual services. These sexual abuses, which were characteristic to the colonizers on the conquered groups, functioned actually to fasten the badge of inferiority of the slavery societies of black people. The black men were deprived of the power and right to protect their women from white men. So, the poor black women had no support, they could not rely for protection in any part. Black women had an ambiguous role in relation to white society. They were allowed to serve white families by nursing and raising white children, cleaning their houses and attending sick people. Their wages were the lowest of all including white women. Black women were also deprived of the ballot until 1920 even if poor black men could vote. But the status of black women can be seen from two different viewpoints: as members of a larger society and within their own group. When they are taken into consideration among Blacks, they had higher status within their group than white women in their society. This paradox is the direct result of white society to black one, the result of the fact that the lowest jobs in white society are reserved for black women. For black females this means that they were trained since childhood to become workers in order to survive. They knew that they had to work even they were married or single. Work to them, unlike to white women is not a liberating goal, but rather an imposed necessity for survival. More than that, they can often find a job while black men cannot do that. Black womens aim throughout history has been for the survival of her family and of her race. Until the past decade, the access to professional jobs was closed on black women due to discrimination, they were trained only for l ower position jobs or for a life of domestic work. Thus they were given smaller chances to complete their studies, than black men, who even with a college degree could hardly find a good working place because of the race discrimination. Black women showed the pride and the strength of people who had endured great oppression. This gave them a sense of their function in the world and a strong confidence in their values. Their liberation has depended on the liberation of the race and the improvement of the life of the black community. This slavery pattern was carried out a long time and only recently was abolished and Blacks were given equal rights to those of whites. But even nowadays they seem to bear the old trace of their ancestors and not everyone regards this society as one with the same opportunities. There still are some obstacles they have to surpass such as the unkindness of many white people and the difficulty to be accepted as normal. In any case it is necessary to recognize that there is a female aspect to all histories, that women were there and that their contributions were different from those of men, regardless of the color of their skin. 2.4.1 The system of slavery Slavery resisted in practice from its inception in the United States in the early 1600s to its end, in the middle of 1800s. This formed a separate and distinct culture which bound both master and slave in a complex and interdependent relationship. The slavery system was above all a labour system, designed to extract the profit of unwilling and dependent subjects. The essence of it was that the slave was legally a piece of property to be bought and sold at the masters will. He had no legal rights, could not testify in his own behalf nor bear witness against a white person. As a result to this feature, a slave was subjected to the will of his master in all circumstances and his treatment depended on the personality and economic conditions of him. Most of them lived, not on large plantation, but in small isolated agricultural units or in small farms, where they were in close daily contact with their owners. However they lived under the worst conditions, having little clothing and one pa ir of shoes that had to last them a very long period, depending on the masters will. They slept in a single room on a bad made from straw and old rags. They ate two meals a day, being provided no table; each took their own plate or a tin pan and an iron spoon and held it in the hand or on the lap. As a general rule, no lights, no firewood, no towels, no soap, no furniture were provided to them. Source material about black women as slaves did not reveal much about their lives and feelings. In general, the life of black women under slavery was in every respect more difficult and restricted than that of the men. Their work and duties were the same as that of the men, such as work on the plantation, while childbearing and childrearing fell upon them as an added burden. Their affection for their children was used as means of tying them to their masters, children being always held as hostages in case of the mothers attempted escape. The chances to escape for female slaves were fewer than those for males. There were cases in which the severe system made them to rebel and to run away, but they were caught every time, or some of them died while trying to escape. Those who survived were punished very cruelly and imposed a more severe system of terror which could keep resistance from breaking into large-scale rebellion. Thus the harsh but tolerable system was supplemented by a terroristic system of cruelty against those slaves who dared any sign of insubordination. Most runaway slaves returned voluntary, usually driven by hunger, the absence of shelter, the vast distances to be covered, their ignorance of geography, illiteracy and general lack of knowledge. The sale of those slaves was also a common mean of punishment and discipline. Slave women took part in all aspects of resistance, from rebellion to sabotage. Many of them lived with the hope that they would be free, because they were promised that if they did their job well, they would liberate at least their children. 2.4.2 Black slave families Family life was almost inexistent and blacks got married at early ages, but always with the consent of their master and mistress. Even if a black woman was pregnant she had to do the same work regardless of how she felt about it. That is why babies were not born healthy and because of the harsh conditions of life many of them died of in the first weeks of life. Those who survived were sold, because masters did not want the time of the mother be taken up by attendance upon her children. As a favor she was permitted to go to see them once a year. Parents were never consulted, having little control over their own child. Every natural and social felling was violated with indifference. Some of them were kept as a possible working force for the time when they would grow up. When they were able to work, they had to accomplish any kind of duty, no matter how difficult it might be for the poor child. There are examples when they were kept in cold entries to work for many hours, in no good con ditions. They had to finish the work without a lamp in the evening, they had no fire in the cold seasons. The tasks were often too hard for them and yet they were expected to work well with their cold fingers and standing up as if they were sitting in a comfortable place. They also had to take care of the white babies, even if they themselves were just kids. It frequently happened that relatives, among slaves were separated for weeks or months, by the husband or brother being taken by the master on journey, to attend him and his horses. When they returned, the white husband could see his wife as soon as he arrived, but the black husband had to wait until the mistress gave his wife permission to go to him. The black women could be taken with the master in their journey too and many of them pretended that they were ill, in order to avoid being sold away from her husband and children. If it happened that the slaves got sick, they did not receive medical care. Another way in which the feeling of the salves not taken into consideration and were often wounded, was by changing their names. If at the time they were brought into a family, there was another slave having the same name or if the owner did not like the name of the new comer they received another name. Many salves were grieving at having the name of their children thus changed. There had no freedom at all, because they were continuously watched. The system of espionage was the most worrying and intolerable and if they did not obey, they were whipped. An old story shows that there was a black woman who was an exemplary worker who was both feared and respected by their masters, and who by her courage imposed some restrictions upon them. She was also the smartest black woman in that particular region and whatever she did could not be done better. She could do anything. She cooked, washed, ironed, spun, nursed and labored in the field. These skills gave her a sort of independence. Other indulgent masters protected their slaves, especially women by allowing them to rest three of four weeks before and after they got birth. They were often not punished if they did not finish the task assigned to them. Then they could take the child with them, being helped by a little girl or boy who took care of the child while the mother was working. Where there was no such support, the baby was let under a tree or by the side of a fence, and the mother returned at intervals to nurse him. 2.4.3 The education of the Black communities Regarding education in the Blacks long struggle for survival, it was always