Saturday, August 31, 2019

Object Speech Outline Essay

I. Blood sweat and tears have been shed in this jersey. I have battled in this Jersey, for God, this school and my team. All my life I have played soccer with the goal to never â€Å"plateau† or to stop getting better, to always achieve the next level. I have played soccer since I was four years old and this jersey embodies my experiences up to this point. This jersey represents not only soccer, but my accomplishments, my defeats, my passion, my hatred, the impact it has had on my life, and much more. But most importantly this jersey represents God in my life, and how soccer has been the catalyst for God to minister through me. II. I started off my college soccer career playing division 1 soccer at Sacramento State in the 2nd hardest conference in the country, the big west. As a freshman I had the 4th most minutes played on the whole team, I had a full ride, and some might say my life had been set up nicely. But by then end of the season I found myself feeling empty, something was missing. The more I thought about it the clearer it became, I had all of this but I didn’t have what mattered most, God. So I took a leap of faith and left sac state to pursue a deeper and stronger relationship with God. I had no intention of playing soccer anymore or coming to APU. But one of my good friends who plays here at Azusa convinced me to come and check it out. Having done this I found myself in a position, for the first time in my life, where my faith and my passion have been able to coincide, through wearing this jersey. III. This brings me to my second point, which is that not only am I able to play soccer for God and represent my faith, but I am able to actually minister to people through my sport. This summer I tried out and made a semi professional team known as the Southern California Seahorses. This team plays at the highest level possible for college athletes while still allowing them to maintain collegiate eligibility. The Seahorses are a Christian based organizatio n whose main goal is to mold young men into, not great soccer players who are Christians, but Christians who are great soccer players. You may wonder what the difference is, though it is rather small in semantics the significance is nothing short of incredible. I am now proud to call myself a Christian who  happens to play soccer. The difference is what do you put first, your passion and your goals, or God? For the first time in my life, I have put God above my goals, I have put aside my dreams to live to serve God, and in return God has blessed me by allowing to me to still pursue my goal by ministering through soccer. IV. As I said before, this Jersey embodies my life up to this point, why? Because soccer has been the center of my life, everything has revolved around it, and finally I am now able to combine the two biggest things in my life, my faith, and my passion for soccer, and am blessed to be able to practice both on a daily basis. For me the question that brought the most clarity, was when I was asked, â€Å"Do you call yourself a soccer player who is Christian, or a Christian who happens to play soccer? †

Friday, August 30, 2019

Emerson and Individualism

Why do some humans succumb to peer pressure and so desperately want to be a part of the popular crowd? Clearly, those who apply such behavior to their daily lives lose their sense of self-being and mold to the ideas, behaviors, and opinions of the masses. Although some people still conform, a large movement towards the Individual has begun to make an appearance.The successful beings of our society appear to think for themselves as well as participate in their own beliefs. This tribute of our modern society today reflects the philosophy of Emerson: individualism. We decide our own fate based on our individual actions and decisions. By not conforming to the Ideas of others. Each person can reach their fullest potential happiness and contribute to society at a higher level. At one point in my high school career, I did anything and everything to fit In with the â€Å"popular† girls of my class.Every day, I worried that they would not like my outfit or that I would say something s tupid. I constantly felt as If I were walking in a room full of broken glass, trying to avoid sharp shards with every step I took. It was not until this year that I realized what a folly I had participated in these last two years when a group of girls at my lunch table said nasty things about one of their friends when she left the table. At this point on, I decided I would find new friends.I didn't choose friends In any particular formed group, only those who I enjoyed spending time around. This action granted me the power to be an individual. I fear no judgment of my beliefs nor my opinions and when I participate In any event, gossip, or beliefs, they are on my own accord, not to impress anyone, but to fulfill my peppiness of which I can only fulfill by being myself, an Individual. Another place to be an individual today is In one's college applications. Upon visiting Princeton and several other schools of highly sought after education.I came home with the knowledge that the admiss ion offices at these schools want to see a personality of each Individual and see this personality reflected in one's activity choices throughout one's high school career. When applying too highly ranked school, it is necessary in today's day and age to incorporate individualism Into one's fife so one can stand out in their applications and have success in admittance so one can pursue the lifestyle of one's beliefs and hopes and use the education received to contribute what one Is capable of to society.Lastly, the interests and choice of daily actions of one's life creates an individual. In centuries past, one who found Interest and had knowledge on topics unknown to all were shunned. Today, people seek out uncommon hobbies and interests to lead a more Interesting life than their friends, their coworkers, or next-door neighbors. Some choose to skydive while others dive into a world of romantic historic foreign films. I myself find a great Interest In the cultural histories of other nations as well as 1 OFF a love tort unusual toots such as sushi , liver pate, and escargot.Each person who can call one's self an individual today has interests and participates in activities that define who he or she is. Emerson philosophy that focused upon the individual is present in our modern world. Many people have come to adopt this philosophy and apply it to their lifestyles. No longer does the common opinion influence and affect a majority of the masses. Will the increase in the use of technology lead to the loss of individualism in the future years to come?

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Advertising and Integrated Communication

The purpose of this report is to critically discuss and analyse the use of virtual and augmented reality and its application and uses in educational tourism. The report takes a systematic approach to discuss background to virtual reality, augmented reality, and educational tourism. Further, the report discusses the use of virtual reality and augmented reality in educational tourism followed by critical discussion. Lastly, the report discusses areas for future research in the field followed by a conclusion. Virtual reality can be defined as computer-stimulated reality that uses technology to replicate some real world or imaginary environment, and allows users to interact with the environment (Huang et al., 2016). It involves exact replication of elements of real world elements with synthesized 3D materials and proper collaboration of all the sensory inputs to initiate user engagement. First hint of virtual reality had come from the world of science fiction. In the year 1935, Stanley G. Weinbaum wrote a short story named "Pygmalion's Spectacles". This was the first book, where the concept of virtual reality was first explored. It explored a goggle-based virtual reality system along with holographic record of fictional experience. It included touch and smell. The use of virtual reality concept can be seen in training perspective. It allows the professionals to conduct training in regards to a virtual environment. Virtual reality can also be used in video game for creating graphics and sou nds. Augmented reality is the use of computer generated sensory inputs that is used to augment or supplement the real world elements of the environment for better user experience (Fino et al., 2013). It uses visualization techniques that superimpose computer-generated data such as text, graphics, video, audio, GPS data and other multi-media formats over the real worldview. Therefore, it enhances the user’s perception of the reality and the surrounding environment (Han et al., 2013). In the year, 1968, Ivan Southerland had developed first the system of head mounted display. In this system, augmented display was used by the mean of generated graphic for demonstrating simple wireframe drawing. Augmented reality is effectively used in architecture for visualizing building project. It can also be used in visual art and education and video games.   Educational tourism is carefully planned in combination with site visit and hands-on learning opportunities, which provide clear learning objectives for students.  A proper guide in educational tourism can assist students in gaining leisure activities as well as different learning objectives. Virtual reality is gaining huge popularity in the tourism sector, especially in the field of educational tourism. Virtual reality is being used for destination promotion and for educational purposes. It allows users to experience various conditions that no longer exist now such as pre-historic earth; moreover, it can also be used to experience space travel or walking through the museum, fort or any other simulated reality from the home. It has also made it possible to experience and learn through culture, environment and local community of various destinations across the world in a time efficient and economical manner (Tussyadiah et al., 2016). Augmented reality is used in educational tourism to enhance the experience of the users by providing sensory inputs of the real world. In educational tourism, it can be used to enhance user’s experience by providing real time information about the location and its features. This technology is being extensively used in educational tourism by providing tourists simulations of historical events, places and objects. Further, with the use of audio and video sensory inputs, users can live and experience the history that once existed. It also helps stimulate experiences such as viewing extinct animals, fragmented artefacts, and cultural experiences from history (Guerra et al., 2015). Tourism has always been regarded as means of gaining knowledge and new experiences. The learning gained through the virtual and augmented reality improves learning retention. Virtual reality enables the users to explore and experience various locations such as beaches, museums, or places of historic importance with a persuasive and interactive purview that can be viewed on a computer at home (Buhalis & Yovcheva, 2013). Both virtual and augmented reality provides compelling educational environment. These technologies have revolutionized the educational tourism as it provides a means to stimulate both mental and physical activities with the help of stimulated interactions with the unfamiliar contents. It is used to impart knowledge about the various subjects such as history, aerospace and the likes by providing firsthand experience to the users (Yovcheva et al., 2012). One such application of augmented reality is the use of interactive digital storytelling techniques that has been applied in various museums in order to enhance their educational potential. Further, it has been observed that both virtual reality and augmented reality techniques aids tourist organization and professionals to reach a wider audience and deliver more informed knowledge through better multi-media contents. Therefore, it helps the tourists to access valuable information, thereby increasing their knowledge regarding a tourist attraction or destination in an entertaining manner (Kounavis et al., 2012). Although, it has been established that virtual and augmented reality techniques plays an important role in educational tourism, however, it is still in the development stages and requires better infrastructures such as inter platform operability of virtual reality and augmented reality applications and better internet facilities. Moreover, future researches also need to explore the influence of advance technologies on the overall experience and learning outcomes of users. The researchers are to find more scope to apply these concepts on user’s overall experience and learning outcomes (Chung et al., 2015). From the above discussion, it can be concluded that virtual reality and augmented reality technologies provides one of the most powerful and effective means for participative learning. In the educational tourism sector, these technologies can be employed to recreate history or project future world in a digital format. This can be used in the educational tourism to provide simulated and interactive learning experiences. Buhalis, D., & Yovcheva, Z. (2013). Augmented Reality in Tourism: 10 Unique Applications Explained.  Digital Tourism Think Tank Reports and Best Practice. Retrieved May,  13, 2013. Chung, N., Han, H., & Joun, Y. (2015). Tourists’ intention to visit a destination: The role of augmented reality (AR) application for a heritage site.Computers in Human Behavior,  50, 588-599. Fino, E. R., Martà ­n-Gutià ©rrez, J., Fernà ¡ndez, M. D. M., & Davara, E. A. (2013). Interactive tourist guide: connecting web 2.0, augmented reality and QR codes.  Procedia Computer Science,  25, 338-344. Guerra, J. P., Pinto, M. M., & Beato, C. (2015). Virtual reality-shows a new vision for tourism and heritage.  European Scientific Journal. Han, D. I., Jung, T., & Gibson, A. (2013). Dublin AR: implementing augmented reality in tourism. In  Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2014  (pp. 511-523). Springer International Publishing. Huang, Y. C., Backman, K. F., Backman, S. J., & Chang, L. L. (2016). Exploring the Implications of Virtual Reality Technology in Tourism Marketing: An Integrated Research Framework.  International Journal of Tourism Research,  18(2), 116-128. Kounavis, C. D., Kasimati, A. E., & Zamani, E. D. (2012). Enhancing the tourism experience through mobile augmented reality: Challenges and prospects.  International Journal of Engineering Business Management,  4. Sie, L., & Patterson, I. (2015). Understanding the relationship between motivations and experiences of older Australian travellers through educational tourism.  CAUTHE 2015: Rising Tides and Sea Changes: Adaptation and Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality, 708. Tussyadiah, I., Wang, D., & Jia, C. H. (2016). Exploring the Persuasive Power of Virtual Reality Imagery for Destination Marketing. Yovcheva, Z., Buhalis, D., & Gatzidis, C. (2012). Smartphone augmented reality applications for tourism.  e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR),  10(2), 63-66.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Discussing two examples, analyse the way in which fashion consumption Essay

