Foreshadowing “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”

â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find,† is a story of tragedy about a family planning a vacation against the grandmother’s better judgment. The grandmother wishes to take a trip to Tennessee, because of a convict on the loose. Bailey is planning a trip to Florida even though the grandmother warns him that the â€Å"Misfit† is heading toward Florida. Before their long journey to Florida, the Family decides to stop at a diner to eat. During the visit at the diner, the family discusses the Misfit with the diner’s owner. The diner’s owner’s wife expresses her fear of being robbed by the misfit. After eating their food and ending their conversations he family leaves for Florida. Outside of Toombsboro the grandmother remembered an old plantation she once visited when she was young. She describes the house and tells them about the secret panel. The Children have never seen a house with a secret panel and throw a fit to see it. Bailey is not willing to go to the house, but the children insist. The grandmother shows Bailey the road and he turns down it. As they were traveling the road, the grandmother jumps as she remembered the house is in Tennessee not Georgia. When she jumped she caused Bailey to lose control of the car and runs into a ditch. No one in the family was hurt, but the ehicle was too damaged to drive leaving the family stranded. The family had no other choice but to sit and wait for someone to drive by. As they were sitting on street, they saw a car coming over the hills. The car stopped at the accident and out stepped three men carrying guns. The grandmother notices that one of the men look familiar, but she cannot put it together. As she realizes who he is the grandmother asks him if he is The Misfit. The Misfit tells the other two men two take Bailey and his boy to the woods. As the grandmother is reasoning with , she hears two gunshots. When the men come back they are alone. The Misfits tells he men to get Bailey’s wife, little girl, and the baby. They take them to woods and three gunshots echo in the woods. The grandmother screams hysterically and tells the Misfit to pray. The grandmother touches the Misfit on the shoulder and he shot her three times. From the beginning of the story, it is obvious the Misfit is being setup to come into the story later on. Foreshadowing built the suspense causing the reader to wonder what would happen next. This information did not tell how or where the story would end. Knowing about the Misfit from the beg inning pulled it all together and made the story much more interesting.

Jack Welch

Jack Welch was a CEO and chairman at General Electric for twenty years. During his time at GE he was able to transform the company into a very efficient and powerful company. His four E’s of leadership: energy, energizers, edge, and execute are keys to what made his leadership style work. Another part of his leadership style was getting rid of the people who did not work hard enough or meet expectations. Overall, Jack Welch’s leadership style changed GE and companies around the world for the better.The first of Welch’s four E’s is energy. This is the characteristic which describes people who are always ready to go and to work hard at a moments notice. These are the people that are hate dull moments and prefer to always be busy. Normally these are good workers, which sometimes stray from their work because they are so energetic. The second E is energizers. These are the people that motivate others to perform. They are the ones that outline what is needed or wanted to succeed, and have other people carry it out.In most cases, energizers are selfless and care about others before themselves. They care that the group succeeds and are quick to take ownership over something when it goes wrong. However, when someone in the group succeeds, they make sure the credit is given to the person. The third E is edge. This type of people is those who are extremely competitive. They make sure they do everything possible to succeed in whatever they do. People with edge are not slow to make a decision they believe will be beneficial.For example, these people are usually the ones who have to make decisions like firing, hiring, and promoting. They also do not let anything stand in their way, no matter what the circumstance is. What it takes to succeed, they will do. The last E is execute. Without a person that is able to execute, the rest of the E’s will be of no use and will have no way of completion. Also, executers know the difference between act ivity and productivity. They realize a person can be working, but the work may be irrelevant to the betterment of the company.For example, a person could be doing lots of work, but in reality unless the work is bettering the company it is completely unimportant and is basically just busy-work. The E’s are vital to how Jack Welch made his company run and how he viewed people in his workplace. Welch had a way of figuring out how people functioned in the workplace called differentiation. In this way of thinking, Welch described how people should be evaluated in their work, such as that of a teacher when she evaluates her students.This model is used to â€Å"weed out† the twenty percent of workers that do not better the company. He knew nearly everyone worked hard at his company, but it was the people that accomplished productive work that he kept to work at his company. The bottom ten to twenty percent of people were actually hurting the company more than they were helpin g financially. This was a way Welch made his company successful. He did not make it successful by changing what was at the top and going right, he changed what was at the bottom and actually bringing the company down.In conclusion, Jack Welch has a leadership style which was unlike the normal way of viewing efficiency. He looked to the people that were at the bottom rather than the top. Most people have a different way of viewing productivity, where they try to improve a part of the company which is already productive. Jack Welch was able to make GE a powerful company from a different perspective than most other leaders. Internet Sources 1. http://www. epinions. com/content_4565540996? sb=1 2. http://www. refresher. com/! svbfoures. html

Analysis of Seventh-day Adventists Website Assignment - 1

Analysis of Seventh-day Adventists Website - Assignment Example In addition, both websites offer information on the types of assistance that are offered, such as health care and provide publications. I learned that Seventh-day Adventists has global influences with churches, educational programs, health ministries and publications all over the world. The Seventh-day Adventists is a renowned organization, which has set up Bible study groups all over the world known as Sabbath School. It also develops its own materials for use. It has several departments to provide support to the organization, including auditing that ensures financial statements are true and fair and policies compliance are met. As for Jehovahs Witnesses, it also has similar global influences with its members increasing tremendously over the years as more people convert to the religion and become baptized. Even the website is available in hundreds of different languages to cater for different nationalities that share the same belief. Its Bible study can be arranged and conducted at the convenience of your own home. It has branches in several countries that manage resources, memorials, baptism, and congregations. I a lso learned that the topics provided allows one to relate the day-to-day affairs to the teachings of the Bible and by doing so, one can have more spiritual growth. This is especially so for those that are particularly at the lowest points in their lives, in times of crisis, when death occurs to someone dear to them, and even the approach of our own death. As Seventh-day Adventists operates educational facilities in many countries, they believe that church-run schools are equally capable of providing the necessary curriculum. It is said that many parents see a favorable change in their children upon joining such institutions and the group hopes to create more impact on society. On a separate note, Jehovahs Witnesses believe that current events; for instance, the worsening crimes and even global warming that instil fear in many about safety and  the future, are caused by the imperfections of human beings and how governments, by implementing legislation, believe they can address these imperfections and thus, make the world a better place to live in.  

HYPERLIPIDEMIA Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HYPERLIPIDEMIA - Assignment Example The high level of the substance is associated with other life-threatening conditions. An example is hardening of arteries known as atherosclerosis. The hardening is also linked to high chances of one getting heart disease, stroke, and other vascular diseases (Society for Vascular Surgery, 2010). However, the progression of the condition to this rate can be reduced. The significant reduction can occur through lifestyle modifications (Powell, 2010). Such changes may include eating a healthy diet as well as engaging in some exercise. This has been shown to reduce lipid level and acts as a first line form of treatment (Society for Vascular Surgery, 2010). This paper will discuss the Third Report of the Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III) guidelines for the management of hyperlipidemia. Moreover, it will cover the goals for each stage, risk factors that are used to set goals, and gender-specific values. The management of hyperlipidemia majorly relies on the reduction of cholesterol levels in the body. Various guidelines have been put in place in laying specific requirements for attainment of specific cholesterol levels. These guidelines have helped in great length in the management of the condition. The guidelines have been known as Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) written by various experts. The most significant guideline has been ATP III. Numerous trials have been conducted before the implementation of this guideline as a way of improving previous guidelines. Hence, ATP III contains a further recommendation for the management of high cholesterol level (Hoogwerf & Huang, 2015). There is more emphasis in the instruction for the prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients that have several risk factors together with the treatment of secondary prevention (Hoogwerf & Huang, 2015). In the guideline, treatment procedure

The Islands Cuba, Barbados, and the Netherlands Antilles Essay

The Islands Cuba, Barbados, and the Netherlands Antilles - Essay Example Many of the original inhabitants died from diseases that were brought to Cuba by the arriving sailors. The first Spanish settlements were established in Cuba in 1511. This corresponds closely to the first arrival of the Spanish in the Netherlands Antilles in the early 1500s. The Spanish also contacted Barbados in 1536. Spanish conquistadors seized the Caribs on Barbados to be used as plantation slaves and by the time the British settlements arrived in the 1620s, the island was uninhabited. Within 100 years of contact by Spanish explorers, all three native populations had been eradicated or enslaved. During the 1600s, the rule of the islands changed hands from the Spanish to other European countries. Cuba remained a Spanish colony while Barbados was settled as a British colony. The Dutch captured the Netherlands Antilles in the 1600s. Under European colonial rule, all three islands experienced similar situations during the years 1600-1900. During these centuries, all three colonies exploited the sugar market. The large sugar plantations necessitated the importation of slavery. The slave labor was primarily from Africa, though Barbados imported slaves from the Celtic nations of Scotland and Ireland. Slavery was abolished in all three colonies in the middle of the 19th century. ... The descendants of the freed slaves continue to dominate the populations of these islands. Descendants of the Celts that were imported to Barbados are some of the poorest inhabitants there today. During the centuries of large sugar plantations and slavery, the islands were ruled by the monarchies of the Dutch, England, and Spain. Cuba, which had come under Spanish rule, suffered during these years from a repressive rule. Barbados and the Netherlands Antilles were under colonial rule that was less oppressive. The Spanish rule in Cuba resulted in a revolt against Spanish rule in 1898, which ultimately resulted in the Spanish-American war. During this period, Cuba ousted the Spanish and it became an American protectorate. Barbados fared better during this period, but the descendent slave population continued to live outside the mainstream political spectrum. Barbados had disenfranchised the female vote and also had an income qualification to be able to vote. Unrest at the beginning of the 20th century led to massive uprisings by the descendants of former slaves. In 1942, the income qualification was lowered and women were allowed to vote. While the English ruled Barbados was moving towards greater freedom, Cuba was inching into a series of oppressive dictatorships. Fulgencio Batista was the military leader and later President of Cuba beginning in 1933. Batista ruled a corrupt and repressive police state. During his rule, he often silenced his critics through violence, which spawned an organized opposition led by Fidel Castro. Castro's supporters were able to oust Batista in 1959 when he fled the country. At the time, Castro was seen as a pro-democracy movement and self-rule was sweeping the Caribbean nations. In 1954 the Netherlands Antilles had become an

