Judith Beveridge Essay Example for Free

Judith Beveridge Essay Judith Beveridge challenges our understanding of the world by revealing hidden sides of our society through confronting images throughout her poems. The reader is revealed with number of issues such as animal cruelty and psychological torture. These issues are related to the gender of the character with the cruel attitude toward nature and the society. This is evident in the poems â€Å"The Two Brothers† and â€Å"Fox in a Tree Stump†. â€Å"The Two Brother† is a poem which uses natural speech rhythms, tone and informal language is used to create an understanding with the reader. Reader is shown the brother’s cruelty but is also shown their brittleness and insecurity. The brothers’ cruelty is connected with their gender. This is shown in line 3-5 which says, â€Å"Had shown me themselves, grinning queerly as when they’d shown me lizards they’d killed, or sparrows they’d slowly bled with a needle. † These lines show vivid and disturbing images of boys’ violence, this is then enhanced by alliteration of the word ‘S’ in â€Å"sparrows they’d slowly bled. † In the lines, â€Å"shown me themselves† implies that such violence is a characteristic of being a male in our society. This idea of cruelty being a part of male’s characteristic in our society is shown again in line 13 which says, â€Å"Would dare each other any taste, any soft clot, any ugly act. † This line tells the reader that the brother’s would do anything and challenge each other for dominance which also implies that these characteristics of challenging each other for dominance is a part of a male’s life. In the last stanza the reader is given the idea that the brothers haven’t achieved anything and that the reader should feel pity for the brothers rather than looking at them as wrong, heartless human beings. This is shown by persona saying â€Å"Touched themselves through the emptiness of their pockets, scared they’d find the prize of nothing. † This quote evokes sympathy for the brothers through the word choice â€Å"emptiness† and â€Å"prize of nothing†. She also suggests that masculinity to cruelty is ultimately a hollow power. Just like â€Å"The Two Brothers†, â€Å"Fox in a Tree Stump† is a poem with a creature commonly thought of as a pest is projected as the innocent victim of male cruelty. This poem is about an unwanted intruder on the farm. The poem records the memory of a painful loss of innocence for a sensitive nine- year old, who must choose between invoking her uncle’s anger and going against her own mortality. In this poem the uncle has taken it upon himself to teach the child some of the harsher realities in life. Uncle leaves the child to smoke out the unfortunate fox and kill it with a tree branch. Therefore, the child is forced to shed its innocence. The uncle’s dominance is shown over both the girl and the fox. The dominance is linked to the uncle’s gender. Even though the uncle is domineering and cruel, yet Beveridge does not blame him for his act, the poet blames the uncle’s nature as shown in stanza 2 by a quote which says, â€Å"His voice harsh, kelpie- cursing would not understand if I let the fox run to the bush. † This was also shown in The Two Brothers as at the end of the poem the brothers were not blamed for their action but instead were felt pity for. Fox in a Tree Stump ends with â€Å"I was a child praying for the dark each time the sun caught my uncle’s eye. † The persona prays for something like this to never occur in her life again. Children are usually afraid of the dark and hope for sunrise but in this quote dark means release from uncle’s domination and from the fear of further killings. Judith Beveridge has challenged the understanding of the world in which we live. â€Å"The Two Brother’s† and â€Å"Fox in a Tree Stump† both show male dominance over neglected creatures in the society and over females. Beveridge has also challenged my understanding of the society which we live in by raising issues such as physiological torture, animal cruelty, homosexuality and rape throughout most of her poems.

Why Do We Need Global Governance Politics Essay

Why Do We Need Global Governance Politics Essay Ruling the world has been the main aim for every major leader throughout history. It is the feeling of power and achievement that makes one feel superior to any other citizen with older examples such as Alexander the Great to later (1900s) ones such as Hitler and Lenin who eventually aimed for the same concept. However, the consequences of the actions of these leaders also resulted in corruption and revolution. Not only conflicts between average citizens were created, but also nation states prepared themselves to fight back. Since the Second World War, organizations and unions have been created to maximize global governance and interference in order to prevent unbalance between states. Not only should one country have a say towards world issues, but decisions should rather be taken together and internationally which is the main characterization of global governance. Global governance derives from local democracy. The local laws further expand to national law where unions or organizations such as the European Commission unite the local and national votes into one. Today, global governance is at a point where it is being observed by not only statesmen but also its citizens. It has reached a peak where the involvement and cooperation of all societies is vital. The world situation is worsening where jobs have been lost; most farmers have been replaced due to globalization and environmental issues have cost billions. Yet, the biggest test (since the formation of UN) that global governance has been put to is the major economic crisis during these past recent years. It has experimented the boundaries and abilities on how states have taken action in the direction of governance and responsibilities towards world issues. It is therefore vital for such issues to be acknowledged, understood and spoken out about and by applying the three points, decent coope rations between states are created, debated upon discussed on how to tackle these issues. State-building With global interference and governance, new states that dont have the ability to nationally build themselves up get the aid needed to sustain their state (e.g. Kosovo) from international movements and organizations. This concept also applies to failed or collapsed states for legitimate reasons. An example of this is the post colonial states. It was after the Second World War when states were being de-colonized and were gradually attaining independence from the help of the UN trusteeship council that assisted them to attain and stabilize their independence. This illustrates and proves that without global governance, that would not have been possible. A federation of all humanity together with a sufficient means of social justice to ensure health, education, and a rough equality of opportunity, would mean such a release and increase of human energy as to open a new phase in human history. H.g Wells  [1]   It is a key role to have international involvement for a sustainable working economy and fair global politics. With globalization, one of the most important factors is the functioning and facilitation between borders and governments cooperating. By standing united, countries have more capacity through joint efforts than they most likely individually both economically and politically. An economical example is taken with the agricultural subsidies in France. Today millions of Euros of Frances GDP goes to agricultural farmers as subsidies every year, it is most likely that this would not be a possibility if it was not for the common policies which it is heavily