Discussing two examples, analyse the way in which fashion consumption is changing in relation to new technologies of consumption, and globalisation - Essay Example Due to the changes that come from the new technologies and globalization, the meaning attached to their clothing’s by their consumers has greatly changed. The consumers currently view their dressing styles as a reflection of their beliefs, values and an extension of their personalities. This in turn means that the choice the consumer makes and wants to be associated with enables him to propel himself or herself among her society. As a result of the globalization process their customers’ influences have changed the meaning of several of the company’s brands, values along with their standings in the global market. The demand for the designer wear that the company deals in will decrease in the near future, but the demand for their strong comfort products will continue rising since the populations’ incomes continue rising as technologies advance. The market for their designer clothing is increasing becoming volatile and disorderly due to the changes in customer needs along with desires that require to be satisfied. The volatile nature of the market results from the free flow of information that results from the globalization process. It is also facilitated by the fact that new technologies are increasingly being utilized in the production of several of their commodities. In terms of reaping the benefits of using newer technologies along with globalization, the clothing company has come up with strong and desirable products for their customers. This is all happening because the markets have in turn become more of a challenge to cope with along the high rates of competition. The process of achieving growth is becoming very difficult for the company when it comes to maintaining their uniqueness along with exclusivity as a result of their competitors’ efforts. This is besides the fact that the clothing company has the desire of growing and expanding their influence using newer technologies and their globalization efforts. Through the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Eating Disorders Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Eating Disorders - Research Paper Example However, the same study done in 2008 showed that eating disorders had become an affair for all: men and women, the rich and the poor, blacks and whites. This paper explores the various aspects of the globalization of eating disorders, factors favoring the globalization and whether at all there is a possibility of managing this trend. Eating disorders have existed for a long time in history, earlier than the 19th Century where people engaged in self-starvation (Bruch 89). However, as time goes by, the rate of the prevalence of the disorders has risen and varied in various demographics. Bruch in his article ‘The Golden Cage’ explains Anorexia Nervosa as disorder for teenage girls mostly from financially stable families. This notion has been disagreed upon as research by the American Psychiatry Association has shown that males, middle-aged and aging people, African-Americans and low-class population have reported cases of eating disorders. Contrary to the earlier notion, eating disorders are an emerging problem for the entire female fraternity in the world. In the African society, for instance, the ideal woman traditionally was voluptuous and fat. Thin women were seen as a sign of poverty, sickness or even death. As Frank Osodi points out in the ‘’Golden Cage’, African girls have hips, bums and are fleshy. For years, this was sustained as the optimal standard of measuring beauty among women in Africa. Conversely, in United States, thinness was associated with social status and as an evidence of moral virtue (Raisanen and Hunt 57). Fatness is associated with low status, laziness and gluttony. This contemporary definition of beauty has spread across the globe changing even the Africans beliefs on beauty. African women have become keener about their body shape and size. Practices such as cosmetic surgery, exercise, and strict dieting regimes have been adopted with the aim of controlling weight and becoming slender. Globally, being overweight is

Monday, August 26, 2019

Sustainable Fashion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sustainable Fashion - Essay Example The paper "Sustainable Fashion" concerns the project of designing a cohesive collection based on a specific inspiration by using sustainable fabric. Sustainable fashion is a fashion that aims to be environmentally friendly. It is part of the larger trend of "ethical fashion,". It is not a new trend that is has been said `Sustainable Fashion is not a short-term trend, but one that could last multiple seasons. ‘Vogue, May 2007. While environmentalism used to be distinct in fashion through a percentage of sales being donated to a charitable cause, most of the fashion designers have recently adopted the idea of sustainability. They are using more environment friendly materials and methods in clothing production. Designers claim that they are trying to incorporate these sustainable practices into modern clothing, rather than producing "dusty, hippy-looking clothes." Sustainable fashion is essentially more expensive than clothing produced by conventiona methods. Regarding the Sharpen Sustainable Fashion by Gwitt A. and Rissanen T. from week 4, it is easy to relate the idea of sustainable fashion with some elements. ‘While achieving sustainability is the goal of sustainable development, the word ‘sustainability' has several meanings in the today's world and is frequently reduced by associating it with ‘environment.' Some people define sustainability as the balance between three elements: economy, environment, and social equity. However, since human are struggling with ecological balance in every aspect.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Identify the 4ps for the totally different customers Assignment

Identify the 4ps for the totally different customers - Assignment Example Bases for segmentation can be demographic, geographic, psychographic or behavioral. The way city residents will behave as concerned to the type of vehicle they would want to have is the not the same as the way farmers and landowners will behave concerning the same issue. Therefore the company must prepare a market mix that favors both segments by offering brands that are inline with their preferences. A market mix is formed based on the four Ps which are Product, Price, Promotion and Place. The pricing made to farmers and city residents must offer value to both the company and the buyers of the four-wheel vehicles. The product that is the type of four-wheel vehicle preferred by city residents should be differentiated by the type preferred by farmers and landowners. Vehicles targeted for city residents will posses specifications that provide better conditions for human transport. Vehicles sold to the farmers and landowners will have characteristics that provide a favorable condition f or farm activities. Promotion involves branding the products in a way that favors each particular segment. The four-wheel vehicles for farmers and land owners segment must be branded to favor farm activities while those for city residents are branded to favor the comforts of the city residents during human transportation. A good marketing mix for the four-wheel company should conduct promotion in such a way that it creates public relations between the customers and the company hence establishing connections between the two parties. The promotion process must provide effective communication process through identifying the target audience i.e. farmers and city residents, Determine communication objectives i.e. marketing to achieve high sales where they are low, Design a message, Choose a Media and finally collect a feedback from the people. The segmentation itself is defined by the place of use of the vehicle and in this case it is the farm and the city. A preferred marketing mix will have to target consumers in such a way that more sales are conducted (www.udel.edu, Focusing Marketing Strategy with Segmentation and Positioning). These can only be achieved through fulfilling both customer needs in terms of product preference, favorable market prices, better promotion strategies and selling products at best located selling points. Consumer does love products that are likes of the majority and therefore a company must market its products to have high sales if they want to maintain the hold on their customers. The table below offers an example of a preferable market mix. Table 1: Marketing mixes for two different consumer segments (Segment A: Farmers) (Segment B: City residents) PRODUCT Four Wheel drive features are of high standard compared to the ones for consumers. The features they have make them high standard due to the tasks the vehicle is meant to perform. The capacity of sitting will be less but with high speed and acceleration. The standards of consumer fo ur Wheel drive are lower as compared to those of farmers since they are only meant for passenger transport. Huge capacity but low speed is just an example of the features. PRICE High price since farmers and landowners are wealthy to spend huge amount of money to spend on a good Vehicle. The value is comparable to the benefits it offers the