Advanced Copyright and Design Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Advanced Copyright and Design Law - Essay Example o ensure that the owners and creators of both literary and artistic work should benefit from their work for a reasonable duration of time, while also ensuring that their generations also reaps the benefits of the innovation and creation of the work. The provisions of Article 2 of Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works2, states that the creators of artistic and literary work shall enjoy the rights of protection of their created work in the countries member state to union, other than in the country of origin where the artistic and literary copyright protection has been registered. In this respect, the convention provided for the uniform applicability of the right to enjoy the protection of the literary and artistic work that has been created throughout the European Union, without any disparity as regards the exact country for which the copyright has been registered. Further, Article 7(4) of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Wor ks3 provides that unless there is special protection of any artistic or literary work in the country of origin, the work shall be protected as artistic work within the European Union. Therefore, the need to ensure consistency in the protection of the artistic and literary works from being used without the authorization of the owner throughout the European Union is essential. Thus, repealing section 52 of the UK copyright Act was not a mistake but a necessary measure to enhance the benefits obtainable from artistic design protection both by the owners of the artistic designs and the whole society. There are two major reasons why repealing section 52 of the UK copyright act was not a mistake: First, repealing of section 52 of the UK copyright Act seeks to harmonize the copyright benefit enjoyment for the UK artistic design used in mass production, to match with the provisions of the European Union artistic and literary copyright protection. Section 52 of Copyright, Designs and Patents

Public Value and Accessibility of Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Public Value and Accessibility of Art - Essay Example One fact is that it is observable that art allows one to live life happier and lighter. Art can be observed as having played a crucial role in life throughout the ages. It can be described as universal because its presence is seen everywhere, in every country and culture with their own depiction of art. Cave dwellers of prehistoric times used art by drawing on the walls to record history. Religion uses art in recording the life and death of Christ. An artist creates art for a specific reason and purpose, which could be religious, symbolic, customary, traditional or just simply expressive. Whatever the purpose may be, art has been used as a way to express ideas and beliefs. With the question, "does a concern with public value in the cultural sector mean that it should be accessible to all", the answer to this is yes. This position is supported by a number of attempts from a shift of private art museums into making them public and allowing the people to see them. The Louvre is considered a prototypical public art museum that offers civic ritual (Duncan 1995). The Louvre also made public art museums become signs of politically virtuous states. It contributed to the flourishing of the art in public domain that by the end of the 19th century, every western nation had one important public art museum (Duncan 1995). The popularity of public museums had spread in the third world in the 20th century in which military despots and traditional monarchs built them to pay respect to the western values as well as in gratitude to their western military and economic aid (Duncan 1995). It is also said that political advantages go along with public art (Duncan 1995). In Europe, two of the most important public art museums are the Louvre Museum in Paris and the National Gallery in London. The two have different histories and collection yet both of them stand as monuments of the then emerging age of democratic revolutions (Duncan 1995). The cultural value of art is brought more clearly when it is publicized or when the public is allowed to take a view of it. Although in the past, certain works of art were put under censorship and/or created a public stir such as Goya's Nude Maja, these works now are considered an icon of cultural value in which people can study the social condition of the past through them. The government support for the arts can be understood as one in which arts produce cultural benefits while directly enriching artists, art firms, and arts consumers (Frey, 1997). This being said, pursuits for its public value allow for explorations of various possibilities in which they may be further promoted, in which that promotion implies inviting people to view them and making them accessible. Some of the benefits of arts are education, prestige, bequests to future generation, economic development, expressive freedom, and diversity, whose maximization can be realized by making them accessible to all. Through the arts, people may be culturally enriched in a community that involve vital arts sector and supports its undertaking. Despite not having to attend arts events and formal arts studies, the accessibility of arts must be ensured since it provides education through various forms, and people can still obtain education and enhance themselves into

International Business - Multinational Enterprises - Cross Boundary Research Paper

International Business - Multinational Enterprises - Cross Boundary Expansions - Research Paper Example (So & Westward, 2009) By 2007, â€Å"Taobao held 82 percent of the market, according to Analysys International† and eBay sold out of the EachNet venture, maintaining only its www.ebay.cn operations, which were not adopted in a widespread manner for domestic Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) ecommerce transaction in China. (So & Westward, 2009) eBay can also be seen to have failed in the advancement of it PayPal strategy in China, which was surpassed by AliPay in usage by Chinese consumers. What is most striking in these examples is that eBay had the competitive advantages of pre-existing market dominance, brand name recognition, partnership with the dominant ecommerce auction website in China, and still failed in not only maintaining these market positions, but instead became a minority business operator in the Chinese domestic marketplace for online auctions. ... eBay’s failure to respect the local dynamics of Chinese culture and its patterns of internet use, its centralized corporate strategy internationally, as well as its failure to understand the threat of TaoBao to its business model in China all led to the eBay’s cross-boundary expansion strategy internationally being unsuccessful in accomplishing its aims of foreign market establishment, increased company profit, and the creation of long-term shareholder value. eBay – Company History eBay is widely regarded as one of the leading success stories of the Web 1.0 era, or the â€Å"dot-com boom† period in the late 1990’s that saw many internet companies go public with very high amounts of stock market speculation. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and Meg Whitman joined the company in 1998 with prior experience at Hasbro and Harvard Business School. (Gomes-Casseres, 2001) eBay outmaneuvered other web companies such as Yahoo!, Microsoft, and Amazon .com to earn significant revenue from ecommerce sales based on the auction and C2C model. eBay requires listing charges for people to advertise their goods for sale on the site, charges an additional percentage of the sale as a commission, and also receives a service charge from credit card transactions via its PayPal services. The company is the leader in the U.S. online auction market, and went public in 1998. As news sources reported, the company’s stock soared at the time of the IPO, â€Å"shares of eBay went up 163.2 percent† on the first day of trading to close at $47.375 with a market capitalization of $1.9 billion USD. (Kawamoto and Grice, 1998) Today, eBay trades on the NADAQ exchange under the symbol EBAY with a stock

Review of Accounting Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Review of Accounting Ethics - Essay Example Accounting ethics, which are set by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (Audi, 2009). The ethics are contained in the accounting principles that dictate the way businesses should account for their sales, profits, and costs. The principles are known as the International Financial Reporting standards, and these govern mainly public organizations, which are required to publish their annual statements. In the last decade, there has risen cases of bleach of accounting ethics, and this raised questions among investors concerning the effectiveness of the business environment (Kushniroff, 2011). The cases involved organizations such as Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, and Yahoo among others. The rise of these cases triggered the implementation of several regulations in the accounting sector, which include the requirement for accountability and the involvement of the community in dealing with cases that concern bleach of ethics. The accounting environment requires state corporations to reveal their annual statements to the public through the media. The accounting boards require companies also to employ internal and external auditors to verify the annual statements. Business stakeholders such as investors and shareholders are now more aware of business ethics than they were in the last decade. This indicates that the business environment and regulations are conducive for ethical behavior (Kushniroff, 2011). Those who break the rules are individuals who are mainly interested in making personal gains rather than companies. 2. Based on your research, describe the organization, the accounting ethical breach and the impact to the organization related to ethical breach. Tyco is a company that offers fire fighting and prevention equipments to industries such as banking, transportation, health care, and marine in over fifty countries in the globe. Kozlowski, the chief Executive of the Company in 2002, bleached the accounting prin ciples of the firm by assigning himself illegal bonuses worth six hundred million dollars. The executive also used the company’s finances personally by purchasing expensive jewels and organizing private parties (SEC, 2002). The company suffered the loss of finances that were used by the executive to satisfy his personal needs. Tyco also wasted finances when following up the case against the executive; this money would have been used more efficiently had the case not arisen. The organization also lay off numerous workers. These consequences led to the decline in the company’s sales and profits that consequently reduced price of the firm’s stock (Kushniroff, 2011). 3. Determine how the organizational ethical issue was detected and how management failed to create an ethical environment. The case against the CEO of Tyco company was brought to light by Robert Morgenthau, a Manhattan District Attorney in 2002 (SEC, 2002). The attorney discovered the fraud while he was investigating cases of tax evasion against Kozolowski. The investigation of tax evasion had been ordered by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which had discovered that Tyco was settling personal taxes for Kozolowski. Robert disclosed the fraudulent statements that he discovered in the company’s books to the SEC, which then launched further investigations. The management of the company had failed to cover personal expenses with their salaries. The investigation