dependent on of the European Union and the cooperation of countries such as Germany (being called the core countries, with France of Europe  [2]  ) -a major supplier of French subsidies. Schengen By referring to the Schengen Zone, one can clearly see how global governance has turned to work out for the best. It is kept as a foreign policy where it first (of many reasons) make travel exceptionally simple. Another byproduct with the Schengen Zone though is that it also controls criminal movements. E.g. one may believe that it is very simple for criminals to pass around borderless countries without being checked at borders and sent back to their original location. Yes, indeed this is true, though at the same time it is very difficult for them to hide. When looking back before the creation of Schengen, if a criminal had illegally left and fled a country, due to judiciary policies and processes, these two countries (the original country and the one where the criminal fled to) would have to go through legal negotiations and procedures to be able to send people with such criminal records back. However, today due to being in a joint venture or an agreement, such issues do not occur. Instead of each country being very compact with its rules and borders, zones such as the Schengen have become stronger as a whole and less harsh internally. So yes, it may be very difficult to become part of the Schengen, but once you are in, you are free to go wherever within the border. WTO World Trade Organization EU is aiming for a good common market between all nations including fair trade, therefore many organizations have been created to to keep issues such as trade and production of supplies arranged and fair between all countries. The World Trade Organization is the only global international organization that deals with the rules of trade between nations  [3]  . Although the system has various flaws, the core values or the principles are important in bringing countries and policies together. The way of cooperation may be strong; however the idea behind it is to establish fair rules and trades so that countries unlike e.g. the US can as well compete in the global market. This was a main aim of global governance which has proved to have some succession. An important factor to keep in mind though is the comparisons of how the globe is today compared to the past. These days, the problems we face are different to the ones before. There is more terrorism (as people go by such means to get their voices heard), there is a more rapid climate change, financial problems and also pandemics such as HIV, which cannot be tackled easily and will be in need of global efforts. It is therefore very difficult as an individual state to face these problems and tackle them than it is more likely with the help of the trusteeship of other countries. Global governance is a vital key towards mitigating conflicts and wars. Before the League of Nations, there was barely a platform for nations to meet and do decisions together. It was basically only individual states and the congress of Vienna and the Council of Europe. In other words, today, if a state wants to go into war, she can be stopped by its membership partners and together they will deal with the problems not having to use armed forces. If you compare this to the times before global governance was so important and played a role, then this country would already be preparing for this war. This proves that trusteeship is based on respect towards one another. It is like the second voice that makes you double think and council to before taking it a step further. The League of Nations (1900-1924) The League of Nations was an important breakthrough after the First World War with one main task: to maintain a war from happening again. It was after the chaos that erupted from the treaty of Versailles that people looked for hope in this league and mainly wanted stability. This international body was created by Mr. Woodrow Wilson, who also was the president of the United States. What is ironic though is that the US decided they would not join this league, being as powerful as they were and as isolating as they were becoming. The idea behind the League of Nations was very bright and many were keen on how it worked. Britain and France were the two most important nations that had joined this league as neither Germany nor Russia was allowed into it due to its internal problems. Germany who is claimed (by the Treaty of Versailles) to have started the war was not seen a as a part of the international community and was therefore not allowed to join the decision makers in the League of Nations. In one way though, this was a great relief to the league as it did not have to finance the country in bad times. In spite of the joining of these two nations, the league was a good idea and it was a kick-off for global governance. It aided countries economically though not militarily (as in what the United Nations is doing today) due do its lack of weapons after the World War. The league has been proven to be successful and given a great push towards global governance, the members together have prevented wars from occurring and by this cooperation, communication between the members has been enhanced. Which reforms are needed in the UN for global governance? Following the current economic situation in the world; booming of sub-national communities, the rise of strong nation states, successful regionalism and no compatibility in the globalization, things are bound to go on as long as there is no democracy and compromises triumph at all levels, so it was the responsibility of the UN to step in and make the difference (Reforms at the UN). The UN is also charged with the responsibility of addressing governance challenges in sub-national and national frame work being one of the major international community organizations and has to take the role of supporting national governments democratic reforms. They have been claims on a major disconnect between the management of the international communities and the reforms that are associated with them. Gupta (p346) says that due to the above conditions, the UN had to do something and tackle those pending reforms. Though it had very many topics to be addressed, the main areas of concentration were sugg ested to be economic issues, security and legal affairs. It should be noted that the UN role in the mentioned issues vary and differ from each other. Calls for reforms were also received from world leaders such as the French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Felder (p36) asserts that he warned the UN that time was running out for them to make global governance reforms on economic, political and environmental crises. He stated that the world was facing a lot of challenges like global warming, recession, poverty and nuclear proliferation and said that the world is getting impatient of waiting for the reforms. He mentioned some specific areas that he felt really needed to be reformed like the expansion of it membership, restructuring of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, equal rights of voting among nations and the curbing of the green house gases. The Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi also called for reforms in the Security Council so as to make the body more representative and effective and economic reforms that would take into account the voices of more countries. Reforms needed in the UN for global governance Most of the panel members were for the idea of the reforms being undertaken by the United Nations but some still said that no reforms were needed. Though there were some disagreements here and there on some specific issues like the World Health Organization