The Film Shane Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Film Shane - Essay Example The setting of the film is obviously a very early pioneer community in which there are frequent disagreements about land ownership and use. The first appearance of Shane shows him in the distance on horseback, against a background of impressive hills and wide landscape. This contrasts with the Starrett family’s small log cabin which is enclosed by log fences and a flowing river. The family scenes mostly take place in this small enclosed area, which appears all to have been created out of wood by the peaceful father figure of Joe Starrett. The villains, on the other hand, are pictured in dark saloon settings, with shades of brown and gray, and the key gun battle which resolves the danger to the community takes place in such a small, dark room. The hidden message in the visual camera work is to highlight the broad vista of freedom and justice that Shane represents. In the scene where Shane leaves the community, the camera shows young Joey standing on the porch of his log cabin, watching the figure of Shane retreat into a small speck against craggy mountains, just as in the beginning he was first spotted from afar. The message is that a single American hero can travel the whole wide world and make a difference and he is presented as a hero through the eyes of young Joey. Film-making is a team effort, and it involves many different technical skills contributed by specialists such as the camera operator, the actors, and professionals in areas such as lighting, music, make-up, costumes etc.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Hank williams Sr Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hank williams Sr - Essay Example He befriended music from the very start and the guitar given to him by his mother when he was eight years old, became his lifeline. Williams' childhood friend Rufus Payne (aka Tee Tot) taught him how to play the guitar and sing the blues. Hank Williams' home (now Hank Williams' Boyhood Home & Museum), surroundings and the initial hard family times influenced the style of his songs. Willing to take music as a career, Williams began performing around the Georgiana and Greenville areas of Alabama in his early teens. Forming a local band in Montgomery called the Drifting Cowboys, they became quite popular and the local radio station played their music regularly. Singing songs of the famous artists and his idol, Roy Acuff, the radio station dubbed him the Singing Kid. Lillie became the temporary manager for Williams and collected gate money, contracted and negotiated for gigs. Looking at the face of stardom, Williams contracted with alcoholism and turned intoxicated for his radio shows and eventually got fired due to his "habitual drunkenness". Audrey Mae Sheppard became Williams' manager and short time later in 1943, his wife. Although at the time Williams was a local hero, but he couldn't make it to big names yet. To get further in the limelight, the couple toured Nashville to meet with a songwriter/music publisher Fred Rose who was one of the heads of Acuff-Rose Publishing. Rose instantaneously liked Williams' songs and recorded two sessions for Sterling Records. This resulted in two singles, both hits. Seeing the success and potential in him, MGM Records signed a contract with him in early in 1947 and Rose became the Williams' manager and record producer. His first single with MGM, 'Move It On Over,' was instant hit and rose to the country Top Five charts. Songs released in 1948 like 'Honky Tonkin' and 'I'm a Long Gone Daddy' peaked in the charts too. Another huge success came in early in 1949 with 'Lovesick Blues,' which remained at number one for 16 weeks and crossing over into the pop Top 25. This song was performed at Grand Ole Opry and received a record six encores from the crowds. During this time, Williams and Audrey had their first child, Randall Hank in 1949. Soon afterwards, Williams gathered the guitarist Bob McNett, bassist Hillous Butrum, fiddler Jerry Rivers, and steel guitarist Don Helms to perform the most acclaimed versions of Drifting Cowboys. He and his band were earning handsomely and most of their shoes were sold out. In the early 1950s Williams made at least seven hits and most of them made it to the Top Five Charts. During these years, a different side of Hank Williams came to be known. He started to record some religious and spiritual records under the name of Luke the Drifter. The change of name was due to the fact that he thought that the dick jockeys and jukebox operators would not play his non-traditional songs and there spiritual songs would hurt his reputation as a country musician. Although the name was chosen to hide his identity, he couldn't cloak his voice. The next year Williams came back with more of the hits to please his fans. H e started taking parts in television shows and package tours to market him further. The music was going great with most songs of 1951 entering the top

Friday, August 23, 2019

Time Warp Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Time Warp - Essay Example I realized I was in a different dimension. I have traveled back in time. So I went on with my journey. I was hired at Handheld Corp. and was given a rather comprehensive task. I was asked to review Joe Schmoe’s financial report on handheld products sales. Analysis On the PDA simulator I had a final score of 1,185,800,553. I did better than Joe Schmoe by 20,890,196. I have observed that Joe’s strategy was a â€Å"lazy† implementation of marketing. If he took the time to analyze the performance of a product and what prices were appropriate to set, he would yield higher profits. I have made numerous attempts using a simulator to prove that my strategies worked better. I followed the advisor’s analysis and used it as my guide in pricing and allocation of R&D. One strategy I used for marketing handheld products is market segmentation. This is implemented by providing handheld products in different categories (X5, X6, and X7) to serve specific needs of target cu stomers and increasing market share. Even with the discontinuation of X5 handheld in 2009, it was a strategy to market better available products to attract buyers. Pricing strategy was also what I’ve used relative to R & D allocations to generate profits. For instance, X5 sales were starting to decline. In 2008, I did not drop the price significantly or I Time Warp 2 will lose a lot of money. I was able to keep customers who purchased the X5 handheld for $240. Then, I decided to discontinue the product the following year to avoid more losses. R&D allocations were a bit tricky. I used the advisor’s analysis to manipulate the allocations. For example, when X5 was discontinued in 2009, I kept the same prices for X6 and X7 as of 2008 in 2009 and increased their R&D allocations to 30% and 70% respectively. The tremendous increase in R&D had a positive impact on revenues. However, in 2008, I decided to distribute R&D of 25% equally to X5, X6, and X7 handheld products. When I tried to reduce X5 R&D to 10%, I had a higher loss. With 25% R&D I was able to avoid the loss of -9,870,920 and reduced it to a loss of -$6,176,598. If I didn’t adjust that 10% R&D, it would affect profits for 2009. I also based my analysis on the product performance and on what level they are in terms of sales. For instance, X7 handheld was in the ‘growth phase’ in 2006 with a profit of $3,199,108. The following year, I reduced its price to $200 and allocated a higher R&D of 25%. The result was phenomenal. I had a profit of $23,555,939. Maintaining the 25% R&D and price the following year, the profit for X7 was more than doubled. Here’s the breakdown of prices, R&D allocations, and profits for X5, X6, and X7: 2006    PRICE R & D allocation PROFITS X5 255 25% $105,374,127 X6 415 30% $164,680,477 X7 215 23% $3,199,108 TOTAL       $273,253,711  Time Warp 3 I increased the prices for all handheld products and decreased their R&D. As a result, advisor y said X7 handheld was in the growth phase and potential X7 customers were new customers. X7 handheld performance was holding steady while X6 was priced the same as other competing products. Although Joe gained a higher profit of $295,185,49 in 2006, it was only temporary. 2007    PRICE R & D PROFITS X5 245 25% $98,442,902 X6 415 30% $213,598,730 X7 200 25% $23,555,939 TOTAL       $335,100,583  Since X6 performance was better than that of competition, I decided to maintain the price and R&D and it paid off as I had a higher profit. However,

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Education Sector Essay Example for Free