The Development of Maiolica across Islam and Christian Cultures Research Paper

The Development of Maiolica across Islam and Christian Cultures - Research Paper Example Anthropology, and more importantly archaeology which is a sub-field of anthropology studies the material culture of human civilization. Pottery is one of the more important material possessions for studying ancient cultures because in areas where pottery is found ways exist to date the area, study the meanings of symbols by what is on the pottery, and to discover something about the way in which pottery represents the living culture of that society. Maiolica pottery exists across Islam and Christian cultures. Maiolica is tin-glazed earthenware ceramic that is made opaque because there is an addition of tin oxide in the lead glaze foundation or in its background coat. Lead is no longer used making ceramics because it is an unsafe product. Maiolica has a dense, white glassy covering which does not become liquid when fired. This means that the decorations do not become runny or blurred on the whitish background. When the ceramic piece is fired at a low temperature the decorations become set and the piece has a unique white glow that comes from the tin oxide in the lead glaze (Mussachio 9). Maiolica was transported to Pisa via Majorca, which is likely how the pottery got its name. It was brought in by the Spanish Moors who brought the technique to the Italians in about the 14th century. The first evidence of this technology comes from around the 9th century Baghdad. Islamic pottery of this type began to spread by the 11th century and was used in buildings that were both religious and civic (Figure 1). The Crusaders likely introduced the pottery in Europe as a symbol of their victory over the ‘pagans’.... Eventually this change in trend dominated the pottery market in Europe for more than three hundred years. Figure 1. Friday Mosque of Herat, Afghanistan (Wikipedia). The first complex intended for the production of maiolica was found in Syria from the 8th century BCE. Other centers of ceramic pottery production from Islamic nations include Fustat from 975 until 1075, Damascus from 1100 until 1600 and Tabriz from 1470 until 1550. The addition of the metallic luster occurred in about 850 BCE in Mesopotamia and became spread across the Islamic nations in the 10th century up to the Iberian Peninsula. This technique comes from putting copper or silver into the oxide which is then mixed with ocher and applied to the enameled or glazed surface (Fuga 246). The development of maiolica comes from Islamic attempts to reproduce Chinese porcelain, but they did not have the technology to make their pottery using the high temperatures needed to create porcelain (Cooper 84) (Figure 2). Figure 2 East Persian Maiolica, 10th Century (Wikipedia). The effect of tin-glaze over pottery was an adaptation of the Egyptian use of the clear glaze, but had been invented a thousand years earlier by the Babylonians who had only used it on top of their bricks as there is no evidence of it being used on ceramic pots (Cooper 86). One of the reasons that maiolica was used in Islam households was that the use of precious metals and finery on the table was forbidden from the text of the Qur’an. This use of ornate looking pieces made from ordinary materials overcame this command from the Islamic holy book (Italian Pottery Journal). Figure 3 Hispano-Moresque Maiolica 13th Century

Great Gatsby Essay, Character Corruption Essay Example for Free

Great Gatsby Essay, Character Corruption Essay Throughout the novel of The Great Gatsby corruption is a prevalent and reoccurring theme and lies within most characters. They become overwhelmed with their own self desires and goal to gain material possession that it blocks their true vision of innocence and morality. Daisy for example is introduced into the book as an innocent dedicated wife to Tom but as the book progresses there is an evident change in her character as she becomes increasingly corrupt. By the end of the book Daisy is selfish, destructive and careless as she handles the situation between her husband, Tom, and her ex lover, Gatsby. For example of her being careless, she lets Gatsby take the blame for her killing of Myrtle Wilson which eventually leads to Gatsby’s death which she seems to show no concern. She is destructive by cheating on her husband while having no real intentions of leaving him for Gatsby. Tom from the beginning of the novel was always seen as corrupt when he has an ongoing affair with Myrtle to satisfy his own needs and leave those needs and feelings of Daisy behind him. He focuses more on monetary value of things and his own self appearance than to the care which Daisy requires out of him as a husband. Tom is also a hypocrite in a way when he catches Daisy and realizes what she has been doing behind his back, he becomes fierce and angry with her while at the same time he has been doing the same behind her back for years. Jordan Baker is also extremely corrupt because of her dishonesty and her need to gossip. She is a social climber who will cling to anyone who means anything or has money for her to grasp onto. She will do whatever it takes to win or get her way, as shown when she cheats in her round of golf to win the tournament. Everything she does is for show and has no regard for other people or their feelings. She goes to Gatsby’s parties with no real concern for who he is while showing no gratitude or thanks for having the party. She is constantly looking out for herself and only herself trying to figure out ways in which she can be seen and become popular in the West and East Egg community. When Daisy was having her affair with Gatsby, Jordan supported her and was behind her during the whole thing, another example of corruption within Jordan. The people of West and East Egg are also all corrupt and consumed with themselves. This is shown when Gatsby dies because only two people show up to his funeral Nick and his father. These people attending his parties have no care for him or his house while they’re there and cannot even pay respect to a man that has died and has given every one of them more then he needed to. Gatsby himself is also a corrupt character in the book yet not nearly as blatantly as the others. Gatsby is corrupted by love and his dream to be with Daisy. Everything he’s ever done in his life such as the money he’s made and the parties he throws are for the slightest chance of him becoming reacquainted with his lost love, Daisy. He is constantly being used by everyone in West and East Egg as an outlet to their everyday lives. They have no regard for who he is and nor do they care. The people come and go as if it is routine for these parties and show no thanks to Gatsby. He has no true friends besides Nick in Egg. Gatsby, over the time of becoming rich has become overwhelmed and brought into the world of expensive material things all to impress Daisy, who previously could not be with him because he was not wealthy. All he can do is show that off so that in the slight chance she comes to one of his parties he can show her is wealth and what he has become. Gatsby is so drawn into and brain-washed over Daisy that she is all he can think about and all he sees is that green light across the bay, dreaming of the time when he and Daisy can finally be together again. This dream is crushed though because he cannot compete with Tom. Tom being categorized under ‘old money’ while Gatsby is categorized under ‘new money’ and big distinction in the communities of West and East Egg. He has devoted his life to becoming an exclusive member to the ‘old money’ people in Long Island but will never be able to reach that goal which corresponds to his goal of end up with Daisy. Corruption is an over arching theme throughout The Great Gatsby and all characters seem to reveal it in their own way with the exception of Nick who stays true to his midwest routes. Nick is never consumed in the material world or has the desire for anything greater than which he already has while all the other characters are always greedy and have desire for more things. They are all absorbed in their own world and worries that they have no time to see what others are doing or how they feel which is an easy way to lead to a corrupted lifestyle.

Japanese traditional game

Japanese traditional game Japanese traditional game Introduction Given the task to innovate a Japanese traditional game, we decided to use the Two Ten Jack and create our very own which is much simpler to be played. It uses part of the Uno cards and also a board with numbers to be placed with a bet. In order to continuously win the prizes, we construct the game to be in ways that a player must place a bet that is either same number, or same color that is the taken out from the deck of cards played with. The Two Ten Jack game is played without the dealer and with points deducted and added which in the end, the player with the highest points balance. The next page would be the manual to the game and after that would be the manual to the Two Ten Jack game. Furthermore, a comparison would be made to show the innovation of our game being born. The Game Manual for the Two Ten Jack Preliminaries The object of two-ten-jack is to get the most points by taking tricks containing positive point cards while avoiding tricks containing negative point cards. Two players receive six cards each from a standard 52-card deck ranking0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 and the remaining undealt cards are placed between the players to form the stock. Non-dealer leads the firsttrick and winner of each trick leads to the next. Players replenish their hands between tricks by each drawing a card from the stock with the winner of the last trick drawing first. Play continues until all of the cards in the entire deck have been played. Points are then tallied before the deck is reshuffled and dealt anew. Following, Trumping, and Speculation In two-ten-jack a player may lead any card and the other player must play a card of the same suit if able, or otherwise must play atrump cardif able. If a player has neither cards in the lead suit or trump, then any other card may be played. The highest trump card, or the highest card of the lead suit if no trumps were played, takes the trick In two-ten-jack hearts are always thetrump suit and theace of spadesis a special trump card known asspeculationranking above all of the hearts. Rules for playing speculation are as follows: If a trump (heart) is lead, a player may follow with speculation and must play speculation if no other trumps are held in the hand. If a spade is lead, a player may follow with speculation and must likewise play speculation if no other spades are held in the hand. If a club or diamond is lead and the other player has neither of these, speculation may be played, and must be played if no other trumps are available. A player leading speculation must declare it as either a spade or trump. Scoring and winning Cards are worth the following point values: 2â™ ¥, 10â™ ¥and Jâ™ ¥are worth +5 each 2â™ £, 10â™ £ and Jâ™ £ are worth -5 each 2â™  , 10â™  , Jâ™   and Aâ™   are worth +1 each 6â™ ¦is worth +1 point Hence the total number of card points per deal is +5. Winner is the first player to reach 31 points. Game Manual The number of players required to play this game is one to two players and maximum five players each round Start by placing a single bet. Each bet is place on a number between zero to nine and four different colors Each time six cards would be pulled out from the deck The bet is counted with sweets. Each sweet cost RM1. Each player starts with a sweet The bet with the same color out of the 6 cards drawn will get his money The bet with the same number out of the 6 cards drawn will get win 5 sweet. The bet without same color or same number out of the 6 cards loses 1 sweet. The bet with the same color and same number walks away with Rm50 The bet with same color and same number and also another same number but different color in the six card drawn from the deck walks away with Rm100 Game Rules A player can only place one bet to a number and color per round. Not more than 1 player can bet at a same number and color in each round. A player has to verify his/her choice of bet before the opening of the six cards from the deck. Comparison The amount of cards used in Two Ten Jack is 52 while the game we have created uses 40. Also, the Two Ten Jack is played between players while the game we have created uses a dealer. Besides that, the Two Ten Jack is played with a system of addition and subtraction while we tried to make it compatible by placing bets instead of tricking the other players. Furthermore, the game we have created has been added with little elements of western card game like 21.