and the Food and Agricultural Organizations, the call for reforms was clear both from inside the UN and the outside world. The reforms cut across several areas and agencies and differed from one to the other depending on the importance and the how adverse the area was affected. On July, Kofi Annan released the Maurice Strongs plan who was the Executive Coordinator to begin reforms of the United Nations which at that time was considered as a sprawling system. The reforms mainly involved the implementations of the many recommendations that were brought forward by the commission on Global Governance (Klingbeil, p349). The UN had appointed a Commission to look at the global economic and financial crisis and it had come up with its own recommendations reforms. The reforms covered areas such as; The International trade in Agriculture and the Right to Food. As a branch of the right to live, the right to food was aimed at guaranteeing every human being to be free from hunger. To achieve this, the Agricultural trade policy had to be formed to help fulfill this right. This was not obvious as it could also serve as a hindrance if it was conceived but in neglect of the human rights (Bongang, p86). It called for all the states to respect all the human rights while entering trade agreements. Basing on the report from the commission, especially the part covering the World trade Organization and the right to food suggested the strengthening of the special role of agriculture in trade agreements. This would ensure that the two are compatible with the states responsibility to fulfill its populations Food rights. The commissions came up with the possibilities to reconcile the human rights requirements and trade policies (Global Policy Forum). The commis sion also had recommendations towards a Socially Responsible and Democratic Global Economic system. It suggested for transparency, accountability and governance in central banks, national governments and international financial institutions. These institutions had rushed blindly with efforts to rescue the global financial system and the reforms were to step in and check on this urgent pace. The commission then came up with proposals and principles which would strengthen these reforms and enable the institutions move towards a more democratic global economic system and socially responsible. The proposal faced challenges as these institutions denied some of the allegations on transparency and accountability (Zifcak, p50). Like the Central Bank claimed that it would be transparent only if it followed simple and previously policy goals particularly on commitment to use monetary policies in fighting the price inflation on commodities and not asset bubbles. The policy asserted that the as set inflations can be ignored considering the consumer price inflation and at the same time the asset deflations also cut into profits. The Security of Council also came to question and the commission suggested a new approach to it. This was not the first time the Security Council had come under scrutiny as the UN members had been discussing reforms on it over decades but nothing had really come out of the discussions. The suggestion was that a council which was newly forged and one that had a common ground on which progress could be easily made. The Security Council is charged with the responsibility to maintain peace and security internationally. The council comes up with resolutions that bind all members the UN Member States. The responsibility needed a lot of reforms in order to become more democratic, transparent and accountable to the UN member States and to the public. The reforms are as delicate as they are political in nature and the situation worsens when it gets to enlargement and debates covering regional political rivalries. The procedural issues also make the reforms more complicated as there are some w hich can be implemented while others require voting which will need amendments in the UN charter and changes in the council composition. The proposals may result to the Member States holding on to their old positions although they will be given the freedom to change (Oxford Journals). Members are also going to find other avenues to address their issues and the reforms will remain a national interest issue that have strategic interest regionally and global power ambitions. The International Financial System also needed reforms according to the commission as it was at the peak of financial crisis hence something had to be done to avoid such situations in future. It advocated for the repudiation of the US dollar to be the key international currency and that it should be able to bear responsibilities that come along (Herman, p213). The commission also insisted on the importance of adjusting mechanisms that will solve the imbalances in the international payments and how the capital controls stabilizes the international financial market. It directed most of its efforts on the role of the regional monetary cooperation. The reforms faced challenges from the US which was against any changes that would result to the dollar loosing its standards though it accepted to adjust the voting shares between European countries and Asia. There was a strong call for sustainable Governance for the 21st centaury. To attain this, the UN had to address economic and environmental crises and the changing geopolitics. The UN was running out of time to position itself in a way that it could effectively manage the new global changes that included the financial and economic crisis, energy and food crises and climate change. Hence the commissions recommended the transformation in policies governing human resource and provide findings for UN research. It also came up with ways of improving the leadership policies by Secretary -General especially in times of crises and the establishment of an institution that was independent analytically. The UN was asked to improve its own policies on research capacities, planning and better division of labor between other multilateral organization and the UN. The UN also had to check on its democratic support and it was challenged to come up with a new beginning democratically. The financial cri sis was believed to be the opening for democracy support and to achieve a democratic future, the UN was supposed to respond directly to crisis especially concerning economic vulnerable, it should direct specific focus on young democracies and support them and come up with ways of strengthening international organizations. Which model should we use in global governance and why? When it comes to governance, all aspects should be included so as to come up with a government that is efficient, democratic and meets all the needs and expectations of the people it governs. This is to say that in governance, the executive, legislature and judiciary should not be divided into separate and independent bodies. Such divisions limit the proper working of the government and the excesses by the government since all these three are required for making, executing and administering laws. This not only applies to a nation but cuts through even for global governance hence the best method that can be used in global governance should be a model that includes all the three branches of government. With the incorporation of all the three, then we will achieve the global governance that we need. With the prevailing world situations and crisis, we need institutions and governances that are democratic, transparent, accountable and those that can work properly with the civil societies and the NGOs. All these are beyond what a single country can achieve no matter how powerful it may be to solve all these and still be responsible enough to