Education Sector Essay The typical Indian classroom was once characterized by students sitting through hour-long teacher monologues. Now, technology is making life easier for both students and educators. Schools are increasingly adopting digital teaching solutions to engage with a generation of pupils well-versed with the likes of PlayStations and iPads, and trying to make the classroom environment more inclusive and participatory. Take Smartclass from Educomp Solutions, one of the first Indian companies in this space. Smartclass is essentially a digital content library of curriculum-mapped, multimedia-rich, 3D content. It also enables teachers to quickly assess how much of a particular lesson students have been able to assimilate during the class. Once a topic is covered, the teacher gives the class a set of questions on a large screen. Each student then answers via a personal answering device or the smart assessment system. The teacher gets the scores right away and based on that, she repeats parts of the lesson that the students dont appear to have grasped. Technology makes the teaching-learning process very easy and interesting, says Harish Arora, a chemistry teacher at the Bal Bharti Public School in New Delhi who has been using Smartclass since 2004. For instance, [earlier] it would easily take me one full lecture to just draw an electromagnetic cell on the blackboard. Though I could explain the cell structure, there was no way I could have managed to show them how it really functions. This is where technology comes to our aid now I can show the students a 3D model of the cell and how it functions. Instead of wasting precious time drawing the diagram on the blackboard, I can invest it in building the conceptual clarity of my students. According to Abhinav Dhar, director for K-12 at Educomp Solutions, more than 12,000 schools across 560 districts in India have adopted Smartclass. More importantly, the number is growing at almost 20 schools a day. On average, in each of these schools eight classrooms are using Smartclass. When we launched Smartclass in 2004 as the first-ever digital classroom program, it was an uphill task convincing schools to adopt it, Dhar notes. These schools had not witnessed any change in a century. It is a completely different scenario now. Private schools across India today see [technology] as an imperative. A digital classroom is set to become the bare-minimum teaching accessory in schools, just like a blackboard is today. Dhar recalls that one major roadblock for Educomps proposition in the early days was on the price front. At US$4,000 (at the exchange rate of Rs. 50 to a U. S. dollar) per classroom, schools found the product very expensive. To get over this hurdle, Educomp quickly decided to make the initial investment and gave the schools an option to pay over a period of three to five years. The strategy worked. Enthused by the market response, in January Educomp launched an upgraded version the Smartclass Class Transformation System with more features, including simulations, mind maps, worksheets, web links, a diagram maker, graphic organizers and assessment tools. Huge Potential According to the Indian Education Sector Outlook Insights on Schooling Segment, a report released by New Delhibased research and consultancy firm Technopak Advisors in May, the total number of schools in India stands at 1. 3 million. Of these, private schools account for 20%. Educomps Dhar points out that only around 10% of the private schools have tapped the potential of multimedia classroom teaching whereas in government schools, it has barely made any inroads. The current market size for digitized school products in private schools is around US$500 million, says Enayet Kabir, associate director for education at Technopak. This is expected to grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 20% to reach the over US$2 billion mark by 2020. However, the market potential then might get as big as US$4 billion [i. e.if the total population of private schools that could adopt multimedia actually adopt it. ] Apart from this, the current market size for ICT [information and communications technology] in government schools is US$750 million. We expect this to grow five times by 2020 due to the current low level of penetration in government schools. Kabir lists Educomp Solutions, Everonn Education, NIIT, Core Education Technologies, ILFS and Compucom as dominant players in this sector. New entrants include HCL Infosystems, Learn Next, Tata Interactive Systems, Mexus Education, S.Chand Harcourt (India) and iDiscoveri Education. Except for S. Chand Harcourt, which is a joint venture between S. Chand and US-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, all the others are Indian firms. A recent trend is that schools in tier two and tier three cities are increasingly adopting the latest technology. Rajesh Shethia, head of sales and marketing at Tata Interactive Systems, which launched Tata ClassEdge in early 2011 and has partnered up with more than 900 schools, says that more than half of the demand for digital classrooms is from tier two and tier three cities. According to Shethia, schools in these smaller cities realize that it is difficult for their students to get as much exposure as students from tier one cities. [So] they proactively subscribe to solutions such as ours, which richly benefit both teachers and students by simplifying the syllabus. Even parents want the best for their wards and are not averse to paying a little extra. They see value in these initiatives by schools to modernize the way teaching is imparted today. Making some back-of-the-envelope calculations Shethia adds: If we consider the top 100,000 private schools in India as the captive market, the potential is approximately two million classrooms of which currently just about 80,000 have been digitized. Srikanth B. Iyer, COO of Pearson Education Services, also sees tremendous potential in the smaller cities. Pearson provides end-to-end education solutions in the K-12 segment. Its multimedia tool, DigitALly, has been adopted in more than 3,000 private schools across India since 2004. DigitALly installations have been growing at three times the market for the past two years, Iyer says. Currently, more than 60% of our customers are from tier two and tier three towns, such as Barpeta (in the state of Assam), Sohagpur (in Madhya Pradesh) and Balia (in Uttar Pradesh). In order to make its offering attractive to the schools, Pearson has devised a monthly payment model under which a school pays around US$2 per student per month. As the price point is affordable, schools across all locations and fee structures find it viable to opt for our solution, Iyer notes. We focus on tier two and tier three towns and cities where penetration is relatively low and desire for adoption of technology is high. HCLs Digischool program, which launched about 18 months ago, has also made a strong beginning, with a client base of more than 2,500 schools. Partnering with State Governments Meanwhile, state governments are also giving a boost to the adoption of technology in schools. Edureach, a divison of Educomp, has partnered with 16 state governments and more than 30 education departments and boards in the country, covering over 36,000 government schools and reaching out to more than 10. 60 million students. Edureach leads the market with 27% of the total schools where ICT projects have been implemented, says Soumya Kanti, president of Edureach. We are looking [to add] 3,000 more schools this fiscal year and 20,000 to 25,000 additional schools in the next five years. As of now, Edureach has created digital learning content in more than 14 regional languages for these projects. In the northern state of Haryana, CORE Education and Technologies is implementing a US$59 million ICT project that aims to benefit 5 million students across 2,622 schools. Five of these schools will be developed as Smart schools. CORE is also implementing ICT projects in the states of Gujarat, Meghalaya, Punjab, Maharashtra and Nagaland. The scope of work in these projects ranges from implementation of computer-aided learning in schools, installing bio-metric devices to monitor attendance of teachers, and setting up computer hardware, software and other allied accessories and equipments. The task has not been an easy one, admits Anshul Sonak, president of CORE. There are several logistical issues. Delivery of equipment to rural areas is a big challenge in itself. There is lack of basic infrastructure either there are no classrooms or there are ones with no windows. Some schools dont even have toilets. Moreover, the power availability in these areas is often poor and we have had to deploy generator sets in many schools. But despite the challenges, educationists are optimistic. Rahul De, professor of quantitative methods and information systems area at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore (IIM-B) believes that ICT can have a huge impact on our education system. He points out that ICT can result in increasing the reach [of education] and in keeping the costs low. With increasing penetration of mobile phones and Internet kiosks, the potential is indeed immense, he adds. A study conducted by De in 2009 on the economic impact of free and open source software (FOSS) in India found that it resulted in significant cost savings. FOSS can play a huge role in education, De notes. In the state of Kerala, it has already had a huge impact in both saving costs and providing state-of-the-art access computing to students in government schools. FOSS has a huge number of packages for school students, many of which can be ported to local languages and used in schools. It is also helping disabled students in a big way, by enabling them to access digital resources using audio-visual aids. Edureachs Kanti adds that a study by the Centre for Multi-Disciplinary Development Research in Dharwad in Karnataka in 2006 revealed significant improvement in student enrolment and attendance, as well as a reduction of student dropouts due to ICT interventions. Yet another study conducted by the Xavier Institute of Management in Bhubaneswar in 2007 revealed that computer-aided education has improved the performance of children in subjects such as English, mathematics and science, which are taught through computers using multimedia-based educational content. All in a Tab In line with this increasing interest in technology for school education, there has been a rush of education-focused tablet computers in the market. The most high-profile of these has been Aakash, which was launched by Kapil Sibal, union minister for human resource development, in October 2011. The Aakash project is part of the ministrys National Mission on Education through Information Communication Technology (NME-ICT). It aims to eliminate digital illiteracy by distributing the Aakash tablets to students across India at subsidized rates. While the project itself has become mired in delays and controversy, it has generated a lot of awareness and interest among students around the educational tablet. Meanwhile, DataWind, the Canada-based firm that partnered with the union government for the Aakash project, has also launched UbiSlate7, the commercial version of Aakash. The opportunity for low-cost tablets in India is huge. In the next two years, it will exceed the size of the computer market in India i. e. 10 million units per year, says Suneet Singh Tuli, president and CEO of DataWind. In April, technology firm HCL Infosystems launched the MyEdu Tab, which is priced at around US$230 for the K-12 version. The device comes preloaded with educational applications and also books from the National Council of Educational Research and Training, a government organization. Anand Ekambaram, senior vice-president and head of learning at HCL Infosystems, is in the process of partnering with more than 30 educational institutes across India for MyEdu Tab. MyEdu Tab has content offline and can be accessed over the cloud. It allows students to learn at their own pace, Ekambaram notes. With a topic revision application and a self-assessment engine, students can evaluate their skills and knowledge on their own. Teachers can upload content, which can be accessed by students and parents for tasks such as homework and progress reports on their respective devices. The parent can monitor the progress of his or her child through the cloud-based ecosystem. Earlier this year, Micromax, a leading Indian handset manufacturer, also launched an edutainment device called Funbook. Micromax has also partnered with Pearson and Everonn to make available relevant content for students. Susha John, director and CEO at Everonn, was upbeat at the launch. Digital learning facilitated through tablets will revolutionize the educational space, John said. Everonn has invested in developing content and services targeted toward tablet audiences. To start with, we will offer our school curriculum-learning modules and at home live tuition products on the Funbook. Students can now have access to good teachers, educational content and a great learning experience anytime, anywhere. At Pearson, Max Gabriel, senior vice-president and chief technology officer, is focusing on K-12 content in English to begin with. We are sitting on a huge repository of existing content. Adding the right level of interactivity and richer experience will be our priority. Meanwhile, Educomp is gearing up to launch content that is device agnostic and can be run on any tablet. But even as schools in India are going through this transformation powered by technology, one key question is how big a role technology will play in the education sector. In an earlier interview with India [emailprotected], S. Sadagopan, founder-director at the International Institute of Information Technology in Bangalore, pointed out that there are four parts to learning lectures, library, laboratory and life noting that, Technology plays a critical role in all these. Kabir of Technopak adds another perspective. Despite numerous studies on the impact of ICT in education, the outcomes remain difficult to measure and open to much debate. It needs to be understood that technology is only an enabler and a force multiplier and cannot be treated as a panacea. We believe that impressive gains in teaching-learning outcomes are possible only through an integrated approach rather than a piecemeal intervention. Don Huesman, managing director of Whartons innovation group, recommends caution in considering potential investments in educational technologies. These are very exciting times for online and distance education technologies, but there are risks facing parents, educators and policy makers in evaluating the opportunities these new technologies, and their proponents, represent. Huesman points to the recent growth in high-quality, free, online educational courseware offered on websites like the Khan Academy and the Math Forum, as well as the work of the Open Learning Initiative in developing intelligent cognitive tutors and learning analytics. But such technologies, available from a global network of resources, only provide value when understood, chosen and integrated into a local educational community, he says. As an illustration, Huesman offers the example of cyber kiosks, provided in recent years by foundations at no cost to rural communities in India, exacerbating the gender divide in many traditional communities in which young women congregating at public cyber cafes, also frequented by young men, would be considered taboo. Interventions by governments and NGOs must be inclusive of local community concerns and aware of local political complications, Huesman notes. Globalization: Impact on Education by Satish Tandon, September 2005 The principal objective of education has been the development of the whole individual. The minimum level of education that was necessary to achieve this goal in the agrarian society was basic or primary and in the industrial age, secondary. In the present borderless information society, education needs to be able to respond to additional demands of a rapidly globalizing world by raising awareness of environment, peace, cultural and social diversity, increased competitiveness, and the concept of a global village. Such education is to a knowledge or information society what secondary education was to an industrial economy. Education prepares the individual to connect and live in harmony with the environment around him. Globalization has changed the size, nature and quality of that environment. The challenge for higher education, therefore, is to reform, create and develop systems that prepare the individual to work in a borderless economy and live in a global society. In other words, our educational institutions need to produce global citizens. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 allowed liberal democracies to claim victory for the capitalist system and contributed to increasing the pace of globalization that was already under way. As globalization gained momentum, market substituted political ideology as the dominant force guiding national and global policies. What followed next, therefore, does not seem so illogical. National governments everywhere partly in deference to the ascendancy of the market and partly in response to pressure from the private sector to expand their sphere of activities began to relinquish control over the delivery of social goods. Everything began to be viewed as a commodity that could be produced and delivered by the private sector in line with market forces and according to the principles of supply and demand. One by one water, electricity, postal services, health, and now education, have been turned into a commodity. The withdrawal of state from higher education has also been helped by economists, who have had an overly simple way of assessing the return on investments in higher education. The basic problem is that they have measured the return on education exclusively through wage differentials. With reference to someone who has no education, someone who has been to primary school, someone who has completed secondary school, and someone with a university degree, one can ask how much more each earns than the previous. These differences are then compared to the incremental amounts invested in their education to find the return. The results generally suggest that higher education yields a lower return than primary or secondary education and they have been used to justify the skewing of government budgets and development funds away from higher education institutions. The rate of return calculations are flawed because they do not take account of the full range of benefits to those who receive higher education. For example, higher education can enhance health, openness, peace, and social development, and at the same time reduce disease, bigotry and blind nationalism so the private benefits to the individual and to society are not just the direct labour productivity benefits, as the rate of return analysis suggests. Higher education confers benefits above and beyond enhancing the incomes of those who receive it. And many of these benefits take the form of public goods, such as the contribution of higher education to enterprise, leadership, governance, culture, and participatory democracy, and its potential for lifting the disadvantaged out of poverty. These are all vital building blocks for stronger economies and societies and all routes by which the benefit of investment in higher education multiplies throughout society. Liberal democracies have traditionally operated on the principle of separation of activities in the social sphere just as they have on the principle of separation of powers in the political sphere. The private sector had been given a relatively free hand in the production and delivery of economic goods while the state concentrated on the provision of healthcare, education and other infrastructure goods, also known as public goods. Globalization has changed all that. The rapid expansion of the influence of the private sector at the global level necessitated a corresponding expansion in their sphere of activities by diversifying into the production and delivery of public goods that had always been within the purview of the state. The takeover was swift and remarkable in the sense that the effort did not meet much resistance. One of the major consequences of the globalization of education has been commodification and the corporatization of institutions of higher learning. It is said that the for-profit education market in the United States is worth more than $500 billion in revenue for the involved corporates. More than one thousand state schools have been handed over to corporations to be run as businesses. But there is a fundamental problem with the way business models have been applied to the delivery of education and other public goods. Unthinking adoption of the private sector model prevents the development of a meaningful approach to management in the public services in general or to the social services in particular based on their distinctive purposes, conditions and objectives. There is another, more serious, problem with corporatization of education. Corporations operate on the principles of cost reduction and profit maximization. These require introducing standardization and the packaging of product in compact, measurable, byte-like, configuration. Applied to education, these approaches would possibly negate its basic fabric and purpose. Education has always encouraged and represents openness, inquiry, diversity, research and limitless learning. Corporatization of education would make it elitist the one provided by corporations for the masses and the poor who cannot afford going to the traditional institutions of learning, and the other for the rich and the affluent. The delivery of public goods and services is and should remain the primary responsibility of the state. Representative government may not be the ideal or perfect arrangement for governance but it represents the best that is available, and certainly more desirable than the private sector management of public services such as education. If the state relinquishes its control over education and education policy, we run the risk of diminishing it to the status of a packaged for-profit product which it is not. Openness, diversity, scholarship, research and disinterested learning will be its biggest victims.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The Personal Protective Equipment Health And Social Care Essay