Understanding Cultural Diversity In Humans Sociology Essay

Understanding Cultural Diversity In Humans Sociology Essay The three branches of human sciences (Social sciences), Sociology, Anthropology and Psychology are interlinked in that they try to describe the different areas of human life and their relationships to each other. They offer an explanation on human behavior and in the society they live. Furthermore, these social sciences provide essential skills in analyzing the intentions and behavior of individuals and groups they encounter. Individual identity is forged by ones culture, groups, and by institutional influences. Institutions such as families, schools and even churches greatly influence human beings yet these institutions are merely organizations whose aim is to develop the core social values of its constituents. In discussing cultural diversity on the perspectives of the three social sciences there is a need to understand the difference between culture and society. This is because the all the three disciplines explore culture and society to understand human behavior in depth. The term Culture has many different meanings, for some it is the appreciation of art, literature, music and food, while for others like biologists; they take it as a colony of microorganisms growing in a nutrient medium in a laboratory. However for social scientists, culture is the full range of learned human behavior patterns. Cultures are traditions and customs, transmitted through learning and adaptations. Children obtain such traditions by growing up in a certain society, through a process called enculturation. A culture results into a degree of uniformity in behavior and thought among the inhabitants of a particular society (Baugher et. al, 2000, p. 4). The terms culture and society are different as cultures are co nsidered to be complexes of learned behavior patterns and perceptions while society is a group of interacting organisms. Therefore this paper will critically analyze cultural diversity based on the three social sciences, evaluating the social sciences similarities and differences. Discussion Anthropological perspective of culture diversity When it comes to understanding diversity in cultures, the anthropological view can help humanity understand and appreciate the complexity of diverse cultures. This discipline involves the study of biological and cultural origins of the humans. The subject matter of anthropology is wide-ranging, including, fossil remains, non human primate anatomy and behavior, artifacts from past cultures, past and present languages, and all the prehistoric and contemporary cultures of the world. The subfield of cultural anthropology is the most commonly studied and useful in analyzing and interpreting the diverse cultures of the world. In recent years, recognition of the need for multicultural awareness, understanding, and skills has grown in our society. The aim is to achieve multicultural diversity competence, which is a term that refers to the ability to demonstrate respect and understanding, to communicate effectively, and to work with different cultural backgrounds (George Fischer, 1999, p. 71). These diversities in culture encompass differences in gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, social class and physical appearance. Misunderstandings and conflicts in the society are two major consequences of lack of awareness in the ever increasing cultural diversity. Cultural anthropology explains cultural diversity through aspects of social life such as material culture, social organizations, politics, economics, symbolism, change and development, ethnici ty and modern nation-state formation. In explaining and interpreting the diverse cultures, anthropology uses ethnography- describing particular cultures; and ethnology- comparing two or more cultures. In addition it incorporates the holistic approach in cultural studies by studying biological and cultural aspects of human behavior; encompassing the broadest possible time frame by looking at contemporary, historic and prehistoric societies; examining human culture in every part of the world; and studies many different aspects of human culture (George Fischer, 1999, p.68). Cultural diversity is relevant to a cultural approach in learning, in that learning and motivational styles and cross cultural pedagogical strategies assume attention to diversity in learner populations and pluralistic learning outcomes. The data, concepts and insights derived from the study of other cultures helps us meet our professional goals and lead more satisfying lives in a multicultural society. Moreover, the process of studying anthropology is also valuable because of the skills and competencies that it helps to develop. Activities such as taking courses about different cultures, participating in local internships and international organizations, living in the universitys international dormitory, and participating in study abroad programs all combine to provide students with valuable skills in understanding diverse cultures hence achieve multicultural diverse competence. There is a need to come up with a strategy to accept cultural diversity, for example, in the United states of America the freedom to pursue ones individual dream and fortunes in the united states has produced a widening gap between the haves and have-nots. According to Hutnyk, 2006, managing directors in United States of America made forty times as much compared to the average worker in 1973 and three hundred as much in 2004. At the same time, earnings of middle class were growing slightly and those of lower class were actually shrinking. This situation to a European means that the state is working against well being of the population, particularly in light of tax cuts during this period. Another instance is when expressing feelings of affection which is typical for all human. The manner in which the affection is expressed is cultural, the kiss is not universally accepted as a symbol of affection; some societies consider it suggestive of cannibalism. A basic anthropological strategy for understanding other cultures is to look at a cultural feature from within its original context rather than looking at it from the perspective of ones own culture; being inquisitive, non-judgmental, and open to new ways of thinking is vital in understanding other cultures; Balancing contradictory needs instead of trying to eliminate them; emphasize global team work; develop a cognitive complex which is made up of twin abilities of differentiating and integrating; and developing a personal acuity (Naylor, 1997, p. 157). The strategy will not only help you personally in understanding other cultures but assist you in integrating to any culture globally. Sociological perspective on Cultural Diversity Sociology is critical analysis of the society in which humans live. People who make sense of the social world-past, present and future- are referred to as sociologists (Anderson Taylor, 2005, p. 8). Sociologists research on social structures such as class, family, politics, social problems like drug abuse and crime all of which influence the society. Social interaction amongst humans is the basic sociological concept, because all humans and groups that make up a society socialize. Specialists who focus on particular details of specific interactions as they occur daily are called micro sociologists and those that focus on larger patterns of interactions amongst larger sections of the society such as state and economy are called macro sociologists. A society is rarely culturally uniform hence the result of different cultures. As societies develop and become more complex, different cultural traditions appear. The more complex the society, the more likely the culture will be internally varied and diverse. The causes of cultural changes in a society are cultural diffusion, innovation, and imposition of cultural change by outside world (Anderson Taylor, 2005, p. 72). Two concepts from sociology help in understanding complexity of culture in a given society, dominant culture and subcultures. Dominant culture is the culture of the most powerful group in the society. Although it is not the only culture in society, it is commonly referred to be the culture of a society, despite other cultures present. Subcultures on the other hand are cultures of groups whose values and norms of behavior differ from those of the dominant culture. Members of subcultures tend to interact frequently and share a common world view. Sociology stipulates that culture consists of both material objects and abstract thoughts and behavior. Several elements which sociologists consider in understanding culture diversity are language, norms, beliefs and values (Kaufman, 2004, p. 7). Language: Learning the language of a culture is essential to becoming part of a society. Language shapes culture as it provides the categories through which social reality is understood. This was proved by Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Worf in the 1950s through their theory called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. The hypothesis states, it is not that you perceive something first and then think of how to express it, but that language itself determines what you think and perceive (Anderson Taylor, 2005, p. 83). In understanding cultural diversity language is seen to reflect the assumptions of a culture. This is seen and exemplified by: language affecting peoples perception of reality; Language reflecting the social and political status of different groups in society; Groups advocating changing language referring to them as a way of asserting positive group identity; The implications of language emerging from specific historical and cultural contexts; language distorting actual grou p experience; language shaping peoples perceptions of groups and events in society. Norms: They are specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a given situation. Lack of norms in any society results in turmoil however, with established norms people would be able to act, behave and interact in a society properly. In the early years of sociology, William Graham Summer in 1906 identified two types of norms; folkways and mores. Folkways are general standards of behavior adhered to by a group, example wearing pants and not skirts for men. Mores are stricter mores which are seen to control moral and ethical behaviors such as injunctions, legal and religious. Beliefs: They are shared ideas people hold collectively within a given culture, and these beliefs are also the basis of many cultural norms and values, example in USA there is a widespread belief in God. Sociology study belief in a variety of ways, and each theoretical mentation provides different insights into the significance of beliefs for human society. Values: They are abstract standards in a society or group that defines the ideal principles of what is desirable and morally correct, for example in USA equality and freedom are important values which provide a general outline for behavior. Values provide values for behavior, but can also be sources of conflict like the political conflict over abortion. Understanding the four elements of sociology enables proper integration in any society. Integration into the society is achieved by respecting the diverse cultures that are found in a society. Sociology studies culture in a variety of ways, asking numerous questions about the relationship of culture to other social institutions and the role of culture in modern life. The new cultural perspective on culture according to Naylor, 1997, is that it is ephemeral, unpredictable and constantly changing; is a material manifestation of consumer-oriented society; and is best understood by analyzing its artifacts- books, films, television images. Psychological Perspective on Culture Diversity Social psychology a subfield of psychology has its origins in the early years of the twentieth century. Its findings do not necessarily concern human thinking throughout history but rather meet the requirements of our modern society. Social psychology research aims to capture the interplay between social thinking and socio-historical dynamics in order to understand how societies function and how culture is produced (Xenia, 2004, p. 13). Psychology is distinguished from neighboring social sciences through its emphasis on studying samples of organisms within controlled settings rather than focusing upon larger groups, organizations or nations. Psychologists test the specific results of changes in a controlled environment on the individual in that environment, but there are strongly set procedures through which organisms are tested psychometrically. There is a big debate in psychology and more generally in social sciences how to define culture. In some definitions the concept of culture includes behavior, in the sense that our behaviors are expressions of our culture. Other definitions emphasize that participating in a culture means having understanding of our world. However with trying to find a consensual definition of this concept, the main argument of researchers in psychology is to highlight how important it is to take into account the cultural context in which psychological studies were conducted (Kerr Tindale, 2011). They were right to point out that humans are linked to the social context in which they live, proving that psychological functioning and human behavior are universal and culture specific. Sharing a culture means that people have a common way of viewing their relationship with the social and physical environment; of communicating their thoughts and emotions; of prioritizing their activities; of dividing tasks and resources; of attributing values, honors, and power (Xenia, 2004, pp.17-18). When they do not share the above listed elements then culture diversity occurs from a psychological point of view. The people of diverse cultures are not like minded hence the question is, whether individuals from diverse cultures can coexist harmoniously in time space and under the same political and social organizations? The answer to this question provides the idea of how to cope with culture diversity. Various cultures flourish from the recognition that they represent a set of beliefs, modes of thinking and practices that are peculiar to them and different from others. Some cultures are more inclusive example western cultures, others refer to a small group of people for instance the Basque culture, but each one of them is important for its members because they represent the way they construct their social reality, and provides them with action alternatives. Conclusion Culture Diversity has been discussed using the three social science disciplines of Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology. Even though all of them have a similarity of trying to understand culture diversity in humans, they are different in terms of how they approach the study. Anthropology looks at culture diversity at the perspective of humanity, his origin and through aspects of social life such as ethnicity, symbolism, politics, race and so on. Anthropology explains that the origin of culture diversity is through mankind hence the concentration a human perspective. Sociology looks at the society which humans live so as to explain culture diversity. It states that elements such as language, beliefs, norms, and values are what bring about culture diversities. Psychology on the other hand analyses culture diversity with focus entirely on internal factors that influence individuals. Therefore the three social sciences provide an understanding of culture diversity and a basis of respec ting other cultures.