cater for the responsibilities of all the mankind. Trenkov (p90) says hence the need for a world institution which has the legitimacy, clout and the caliber to handle effectively all these weaknesses and enact the possible reforms. An organization that can be fit to do such is the UN. We need a government that will ensure that international cooperation grows stronger despite the rise in the number of rifts and divides, global governance that will provide solutions to the increasing security concerns, come up with policies that will strengthen the c ivilians and not the military. One which has policies that protect and conserve nature and also addresses all the causes of insecurity clearly providing good solutions. All these are just but some of the roles the UN. The UN considers dialogue and diplomacy in handling military parties, pass resolutions and sends peacekeepers to solve disputes. The UN has peacekeeping troops and personnel in more than 110 countries which are normally send all over the world for peace keeping missions. Some of the organizations that have exercised global governance include International Criminal Court, MDGs and Kyoto. The NGOs and civil societies have also been working globally without biases. They have worked together in issues like protecting the environment, helping the poor in fighting HIV/AIDS and have taken part in prosecution for crimes against humanity. Treaties such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty have contributed in large extent to the global security and economic development. What are the main difficulties when achieving global governance? The issues and difficulties with global governance usually start at the same point which is state sovereignty. The Westphalian system the concept of nation-state sovereignty based on two principles: territoriality and the exclusion of external actors from domestic authority structures   [4]  is widely popular and accepted worldwide. Any kind of attempt of an external interference with any kind of domestic issue is usually not widely welcomed. States can feel this comes with a loss of their independent decision making. However what one must always consider is that all states are involved in the decision making process and that means that the outcome selected is a product of their thinking as well. It does not mean that a state can be governed by a third power and that it can interfere in its issues without their permission. Other than the actual issue of loosing the concept of self decision making and sovereignty, the concept of the ruling system of global governance itself is often considered a problem. This is mainly related to the way of how for example the United Nations system is carried out. As it is the largest decision making body in terms of the global governance issue, it can be used as an example for any further innovations of the system. Overall the main difficulty to overcome in the UN is the system of votes and the share of power. There are two main problems with this topic. Firstly the system of votes gives every country the same vote no matter what size, political and economical characteristics it might have. As this may seem like a rather fair system, which is how it was initially meant, in real daily basis of decision making in the UN it means that states much smaller in size and economical power can decide on issues which do not relate to them at all or will not influence them at such a large scale. The second problem the UN might have in terms of its power sharing is the widely criticized Security Council and overall the fact that a few set selected states with rather larger amounts of power, govern the UN and have a bigger say in the decision making process which is then unfair because no matter what issue comes up a hand full powerful countries in the world will always be at the centre of the decision makin g, often rather than those who would be influenced by this issue in the future. Another major issue of global governance comes down to the characteristics of a democratic process. In an ideal democratic discussion as all parties should be heard and considered and a debate over all the concerning aspects should be carried out, the process of decision making through global governance can be longer as compared to the one on only a national or regional scale. As the duration of the decision making process grows the effectivity of the policy implemented declines. To conclude the major points that make it difficult for achieving global governance these would include : fears of losing state sovereignty, criticism of the vote share both in the General Assembly and the Security Council and the speed of decision making and its effects on implementing various policies. How to overcome these difficulties of global governance The reason behind why some states are threatened by global governance and fear the loss of sovereignty is due to the fact that either they feel excluded from the decision making and fear that they will be ruled by another power or that there are issues which tackle topics that might be considered as nationalist. To improve this a different system of voting sharing could be imposed. If decision making only touches a few countries than these countries should have a bigger say in the process as it will concern only them and no one else. However it is important to somehow maintain the process as of course countries may be biased. Therefore this policy would usually not be helpful if only one country is concerned by a topic as naturally it would just defend its stand without any need to compromise. On a regional scale of a few countries that all understand the issue and might bring something new into a collective debate, it would be more progressive to only apply regional governance rather than global. Another positive aspect of this solution would be the fact that countries that are not involved with such an issue what so ever would not spend on time on such things and would be able to focus on other important issues that need to be solved. The fact that certain issues may concern topics that touch the nationalist side is widely known. As the sense of nationalism usually varies across the world it is very difficult to point out exactly what topics should be off limits when it comes to the decision making. While topics such as culture are very obvious, other aspects vary as different countries take pride in different areas and losing the power to fully ad solely decide in such areas would mean losing a sense of national pride. Such topics that should be off limits should be discussed and decided by the general body of the global governance to avoid any sense of misunderstanding and unnecessary pressure in the future. A reform in the Security Council has been widely discussed. It is obvious that this system does not fully support democracy but on the other hand benefits few and takes away power from the small states. The main problem with Security Council seems to be the fact that the setting we practice now in the UN can be rather permanent. Some suggest a rotating presidency would bring more efficiency in the Un as the decision making would then be balanced. However this on the other hand might not be the most effective solution as any kind of mistake could be blamed on the ruling circle before the present Security Council. One of the greatest improvements global governance needs is interconnectedness. As global governance is an aspect of globalization it should stand up to the standards of growing interconnectedness of the world. This means it should connect its public and private sectors, regional and global aspects and encourage citizenship participation. A greater interconnectedness of public and