The Personal Protective Equipment Health And Social Care Essay Scenario # 1: The Medical Assistant is preparing to perform a venipuncture on a patient who has come into the office for their annual physical exam. To prevent exposure to blood you must wear personal protective equipment (PPE). When a medical assistant is performing or assisting with a venipuncture, the expected PPE to be used is gloves. According to Delmars Clinical Medical Assisting, Gloves will be worn when drawing blood and/or handling biomedical specimens. Blood drawing is common sense, but biomedical specimens consist of urinalysis as well as fecal analysis. That means throughout the venipuncture and collection process you must wear gloves to protect yourself from any blood borne pathogen or contamination. Gloves should be worn from the point prior to venipuncture until the blood tube is placed in the biohazard transport container. You want to wash your hands before and after every procedure and make sure that nothing is going to put you at risk for the barrier (the gloves) being broken, and if you think there is a risk to this, you want to double your gloves (long nails, wedding rings and things of that nature can put you at risk) PPE is to be utilized at all times in situations that involve potential exposure to blood or other body fluids. Your skin can have microscopic cuts and abrasions that can provide an avenue for transmission if exposed to blood or other infectious body fluid which is why it is of such an importance to wear gloves when coming in contact with any blood borne pathogen or bodily fluid such as saliva and semen. Gloves are typically effective for protection from splashes but do not protect from penetrating injuries caused by needles or other sharp objects. If any such injury is to occur, you are to report it to your supervisor immediately so prompt action is taken to prevent further consequences such as a patient contracting HIV/AIDS or even worst, yourself. Scenario # 2: Patient Sonny Jones is here for symptoms that include fever, sweating, lots of nasal congestion, and a cough that is productive in nature. This patient has been in contact with family members who just tested positive for the flu. During a flu outbreak, governmental agencies such as the Center for Disease Controls, Health and Human Services and the Occupational Safety Health Administration may recommend that you protect yourself from infection by using a face mask, N95 respirator, or other type of equipment. For this sort of outbreak, according to Delmars Clinical Medical Assisting and the Florida Department of Health and Human Services, employees who work in the medical field and are in constant contact with patients and those who handle the clinical aspect of medical assisting and healthcare as well as collect or transport clinical specimens should consistently adhere to recommended infection control precautions to minimize their exposure. The Center for Disease Controls states that potentially infectious specimens should be placed in leak-proof specimen bags for transport, labeled or color coded for transport and handled by personnel who are familiar with safe handling practices, have been trained in the area of infection control as well as spill cleanup procedures. They also state that workers who collect specimens from pandemic-influenza infected patients should wear PPE as described for employees in the manual that is located on-site at the work environment while performing direct patient care. PPE in this scenario would consist of gloves made of latex(if the patient has no latex allergy), vinyl, nitrile, or other synthetic materials as appropriate, when there is contact with blood and other bodily fluids, including respiratory secretions. Common sense would be to wash your hands before and after seeing every patient, do not double glove unless your needed to for a specific reason, do not re-use the gloves previously used, properly dispose and discard the gloves after usage, and proper usage of hand hygiene should also be adhered to as well to prevent chance of infection. Gowns may also be needed with the chance of heavily soiled clothing due to performing an intubation or where constant secretions might occur, but it is not required by OSHA or the CDC. Goggles or Face Shields are not needed in this case, however, if sprays or splatters of infectious material are likely, it states that goggles or a face shield should be worn as recommended for standard precautions. If you are around a patient who is consistently coughing or hacking, you would want to ensure the patient has a face shield to prevent the spread of infection, and you would also want to protect yourself from getting that as well. Scenario # 3: The Medical Assistant is assisting Dr. Jacobs with a cyst removal (a surgical procedure) in the office setting. For removal of a cyst on a patient, the medical assistant would assist the doctor with whatever he needed. The book did not really go too much into detail so I decided to watch a few YouTube videos of the incision, draining and removal of a cyst to see what actually occurs during this. After watching these few videos on YouTube, because youre dealing with bodily fluids like blood and pus, you would want to wear Gloves. First you would want to wash your hands before placing the gloves on. Of course because this is surgery you would want to ensure your sterile field is maintained. To maintain a sterile field, you would want to open your sterile dressing kit and set it up on a tray. You want to make sure the tray is above waist height because anything below the waist is considered to be contaminated or not sterile. You would then want to open the sterile kit making sure you do not touch anything inside as you do not have your gloves on yet, and everything is sterile. You would then want to put on your first set of PPE for the removal of the cyst, which would be your mask. You would want to wear a mask because this is a sterile procedure, and your mouth has germs. This way youre not breathing on or around, talking, coughing or sneezing around the sterile field. You would then hand the doctor his or her mask, and any other assistants theirs. The next thing you would want to do is put on your sterile gloves. Because this is a surgery procedure, putting on sterile gloves is important because you do not want to cause the patient to be at risk of any sort of infectious diseases. Our skin carries and comes in contact with several billion bacteria during each hour of the day, and you would not want to be the cause of a patient catching MRSA or VRE or a super bug because they got sick and then developed a resistance and could not be treated, so it is important you follow each step about putting on sterile gloves. How you would do this is by opening the glove wrapper with the palm facing up. You then would want to pick up the first glove by the cuff making sure you are only touching the inside portion of the cuff. While youre holding the cuff with one of your hands, you want to slide your other hand into the glove this way your sterile hand is the first to go into the sterile gloves. While you are doing this you want to be careful that you are not touching anything, as everything else is again considered to be contaminated. The second glove is the hardest part of placing sterile gloves but the most important step to maintain sterility in the sterile field and environment. You want to slide your gloved hand under the cuff of the second glove and slide your hand inside the glove until youre able to adjust both gloves to fit comfortably. The next step would be to proceed to assist the doctor with the removal of the cyst by applying sterile dressings from the sterile field, as well as making sure he does not need your help with anything. Before the doctor enters the room you would want to make sure the tray for the removal of the cyst is ready in the sterile field, this way the doctor does not need to leave the room for any reason at all and the sterile field is maintained until the removal of the cyst is completed. The doctor might also ask the medical assistant to assist by giving an injection to numb the area of the cyst removal on the patient. The medical assistant would be responsible for explaining the procedure, and then giving the injection at the site of the cyst removal. Because you might come into close contact with bloods, pus and other bodily fluids, I would recommend wearing a gown. Gowns are worn to protect against bodily fluids from soiling clothing, and depending on the location of the cyst and how large it is, you might want to wear this. Scenario # 4: The Medical Assistant is assisting Mrs. Johnson to the exam table in the patient room. Mrs. Johnson has Stage 2 lung cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments she tells the Medical Assistant that the oncologist called and told her that her WBC count is 2.1 and that she cannot be around anyone who is ill, etc. The first thing to note with this patient is that she does have stage two lung cancer. I as the medical assistant would first verify in the patients chart that she has this condition and check what her white blood cell count is. If confirmed that she indeed does have this low of a WBC, than I would immediately prepare for isolation of the patient so she is not around any possible contamination to where she would get ill. She would be moved from the exam table into an isolation unit exam room. I would then make sure the patient is in a comfortable position for examination and proceed with the check up and assisting the doctor. As with any other procedure or PPE usage, you will want to begin with first washing your hands. The next thing you will want to do is put on a special gown called an isolation gown which is either cloth or paper. You want to make sure you tie your isolation gown at both points which is usually behind the neck and at the waist. You do this so that when youre treating a patient in the isolation unit, in this case Mrs. Johnson, you do not contaminate your uniform or the patient for that matter. The next thing you will want to do is apply your face mask or shield. Usually these have a clear protective eye shield. You again want to ensure that the mask and shield are on your face properly and fit this way you do not risk contamination to the extremely ill patient by breathing on them, and you do not risk contamination to yourself either. The next item of PPE you will want to apply is your examination gloves. It is important that you pull the cuff over the sleeve of the gown this way you are not exposing your skin to the ill patient or any toxins that could make you ill as well. You want to avoid exposure of your skin in the isolation room. After you are done with the examination of the patient in the isolation unit, you want to be sure that the door to the unit is closed securely so no pathogens can come into the room, and then you want to remove your PPE the same way you put it on. Be sure to wash your hands after any visit with a patient. Scenario # 5: The Medical Assistant is assisting her co-worker in cleaning up a blood spill in the office laboratory. Blood spills or other human body fluids that occur inside or in the outside environment need to be decontaminated to prevent the potential transmission of communicable disease. The circumstances associated with blood spills can obviously vary greatly depending on the volume and type of contact surface. A small amount of blood, if splashed, can cover a large surface area. A large volume, if undisturbed on a flat surface, can pool in a relatively small area. A good example of blood or bodily fluids is a pregnant womans water breaking. Prior to beginning the cleanup, you would want to notify your supervisor of the spill and ask where the spill cleanup kit was located. Per OSHA and CDC Standards, a typical spill kit consists of the following: 10% bleach solution (or Lysol, virex or other EPA reg. Tuberculocidal), gloves, clear plastic bags, biohazard labels (available from OSEH HazMat), leak-proof sharps containers, brush dustpan, or tongs or forceps for picking up sharps and disinfectant wipes. You would want to put on a pair of rubber, latex, PVC or similar type gloves. For small blood spills no other PPE should be required. For larger spills where there is a possibility of contaminating your face or other parts of your body, call HazMat to assist in the cleanup, and then put on a mask and face shield along with a gown. The next thing you will want to do is to cover the spill area with a paper towel and then pour a fresh mix of the bleach solution together. You will want to allow the solution to soak into the contaminated material to ensure that it is completely disinfected. You want to also treat this similar to treating a wound in the sense that you want to work from the outside in. Next you will wipe the area with paper towels. The last and final step is that you would want to dispose of the contamination into the biohazard waste bag and dispose in the proper bio hazardous area. To complete the cleanup, you will want to finally remove your gloves and wash your hands to avoid the risk of contamination to yourself and other patients. Scenario # 6: The Medical Assistant is working with the autoclave machine today in the office laboratory. The autoclave that most medical offices use is the ones that are dry heat autoclaves. These get extremely hot so it is important that the medical assistant who is using these is able to understand the proper usage along with the PPE that he or she would need to prevent any potential injury. Some personal protective equipment you would consider to use would be eye equipment, a button lab coat to prevent burns, closed toed shoes to again prevent possible burns and injuries in the case that something is dropped, and heat resistant gloves as you will be removing the items from the autoclave. Potential hazards that could occur without the use of PPE are burns and pressure releases Hazards may be general or specific, depending on the design of the autoclave or pressure cooker. They can include Physical injury to persons in the vicinity from the rapid release of stored energy resulting from autoclave failure (e.g. failure of doors/lids) Physical injury from exploding vessels that have become pressurized during processing (e.g. glass containers) Scalding / burns from steam or the hot contents of items being processed Risk of infection from pathogenic micro-organisms due to inefficient deactivation of the waste Inadvertent release of genetically modified organisms to the environment   Manual handling issues during loading/unloading heavier items, Electrocution (e.g. damaged/wet electrical components) and Fire hazard (e.g. human error leaving manually operated autoclave equipment unattended). It is utterly important that the medical assistant knows how to operate the autoclave from what the manufacturers manual says, as every autoclave is different. The reason for this is to prevent injury from occurring in the work place. Sources: http://extranet.fhcrc.org/EN/sections/ehs/hamm/chap3/section6.html http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Uw7lf6KE1osJ:www.cardiff.ac.uk/osheu/resources/Autoclave%2520Guidelines%2520draft%2520document.doc+ppe+for+autoclavescd=10hl=enct=clnkgl=us http://www.sterilizers.com/aboutsterilizers.asp http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:C8l9I41OLkYJ:roundtable.healthsafe.uab.edu/pages/resources/Autoclave%2520Training%2520Final.ppt+autoclave+and+ppecd=1hl=enct=clnkgl=us http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vq=cache:uYDSE-dYDbQJ:www.oseh.umich.edu/pdf/sop/blood_spill_SOP.pdf+blood+spills+and+ppehl=engl=uspid=blsrcid=ADGEEShRsZJO5EZW5mXd4823i2EM5UzlmRZRHdzPyo-JH_KnURDhFeWzkeaUJMxTJUU0F38knieNnixNUzbWnd3Iy2XYFN9lq6f_FGFN4CU569u3ezegbDf_w0iu_D6aK-FEyJivIXIesig=AHIEtbRO4Jxq83SAZdUaqxqEyyhFdP4bbw http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:FkfgBq95zbEJ:www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/ppt/bhpp/bhpp-train-don-PPE.ppt+ppe+for+isolationcd=3hl=enct=clnkgl=us http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y53k3eQgb20 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmWS5jGnKjE http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/pandemicinfluenza/pandemic_health.html http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/GeneralHospitalDevicesandSupplies/PersonalProtectiveEquipment/default.htm http://www.doh.state.fl.us/disease_ctrl/std/prevent/MODULE_2_V2.1.pdf http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/bbp/ Delmars Clinical Medical Assisting, 4th Edition, Lindh, Dahl, Delmar Cingage Learning, Copyright 2010