a foremost goal, both as a tool for advancement an acceptance and as a means of improving life in the black community. There were Missionary groups which were engaged in effort of educating slave children. In some regions, such as the South America, slave rebellions led to a severe legislation which forbade the education of slaves. There were also some white women who continued to teach slaves to read and write. If they were caught they went to jail, but their will to help other people made this thing not so important. Separate schools for boys and girls, which were very common among white people, were a luxury for the black communities and only few of them could afford to go there. The only separate schools for both white and black girls before the Civil War provided instruction in sewing, knitting and the household skills. Despite the poverty of Blacks and the severe discriminatory restrictions which dominated their lives, they managed in the post Civil War period to send their children to school. But many of them had to do sacrifices and to endure many sufferings for the sake of sending them to schools. The reality is reflected in the way that black families raise their children as to accept work or career as a natural part of their lives. This could help black women to be better prepared for the demand of a professional career just like the majority of white women. Obviously the slow promotion of black women in a profession was due to race discrimination, both in educational preparation and access to institutions of higher education. When they were permitted to attend schools their performances were of a great value. It is not surprising that blacks, especially womens first achievement came to prominence in the cultural fields. The black female literary tradition started with the talented Phillis Wheatley[6]. Almost a hundred years later appeared some very talented novelists such as Jessie Fauset, Zora Neale Hurston etc. belonging to the Renaissance period. Theatrical and musical careers were, like other professions, restricted by race barriers. Talented black actresses were confined to play only servant roles. Twentieth-century singers were imposed some restrictions because of their race and great number of them had to leave America for Europe, to develop their talents and careers. Among these was Marian Anderson[7], who acclaimed in Europe as one of the greatest singers in the world. In no other cultural field has the black contribution been more influential than in music (spiritual, blues, jazz) and women played an integral part in this development. In the artistic and cultural fields, as in education and some professions, the long repressed black women has bought an explosion of talent and are today a dynamic force in the creation of a uniquely expressive black culture. 2.5 About womanhood Black women are human beings too and they are not guilty because they were born black. They had to suffer the insults of possessing the most depreciative elements of humanity: being black and being women. They are just as strong and weak as any other women with the same level of education, training and environment. Their liberation depended on that of the race and on the improvement of the black community. There was a great debate about colored men getting their rig Inequality of Women in Relation to Class, Race and Age Inequality of Women in Relation to Class, Race and Age INTRODUCTION This subject is about the importance of women in our society and the way they contribute to its development. In the past many traditions portrayed women as being less important than men and that is why they had many restrictions such as : little right to education, they were prohibited to vote or to detain political functions, and even they were denied the chance to have a job. The only thing they were supposed to do was the children rearing and house keeping. There was no country in the world in which womens quality of life was equal to that of men according to the health status, education opportunities, employment, and political rights. And when they were employed, they were offered a job only in a restricted range of fields having a low pay and being treated with low respect. This situation was determined by sexual discrimination and harassment. They are also confronted with wage discrimination and with long hours of unpaid labor. Although some countries allowed women to vote, some still had not done so. And there were many informal obstacles that impeached women participation in political life. Almost everywhere, there were a small number of women representing the government[1]. But regarding women as mothers, they play an important role because even if men considered this an easy task, it was no as easy as it seemed. A mother had to be aware of every movement of her child, she had to offer the child healthy food and finally to give the child a good education. The first years of life are very important and they are the basis of the future man. Children were very much bound to their mothers, and their fathers, because of the lack of time were most of the time only some strangers whom they feared. The authority was detained by the father who did not only punish the children but he also had violent reactions. Nowadays things have changed radically. The Bill of Rights stipulates that all men are equal, and women are given other opportunities. They can attend school and even higher education, can vote and detain political functions, and they must have a workplace where men treat them with respect. More and more women are independent, and they place career as being one of their priorities. The role of a mother is still very important, but it is not their main occupation. It can be said that even the way they grow up their children has changed. If in the past the father was the â€Å"head† of the family, nowadays the roles are divided. It is an interesting subject to debate because it includes differences of an old society, the traces this has left and the way things have developed. 1. Feminist views 1.1 Women, Human Beings â€Å"Human beings are not by nature kings, or nobles, or courtiers, or rich. All are born naked and poor. All are subject to the miseries of life, to frustrations, to ills, to needs, to pains of every kind. Finally, all are condemned to death. That is what the human being really is.† Jean- Jacques Rousseau, Emile, Book IV[2]. Therefore a human being is either a man or a woman. There is only a distinction between â€Å"genders†. Starting from this idea it can be said that every person is constituted by certain traits, which characterize them as â€Å"human†, no matter what culture they belong to. These traits include the fact of mortality, the body needs for food and drink, shelter, mobility, the cognitive capacities, affiliation and concern for others etc. It also must be taken into consideration the premise that there is a common humanity that is recognized across the centuries and continents, and which aims to articulate a set of associated functions and abilities. The real difference that can be made consists on the forms of activity, of deeds and beings that constitute the human way of life and distinguish them from animals and plants. There are some essential things for an entity to be categorized as a person: autonomy, self-respect, sense of fulfillment and achievement. The autonomy of a person involves freedom of choice, of opinion and of any discrimination. Everyone should follow his own interior voice, interests according to their capacities. The interaction with others, the way in which one is perceived and accepted into a group plays an important role. Every person needs to belong to a certain social environment and the relationships they experience influence their way of being. 1.1.2 Self autonomy Self-respect, is an essential requirement of personhood which involves the sense of dignity, consciousness of autonomy and worth. It also involves consciousness of ones capacities and rights, and more importantly, commitment to ones responsibilities. A self-respecting person has a sober assessment of his/her place in the context of life and the world. The role as mother also develops a range of self-esteem because it gives a new sense to life. It makes a woman feel more responsible with her acts and it also provides her a different importance in society and makes her more mature in a way by becoming a â€Å"real woman† at last. Having a child can bring greater vitality, fun and humour, as providing her with a new insight into the world. In the past centuries almost all women saw the world through the male eyes, they occupied subordinate and inferior positions and were conditioned to limit their own life goals and self-esteem. But nowadays things have changed a lot and women dont need a man to survive. They can manage very well, they are independent because they have a job which can provide them the chance to buy whatever they like and to live without a mans support. Work is a vital part of everyones life, it intensifies confidence and self-esteem. It makes people, in general, feel complete. The way women look is an extra concern and influences the way they feel. They want to be beautiful and that is why they keep diets, do sport, go to spas, use expensive cosmetics, appeal to surgery and are careful what they put on them. Therefore self autonomy is guided by the principles of freedom and includes a series of civil liberties. Every person is free to make their own decisions and to center their deeds according to their necessities and free wills. An autonomous person lives in accordance with the dictates of reason, which is directly linked to morality. Autonomy is neutral, being placed between good and evil and the real challenge is to know what is the right way to follow, of course after passing some obstacles. 