private sectors be it in the economical, educational or medical sector would not only help to improve these areas by bringing in new aspects and a broader view on things but would work in a greater stabilization of the sectors and most importantly it would possibly prove more efficient in implying certain policies and would make it a faster process when implementing various policies. A more cooperative regional and global approach would help focus on the areas really needed in regions in turns rather than trying to generalize a solution which may not be as efficient at times. If regions were able to present a unified solution in the start it would mean that the issue of single votes would not be as problematic as before. An encouraged citizenship participation could bring in new ideas and aspects and again a more focused approach on certain ideas. A citizens view might bring in new insights and ideas which on a greater scale if they are unified can serve the populations specific needs rather than generalized policies. It should be a vital point in the decision making of global governance which is only highlighted by this quote of Listening to what citizens have to say is the surest way of meeting their needs. And the organization of world governance needs to be founded on the satisfaction of these needs. The principles of citizenship are therefore a necessary condition in the creation of any new model for managing the planet.  [5]   It is important to understand why achieving global governance is so important, what it would bring to world citizens and what are the criteria for overcoming difficulties with global governance. For this it seems rather appropriate to quote Dr. Rajesh Tandon, president of the FIM  [6]  (Montreal International Forum) and of PRIA (Participatory Research in Asia) and his works on Democratization of Global Governance for Global Democracy: Civil Society Visions and Strategies (G05) conference. Democratic policy at the global level requires legitimacy of popular control through representative and direct mechanisms. Citizen participation in decision making at global levels requires equality of opportunity to all citizens of the world. Multiple spheres of governance, from local to provincial to national to regional and global, should mutually support democratization of decision making at all levels. Global democracy must guarantee that global public goods are equitably accessible to all citizens of the world  [7]   Conclusion So to conclude it is important to understand the points mentioned above fully as without legitimacy and control of power, equal opportunities to all world citizens, democracy and accessibility of public goods and services a reform of global governance is not possible as it needs the basic criteria to develop. Fears of losing state sovereignty, issues of nationalism, criticism of the vote share both in the General Assembly and the Security Council and the speed of decision making and its effects on implementing various policies all have to be dealt with through a changed voting system in the UN, areas restricted to global governance and areas that are off limits and should only be dealt with on a national scale, a reform of the Security Council and very importantly a greater need of interconnectedness on all levels. The UN would not have managed to meet its expectations and the requirements of the 21st century without reforming several aspects of its governance. Its responsibility is to protect the ordinary people against poverty, conflicts, diseases, hunger and erosion of the natural environment. With the reforms at place, the organization is now in the best position to carry out these global governance issues that happen to be under the jurisdiction of the organization, it is independent and indispensable to the international community and has all it takes to handle global governance issues. Hence we can see that the UN is the best global governance we can have to promote peace, rule of law, protection of human rights and development of the poorest regions in the world. Bibliography/Sources

Ironic Circumstances in Greasy Lake by T.C. Boyle Essay -- Greasy Lake

Ironic Circumstances in Greasy Lake by T.C. Boyle Sudden and Ironic events that happen to the narrator in T.C. Boyle’s short story â€Å"Greasy Lake† are the same type of events that in an instant will change a person forever. The ironic circumstances that the narrator in â€Å"Greasy Lake† finds himself in are the same circumstances that young people find themselves in when fighting war. The viewpoint of the world that the narrator has, completely alters as certain events take place throughout the story. His outlook on nature transforms into a wholly different standpoint as the story progresses. As his tale begins, the narrator sees himself as a tough guy or â€Å"bad character†. He believes he is invincible. There is nobody as cool as he is or as dangerous as him and his friends are. With his followers, the narrator goes to Greasy Lake, he takes in the nature that surrounds him. He thinks of himself to be a kid who knows everything. To him, the lake represents a night of misbehavior and partying. The unhealthy, treacherous atmosphere of Greasy Lake is alluring, fun, and exciting to someone as threatening as he is. â€Å"We went up to the lake because everyone went there, because we wanted to snuff the rich sent of possibility on the breeze, watch a girl take off her clothes and plunge into the festering murk, drink beer, smoke pot, howl at the stars, sa vor the incongruous full-throated roar of rock and roll against the primeval susurrus of frogs and crickets. This was nature.† This quote gives a clear idea of what the narrators perception of what not only nature is, but of what the world is. He lives to have fun. He is fearless and lives for the moment. All that life is to him is sex, drugs, and rock and roll. His observations of surrounding nature changes after a few ironic incidents occur. The role he plays reverses itself and he finds that he is merely a scared child who is lost and alone in a big scary world. While at Greasy Lake, he is involved in a terrible fight where he almost kills another person, and attempts the heinous crime of rape onto an innocent girl. As he begins to gang rape an innocent victim he is forced to run for his own safety when more people show up at the scene. Ironically, within minutes he converts from being the bad guy, forcing himself on an unwilling victim, to becoming a scared kid hiding in the woods from attackers. While... ...but scared children who are alone and lost in the world, the kids who fought battle in Vietnam went to war thinking they knew all of the answers and somewhere in the middle of it all they realized that they are scared kids who don’t understand what is going on the world around them. They wish only to be in the safety of their mothers home. Everything in the story symbolizes and relates to the truth in war, attitude and actions that cause war are the same that take place with the characters inGreasy lake. The changes that the narrator goes through at Greasy lake are similar changes that happened in young kids who fought in the Vietnam War. The sequence of events that take place at Greasy Lake cause the narrator to grow up and see reality for the first time in his life. The young nineteen year olds who fought in Vietnam went through the same metamorphose as the narrator in Greasy Lake did, War is started by plain stupidity and you figure it out when it’s too late and there is nothing that can be done to change your actions. The characters in Greasy lake are allegorically young men who fought war, their actions and feelings grasp and relate to the actions and feelings of war.