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Contemporary Artwork: Comparison and Analysis

Contemporary Artwork: Comparison and Analysis The two pieces which I have selected for comparison use similar technique to encourage an entirely different outcome and audience response. It is the way in which these artists go about their creative process, and how this, in turn provokes such contrasting concepts, with such similar mediums that engages me. The first piece for comparison is the haunting photographic installation (Fakray, 2009) Les Suisses Morts By Christian Boltanski, 1990, to be compared and contrasted with the fashion/art photographic editorial Hold on to your hat by photographer Stacey Mark, 2009, consisting of five components. Similarly the work of Boltanski consists of multiple photographs in order to enhance narrative. The most significant parallel between the two pieces ( other than choice of medium) lies in the soft focus aesthetic of the photographs in question, which creates the illusion of the subjects fading into and out of the work, in turn evoking feelings and introducing notions of presence and absen ce within the work (Roca and Sterling, 2007). Both works appear to have strong associations with Phantasmagoria (Roca and Sterling, 2007), the illusion of constant alterations in light and colour encouraging a dreamlike state involving the fusion of reality with the imagination (Gunning, no date). The overall effect for both pieces is some what visionary, yet they conjure up quite contrasting emotion within their audience. In this essay I will be identifying the conscious artistic choices which have been made in order to make the work similar yet so dissimilar at once. Hold onto your hat by Stacey Mark is effectively a fashion photographic editorial which has been executed artistically in order to transport the onlooker into a whimsical dream world. Featuring a young woman, the work is very sensuous and moody (McGrath, 2009), and with this in mind, has been designed to sell, promote and bring back the boater hat, an object of the past. (The past is just one of the themes dealt with in each piece, as Boltanski brings back from the past haunting memories of the deceased (Fakray, 2009), into the present, enabling them to live on). There is, therefore, a central focus to the work, which every artistic decision relates back to in order to create a strong cohesive narrative for the editorial spread consisting of five separate photographs. Whilst the eventual aim of this piece is to sell to an audience, the work of Boltanksi endeavors to have an entirely different effect upon its audience through visual disruption and intense emotional impact (Feinstein, 1997). Christian Boltanski is heavily involved in the devastation and loss of life which took place during the Second World War and the Holocaust, a complete contrast in subject matter to Marks photography. The emotional power of Boltanskis work derives from the mental ties that the audience relates when in the presence of his installations. His photographic installations featuring portraits of the deceased that were published in the obituary of a Swiss newspaper are particularly powerful, perhaps disturbing to the audience in their suggestion of the Holocaust (Simon, 2003). Boltanski appropriates his source material in the creation of his haunting archival installation consisting of vast collections of photographs (Fakray, 2009). Contrastingly, although with the use of the same medium to express her ideas, Stacey Mark takes her photographs, beginning with an empty film and following her work through to the end using only the products of her creative efforts. This is not to say that the wor k of Boltanski is any less evocative, in fact perhaps the creative process in which he immerses himself, renders the outcome all the more meaningful, with greater impact than what may have been if he had of produced his source material himself (Fakray, 2009). Lighting is an element which is used very differently and carefully within these two pieces to evoke contrasting feelings within the audience. In Les Suisses Morts Boltanski lights his subject from above, in turn creating a strong sense of interrogation ( artline, no date) where the eyes of the photographic subjects fall into deep sinister shadows. The image appropriation combined with the applied lighting technique lends each portrait a Shadowy skeletal form and Semi obliterated face, (Caines, 2004) thus having a powerfully haunting effect upon the audience. Adversely the lighting adopted in the photography of Stacey Mark enhances the luminosity that diffuses from the work, having quite the opposite effect on its audience. Bright yet soft light seems to diffuse gently onto the subject of these photographs, giving the images a dream like and visionary effect, perhaps achieved through the use of back lighting as well as forward facing studio lights. With this lighting Hold onto your h at achieves a sense of serenity as well as purity and femininity, all feelings that are helping to sell this product through appealing to the audience. Marks use of such lighting lends a soft focus and pictorial aesthetic to the work whilst Boltanski achieves a similarly pictorial effect (Franzke, 2009) with an entirely different approach. Les Suisses Morts assembles old photographic portraits of the deceased Swiss appropriated from newspapers, which have been re-photographed and enlarged by Boltanski, rendering them slightly larger than life for maximum audience impact (Vetrocq, 2008). Boltanski takes care to enlarge to enhance audience response rather than to distort for the sake of realism, yet he still attains a soft focus, slightly blurred and vague aesthetic as a result of this augmentation which is characteristic of his work as it works to encourage notions of absence and presence, (Simon, 2003.) This alternative method of working generates stronger references to childhood, innocence, death and memory, (all central themes explored in his work), as a result of Boltanskis use of real portraits, each with their own story to tell (Hylton, 1995.) Boltanski aims to subvert his audience and provoke deep feelings of melancholy, both of which he is able to significantly enhance upon with the use of real life portrait appropriation, (Simon, 2003.) Such realism within the work inflicts a dense emotional impact upon the audience as Boltanski touches upon notions of death as well as the disintegration of memories over time, which in turn induces a sense of nostalgia amongst the viewers, longing for lost loved ones and their own childhood (Caines, 2004.) In a similar, though more light hearted way, Hold onto your hat by Stacey Mark has the audience feeling nostalgic for their childhood and the days of dressing up (fashion gone rogue, no date). Though his message is powerful, Boltanski objectifies and dehumanizes his photographic subjects in various ways. The many faces comprising his archival installation are anonymous to the audience; they are unknown faces which Boltanski arranges to be read as whole, rather than paying attention to the individual. A Photograph captures a moment in timeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦by its very nature it implies selection and priority, and each portrait reflects a snap shot second of an entire life (Caines, 2004). At first the audience feel oppressed by the vast numbers of deceased faces towering over as a result of Boltanskis dehumanization reminding us of the absurdity of death, however the work then begins to forward the concept of memory, which seems to counteract some of the ramifications of death, as the audience begin to identify with the individual, (Fakray, 2009.) In this way, both pieces appear to promote. Whilst Boltanski promotes a concept and an idea, Stacey Mark uses artistic and creative efforts to promote a product and to sell, and it is in this way that Mark objectifies and dehumanizes his photographic subject. Mark uses the girl as an object through which to sell a product meaning the girl herself is a selling point as she compliments the boater hat, and vice versa. The beautiful accessory, on the young girl, with the carefully lit back drop, soft focus effect and expression of serenity all help to create a cohesive and strong narrative with a sense of beauty and innocence (McGrath, 2009) through which to sell a product. Innocence is a feeling felt in both pieces of work, particularly in the sense of vulnerability and helplessness which Boltanski achieves in his installation, (Hylton, 1995.) It has been interesting to explore two contemporary art pieces which have such different functions yet remain correspondent in several ways, as well as the contrasting creative processes that these entail. The most engaging way in which they differ and compare at the same time lies in the contrasting lighting techniques which both seem to bring about notions of absence and presence, yet conjure up opposing feelings and emotions within the audience with different aims. Through the investigation of the photographic medium used in installation as a fine art practise and in fashion as an editorial through which to sell, I have been encouraged to focus on meaning behind work, and more contemporary ways of working. Word count: 1, 478