1.2 The eternal conflict It is well known that God first created man, and only after that He gave him a wife in order to multiply and to have ancestors. Because the man was first, he is considered to be the head of the family. But this headship does not mean that woman has no rights or that she is a second class citizen. On the contrary, God told the husband to love his wife and to become a single soul together with her. This headship issue is an issue of order, not of who is better or more important. Men and women are only different. They differ from the point of view of their physical appearance, ethics, behaviors, dispositions, needs etc. A man is not good or bad because he is a man. Similarly a woman is not good or bad simply because she is a woman. In other words all are subjected to mistakes. The respect to which women are different from men is important, namely because women can give birth to children, and men can not do it. This is one case in which â€Å"natural capacities† are concerned. Therefore women, having a special feature of motherhood, have the right to get special facilities to help them perform their duties as mothers without affecting their rights and responsibilities elsewhere. To perform this parental duty men also must be present in order to offer help when it comes to the childs education. In ethical and political theories, the family is often viewed as an inappropriate place for showing ones superiority, but a place for love, altruism and shared interests. If children see that sex difference is the occasion for different treatment, they could be affected in their personal and moral development. They are likely to learn injustice, by absorbing the messages, and by observing that their parents dont treat each other with respect. There is a need fo r attention to be paid in order to avoid that the children take as a negative example the way in which their parents behave and repeat it when they grow up. Empirical research in recent years has brought out clearly that women occupied lower positions than men in traditional economic and social arrangements. Thus there is a wide gap between mens and womens recorded and perceived economic participation. All the work women did such as rearing children, cleaning and maintaining the household, caring for the old and sick, and contributing in various ways to mens work, does not count as work, even if it is crucial for the survival. A first context related to notions of legitimacy and correctness is that of the gender inequalities. In a family, between women and men, or girls and boys these inequalities should be accepted as â€Å"natural†, by lining out an interesting contrast among different members. On the labor market, for example there should be rather a matter of position than of streakiness. Sometimes a man can be the manager, but a woman can occupy the same function too, in different contexts. To avoid the problem of conflict everyone must pursue the same objectives, as a result of which there will not be a disharmony of interests but a wish to collaborate in the best conditions. 2. Womens equality 2.1 Gender discrimination The concept of â€Å"equality† has been at the centre of any feminist movement. It was long been obvious that women, as a class, have remained in a state of subjugation and inferiority. They can be considered as an auxiliary of men, most of their duties being orientated towards their husbands who are frequently mentioned as their lord and master. In the Muslim countries, for example, women are given different rights regarding marriage, divorce, civil rights, legal status, dress code, and education. The marriage is arranged by the family together with the future husband. The future bride does not marry in the most cases from love, her wedding being a business for the rest of the family, because the man has to buy her from his father. In a case of a divorce, the children remain with their fathers and there are cases in which women are forbidden to see or visit them. It is a cruelty, because between mothers and children is a strong relationship in which the father shouldnt interf ere. They are not allowed to remain alone with a man if they are married, but men are allowed to have more than a wife. The employment of women varies over fields on Islamic laws. Even when women have the right to work and are educated, womens job opportunities are in practice unequal to those of men. They have limited opportunities to work in the private sector because they are expected to put their role in family first, which causes men to be seen as more reliable in the long term. While many work outside home in responsible positions, the law continues to treat them as minors. Specific fields of work clearly point out that women and children below 16 are restricted. The presumption is that women are less able to protect themselves, or that men are better able to resist in hard conditions of work. The status of women on testimony is disputed. Some jurists held that certain types of testimony by women will not be accepted. In other cases, the testimony of two women can equal that of one man. The reason for this disparity has been explained in various manners, including womens lack of intelligence, womens temperament and sphere of interest. In the other moderate nations there is no legal restriction regarding the right of women to employment, equal wages and protection before the law. But even in these places women can face the same â€Å"treatment† from men. But to start surpassing this mentality, and to become mens equals at the workplace and politics, women have to go beyond the humble image that was assigned to them in the past. Both men and women should accept each other. 2.2 Gender discrimination in China and Mexico Another example concerning inequality between men and women can be seen in countries such as China. The problems that women were confronted with were the same everywhere. The revolution helped to raise the status of women. The legislation like the Marriage Law of the 1950 did not only reveal the most extreme forms of female subordination and repression, such as prostitution, concubinage, selling of women and children, but it also gave women the opportunity to make their own marital decisions. Their life was no longer restricted to the home, and they joined the agricultural and industrial work forces. Education, which was denied to women in traditional China, has become more accessible. But the education system had first given priority to men, and illiterate schools had been mainly attended by female. Many companies refused to hire female graduates from universities because their parenting responsibilities may impede business. They were also permitted to enter in the area of politics. However, many of them had lower-paid and less challenging jobs,[3] the leadership positions being dominated by men. The Chinese women were told to be â€Å"free†, but they were discouraged when they expressed their opinions. Growing up in the shadow of the Chinese morality, they were becoming accustomed with a certain degree of inferiority. Many of them got used with the idea that they are not accepted on the labor market. This mentality leads them to set low standards of life. The situation of women in Mexico is almost the same, but they are not forbidden to participate in different spheres of public life. However they suffer from inequality and injustice. Statistics on education and employment reflect that even women had the same rights as men to be actively involved in all fields of activity their actual participation is limited.[4] Regarding education, 15 % of the female population is illiterate and from the rest only 38% attended a High School. Because of this issue they are denied the opportunity to work as a qualified worker. If they managed to get a job they were paid less than man for doing the same thing. The little money they got, was for the family subsistence, and except for some privileged cases, when they had been responsible for the young children even if she had an outside job. There were cases when another woman, member of the family is employed as a domestic worker who did the house keeping. Traditional women nowadays seem to accept the unjust social arrangement in which those women had lived before and take action in order to change this situation. Even if they accept the old cultural rules and respect them, they want to be independent, to work freely and to be accepted as equals to men from all points of view. Now there is no argument, no â€Å"principle of difference† for denying women the freedom to function in all fields of activity. The need to survive and the fact that men could no longer gain enough to support his family helped women to abolish the traditional division of work according to gender. Women are more educated, many of them graduated one or even two universities. There is no reasonable matter that could be invoked to justify that men are more capable than women. The government also helps widows and single mothers and the fact that they have to grow up their children it is not an impeachment to get