the videogames industry Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The video game industry has become a huge influence on society and the economy today. It is an industry that is so huge that it is estimated that 70% of U.S homes will own a Video game system by the year 2005, (Cassandra, 2002) Just one year away. But what made it the way it is? Since it is still an industry it has to follow the natural laws of economics. In this paper we will dive into the industry that now has gone beyond movies and recordings in profit.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first is that the video game consol industry is an oligopoly and has to deal with the game theory. It is an oligopoly because it has high barriers to entry such as hardware subsidies and very fierce competition amongst already established firms (Scevek, 2001) Also there are only three major producers of video game consoles: Sony, Nintendo, and the recently Microsoft. Because these three all have personal interests the game theory applies quickly. The most recent example is the releases of the Playstaion 2 by Sony, the Nintendo GameCube, and Microsoft’s X-box. Early in the year of 2001 Sony released its latest Playstation 2 and its profits surged. They had increased 3.1% to 24.8 billion Yen, and 22.t million units sent world wide in the first fiscal year (IGN, 2002). Microsoft and Nintendo however had a different story. They decided to hold off sending of their product until the holiday season of 2001, a well-known purchasing time for consumers. However this induced competition for personal interests and both ended up worse off. While the Xbox had sold 1.4 million units, and Gamecube 1.3 million, Sony had 1.4 million units sold in its fourth quarter (Weintraub, 2002). That 1.4 million was in addition to the millions sold before hand. This unwise release is catching up with Microsoft as the profits for the X-box had halved to 190 million in 2003 compared to the loss of 60 million the year before (Yabedo, 2003), and it may soon be forced to leave the gaming industry. As it stands now the current owning of systems in households is 75% own a Playstation 2, 12% own a X-box, and13% own a Gamecube (yabedo, 2003). While the figures may be small Nintendo is building up slow but steady steam with its big name titles, and domination of the hand-held industry. Its recent release the Gameboy Advance has caused a make up for the loss by GameCube. It had so... ...t (Chmielewski,2002). With this increase investment and demand in human capital it is clear to see that the industry is bound to only continue growing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion the video game industry is growing, it has been for the last thirty years and will continue maybe for the next hundred. But it is an industry none the less, it has to follow the same laws as any other firm in the game of economics, and in this game there is no save point or pause button. We have seen that because of the game theory the console companies make choices for what they believe to be their best option only to have a worse outcome than if they had released at a different date, that as a compony earns an economic profit other componies will try to enter that area driving down economic profit, as well as examples of their fierce competition to stay on the cutting edge. We have also seen that they follow the laws of demand, and develop only on the desires and tastes of the buyers, the costs that come with producing a game both explicit and implicit, and the externalities that come with the products. And what investments are being made for the f uture in this billion-dollar industry.

The Baroque Period Essay -- European Art, Architecture, Lighting in Ar

The fascination with the concept of light (both physical and metaphysical) is one of the distinguishing features of the Baroque period (1600-1750). Baroque painters from Caravaggio (insert dates) to Rembrandt (insert dates) and Vermeer (insert dates), all found inspiration in the symbolism of light, and relied heavily on light effects to animate their subject matter. In architecture the desire for theatrical effect and illusion was helped and achieving through lighting. Renaissance buildings were based on simple proportions and relationships; and their beauty lay in their unified harmony. All that was required of light was to make these harmonious proportions clearly visible. The ideal effect was that produced by monochrome, uniform lighting. This was replaced in the Baroque era by the desire for theatrical effect – achieved through lighting by focusing it on one area while keeping other areas in darkness. The different effects that light produces when striking surfaces of different textures were also exploited by Baroque architects. For example, surfaces were broken up by alternating marble or plaster walls with ones of large, rough stones. Surfaces could also be broken up by combining projections and overhangs with abrupt, deep recesses. Smaller-scale carved elements were also used, which gave an effect of movement to the building’s surfaces – architectural decoration of this type sometimes covered every feature – especially at joins so that the surfaces of appeared to continue uninterrupted. Baroque churches used light as a ‘visible manifestation of the supernatural’ with magical chiaroscuro (the technique of modeling form through gradations of light and dark) effects. In the Baroque church, the light is woven into... ...ed a sleepy village outside Paris into a huge palace-town that served as a fixed seat of government. The dazzling chà ¢teau was surrounded with gardens, reflecting pools, and fountains, which were used to impressive effect during formal ceremonies, festivals, and fireworks displays. Versailles became the ultimate European palace, not only because of its size, splendour and advanced layout but also because of the ideal manner in which it expressed absolutist power. Versailles was not the court of a humble mortal but the residence of the Sun King. The impressive complex at Versailles prompted emulative palace-building and city-planning campaigns in Vienna, Saint Petersburg, and throughout Europe. Even Turin and other small state capitals were rebuilt according to Baroque tastes and concerns, with broad avenues, squares, theatres, and bastioned fortifications.