The Madness of Ophelia Essay -- Essays on Shakespeares Hamlet

  Ã‚   In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince Hamlet may act like he is "mad north-northwest", but it is his lover, Ophelia, who is truly mad.   Both lose their fathers at the hands of others and both have loved ones that seem to have turned against them.   Unlike Hamlet, who has revenge, Ophelia ends up having nothing to hold onto.   Her sanity breaks and sends her into a downward spiral, while Hamlet's remains intact.   In this paper, I will show that it is the manipulation by and loss of the two men Ophelia loved most-Hamlet and her father, Polonius-which leads to her madness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There have been many theories offered-especially by psychoanalysists-concerning the cause of Ophelia's madness.   Freudian theorists like Theodor Lidz attribute it to Ophelia's incestuous feelings for her father and her desire for Hamlet to take her away from, or even kill him.   When this actually does occur, Lidz says Ophelia's incestuous feelings drive her mad.   Victorian theorists claimed that Ophelia was a hysteric.   They defined hysteria is a mental breakdown during adolescence, when a girl suffered from sexual instability.   This mental illness was applied to anyone who showed what psychiatrists thought were "Ophelia-like" behaviors, "the same young years, the same faded beauty, the same fantastic dress and interrupted song" (Shakespeare, 230).   Modern day theorists have attributed Ophelia's madness to schizophrenia, which puts the madness into a biochemical framework.   Schizophrenia has been argued to be "an intel ligible response to the experience of invalidation with the family network, especially to the conflicting emotional messages and mystifying double binds experienced by daughters" (Shakespeare, 236).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These theories are lackin... ...ne to hold onto.   What made everything fall apart, and what completely ruined her, was her love for them.      Works Cited Partridge, Eric.   Shakespeare's Bawdy.   New York:   E.P. Dutton & Co., 1969. Shakespeare, William.   Hamlet.   Ed. By Susanne L. Wofford.   Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1994. Wilson, J. Dover.   What happens in Hamlet.   Cambridge: University Press, 1960. Works Consulted Ronk, Martha. "Representations of Ophelia." Criticism 1: 21-43. JSTOR. Web. 22 May 2015. "Hamlet." William Shakespeare: The Tragedies. Paul A. Jorgensen. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985. 47-57. Twayne's English Authors Series 415. Twayne's Authors on GVRL. Web. 22 May 2015. Goddard, Harold. "Hamlet to Ophelia." JSTOR. National Council of Teachers of English, 23 Oct. 2007. Web. 23 May 2015. .

Comparing the Reigns of Julian and Constantius Essay -- Ancient Civil

For a ruler to be successful, certain characteristics must be present in that specific person. There are many variances to the cookie-cut emperor, though they all share similar passions. For instance, while one ruler emphasizes trade routes and commercial power for expansion of their legion, another may emphasize war and destruction only to rebuild their own version of their legion in the place that had been won. Although both rulers have very different manners and ideas about how to expand their empire, both have the same wish to be fulfilled. This kind of contradiction of power and reason is very implemented into the storyline of Julian. Between Julian and Constantius, they both attempt to reform the state religion, but are at polar opposite ends in regards to what they believe in. Although both are somewhat successful during their turn as emperor, both have very distinct ways of unraveling one another's achievements. Beginning with Constantius, his rule is the foundation to the success of Christianity. By making various changes to the structure of rule and deliberate attacks on those who opposed him, the rise of Christianity as the state religion of Rome came into light. One of Constantius' very prominent strategies involved that of eliminating those who showed signs of threatening his authority. Amongst those in elimination, Julian's father, and eventually Julian's brother [who he technically did not have a close relationship with] [pp 16]. Not only did Constantious strike fear in the hearts of his people, but he also implemented bishops and those who held an office like such, into the core of the government. Constantius granted them power and luxuries that would further promote the Christian faith so the image o... ...mpire became a Christian state. Probably due to the lack of force Julian used, there left open spaces for fear to be set in by another ruler more like that of Constantius. Though a valiant effort to restore the old Roman Empire was made, the imminent fate of the empire soon takes hold after Julian's death. Works Cited Vidal, Gore. Julian. Boston: Little Brown, 1964. Print. Cook, Jeremy. "Review of "Julian" by Gore Vidal." We Are Amused. N.p., 28 Mar 2011. Web. 04 Apr 2012. . tristaprez, . "Julian- Gore Vidal Christianity vs. Paganism." Hubpages. N.p., 10 Aug 2006. Web. 01 Apr 2012. . Author Unknown. "Julian | Summary." BookRags. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr 2012. .

Does the term “Bible Belt” still remain true for Southern states? Essay

Does the term â€Å"Bible Belt† still remain true for Southern states? Did Facing the Giants depict religious life in the South accurately? From before I can remember, I was attending church and a part of children’s musicals. Church is like a second home and a huge aspect of my life. Religion is a common ground for many Southerners, and is a place to gather and catch up with one another, while in other parts of the country it tends to be a touchy topic. Religion is one of many aspects that developed the South into what it is known for today. Facing the Giants, by Alex Kendrick, effectively represents the role of religion in the South through the literal translation of the Bible, the role it continues to play in daily lives, and how the South still embodies religious aspects. Facing the Giants is a biblically based movie made by Sherwood Baptist Church of Albany, Georgia about religion and football. The film stars Coach Taylor, a mediocre football coach, for Shiloh Christian Academy Eagles. Everything is falling apart for Coach Taylor: his car continually breaks down, he is the reason his wife cannot become pregnant, and he is on the verge of being fired. With all of these things confronting him, he turns to the Bible, puts his life in God’s hands, and his life dramatically changes . He and the football team decide they are going to play football to glorify God and not necessarily to win; thus, whether they win or lose, they will glorify God. This change impacts the players, which in turn impacts the school, and a revival transpires. The Eagles play their next football game and win. They continue to win and make it to the semi-final round of the state playoffs. Sadly they lose in the semi-finals to the Panthers but still gl... ...characteristic traits of religion in the South and does a great job at giving insight to the significance and importance it has in the culture. As times are shifting and cultures are changing, the one thing that remains constant in the South is religion. Works Cited Facing the Giants. Dir. Alex Kendrick. Perf. Alex Kendrick, Shannen Fields, and Jason McLeod. Sony, 2006. DVD. Hook, Wade F. "Religious Regionalism: The Case Of Lutherans In The South." Review Of Religious Research 27.1 (1985): 77. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Feb. 2012. Wilson, Charles Reagan. "Religion In The Southern States: A Historical Study." Religious Studies Review 16.3 (1990): 205-210. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. Web. 6 Feb. 2012. Wilson, Charles Reagan and Mark Silk. Religion and Public Life in the South in the Evangelical Mode. Oxford: AltaMira Press, 2005. Print.