a good paid working place. Many of them can leave their children with their close relatives who look after them without expecting any payment. Employment makes women to improve their status within the family and enables them to have a better treatment from the part of men. 2.3 Migrant women Many women from all over the world needed to move from their home countries as part of global division of labor which was underpinned by colonial exploitation. Some came as migrants in their own right, while others came as the daughters, wives and mothers of migrant men. All of them met the institutionalized racism of the state in which they had gone. They occupied some specific locations in time and space such as America, England, Italy, Germany coming from Asia and Africa. For many of women coming to these places meant their first encounter with paid work outside home, in domains such as manufacturing or in the state sector, where they were low paid. Even if they expected to have a better life, they encountered a lot of difficulties, serving an economy designed for the metropolitan centers. It was very clear that minority family workers find themselves at the periphery and part-time jobs were never for them. The life of migrant families is in many ways distinct from the life of the others. Each year migrant families travel to remote parts of the country seeking employment on the labor market to work under bad and hazardous conditions. For example those who arrived in United States were born outside it and many had and continued to have difficulties speaking English. Due to the extreme economic conditions of migrant life, children must often take a job and family responsibilities at a young age, sometimes to the detriment of school attendance. The cost of migrating is high and is common for migrants to arrive at a new destination with little or no money or food. Living conditions are cramped such as a camp housing units consisted of one small room for each family that serves for cooking, eating and sleeping. Regarding their health even minorities have the same heath problems like the others, they use fewer health services and suffer more from diseases, disabilities and an early death. Nowadays there are organizations such as MRI[5] whose mission is to advocate for the respect, protection and fulfillment of a full range of human rights of migrants around the world and to foster unity and the inclusion of migrants in all fields. 2.4 Black women Black history is very wide and during the time it has served whites as an antidote for racism indoctrination. Blacks and whites are two separate cultures, with separate traditions and diametrically opposed past experiences. Black women have been denied important implications in the history because they were profoundly affected by having to see the world through male eyes, as the majority of women did in the past, including the white women, too. They were also conditioned to limit their own life goals, being doubly victimized by scholarly neglecting and racist conceptions. Belonging to two groups which have traditionally been treated as inferiors blacks and women- they have been almost invisible. They have always been more conscious of race oppression and sex discrimination, being subjected to all the restrictions against Blacks and against women. In no area of life they havent ever been permitted to attain higher status than white females. Additionally, because of the slavery system they were sexually exploited by white men through rape or enforced sexual services. These sexual abuses, which were characteristic to the colonizers on the conquered groups, functioned actually to fasten the badge of inferiority of the slavery societies of black people. The black men were deprived of the power and right to protect their women from white men. So, the poor black women had no support, they could not rely for protection in any part. Black women had an ambiguous role in relation to white society. They were allowed to serve white families by nursing and raising white children, cleaning their houses and attending sick people. Their wages were the lowest of all including white women. Black women were also deprived of the ballot until 1920 even if poor black men could vote. But the status of black women can be seen from two different viewpoints: as members of a larger society and within their own group. When they are taken into consideration among Blacks, they had higher status within their group than white women in their society. This paradox is the direct result of white society to black one, the result of the fact that the lowest jobs in white society are reserved for black women. For black females this means that they were trained since childhood to become workers in order to survive. They knew that they had to work even they were married or single. Work to them, unlike to white women is not a liberating goal, but rather an imposed necessity for survival. More than that, they can often find a job while black men cannot do that. Black womens aim throughout history has been for the survival of her family and of her race. Until the past decade, the access to professional jobs was closed on black women due to discrimination, they were trained only for l ower position jobs or for a life of domestic work. Thus they were given smaller chances to complete their studies, than black men, who even with a college degree could hardly find a good working place because of the race discrimination. Black women showed the pride and the strength of people who had endured great oppression. This gave them a sense of their function in the world and a strong confidence in their values. Their liberation has depended on the liberation of the race and the improvement of the life of the black community. This slavery pattern was carried out a long time and only recently was abolished and Blacks were given equal rights to those of whites. But even nowadays they seem to bear the old trace of their ancestors and not everyone regards this society as one with the same opportunities. There still are some obstacles they have to surpass such as the unkindness of many white people and the difficulty to be accepted as normal. In any case it is necessary to recognize that there is a female aspect to all histories, that women were there and that their contributions were different from those of men, regardless of the color of their skin. 2.4.1 The system of slavery Slavery resisted in practice from its inception in the United States in the early 1600s to its end, in the middle of 1800s. This formed a separate and distinct culture which bound both master and slave in a complex and interdependent relationship. The slavery system was above all a labour system, designed to extract the profit of unwilling and dependent subjects. The essence of it was that the slave was legally a piece of property to be bought and sold at the masters will. He had no legal rights, could not testify in his own behalf nor bear witness against a white person. As a result to this feature, a slave was subjected to the will of his master in all circumstances and his treatment depended on the personality and economic conditions of him. Most of them lived, not on large plantation, but in small isolated agricultural units or in small farms, where they were in close daily contact with their owners. However they lived under the worst conditions, having little clothing and one pa ir of shoes that had to last them a very long period, depending on the masters will. They slept in a single room on a bad made from straw and old rags. They ate two meals a day, being provided no table; each took their own plate or a tin pan and an iron spoon and held it in the hand or on the lap. As a general rule, no lights, no firewood, no towels, no soap, no furniture were provided to them. Source material about black women as slaves did not reveal much about their lives and feelings. In general, the life of black women under slavery was in every respect more difficult and restricted than that of the men. Their work and duties were the same as that of the men, such as work on the plantation, while childbearing and childrearing fell upon them as an added burden. Their affection for their children was used as means of tying them to their masters, children being always held as hostages in case of the mothers attempted escape. The chances to escape for female slaves were fewer than those for males. There were cases in which the severe system made them to rebel and to run away, but they were caught every time, or some of them died while trying to escape. Those who survived were punished very cruelly and imposed a more severe system of terror which could keep resistance from breaking into large-scale rebellion. Thus the harsh but tolerable system was supplemented by a terroristic system of cruelty against those slaves who dared any sign of insubordination. Most runaway slaves returned voluntary, usually driven by hunger, the absence of shelter, the vast distances to be covered, their ignorance of geography, illiteracy and general lack of knowledge. The sale of those slaves was also a common mean of punishment and discipline. Slave women took part in all aspects of resistance, from rebellion to sabotage. Many of them lived with the hope that they would be free, because they were promised that if they did their job well, they would liberate at least their children. 