My Idea of a Professional Teacher Essay

A student is nothing without his/her teacher. Without them we would know nothing and be nothing. The teacher is the one that helps the student understand everything around him/her. The teacher’s pride and glory is to know that he/she helped create a student that would someday live a successful life. When the word â€Å"professional teacher† was said, Sir Camacho comes to my mind. Even though there are a lot of great teachers in Regional Science High School, I chose him because he is a teacher that everyone likes, he is a teacher that is strict but very fun to be with, and he is a teacher that turns something so hard to something very understandable, he is a teacher that understands his students, and helps them in times of need. I remember the first day of being a junior; Sir Camacho was our first subject teacher, I thought he was a very strict teacher that wants every lesson he teaches to be understood by the students immediately, but I was proven wrong. We got along very well and he even shared his experiences to us—his students. Aristotle loves him, he gives us some advices, and we share some secrets with him. I consider Sir Camacho as one of the great teachers that taught me. He is a man that can be a teacher at the same time a friend. Words can’t be enough to describe how much I’m thankful of him and the great knowledge he shared us. Sir Camacho should really be called Superman.

Animal Dissection

Animal Dissection: No Longer Cutting Edge American Politics 115-01 Dr. Griffith Chelsea Morrison April 24, 2012 The use of animals in science that results in harm or death has traditionally played an integral role in education. Many thousands of animals have been killed worldwide during attempts to teach practical skills or to demonstrate scientific principles which have, in many cases, been established for decades. Anatomy and experimental physiology started to be practiced around 300 B. C. Notable scientists like Aristotle, Vesalius and Gale conducted countless scientific studies with the dissection of animals almost every day.If the law permitted, human cadavers were also dissected, but the use of animals in vivisection and dissection was generally less mired in ethical or religious concerns. Like today, animals were dissected not only to learn more about them, but also as surrogates for humans. Though animal and human dissections were used to educate medical students, artists suc h as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who wanted to learn to illustrate their subjects with better accuracy, also conducted dissections (Knight). They were also performed simply to illustrate the contents of ancient scientific texts.Later the 1500s, Andreas Vesalius, the founder of modern human anatomy, thought that dissection should be used to correctly teach students about anatomy instead of using illustrations in books, as well as to gain new knowledge (Knight). From this, Vesalius set the foundation for dissection as a teaching and research tool. In the early 1900s, the dissection of animals became more common in biology classes (Knight). Frog dissection was established in college level courses and eventually was taught in high schools.Around 1915, frogs became commercially available for use in education and by the 1920s, many high school classes considered frog dissection routine. A wider variety of animal dissection in high school became widespread after the Biological Scie nces Curriculum Study (BSCS). The BSCS was a federally-funded initiative in the 1960’s to create a science curriculum for elementary and high school students (Gilmore). Also as a result, more high schools offered advanced biology courses with the dissection of cats, minks, and fetal pigs, and even live animals.In 1998, it was estimated that animal dissection occurred in 75-80% of pre-college level biology classes (Gilmore). Most prevalently today, dissection of such animals is now in college anatomy courses. In fact, each year, an estimated 20 million animals – around 170 or more different species – are used in the U. S. in all areas of education and grade level (Capaldo). In most countries, veterinary students learn surgery through surgical practice on healthy animals and then killed afterwards by the students.It’s these practices that are controversial in veterinary school in concern for animals being harmed. But since harm accrues from any pain or disc omfort associated with such procedures, and it disrupts of the animals’ normal life, the dissections are harmful. With student being exposed to the vast amount of animal dissection worldwide, students are exhibiting an opinion being forced on them with no options to oppose dissection. Under the stress of forced dissection, education is also is disheartened.When forced to use animals in ways the student objects to, the student is traumatized and invariably learns less (Capaldo). But there are other options to animal dissection like â€Å"computer simulations, high quality videos, ‘ethically-sourced cadavers,’ such as from animals euthanized for medical reasons, preserved specimens, models and surgical simulators, non-invasive self-experimentation, and supervised clinical experiences†(Knight). Such options have been studied and proven to over and over to benefit both schools, educators and students.In a 2007 study, â€Å"twenty nine papers in which live ani mal dissection didn’t occur illustrated additional benefits of humane teaching methods in veterinary education† (PETA). These benefits include time and cost savings, enhanced potential for customisation and repeatability of the learning exercise, increased student confidence and satisfaction, increased compliance with animal use legislation, elimination of objections to the use of purpose-killed animals, and integration of clinical perspectives and ethics early in the curriculum.This evidence demonstrates that educators can best serve their students and animals, while minimising financial and time burdens, by introducing humane teaching methods that are not reliant on harmful animal use. Classroom dissection desensitizes students to the sanctity of life. Research has shown that a significant number of students at every educational level are uncomfortable with the use of animals in dissection and experimentation (PETA).Studies also suggest that exposing young people to a nimal dissection as ‘science’ can foster a callousness toward animals and nature and even dissuade some from pursuing careers in science. (Wadman) Students simply do not need to cut up animals to understand basic anatomy and physiology. In contradicting, students who plan to go into a medical field can do better to study humans in a controlled and supervised setting, examine human cadavers, or use any of the many non-animal learning methods available, such as those provided by computer models and sophisticated simulators.The simulation-based education would more