Women and Depression

Depression is currently the fourth most common cause of disability worldwide (Culbertson, 1997). With depression being such a large issue in society, it cannot be looked at as a â€Å"one size fits all,† particularly when it comes to examining gender differences associated with mental health disorders (Smith and Jaffe, 2012). There are many social causes prevalent in society, varying by gender, which contributes to the risk of being diagnosed with depression or the rate to which they experience depression.Depression is the leading cause for disability in women and they are roughly twice as likely to experience depression as men. Some reasons for this may be that women tend to dwell on their problems, they experience victimization and they also must deal with the effects that estrogen has on the stress hormone and menstrual cycle. Men’s experiences with depression have not been as well understood as women’s. Although women may be diagnosed more then men, it does n ot mean that men suffer any less; they often suffer in silence.With the social constructions of what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman, it has created an atmosphere in which it negatively affects the willingness to seek help or treatment and the diagnosis of mental illnesses relating to health and health care. There is evidence to suggest that men are just as vulnerable as women to depression and for the same reasons that make women depressed but they remain undiagnosed and untreated (Zartaloudi, 2011). Men on average are less willing to seek help but are more reluctant to seek help in the case of depression.There are a larger number of men compared to women who suffer from problems closely related to depression such as alcohol and drug abuse and the suicide rates in men are very high. According to Real, â€Å"women are more likely to be diagnosed with depression than men because many health professionals, as well as family members and friends, may find it easier to diagnose women with depression more than men because of the fear of the stigma and shame surrounding depression for men, a disorder which is regarded as emotional and not a manly illness. (Real, 1997) So in society it is hard to diagnose depression in men because they have a harder time admitting that they have it. With that being said, the social roles that we have created for both men and women create the need for different treatment options and care that will ultimately lead to the same result; successfully treating depression. The social conditions of life and the differences that are presented for individuals create different health care needs for everyone. The health care system often fails to address these differences and in doing so, it can often reinforce the inequalities (Payne & Doyal, 2010).It is important to recognize the different social processes present in society if the health care system is going to respond to the needs of individuals. Men are known to use heal th care services less than women, which can relate to men’s shorter life expectancies. So this leads to the problem of men not wanting to seek health care, as they want to look masculine and adhere to the gender role that society has created. These generalizations can be very harmful to both men and women as they can often affect the action one may take.For example, men also tend to wait longer to seek health care, as they do not use the services as much as women (Payne & Doyal, 2010). So in the case of depression, if men tend to wait longer, it could lead to alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide. One is held accountable for every action they perform to be appropriate to the sex category they adhere to. Because the rate of depression is about two times greater for women than men, depression can often be framed as a ‘women’s issue’ and therefore men do not want to admit to being depressed.Women also react differently as they are more likely to change their app etite, become emotional and lose weight where as men tend to turn to alcohol and drugs which can lead to further complications (Zartaloudi, 2011). Although women are more likely to attempt suicide and there are more reported cases of women attempting to kill themselves, men are reported to have a higher death rate by suicide than women. Men have a very high rate of suicide; they are about three to four times more likely to kill themselves regardless of their age.Men are also more likely to commit suicide because they tend to act quicker on their thoughts and use more lethal methods such as guns (Mayo Clinic, 2011). Men often times will try to live up to the standards of masculinity that society has created. It has been hypothesized that men can experience a loss of psychological well-being while trying to achieve the masculine goals related to the gender roles that have been created. Men may also make themselves feel better by relying on avoidance and coping in ways such as distract ion, social diversion, denial and disengagement (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1999).Men often fail to recognize depression, not realizing that some of their symptoms are those of depression. They also down play their sign and symptoms of depression and often do not want to talk about what they are feeling where as women are more likely to seek medical help or turn to family and friends (NIMH, 2011). When looking specifically at women and depression, it can be noted that women suffer in different ways then men due to different social causes they experience.Looking at the cultural roles and how they affect both men and women, women have always been viewed to have unequal power and wealth. With lower incomes, women are more likely to live in poverty and stress about housing and access to health care resources (Mayo Clinic, 2010). Minority women face racial discrimination as well which can lead to lower self-esteem and can contribute to feelings of depression. As well, women who were emotionally, se xually or physically abused as children are more likely to be depressed as adults.Women are also more likely to be sexually abused (Weiss, 1999). Overall depression will continue to affect both and men and women in different ways and it is important to address this issue to ensure that both men and women are getting the correct diagnosis and treatment that is necessary. Although there are many factors that contribute to an increased risk of depression such as death, divorce, job loss or any major changes, it is important to look at social causes that affect women differently than men.There are many specific risk factors for mental disorders that disproportionately affect women which include gender based violence, socioeconomic disadvantage, low income and income inequality, low or subordinate social status and unremitting responsibility for the care of others (WHO, 2012). The high rate of sexual violence present in our society which women are exposed and the correspondingly high rat e of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder result in women being the largest group of people affected by depression.According to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, â€Å"Half of all women in Canada have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16,† (CWF, 2012). Having experienced sexual or physical violence can lead to an increased risk in experiencing depression for both men and women, although women are at a higher risk due to a higher rate of experiencing violence. Often, the social construction of gender leads to the view of women being inferior to men and so men view themselves as having control over women and can often result in physical or sexual violence.Some often wonder if men are at the same risk for experiencing violence but the Canadian Women’s Foundation states that 83% of all police-reported cases of domestic violence are against women and that remains the same throughout every province in Canada, (CMF, 2012). It ha s also been reported that one in five women suffer rape or attempted rape in their lifetime, (WHO, 2012). Living with the fear of being raped or experiencing rape also contributes to the increased risk of depression among women. Women often are humiliated to share their experience with anyone and often do not disclose information unless asked directly by a doctor.Men too are reluctant to share their experiences of violence as we have created a social stigma in which men are not to express such emotional feelings and so the violence goes unreported. Violence against women then, may contribute to the reason as to why women are the largest single group affected by depression. Another social cause of depression among both men and women but specifically women is low socioeconomic standing. The higher prevalence of depression among women can be associated with their socioeconomic position, stress processes and role of social support (Warrell, 2012).Reports continue to show that women that live in poverty or with a love economic status show higher rates of depression than women who live in a higher economic standing. The stress of struggling economically can often times play a big role in the emotional toll it takes on a person, specifically women. A reason why women are at a higher risk of depression and suffering long-term is that they are exposed to greater amounts of stress (Warrell, 2012). Women often have responsibilities both at work and within the home as they are often stereotyped as the ‘house-wife’, responsible for most of the duties within the home.Socioeconomic status and the struggle for women to deal with major stressors that relate contribute to the high rate of depression among women. Society has created many stereotypes around gender and how males and females should act. Men are seen as the powerful, dominant type who should have the control and the power within society. Men who show emotions and express feelings associated with the fem ale stereotypes are often looked down upon. Women are seen as the emotional, fragile beings that are emotional and as a result are inferior to men.Although we are working as a society to break down these stereotypes, they are still prevalent and we must find ways to cope with them. Looking specifically at depression, women often feel as though they are inferior to men and that they are unequal within society; this may contribute to feelings of depression. There are many ways for the issue of depression to be addressed. One of the most important ways for this issue to be addressed is for it to be talked about and have fewer stigmas attached to it. Many people view depression and mental illness as a negative thing and therefore much stigma comes attached to the diagnoses of depression.Men, who already have a hard time going to get help when they need it, are even less likely to reach out for help if they will be labeled as weak and treated differently if their condition becomes public knowledge. As mentioned above, if society would take a step back and not put so much emphasis on hegemonic masculinities and make it more socially acceptable for men to show emotion and not have negative repercussions when coming to terms with their mental illness, more men would feel comfortable speaking out about their illness and hopefully actively seek treatment.One way that this stigma is approached is how Bell Canada has created a campaign to help eliminate the stigma attached to depression and mental illness. They offer some interesting statistics that are quite troubling in regards to the problem of mental health and its funding: mental health does not receive the funding relative to the need because mental illness represents 15% of health care troubles; however, they only receive 5% of funding.Another startling statistic provided was that only one-third of Canadians who need mental health services actually receive them. (http://letstalk. bell. ca). Another initiative that has been created to help spread awareness about mental health issues is the Canadian Population Health Initiative. This initiative has seen very positive outcomes in how mental health is treated, promoted and viewed in Canadian society. Many new initiatives and policies have been created in the past 20 years to help address the issues that are faced in the public sector of mental health.Some of the positive changes that have been made include: The creation of the Mental Health Promotion Unit in 1995 to promote health public policy for mental health, in 1996 a new holistic definition of mental health was created to demonstrate that mental health is a â€Å"multi-faceted nature of health and moved beyond disease-oriented understandings† (Ottawa: CIHI, 2009) and in 2007 the creation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada that was to help people living with mental illness get treatment as well as promote positive mental health promotion across the nation (Ottawa: CIHI, 2009).B y the creation of these old and new initiatives and policies, there is more attention being given to the issue of mental health and a reduction of the stigma attached to it. Education is the best way to understand something and if the country is educated on the issues, they will be less likely to rely on old stereotypes to categorize people who suffer from mental illness. I believe that depression is a major issue present within society and we must find ways to break down the gender stereotypes in order for both males and females to feel comfortable talking about it.I believe that it is important to look at how we can address this issue as women are suffering at a higher rate than men while men are suffering in silence, without help from anyone. Depression must be viewed as an illness that is okay to talk about and okay to get help for. Depression is common in society and no one is ever alone when dealing with depression and the feelings associated with it. It is scary to think that two thirds of people suffering are not receiving any help.People suffering need not be ashamed of what they are going through and should be eager to seek the proper treatment when needed. As a society, we must break away from the gender stereotypes associated with gender and understand that depression is an illness that both men and women suffer from. We need to continue to use campaigns and initiatives to show people that they are not alone and that it is nothing to be ashamed of. Women are at a higher rate of experiencing depression as they are affected differently by social causes that are present within our society.In recent times, we have been trying to put to rest the idea that men are superior to women as every human being should be considered equal and capable of doing the same things within society. If everyone is considered as equal, it may lead to a decrease in violence against women and people of color may not feel oppressed by other members of society. If this is possi ble, women’s risk of experiencing depression may decrease and it may no longer be viewed as a women’s illness.It can be concluded that although men and women both suffer from depression and feel some of the same emotions, the way they experiencing depression differs greatly due to the social causes we see in society today. Bibliography References Canadian Institute of Health Information, Improving the Health of Canadians: Exploring Positive Mental Health (Ottawa: CIHI, 2009). Canadian Women’s Foundation, The facts about violence against women. 2012. Retrieved on November 20th, 2012 from < http://www. canadianwomen. org/facts-about-violence> Culbertson, F. (1997).Depression and Gender; an international review. American Psychology, 25-35. K. , B. B. (2012). Diagnosis and treatment rates for depression in older adults have grown overtime, with medication edging out therapy. AHRQ Research Activities, (379), 21-22. Logan, J. , Skopp, N. A. , Karch, D. , Reger, M. A. , & Gahm, G. A. (2012). Characteristics of Suicides Among US Army Active Duty Personnel in 17 US States From 2005 to 2007. American Journal Of Public Health, 102S40-4. doi:10. 2105/AJPH. 2011. 300481 Mayo Clinic Staff. (2010). Depression in women: Understanding the gender gap.Mayo Foundation for medical Education and Research, 1-3. Nolen-Hoeksema, S. , Larson, J. , Grayson, C. (1999). Explaining the gender difference in depressive symptoms. Social Psychology. 77(5): 1061-72. Payne, S. , & Doyal, L. (2010). Re-visiting gender justice in health and health care. In E. Kuhlman, and E. Annadale (Eds. ), The Palgrave handbook of gender and healthcare (pp. 21-35). Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan. Smith, M. , & Jaffe, J. (2012). Depression in Women: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment. The Help Guide. Waller, E. 2012) Socioeconomic Position and Major Mental Disorders. Oxford University Press. Retrieved on November 19th, 2012 from: < http://epirev. oxfordjournals. org/content/26/1/53. full> Weiss e t Al. (1999). Childhood sexual abuse as a risk factor for depression in women. American Psychiatry, 816-28. World Health Organization, Mental Health: Gender and women’s mental health. 2012. Retrieved on November 20th, 2012 from: < http://www. who. int/mental_health/prevention/genderwomen/en/> Zartaloudi, A. (2011). What is men’s experience of depression? Health Science Journal, 182-187.