2.4.2 Black slave families Family life was almost inexistent and blacks got married at early ages, but always with the consent of their master and mistress. Even if a black woman was pregnant she had to do the same work regardless of how she felt about it. That is why babies were not born healthy and because of the harsh conditions of life many of them died of in the first weeks of life. Those who survived were sold, because masters did not want the time of the mother be taken up by attendance upon her children. As a favor she was permitted to go to see them once a year. Parents were never consulted, having little control over their own child. Every natural and social felling was violated with indifference. Some of them were kept as a possible working force for the time when they would grow up. When they were able to work, they had to accomplish any kind of duty, no matter how difficult it might be for the poor child. There are examples when they were kept in cold entries to work for many hours, in no good con ditions. They had to finish the work without a lamp in the evening, they had no fire in the cold seasons. The tasks were often too hard for them and yet they were expected to work well with their cold fingers and standing up as if they were sitting in a comfortable place. They also had to take care of the white babies, even if they themselves were just kids. It frequently happened that relatives, among slaves were separated for weeks or months, by the husband or brother being taken by the master on journey, to attend him and his horses. When they returned, the white husband could see his wife as soon as he arrived, but the black husband had to wait until the mistress gave his wife permission to go to him. The black women could be taken with the master in their journey too and many of them pretended that they were ill, in order to avoid being sold away from her husband and children. If it happened that the slaves got sick, they did not receive medical care. Another way in which the feeling of the salves not taken into consideration and were often wounded, was by changing their names. If at the time they were brought into a family, there was another slave having the same name or if the owner did not like the name of the new comer they received another name. Many salves were grieving at having the name of their children thus changed. There had no freedom at all, because they were continuously watched. The system of espionage was the most worrying and intolerable and if they did not obey, they were whipped. An old story shows that there was a black woman who was an exemplary worker who was both feared and respected by their masters, and who by her courage imposed some restrictions upon them. She was also the smartest black woman in that particular region and whatever she did could not be done better. She could do anything. She cooked, washed, ironed, spun, nursed and labored in the field. These skills gave her a sort of independence. Other indulgent masters protected their slaves, especially women by allowing them to rest three of four weeks before and after they got birth. They were often not punished if they did not finish the task assigned to them. Then they could take the child with them, being helped by a little girl or boy who took care of the child while the mother was working. Where there was no such support, the baby was let under a tree or by the side of a fence, and the mother returned at intervals to nurse him. 2.4.3 The education of the Black communities Regarding education in the Blacks long struggle for survival, it was always a foremost goal, both as a tool for advancement an acceptance and as a means of improving life in the black community. There were Missionary groups which were engaged in effort of educating slave children. In some regions, such as the South America, slave rebellions led to a severe legislation which forbade the education of slaves. There were also some white women who continued to teach slaves to read and write. If they were caught they went to jail, but their will to help other people made this thing not so important. Separate schools for boys and girls, which were very common among white people, were a luxury for the black communities and only few of them could afford to go there. The only separate schools for both white and black girls before the Civil War provided instruction in sewing, knitting and the household skills. Despite the poverty of Blacks and the severe discriminatory restrictions which dominated their lives, they managed in the post Civil War period to send their children to school. But many of them had to do sacrifices and to endure many sufferings for the sake of sending them to schools. The reality is reflected in the way that black families raise their children as to accept work or career as a natural part of their lives. This could help black women to be better prepared for the demand of a professional career just like the majority of white women. Obviously the slow promotion of black women in a profession was due to race discrimination, both in educational preparation and access to institutions of higher education. When they were permitted to attend schools their performances were of a great value. It is not surprising that blacks, especially womens first achievement came to prominence in the cultural fields. The black female literary tradition started with the talented Phillis Wheatley[6]. Almost a hundred years later appeared some very talented novelists such as Jessie Fauset, Zora Neale Hurston etc. belonging to the Renaissance period. Theatrical and musical careers were, like other professions, restricted by race barriers. Talented black actresses were confined to play only servant roles. Twentieth-century singers were imposed some restrictions because of their race and great number of them had to leave America for Europe, to develop their talents and careers. Among these was Marian Anderson[7], who acclaimed in Europe as one of the greatest singers in the world. In no other cultural field has the black contribution been more influential than in music (spiritual, blues, jazz) and women played an integral part in this development. In the artistic and cultural fields, as in education and some professions, the long repressed black women has bought an explosion of talent and are today a dynamic force in the creation of a uniquely expressive black culture. 2.5 About womanhood Black women are human beings too and they are not guilty because they were born black. They had to suffer the insults of possessing the most depreciative elements of humanity: being black and being women. They are just as strong and weak as any other women with the same level of education, training and environment. Their liberation depended on that of the race and on the improvement of the black community. There was a great debate about colored men getting their rig

Lets Not Forget the Importance of Family Essay -- Research Essays

The Importance of Family My generation is one who emerged from a society of the eighties and through the nineties that has experienced amazing discoveries of countless measures. Over the last twenty years, we have watched our world evolve into a place decorated for its strengths economically. Many of us in the later years of our childhood became members of a group given the name the latchkey kids. Due to the needs of our economy as well as our home lives, both parents found it important to become members of the working class. The American culture of the United States puts a very large emphasis on a person’s sense of individuality. We are told from the time that we are born that we can be whatever we want to be and to set our goals high. Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers are some of the common careers that a young child chooses. They set a path for them to achieve this, and along the way may make sacrifices for this choice of career. They want only the best for themselves and would never dream of selling themselves sort. This very idea of self-sacrifice has sparked a curiosity in my own mind. When you ask a young child what they want to be when they grow up, you expect them to reply with an answer such as a doctor. What if that child said that they just want to be a mommy or a daddy? Do you think that the general feeling for this response would be a positive one? I have often wondered if due to the high emphasis on careers in our society, do people, or more specifically, my generation still consider having a family as important to their future? Or does their future only include their career? I, for instance, am a person of more personal than economic goals. I wanted to see if th... ...d it is comforting to know that my peers are reaching for their goals but not forgetting their personal lives. As with any research, there were limitations. If I had more time, I would have liked to interview and survey persons in my parent’s generation to find if when they were my age, did they feel they would have a family? I did everything that I believe I could to find the truth-value in my research, but I think that to look into the future it would have been beneficial to look at the ones who are already there, meaning our parents. My generation is the future, this I knew before this paper. But what I didn’t know, is that my peers have gone from children wishing to be doctors, to young adults following that path to get there. They haven’t sold themselves short. They have kept their dreams alive, and haven’t forgot the importance of family.