Monday, August 19, 2019

High Altitude Training :: Running Athletes Essays

High Altitude Training For the first mile of my daily run the cows are with me. They seem out of place along this road that winds through mountain pines, but in Arizona cows are everywhere, even at 7,000 feet. They watch incredulously with soft eyes as I run by. They stand as still as statues and only their heads move, slowly and almost imperceptibly, like the heads in paintings of long-dead relatives that gaze right at you, no matter where you stand in the room. I can’t tell if they approve of all this running activity; they are silent. No matter how far I decide to run each day, running that first mile is the hardest. I feel the same niggling pain under my ribs each time, and wonder how overnight I forgot how to run. Each day I tell myself that I must be going about this running thing all wrong. My shoes are old and probably not the right sort of shoes at all. I’m wearing cotton socks. I expect at any moment a van, driven by a member of the International Federation of Runners, will pull up beside me. A fleet of sleek runners wearing custom made running shoes and synthetic socks will pile out of the back of the van and issue a citation. Or they will grab me and drive off with a screech of tires, taking me to an interrogation room where they will seat me under a bare bulb and ask, â€Å"Just who do you think your are?† I look around uneasily. No vans. No running police. I guess I will have to keep running. I smirk at the cows, glad that I’m faster than someone. I came upon running by accident, when I was digging through a pile of magazines at my local used bookstore. I pulled out a copy of a running magazine that had a picture of a beautiful woman on it, a woman with a blond ponytail. She looked happy and carefree. I wanted to be her. My friend Ellyn looked over my shoulder and said casually, â€Å"Oh, Suzy Favor.

Macbeth Was Responsible For His Own Downfall Essay -- essays research

Macbeth is the driving force behind Macbeth’s downfall Lady Macbeth? The driving force behind Macbeth’s downfall? Certainly not. Macbeth was completely and solely responsible for all the acts of great evil which were to lead to his downfall, and to even suggest the blame can be shifted on his wife is ludicrous. From his very first meeting with the witches, Macbeth’s mind became instantly plagued with thoughts of murder and treachery. The guilty start that Banquo noticed: "Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear Things that do sound so fair?†¦" showed us that the thought of murder was already at the back of his mind. This showed us that Macbeth could not have been as honourable and trustworthy as people believed him to be, given that if he had had but a shred of integrity, murder would have been the last thing on his mind. The witches cannot corrupt the virtuous (like Banquo), they can work only on the evil that they already find in their victim’s mind. At this point, Macbeth (and everyone else), was not aware of this evil inside of him, which is why he was so horrified by the hideous imaginings that spring to mind. He was afraid of speaking of his "black and deep desires" openly, even to himself. For this reason, he sends a letter to his wife, explaining the situation, hoping that the thought of murder would cross her mind, and he won’t have to be the one to bring it up. On receiving the letter, Lady Macbeth’s first thought (as Macbeth had hoped it would be) was one of murder. She was just as ambitious, if not more so, than her husband, so much so that she would do anything, even conspire to commit murder, to get what she wanted in the end. However, she was not an evil woman, which is why she felt the need to call on the powers of darkness to aid her in what she was about to do: "†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty; make thick my blood &q... ...ad. Earlier, she had dismissed the matter of Duncan’s murder, but now she admits to herself what she knew all along, that "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" In the end, she can no longer cope with the guilt, and in the words of Malcolm in the last scene of the play. "Who, as ‘tis thought, by self and violent hands Took of her life-†¦" It seems now that Lady Macbeth must have been less strong, and not as evil as Macbeth. When she took part in the planning of the murder of Duncan, she felt so guilty in the long run that she felt she had to take her own life. However, Macbeth has performed crimes that are a lot worse than the crime his wife committed, but he has not decided to do anything as drastic as taking his own life. It is in Act 5 scene 5 that Macbeth shows us the true extent of his insanity. He has lost the capacity to feel fear (for his inevitable death), and grief (for his dead wife). It is in Act 5 Scene 7 that Macbeth’s life comes to an abrupt end, and no one grieves him. He died a tyrant and a murderer, all through his own fault.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams :: A Streetcar Named Desire Essays

Tennessee Williams is known for his powerfully written psychological dramas. Most of his works are set in the southern United States and they usually portray neurotic people who are victims of their own passions, frustrations, and loneliness. The play represents the conflict between the sensitive, neurotic Blanche DuBois and the crude, animalistic Stanley Kowalski. Blanche visits the home of her sister, Stella, in New Orleans and that is when Stanley started picking at her, almost testing her. Before she had met Stanley, she told her sister of how their plantation had been lost due to the costs of paying for the funerals of many family members. There was not enough money for her to keep the plantation. While Blanche bathed after her arrival, Stanley came home. Stella had told him what had happened and he immediately insisted that Blanche was swindling them. He hinted that Blanche had sold the plantation in order to buy beautiful furs and jewelry. He went through Blanche's trunk while she bathed, Stella insisted he stop. He was looking for sale papers from the plantation. After Blanche was finished bathing, Stella was outside, so Stanley started questioning Blanche. She insisted that she had nothing to hide from him and let him go through all historical papers from Belle Reve, the plantation. While living with Stella and Stanley, Blanche had met a man named Mitch, who she started dating. She liked him a lot but she hid many things from him. Firstly, she hid secrets of her first lover, her husband Allan Grey. Every time she thought of him, she thought of how he killed himself and she heard the polka which played in the background. She did not want to speak of this to Mitch. After Allan's death, Blanche used to go to the Tarantula Arms hotel where she would have intimacies with strangers. She did it because she felt it would fill her empty heart. She did not want to tell Mitch because she wanted him to respect her.Blanche was very careful to hide her looks too. She felt that she was old looking and tried to avoid bright lights from glaring down on her. She covered a light in Stella's house with a Chinese paper lamp to keep it from being so bright she hid her looks from Mitch, he never saw her in the day. Finally, one day, Stanley tried to find out many of Blanche's secrets and told them to Mitch so he would not fall for her, even though he was considering marrying her.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Old Growth Forest Essay

Question: a strong opponent of logging old growth forests Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I am Leeson, and today I am going to talk about whether we should log the old growth forests. Firstly, what are old growth forests? Old growth forests are those where the overstore is in the late mature growth stage with the presence of relatively large old trees, many containing hollows and often with the presence of dieback or dead branches in the crown. They are so important to the human life, as they are like the climate change mitigation. Also, a lot of animals can only live in old growth forests, just like fish can only live in water. In Victoria, we know old growth forests to be â€Å"Forests which contain significant amount of its oldest growth stage in the upper stratum. † What does this mean? It means these forests are historically, culturally, ecologically significant and valuable. Therefore, we human have no reason to log any of the old growth forest. Firstly, the old growth forests mitigate the climate change. Old-growth forests store large amounts of carbon in wood, humus, and peat, they are an important part of carbon sequestration and its impacts on climate change and climate change mitigation. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in its 2007 report: â€Å"In the long term, a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks, while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fibre or energy from the forest, will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit. As we know, the climate problem is one of the most serious problems that human are facing to, if we keep logging the old growth forests for human living while we are polluting the environment for human development, we will not have a nice future to be with. So stop logging the old growth forest! Secondly, old growth forests are the only home for a lot of animals. Image if I drive a bulldozer through in your home, how would this make you feel? Where would you go? The ecologically value and significance of old- growth-forests is they can do something that other forests cannot do: they act as the home of various forms of wildlife. Without old growth forests, where would they live? The report from Bureau of Rural Sciences from Australian Government said: â€Å"A number of wildlife species are reliant on these types of forest because of the range of nesting hollows and greater structural complexity they have in comparison with forests in earlier stages of development. Obviously logging the old growth forests indicates killing plenty of wildlife, and it is not humane at all! That’s why we shouldn’t log the old growth forests. In conclusion, the old growth forests are acting a important role in nature, not only do they house various forms of wildlife, but they also store more carbon then they emit, so that to mitigate the climate change. Hence, we should not log the old growth forest, for any human use. Thank you!