Assessment of Vulnerability and Adaption to Climate Change

ASSESSMENT OF THE VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTION TO CLIMATE CHANGEQUESTIONNAIRE No.INTERVIEWEE NAMEINTERVIEWED DATE____/____/2014Part A: Family Information 1. Name of interviewee: ____________________________________________________Male ___ Female____ 2. Relation to the family held: ____________________________________ Telephone: ____________________ 3. Religion a. Islam _______ b. Christian__________ c. Others _______ 4. Name of small town: 1. Kipini _______________ 2. Ozi ___________________ 3. Kilelengwani ____________ Part B: Composition OF HOUSEHOLD AND HUMAN CAPITALFamily memberPresently present ( P/A )Gender ( M/F )Age ( old ages )Marital position ( 1. Married 2. Unmarried 3. OthersEducation degree 0 – none 1. Primary 2. Secondary 3. High school 4. Certificate/Diploma 5. Bachelor 6. MaestroCondition of wellnessTechnical accomplishmentsNumber of yearss in the past 12 months unable to transport out support activitiesNameNumberPart C. PHYSICAL AND NATURAL CAPITALName of Rhizophora mangle related physical capitalMeasureValue at market monetary valueObservations/ notesPart B. ( PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES ) OF YOUR FAMILY ( KEY NATURAL RESOURCE DEPENDENT LIVELIHOOD ACTIVITIES ) 1. What is your family’s chief beginning of income? ( What is your family’s cardinal support? ) — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — – 2. Could you delight name the other beginnings of income, in order of importance?Livelihood/jobWhereRating3. Calendar of support activities:Support activitiesJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSeptOctNovDec4. Please rate the importance ( value ) of natural resources ( Rhizophora mangles ) in to your support and day-to-day life:Natural resourceImportance5. Changes ( e.g. , Total country, location and quality ) of natural resources that relate to your support from 2000 up to nowNatural resourceChanges in 2000 – 2011AreaLocationQuality6. Make your family own a house? 1. Yes 2. No 7. If yes, what is the current market value ( Kshs ) _________ 8. How many roomw does the house have _______________ Family ACTIVITIES AND ASSOCIATED FINANCIAL CAPITALFamily memberBeginning of incomeEstimate of clip invested ( days/ twelvemonth )Estimate of income degree ( Kshs/yr )1.2.FisheriesAgribusinessAgricultural labourerCattle/ domestic fowl rise upingBusinessOccupationSelling firewood3. OthersInterest from deposited moneyInterest from money loaningRentSocial security benefitsOthers ( relations, contribution )OtherSocial capital C. NATURAL HAZARD RISKS, HUMAN IMPACTS AND RESPONSE 10. Make you retrieve, in the past 10 old ages, that your local community experienced any natural jeopardies or unusual conditions conditions ( delight grade X on the months that it happened ) ?JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSeptOctNovDecHigh temperature ( warm )DroughtsFloodTidal inundationLow temperature ( cold )Other unusual jeopardies11. Compared to the past 10 old ages, how have the usual conditions conditions changed?JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSeptOctNovDecHigh temperature ( warm )DroughtsFloodTidal inundationLow temperature ( cold )Other unusual jeopardies12. In the past 10 old ages, did your community experience any troubles ensuing from authorities ordinances on land/crops/hydro-construction or were there any self-generated activities of local occupants that affected the area’s support ( please list in the tabular array below ) ?Factors/ causesLivelihood/agricultural production theoretical accountDamage13. Loss in production and day-to-day life due to unusual conditions conditi ons in the past 10 old ages,JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSeptOctNovDecPoor harvestsLack of imbibing H2OCattle diseasePlant diseasesHuman diseasesHouse harmLosing occupationPlease explicate harm causes? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ 14. Loss in production and day-to-day life due to presently unusual conditions conditions?JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSeptOctNovDecPoor harvestsLack of imbibing H2OCattle diseasePlant diseasesHuman diseasesHouse harmLosing occupationPlease explicate harm causes? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Respondents will be asked to name the types and Numberss of conditions and clime events impacting them and so name down their impact degrees. Three different impact degrees will be used: Increased, Stable and Decreas C. HOUSEHOLD HISTORY 1. Is the above reference family head’s birth topographic point? Yes ( 1 ) / No ( 0 ) If no go inquiry 2 ; if yes go inquiry 4. 2. When have your family migrated? 3. From where have you come here? ( Village: Union: Upazila: ) 4. Why did your family move to this small town? 5. When did your ain family start? 6. Please reference all the old economic activities of your familyYear ( from, to )Previous economic activitiesReason for altering occupation/activitiesObservation/notesAppendix B – Checklists for Oral History Interviews Purpose Oral history interviews were used to garner in-depth information on impacts, responses ( both short- and long-run ) and restraints to responses to climatic dazes and emphasiss of families and their supports in each community. Common checklists for the families of all three survey communities How climatic dazes and emphasiss impact your family ( negatively or positively ) both inland and at sea? Dazes and emphasiss include: – cyclones – inundations – sea degree alterations – land eroding, and – fluctuations in temperature and rainfall – others Impacts on – support capital assets, – substructure, societal services, markets, transforming constructions and procedures, – support activities and schemes ( piscaries or non-fisheries related ) and – overall supports. How you tackle these, both in the short-run and in the longer-term? What things facilitate or constrain while undertaking these? What things help most while undertaking these and how? What things constrain most while undertaking these and how? What are the tendencies ( both frequence and strength ) in the above dazes and emphasiss? What have you learned from the above? In future how are you traveling to undertake these? How can others, outside your families, aid undertake these? – 229 – Extra checklists for the families of Kutubdia Para Why and how did your family migrate? Why did you migrate to Kutubdia Para? Why did you non migrate to other topographic points? Which factors influenced you to travel? Was there any support from non-government beginnings? Was there any support from authorities? How did migration impact your life? What things and how helped or constrained you go oning or bettering your life here? Can you state whether migration is/was a successful or unsuccessful scheme? How is your life traveling to be here in future? Extra checklists for the families of Kutubdia Island Could you speak about the history of your colony here? Why did your family non migrate? Which factors influenced your family non to travel from Kutubdia Island to Kutubdia Para or to other mainland countries? What have been the impacts of non traveling on supports / flights / passages taking topographic point? Do you believe that your family has taken the right determination non to migrate? Is your family more or less successful in relation to livelihood than the families who hold migrated? What are your household’s future programs – migration or remaining on the island? If staying, so how will your family tackle future climatic emphasiss and dazes? How could your current supports be improved? If migration, so how will your family overcome the limitations of migration? How can others, outside your household aid you in migration?