Media and Politics Essay

We all agree that a well-informed public leads to a more open, just and civic-minded society. Yet today it seems every major and minor news network has a Sunday talk show or weekly roundtable dedicated to â€Å"educating† the American public about politics. In addition, with the growth of the Internet, thousands of Web sites exist with information on politics and government. The irony is that while the quantity of places we can go for political information continues to increase, the quality of that information has not. Recent voter turnout shows an American public with a general apathy toward government and the political process. If we continue to focus on innuendo instead of insight, we threaten to create even more public apathy. For everything a quick sound bite delivers in sharpness, it often loses the same in substance when the message reaches the public. While it may be easy to fault the media for the lack of public confidence in America’s political system, policymakers are also partly to blame. Because increased political partisanship has led to an adversarial relationship between policymakers, it has created a disconnect with the media who cover them. It is only natural for the media to present the news in this â€Å"crossfire† approach when that is all it hears from politicians on a daily basis. Thus, instead of creating a well-informed society, policymakers, and the media can inadvertently work together to give the appearance that complicated issuesare black or white, with no in-between. We all know this is not true. For television, and the American media generally, the election of 2000 will be the first real taste of things to come, the beginning of the end of an era if not the end itself. Whispers of the â€Å"information revolution† could be heard in 1994, mostly in the accents of the Right, but in 2000, the Internet’s campaign presence will be sounded in shouts and with cymbals.  Campaigning via Websites and the use of e-mail, already routine, will edge toward dominance. In addition, a significant fraction of the public will be getting its politics from the Internet: the Pew Research Center found that in 1995, only 4 percent of adults went on-line for news at least once a week; by 1998, the figure had reached 20 percent, and rising. Today, however, television, which displaced the press and radio (and movies, for that matter), is itself substantially being shouldered aside. It is not even surprising that, according to the Pew Research Center, while 60 percent of adults â€Å"r egularly† watched TV news in 1993, that figure dropped to 38 percent in 1998. Like the press and like radio, television will retain much of its power; its quality of its influence may even rise; what is certain, however, is that it will have to change. If we are lucky, that change will help Americans reclaim some of democracy’s old charm. Our communities have been weakened or shattered by the market, mobility, and technology, and the centralization of the media and of party politics has taken much of the spirit out of our politics, emphasizing mass and hierarchy, and leading citizens to seek dignity in a private life that seems increasingly confined. Our politics, like our society, is more and more divided into two tiers. The elite levels, especially around the national capital and the media centers, are dense with organized groups and with information about the subtleties of policy and politics†¦The great majority of Americans, by contrast, are socially distant from power, baffled by its intricacies, anxious about change, and inundated by the welter of information being made available to them. The links that connect citizens to government are thin, mostly top-down, and dominated by money: the parties are increasingly c entralized bureaucracies, and â€Å"participation† is apt to take the form of donating money in response to direct appeals, voicelessly, without any say in group leadership or policy. As for the dominant news media, they are not seen as a stratum between citizens and centers of power, but as part of the powerhouse, an element of the elite or in its service. The great majority of Americans know that they depend on the media†¦the media decide what opinions to attend to and in what ways. Viewers, lacking a voice, can assert their discontents only by changing channels or by turning off the set, and in relation to politics, tuning out has become startlingly common, a silent protest against indignity. It does  not help that, eager to cultivate and hold a mass audience, the news media tend to dumb down their political coverage, as indicated by the ever-shrinking sound bite afforded to candidates and leaders. It is probably even worse that the media also pander, playing to our worst impulses. Early and consistently, polls showed that most Americans were convinced that coverage of the Lewinsky affair was doing damage to our institutions, telling pollsters that they wanted it to receive much less attention from the media. However, media leaders knew, of course, that despite this public-regarding judgment, very few Americans, as private ind ividuals, would be able to resist getting caught up in the tacky salacity of the thing. As a result, we got coverage in agonizing detail: Russell Baker called it â€Å"disgusting,† an indication that the media market is dominated by â€Å"edge, attitude, and smut.† Moreover, it encouraged millions of Americans to view the media, for all their power, as worthy of contempt. Political societies can be symbolized but not seen, and the most important political controversies turn on words–like justice, equality or liberty–and hence on public speech. A picture makes a strong impression, but one that tends to be superficial. Many see who you appear to be, Machiavelli advised the prince, but not many will recognize who you are. And often, visual coverage of politics is banal or beside the point. In the internet, a good many observers discerned a trend toward a more decentralized communication and politics, more interactive and hence friendlier to democratic citizenship. However, the Internet, at least so far, is not leading us to the public square. It does enable minorities to find like-minded people, to avoid the sense of being alone, and sometimes this gives strength and assurance to our better angels, although at least as often it gives scope to the dark side. In general, however, the Internet creates groups that lack what Tocqueville called the â€Å"power of meeting,† the face-to-face communication that makes claims on our senses, bodies as well as minds. — Over the past five decades, the American electorate has come to depend more and more on the news media for learning about political candidates and making voting decisions. The growth of all forms of media and the rise of â€Å"objectivity† in the press†¦ has made voters more dependent on the news media for campaign information. Today, about seven in 10 voters depend mainly on the news media for information to make choices when they cast their ballot. Voters’ dependence on the news increases the importance of the role that the news media play in American elections. But what do American voters want from election news coverage? And how do voters evaluate the news media’s coverage of presidential elections? In a word, â€Å"lukewarm† describes the general feeling of voters about the performance of the news media in covering presidential campaigns, according to national scientific surveys of the American electorate conducted from February through November 1996, as well as a more recent survey, conducted in October 1999, on the current campaign. The surveys were conducted by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis (CSRA) at the University ofConnecticut. Funding for the 1996 surveys was provided by The Freedom Forum. Why the tepid feelings? American voters are quite consistent in what they say they want from election news–and they are quite clear in saying that what they want is often not what they get. The American electorate is hungry for news and information that allow it to evaluate the substance of presidential candidacies on the basis of issue positions and on the likely consequences of electing a particular