accurately reflect what students will encounter when they get to medical school. This is in consideration that more than 90% of U. S. medical schools have abandoned the use of animals in their standard curricula (Wadman). Yet, despite the benefits, from 1986 to 2007, many academics remain opposed to the use of humane teaching methods (AAVS). I think more students haven’t stood up for their rights to not d issect because they do not even know where the animals are coming from and the process that occur.Pound seizure is a term that not many people are familiar with unless they are against humane animal dissection. Any animal shelter or pound that is located in a state that has a pound-seizure law, must turn over animals who are not claimed within a about five days, to laboratories that ask for them. These animals are then used in animal dissection or experiments and usually the healthiest animals are used for dissection.This presents an uncomfortable situation for families when they learn this because if their cat should run away and is not found for a week, chances are the cat has gone through pound seizure and since it’s a healthy house cat, their child might see her cat in the next dissection lab. Education institutions know this very well and support it because pound seizure provides an inexpensive and easy source of animals and allows educators to continue using animals ins tead of switching to better and humane alternatives that may require a financial outlay.For example, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center had bought cats for decades from a local animal shelter. They paid fifteen dollars for each cat and used the cats in cruel and deadly medical training exercises and dissections. Cats used had tubes lodged down their throats and needles stabbed into their chests, even though sophisticated simulators were available (City of Odessa). However, after PETA sprang a campaign that uncovered the school’s relationship with the shelter, the school stopped buying animals from the shelter and ended the use of animals in their courses (Hartman).More controversy is spiked from claims that the best educational learning is solely attributable to dissection on animals (Animal-Dissection); this is simply not true. An article published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine  evaluated the claims and concluded that it was not supported by any evidence (PETA). In fact, most animal dissections are not relevant to human health, don’t add meaningfully to medical advances, and many are done out of sheer curiosity and don’t even hold promise for curing illnesses.People are only under the misapprehension because the media, experimenters, universities and lobbying groups exaggerate the potential of animal dissection to lead to be the only way to learn and how they have helped in past medical advances- as in centuries ago with Galen, which is irrelevant with today’s technology-. In the last presidential election, 2012 midterms and most recent republican primaries, no laws or acts were implemented against animal dissection in education.The obvious reason is because the public is not concerned with the issue and is not being properly informed. In a 2009, a survey of opinions was conducted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to a general public of 2,000 adults. The poll reviled tha t â€Å"59% of the people thought regulations on animal research are not serious at all of an issue and only 27% said it’s a very serious issue†(PRCPP). However, past progress has been made, but it’s minimal.The following states have laws safeguarding students’ rights to choose humane alternatives over dissection without being penalized: Florida, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Illinois, Virginia, Oregon, New Jersey and Vermont. Currently, student-choice legislation is pending in Connecticut. In Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Mexico the Board of Education have policies, and Louisiana passed a state resolution in 1992. Numerous schools and school boards have also independently enacted student-choice policies because of student-run campaigns.This information relates to Bill of Rights that is frequently discussed in class and what we have learned about one of its ten parts; the freedom of religion, speech, press, right of assembly, petition. PETA itself is a non-profit government organization that despite many people who disagree with their beliefs, still releases revolutionary and controversial articles such as this one because of its right to freedom of speech and press. Hundreds of large, infamous companies have been fined millions, given a bad reputation, and shut down like PLRS because of PETA.I am sure many large research companies that use animal testing, zoo’s, food industry CEO’s and others would like PETA to keep their mouths shut and silence their undercover workers so they can stop sweating through late night anxiety attacks about whether PETA will catch them red handed next. But, because PETA’s work is protected under the Bill of Rights, their beautiful, righteous, revolutionary, jaw-dropping and god-like work can continue to save millions of animals’ lives.I am for the new virtual dissections because of its significantly better educational attributes and it prevents in nocent animals from being victims of companies trying to make a quick profit. I would improve animal dissection in education by implementing a law that requires all education institutions to provide students with an option to dissect real animals or do the virtual dissection. In addition, the optional agreement must provide each student with a list of both the positive and negative facts about each option because not many students will know why they should choose one option over the other.This shows both a lack of awareness and education of the severity of animal experimentation. In order to allow the student to form their own opinion, they must be given the correct facts about both options. Plus, PETA provides a wonderful service that allows you to create your own leaflet (brochure) advocating an issue your concerned about so I would   start a campaign urging local high school students not to dissect animals, create leaflets for the students or download or  order PETA's anti-di ssection leaflets and then expand to my college. This issue greatly impacts my life now and in the future.Currently, I dissected a fetal pig last week and was told my juniors who are also majoring in biology, that I must also dissect a cat and human cadaver. I understand the person who died did not die for the purpose of being dissected and willing donated their body to science, unlike animals. If I had been informed of where the fetal pigs came from and if there was a virtual option available, I would have definitely chosen the virtual option. Therefore, I am comfortable dissecting the cadaver but not the cat or any other future animals for dissection.