Friday, August 16, 2019

Is Mark Twain a Racist?

Is Mark Twain A racist? Many believe certain things about Twain's â€Å"Great American novel,† makes it a racist book, like the overuse of the word, â€Å"nigger,† and the given depiction of the black slave, Jim. However, there is a substantial amount of evidence that this book was not written out of hate, but in hope that Twain could change the ideals of skin color of the white people around him. The first and foremost question most people ask when they read the novel is, â€Å"was Mark Twain a racist? There are assumptions that because of Twain's use of edgy language and writing in the point of view of racists, that he was a racist himself. Much of the article is Twain going into detail about the type of environment and adults this young boy has been raised with, and how racism against the Chinese is commonplace. For example, the Chinese are taxed twice as much as all the other races to mine for gold. Also, when they are caught stealing from a mine, they are hung. Ho wever, when the same happens to the other races, they are only asked to leave the mining camp (Galaxy).In one part, the narrator shares, â€Å"†¦ [the boy] found out that in many districts of the vast Pacific coast, so strong is the wild, free love of justice in the hearts of the people, that whenever any secret and mysterious crime is committed, they say, â€Å"Let justice be done, though the heavens fall,† and go straightway and swing a Chinaman. † (Galaxy) The reason why Twain lists these observations is to show the city of San Francisco that it is not the boy who's at fault, because, â€Å"What had the child's education been? How should he suppose it was wrong to stone a Chinaman (Galaxy)? In fact, in one part of the article, the boy says, â€Å"†Ah, there goes a Chinaman! God will not love me if I do not stone him (Galaxy). † With this article, Twain hoped that he could allow the adult of the city to see how foolish they have been acting towards the Chinese and it was not the boy who is acting childish, but it is the men whom the young boy looked up to. This is the same scenario with the controversy surrounding, â€Å"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. † In both stories we see a young boy who lives in a society that is racist against a certain race only because they were raised that way.An example of this in, â€Å"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,† is one of the first things we hear from Huck's father and his feelings about black people who have done well in the country. He refers to an African-American college professor who wore nice clothes and was intelligent. Also, since the man was from Ohio, he was also allowed to vote. It's interesting how Huck's father says, â€Å"It was ‘lection day, and I was just about to go and vote myself if I warn't too drunk to get there†¦ (37)†.The irony in this is how Huck's father, a man who is obviously morally, financially, socially, and intellectuall y inferior to the professor he met, believes he is superior to the man because of their difference in skin colors. This confirms that Huck was raised in a racist environment, which means that things Huck says or does probably isn't out of hate, but because that's the way he's been raised in his home and society. Something very risky that Twain did to show others his position on slavery and racism was when he volunteered to help pay for one of the first black student's tuition at Yale University.In his letter do the Dean of the university explaining why he wanted to do this, he said, â€Å"We have ground the manhood out of them, and the shame is ours, not theirs, and we should pay for it (Fishkin). † This act and quote shows that Mark Twain felt personally convicted about slavery as a terrible mistake towards the black society and wanted to give something back to those affected. Therefore, with all his negative experiences with slaves and racism, why would this man write a boo k that goes against the ideals he so boldly defends?This book should not be looked at as an attack against African-Americans, but as another way Twain tried to repay the debt he felt he owed the slaves and their families (Fishkin). When the book first introduces Jim, it seems that the slave is almost superstitious to the point of idiocy. In chapter two, Jim falls asleep when looking for Tom and Huck in Mrs. Watson's yard. Tom takes Jim's hat and places it on a branch above his head, and when Jim wakes up he tells the other slaves a group of witches, â€Å"rode him all over the world, and tired him most to death, and his back was all over saddle-boils (14). Two chapters later, Jim pulls a hairball out of an ox's stomach and claims an all-knowing spirit lives inside (26). Many people find Jim's superstitions very offensive and racist because it emphasizes the idea that slaves had no hope in having a good life. Some believe that since the slaves were treated so poorly and had little c hance of escaping their sentence, they made up superstitions as a way to escape from their cruel reality. Most African-American advocates of anning Twain's novel from schools don't think their children should have to read about a time in their family's history where so much pain, suffering and dignity was lost. The fact that Twain makes Jim an extremely superstitious character, is interpreted by many as a racist action (Wolfson). However, who's to say that Jim's superstitions are not just a creative way for him to take advantage of certain things for his own personal gain? It's possible that Jim used the witch story from chapter two because he knew he'd gain popularity throughout the slave world.It even says later that slaves traveled from far places to hear Jim's witch story. As with the hairball, Jim could have just used it to get a quick â€Å"buck† from Huck, or other customers who wanted some questions answered, since Jim pretended the spirit wouldn't work unless it was paid. If Jim's superstitions are viewed in this light, he should be looked at as a very clever human being, rather than a hopeless slave, and no one with the same skin color as him should be offended (Fishkin). Another big issue people have with the book is its seemingly overuse of the word, â€Å"nigger. Throughout the book, the word is mentioned an overwhelming two hundred and fifteen times, something that many see as unnecessary, since the word comes with such a negative, degrading implication in today's world. However, there is much debate whether or not the term carried the type of negative connotation it has today, but even if people did use the name as an insult, there are still reasonable explanations as to why Mark Twain would use this word. First of all, Twain strived to make this novel as realistic as possible.If he had not used the language of his time or depicted characters the way they were in his time period, then no one would have taken his book seriously. It's poss ible that there were other names that were less offensive that he could have used, but doing so would not have been as effective in exposing the ugliness of racism as, â€Å"nigger† does. The word reinforced the book's idea that the societies of the southern United States lived in constant racism. Though it's unclear whether Shelley Fisher Fishkin supported this idea, she says in her book, A Historical Guide to Mark Twain: †¦ â€Å"nigger†] was integral to the project of presenting and indicating a racist society, whose illegitimate racial hierarchy was embodied in the use of that word, because it was central to dramatizing the failure of everyone in that society (black and white) to challenge the legitimacy of the status quo and of the word that cemented and reinforced it, and because the diction was realistic to the time and characters. (137) The relation between, Disgraceful Persecution of a Boy, and the novel at hand must also be analyzed.The young boy who sto ned the Chinese man didn't commit the crime because he hated the Chinese, he did it because that's what he was taught to do. When Huck referred to the slaves as, â€Å"niggers,† it's not out of hate that he uses the word, but because he was taught that's just what you call slaves. Another issue people have with this book is the overall depiction of the slave's intellect. In parts of the book, it's hard to even understand what Jim is trying to say because he hasn't been educated. People believe that making Jim sound intellectually inferior to every other character in the book is a racist move on Twain's part.However, when reading the novel, the reader must also realize that the author and the narrator are two different voices. The author, Twain, is an adult who is very against the idea of slavery. The narrator is a young boy who has been raised by a society who sees nothing wrong with enslaving black people. Thus, it is not Twain voicing his opinions through the thought proces ses of Huck, but it is Twain trying to portray an accurate, historical point of view from a young, white boy (Fishkin). Unfortunately, this young boy has been raised with certain biases against slaves, and Twain must honor that bias.If he doesn't then the book would be historically inaccurate. Also, one must remember that people living today were probably not Twain's target audience. Twain wanted to change problems in his generation, and in order to create a story that applied to the reader of his day, he would have to make the story as realistic as possible. Lastly, the most obvious argument is that it just wouldn't make sense to create a slave character who was as smart as the white people. If slaves were not allowed any formal education, how realistic would it be to write about a smart, literate slave?Finally, at the end of the novel, it seems Huck is thinking about running away from his home again, only because, â€Å"Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I ca n't stand it (307). † For this quote to truly hold any meaning, the reader must realize a â€Å"sivilized† person in the societies of the southern states back then would probably have owned and mistreated slaves. Hearing Huck say that he's sick of society teaching him how to be â€Å"sivilized,† could be his way of expressing the newfound feelings he has against slavery (Fishkin).To say that, â€Å"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,† is a racist novel should be considered a ridiculous idea. Why would an anti-slavery and anti-racist man write a racist book? Twain wrote books and articles to justify his ideas to his reader, even if the ideas were absurd, like the idea of the black man being on equal ground with the white man. Though by the time the book was completed slavery was abolished and African-Americans were free, the mindsets of the southern white families did not change. These types of families were to whom Mark Twain was directing this book.He hop ed they would see the ugliness of racism and slavery, and see people past the color of their skin. One of Mark Twain's well known quotes on racism is, â€Å"One of my theories is that the hearts of men are about alike, all over the world, whatever their skin-complexions may be (Everett). † Twain probably never realized his novel about young Huck Finn would have gained so much popularity and attention so long after it's original publishing, but throughout every generation, his message of anti-racism should not be banned for its racist interpretations because it is relevant for any race, people, or community.