candidate to office. News provided outside of these parameters, while perhaps entertaining, is viewed as â€Å"nonsense† in the words of our focus group participant. Two types of stories–those that review how candidates stand on issues and those that describe how election outcomes might affect voters–are clearly the kinds of stories in which voters express the highest levels of intere st. The remedies suggested†¦.enhanced coverage of issues and candidates positions, more coverage of the possible impact of election outcomes on public policy and broader coverage of the  full field of candidates, not just the front-runners–could improve the quality of news and promote voter learning, which would be healthy for American democracy. At the same time, less coverage of the election as a sporting horse race and less obsession with entertaining stories about candidates personal lives would, according to voters, be an improvement. In election periods, the polls highlight the role of public opinion in the political process. They also illuminate the importance of public opinion measurements in the media. Fundamentally, and at their best, media polls are a way for public opinion to be reported and perceived, thus fulfilling the eminent 19th-century British visitor James Bryce’s conception of the American press as the â€Å"chief organ of public opinion,† and community â€Å"weathercock.† However, when employed inappropriately by overzealous reporters and analysts, polls can be used to create an exaggerated sense of precision that misleads more than it informs. Polls routinely bring the public into election campaigns. In an otherwise fragmented and even alienated society, poll reports may be the only means individual members of the public have in situating themselves in the greater society. News reports of poll results tell individuals that they are part of a majority or a minority on various issues. In campaigns with more than two candidates, especially early in the primary season, information about relativecandidate standing gives voters the information to help them cast a vote that is strategically advantageous. But most importantly, polls take that strategic information about candidate performance away from politicians’ control and places it in the hands of the public. News organizations no longer are forced to rely on the instincts of party leaders  or on carefully orchestrated leaks from partisan pollsters for data. Because they are numbers, poll results sometimes create the appearance of a false precision in reporting of candidate support or presidential approval. In fact, some polling organizations flaunt this alleged precision by displaying results to a 10th of a percentage point. Of course, the error due simply to the sampling design is usually at least 30 times greater than the specificity presented. Moreover, there are growing concerns about the ability of su rvey researchers to reach the majority of households selected in their sample. Some respondents refuse to be interviewed. Others have become ever more difficult to reach during the short news survey-interviewing period that must be sandwiched between public events. This perception of precision and accuracy leads journalists into making blunders, including attempting to find deep meaning when there probably isn’t any. Newspaper and television reporters often try to attribute a three-point difference in the margin between two candidates to some campaign action. Either the â€Å"slipping† candidate has made a mistake, or there has been a successful strategic decision that has brought supporters to the â€Å"rising† candidate. Sometimes small movements in the percentages of subgroups that form only a part of the total sample are given the same â€Å"explanatory† treatment. Those â€Å"differences,† however, are more likely to be caused by sampling error than by campaign events. In mid-October, a prominent presidential candidate addressed his largest audience. Hundreds of thousands of voters heard his message–but they never got the news that his message contained some distortions, omissions, and half-truths. Those significant matters were either ignored or buried in coverage by the leading news media. Why? It was not because of bias. It was because the candidate’s message was delivered not at a campaign event but in campaign television ads. And when candidates communicate via ads on the tube  instead of on the stump, journalists act as if we are stumped about our role and responsibility. Journalists at most major and medium-sized newspapers are proud that they are now at least covering political advertisements at all. They report on them in small-boxed features called â€Å"Ad Watch† or something of the sort. But they haven’t figured out that they are still being manipulated by the ad-makers. The â€Å"Ad Watch† reports c arry the transcript of the 30-second ad, followed by a small section in which a reporter subjectively interprets the ad-maker’s strategy. Then–in the most valuable section–the reports briefly focus on the factual accuracy of the ad’s claims. Newspapers display these â€Å"Ad Watch† boxes on inside pages, back with the snow tire and truss ads. Think about it from a journalist’s viewpoint: when a candidate distorts his record in a huge rally speech, a good reporter fact checks the claims. The resulting news story will surely focus in part on the candidate’s omissions and distortions that present a different and more accurate picture of his record.And that may well be a page one story. Now think about it from the political strategist’s viewpoint: Democratic and Republican strategists expect print journalists will check ads for accuracy but then downplay the results. So, being skilled manipulators, they are willing to take a light hit in a box that is buried back with the truss ads and will run just once if they can pour their unfiltered, exaggerated and distorted message in to living rooms where it may be seen by millions, not just once but perhaps 10 times in a campaign. There is one mistake that all journalists make whether we are covering politics at the White House, state house, or courthouse. Every time we report on money and politics, we fail to tell people the real story about how the system really works because we are using the wrong words to describe what is happening right before our eyes, every day. So no wonder people just shrug when we report that a special interest â€Å"contributed† $100,000 to Democrats or Republicans. Because, this special interest really did not â€Å"contribute† this money (which my dictionary explains means that it was given as though to a charity). What the special interest representative really did was â€Å"invest† $100,000 in the Democrats or Republicans. Big business people (see also: big labor, trial lawyers, et al) â€Å"invest† in politics for the same reason that they invest in anything–to reap a profitable return on their â€Å"investment.† Use the right word and suddenly  everybody understands what is really going on. They will especially understand when we regularly report that the largest agribusiness â€Å"investments† in Senate and House races routinely go to the top agriculture committee members, and largest energy special interest â€Å"investments† go to the top energy committee members, and so on. Use the right word and suddenly our next task as journalists becomes clear–and clearly difficult: we need to do a better job of discovering the campaign investors’ motives. We need to ask, Just what profitable return did the investor expect to reap for that campaign investment? A tax subsidy? A regulation waived? A loophole that is difficult for a squinting journalist to see with a naked eye? Whatever the return, this much is clear: the money ultimately comes out of the U.S. Treasury. Clearly, our present system, which we like to say is based on private financing of campaigns, can also be viewed as a form of backdoor public funding–where the taxpayers pay the final tab, no doubt many times over. We journalists have yet to find a way to calculate how many billions of tax dollars it now costs us to finance election campaigns through the back door. At least we can begin using a vocabulary that will finally tell it like it is.

Starting a NPO Essays

Starting a NPO Essays Starting a NPO Essay Starting a NPO Essay The proposed Not for profit (NPO) will be a charitable organization with interests in assisting students from low-income backgrounds in their preparations for ACT/SAT.   The first step before starting an NPO is to identify the felt needs of the community.   In this case the problems and challenges majority of the people undergo while preparing for ACT/SAT is a truly felt need amongst the local community members. The above is the major reason for setting up a NPO. Lack of enough funds leads to such students’ mission opportunities which means they are likely to continue being marginalized even in the job market. The urge to help out the people is what drives the need for forming the NPO. Once the need is established, the next step involves registering the NPO in the suitable category, in this case, as a charitable organization.   The Board of Directors plays managerial roles touching on the day-to-day activities of the organization such as fund raising, financial management as well as planning (Anderson, Dunkelberg, 1990).   To select Board members, the criteria involve selection of individuals who are experienced and are of unquestionable character. The chief executive requires being experienced in entrepreneurial management and with an experience of not less than 5 years in a similar capacity. During the incorporation, filing of articles of incorporation is required; this requires signatures of the Board of Directors to be appended in the application.   The articles of association are very crucial in the setting up of an NPO since the stipulation steps necessary for amendment of laws, process such as nomination, expulsion, financial processes, management cyc le, as well as steps to follow up in winding up. In setting up a NPO, the first thing is counter checking whether the chosen name is already in use by another group, if the proposed name is in use, then a unique name should be used and once verified, the NPO should be registered.   It is very necessary for the NPO to be filed with the local state authority through the NPO local offices.   Minutes of Board of Directors meeting and references are all necessary before setting up of an NPO and have to be produced in registration.   The identification of credible funding sources is also very crucial, in reality; a NPO has to incur costs hence the need to s solicit funds for its charitable works. The other necessary step in setting up a NPO is to identify sponsors willing to contribute towards the mission of the NPO. Sponsors can be corporate sector, churches and individuals all of which can gain from their goodwill activities in terms of receiving publicity. Once donors have been identified, one needs to establish communication structures to avoid conflicts and to ensure accountability and therefore achievement of NPO’s goals and objectives. NPOs usually are faced by financial problems and therefore are supposed to take every step to save operational costs. To minimize expenditure, NPOs can file for tax exemption. To file for tax exemption at the local tax authorities the NPO is supposed to have been incorporated with proper articles of association.   NPOs are also supposed to fill forms clarifying the purpose of the NPO as well as financial information form. Conclusion Setting up a NPO is a tedious and cumbersome exercise in the U.S. with a lot of duplicating functions, there is a need for different states to streamline the registration process in order to make it possible for those who have the will to help out in certain causes. There needs to be a one-stop shop in every state and county to help sort out all registration hassles.

Seatbelt Safety essays

Seatbelt Safety essays It was March 13, 2004, around 3 oclock in the morning and I was driving home from work. I was flying home, as usual and I was tired, sleepy, and not paying attention. I knew these roads well because I drive them at least twice a day, but today was different. I remember looking down at my Speedometer and seeing it register 115 mph, I looked up and saw a corner I knew I was going way too fast for. I immediately slammed on my brakes, but it was too late as I started to slide off the road, leaving four black marks on the road behind me. Try going 90-0 in .5 seconds. OUCH. My car is totaled, my frame bent, I cant open my back doors because the front doors are smashed over them, my trunk wont shut all the way and my radiator, motor and transmission are now combined into one. I walked away without a single bruise or scratch and had I not been wearing my safety belt I am 100% sure that I would be dead. I would have been slammed into my windshield and if that didnt kill me, than Im sure the telephone pole 2 feet in front of me would have. This is just one of many stories I have involving how I, or someone in my family was saved by a safety belt. So today I am going to give some factual reasons why everyone should take 3 seconds out of their day to buckle up. It might seem inconvenient now, but better to buckle up and possibly save your life than to lose it. The National HWY Safety Association says that 1 out of 3 people will be involved in a serious accident. Look around, that means that out of the person on your left, the person on your right, and yourself one of you is going to be involved in a major automobile accident. The Association also says that you, or one of your tablemates is 4x more likely to die while not wearing a seatbelt, than while wearing one. There are 35,000 deaths a year of people without wearing proper seat restraints, while there are only 17,000 deaths per year with people weari...

Alessandro Scarlatti essays

Alessandro Scarlatti essays Alessandro Scarlatti was a composer during the Baroque Era. When compared with its music predecessors, Baroque music is said to be have more lavish textures, and more intense. This period of music introduced Operas, Oratorios, and Cantatas. It also brought along orchestral forms, though Operas became very popular. Operas were very popular because Italian intellectuals wanted to recapture the Greek Dramas, in which music played a major role. A distinguishing feature of the Baroque Era was the emphasis on the musics volume, texture, and pace. The previous era, (Late Renaissance) did not focus on these very much. Cannons and Fugues (strict forms of imitative polyphony) were also very popular during the Baroque Era. In this Era, composers were expected to prove their expertise whenever asked. To this, they were expected to improvise complex Fugues on a moments notice. Only the best were able to do this. Alessandro Scarlatti was born in Palermo on May 2nd 1660. Not much is known about his family, other than the fact that he had two sisters, and his parents were Sicilian, and most likely from Artistic families themselves. At the age of twelve, Alessandro and his two sisters were sent to Rome to live with relatives. There were rumors that Alessandro studied with Carissimi while there. Carissimi was an Italian composer who composed hundreds of motets and cantatas in addition to Masses, and other sacred music. When Alessandro was seventeen, he married, and not quite nine months later, their first of six children was born. At the age of eighteen, he composed his first opera, Gli Equivoci nel sembiante, which was a great success. Some may argue that this was actually his second opera. There are rumors that he composed an earlier opera, but it was never performed, and the title is unknown. Sometime between the time he was married, and his first composition, hi...

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) - Essay Example The group activities declined in 2006 and 2007 after various measures to counter terrorism. However, after the withdrawal of the US forces in 2011 the group has since increased its attacks targeting the Shiites in an attempt to reignite conflict in Iraq between the Shiite dominated government and the minority Sunnis. According to the report of United Nations, in 2013 alone, there was bloodshed on thousands of the population. In 2012, ISIS was adopted as the formal name of the group and replaced AQI. This is an expression of its broadest ambition because its fighters are challenging the Assad regime in neighboring Syria. In June 2014, attacked military installations in Mosul and took control of the entire city. ISIS or the Islamic state is an extremist movement that makes even Al-Qaeda squeamish. It attracts militants who are eager to build the new caliphate from all over the world. The ISIS army is a mixture of extremists from different parts of the universe including Chechen snipers, Saudi Arabia’s car bombers and western misfits like Douglas McAuthur McCain who has signed to fight among them. The group has kidnapped and murdered American journalists, butchered over seven hundred Sheets in Syria, and threaten the existence of Iraq’s Yazidi community. They employ the vicious Hudud punishments in enforcing sharia laws in the areas they control in Iraq and Syria. The Jihadist group is also known as the â€Å"Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant† (ISIL) and controls an unrecognized sate and caliphate in the Middle East. ISIS originated from the almost fallen Al-Qaeda. The Al-Qaeda who embarked on the arbitrary and brutal treatment of civilians tried to ignite a sectarian war to the majority Shia community in 2006 under Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.