How Far Should We Curb The Freedom Of Individuals? Essay

There are many facets of freedom, and in my essay, I will discuss many of these such as freedom of speech, freedom of beliefs and freedom of actions. When it comes to rights and freedoms there is a paradox because without responsibilities we have no rights and without restrictions we have no freedom. But what exactly is freedom? The dictionary defines freedom as; ‘1. personal liberty, as from slavery, serfdom etc. 2. liberation, as from confinement or bondage, 3. the quality or state of being free, esp. to enjoy political and civil liberties, 4. exemption or immunity: freedom from taxation, 5. the right or privilege of unrestricted use or access: the freedom of a city, 6. autonomy, self-government, or independence, 7. the power or liberty to order ones own actions, 8. Philosophy, the quality esp. of the will or the individual of being unrestrained, 9, ease or frankness of manner: she talked with complete freedom, 10. excessive familiarity of manner, 11. ease and grace, as of mo vement. I will begin with the individual right to freedom of speech. We all take for granted that we have freedom of speech, but some places such as Communist China have heavy limits on the freedom the individual has to express their opinion. For example, in 1991, in Tiananme Square, many Chinese students objected to this heavily censored regime and there was uproar that led to the death of many students, one even being ran over by a tank. All that for freedom of speech. In Britain, we have freedom of speech to an extent, in fact compared to China, we have huge freedom, it is a liberty we take for granted. But should we have that much freedom of speech? Here is an example; there is a political party that has headquarters near you. The leaders of this party believe that all people whose lineage goes back to other countries should be returned to that country and only white Christians should remain living in Britain. Members of this party pass out leaflets to students from the local secondary school on their way home. Should these individuals freedom of speech be maintained? The answer is that we can’t stop people expressing their opinion. If their freedom is maintained and they continue to spread their racist propaganda, then the leaflets could persuade the children who read them to be violent towards other races. (Scenario came from AS Guru website). If the freedom of speech is taken from these individuals then how do we ensure our own freedom of speech will be maintained? What if someone disagrees with us? The reality is that we do have freedom of speech and we can’t be stopped expressing our opinions, but in some circumstances, the freedom should be curbed to ensure people aren’t offended or hurt by another person. Another individual freedom we take for granted in Britain is freedom to choose what religion we are part of or to what extent we take our beliefs. For example, Hindus have no choice about their religion because they are born into Hinduism. But most people living in Britain can decide whether they want to be Christian, Jewish, Buddhist etc. But should we be allowed to do that? Many people join cults in this country and other ‘free’ states such as America and as a result can be convinced to commit suicide in extreme cases. For example, there have been many mass suicides as a result of cult leaders instructing their vulnerable followers to do so. An example of this sort of incident is the megalomaniac Reverend Jim Jones case. In November 1978 he ordered the 911 members of his cult to drink cyanide poison after brainwashing them. In cases such as this, should the right of the individual be maintained to allow them to join a cult, or should we intervene and stop them joining in the first place? We can argue that in this kind of case the freedom of the individual should be curbed for their own safety, but in reality if we heavily curbed the freedom for one thing, maybe it would have to be curbed for other individuals for different rights they hold. I believe that everybody has the right to freedom of conscience; freedom of religion and spiritual practice, and to exercise them both publicly and privately because everyone is different and the extent and exact details of their beliefs as a result will be different. I do think though that when it becomes as obsessive as cults that perhaps somebody should intervene, if only for the individuals’ safety. When we think of our freedom to act however we feel, we think we have full freedom to conduct ourselves however we please. This is not the case though. We do not have the freedom to murder, rape or beat other people whenever we please. If we commit an offence such as this then we are charged and in some cases, imprisoned. Should offenders have their personal freedom removed as a punishment? My personal opinion is that if somebody has committed an offence severe enough to be placed in prison, then yes, their physical freedom should be taken from them. A personal liberty such as being able to walk down the street being removed, to me, is a good enough punishment. However, sometimes, people have their freedom removed against their will. For example, they are taken hostage. Their liberty is forcefully taken away and so their freedom is curbed. This links to terrorists, because it is usually terrorists who take hostages. What gives terrorists the right to remove a person’s freedom? What gives a terrorist the right to fly a plane into a building full of people, knowing they are going to cause mass devastation such as in the recent attack on the USA? Shouldn’t their freedom have been curbed to prevent such a huge loss of life such as in that attack? But there is only an extent as to how much we can curb their freedom to express their opinion. The fact that they chose to express their feelings in such a violent and extravagant manner suggests that individual freedom should be curbed to avoid anything such as horrific happening again, but most people, no matter how they felt, wouldn’t show their opinion like that. Perhaps people should feel that they don’t have the individual freedom to commit such a terrible act and then nothing like such as the American attacks. On the subject of freedom of actions, we don’t have the freedom to decide whether or not we pay taxes. For example, where would we finance all of the public services that taxes pay for if they didn’t exist or if individuals decided not to pay them? Taxes are spent on the National Health Service, the Police Force, Fire Service and Roadwork for example. If people didn’t pay these taxes then we would have to pay for hospital treatment and to see a doctor etc like in Europe. Street lighting would not be funded and we’d walk down dark streets and roads would be full of potholes and have other problems. Peoples’ freedom of choice therefore is curbed, and I think rightly so because otherwise the services we take for granted would simply not exist. So after looking at the arguments for and against the curbing of individual freedom, I personally believe that it should be curbed in a lot of ways for both the good of the individual and the others around them. Yes, we should be able to freely express our opinion, but in a civilised manner, and we should be free to conduct ourselves in our own ways as long as those methods we use don’t hurt other people.

Medicare and Medicaid Essay

Medicaid and Medicare are two different government programs. Both programs were created in 1965 to help older and low-income families be able to buy their own private health insurance. These programs were part of President Lyndon Johnson’s â€Å"Great Society† plan, a commitment to helping meet the needs of individual health care. They are social insurance programs, which allow the financial load of patient’s illnesses to be shared by other healthy, sick, wealthy, and lower income individuals and families. Medicaid insurance covers approximately 60 million Americans, according to their income. Medicaid is larger than any other single private health insurance program. The criteria for participating would include those who are unable to work due to disabilities, anyone who receives Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), as well as single, pregnant women who fall below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). In 2011, the FPL for a family of four was set at $22,350 . This amount is updated yearly. Medicaid also helps those who are part of the Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI) program (Mann, 2012). Funding for Medicaid comes from the government as well as each state’s department of SSI. They are also responsible for administering funds. In the other hand, Medicare is a federal government program that offers individual health care insurance to those who are 65 or older, and/or have a disability, no matter what their income level. Taxes that are deducted from one’s payroll helps pay for the Medicare program. Medicare is intended to benefit seniors, younger people with specific disabilities, and people with end stage renal disease. The Medicare program has four parts; Parts A, B, C, and D. The social security department pays for a portion of Part A. Part A helps pay for inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing care, hospice care and other services. Part B is paid for by the monthly premiums of people enrolled and by general funds from the U.S. Treasury. It helps pay for doctors’ fees, outpatient hospital visits, and other medical services and supplies that are not covered by Part A. Part C (Medicare Advantage) plans allow you to choose to receive all of your health care services through a provider organiz ation. These plans may help lower your costs of receiving medical services, or you may get extra benefits for an additional monthly fee. You must have both Parts A and B to enroll in Part C. Part D (prescription drug coverage) is voluntary and the costs are paid for by the monthly premiums of enrollees and Medicare. Unlike Part B in which you are automatically enrolled and must opt out if you do not want it, with Part D you have to opt in by filling out a form and enrolling in an approved plan. The history of Medicare began decades ago in 1945, when President Harry Truman had a vision that Americans should have affordable health care. He fought for the idea, but it was an idea before its time. Medicare is a health care insurance program, which put simply is overseen by the United State Federal Government. Today the chain of acronyms, which oversee Medicare, leads to Health and Human Services, HHS, and the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services, CMS. In 1945 Harry Truman was called a socialist. Today the same label has been pinned on President Obama. Perhaps the real question might be how does a country provide all of its citizens and residents health care without some level of socialism? In 1965 when Lyndon Johnson was President, he signed into law Medicare and Medicaid, which is a program that offers assistance to the indigent population. Ironically, the first person to enroll in Medicare was the former President Harry Truman. Over the following years, from 1965 to present, the provisions of Medicare have expanded. In 1972 benefits for speech therapy, physical therapy and chiropractic visits were added. This was also the year that payments to health maintenance organizations were added to the potential benefits. It was 1982 when hospice benefits were added on a temporary basis. Hospice became a permanent benefit in 1984. The next big change came in 1997 when Medicare added a Part C, Medicare Plus Choice which translates as health insurance programs offered by private companies but approved by Medicare. When Medicare first went into effect the monthly premium for Part B, medical insurance, was three dollars. As it stands today in year 2010, Part A, hospital premium, is $254 to $461 per month. Part B, the medical insurance portion, is $96.40 for those individuals whose income does not exceed a certain amount. There are also multiple co-pays and carve-outs, which further increase the cost to the patient. The ceiling restrictions put on various costs, such as the daily allotment for hospital stays and skilled nursing facilities, often do not fully cover the patient’s expenses. Today, Medicare recipients must carefully review their Medicare benefits and compare and contrast them with their private insurance. Some providers do not take new Medicare patients. There are benefits that are the responsibility of the Federal government, and others that belong to the State government. It is a challenge for elderly patients to even understand their benefits. Medicaid and Medicare both play important parts in paying for health care for seniors. They are, however, very different. There are many details, but here are three big differences. Variability: First, Medicare is more or less the same in every state, but Medicaid rules vary widely state by state. You must know which state a senior is living in, before you can decide whether they are eligible for Medicaid, for example. Eligibility: The second difference is eligibility. All seniors who paid into the Social Security system are eligible for Medicare. By contrast, Medicaid is a welfare program, so that a senior must have low income and limited assets in order to qualify. Those income and resource limits vary by state. Usually seniors apply for Medicaid through a local Medicaid office or begin the application process with the help of a nursing home or other facility’s staff member. Coverage: The third difference is coverage. Medicare currently pays for 80% of the cost of doctors and hospitals. Congress is now considering whether to add coverage for prescriptions. Medicare will pay for part of nursing home costs during the first 100 days after a hospital stay, but not otherwise. By contrast, Medicaid provides the majority of funding of nursing home residents in the nation. Often a senior enters a nursing home with certain assets and has to pay for the cost of care until they run out of money. Then Medicaid steps in and pays for the remaining part of the nursing home stay. If the senior is married, the spouse not living in the nursing home gets to keep a modest amount of income and resources in order not to be impoverished. Currently, all states must allow a spouse to keep at least $1,383 of the monthly family income and at least $16,824 of non-exempt resources. Certain resources are exempt, of which the most important is their principal residence, if they own it. It is possible to transfer certain assets to other family members, but the rules are strict and vary by state. You may also be able to obtain Medicaid-funded services for the senior in his/her home. Eligibility requirements vary by state. The varying structures of Medicaid and Medicare health care plans have resulted to conflicting incentives with respect to dual eligibility in beneficiaries without coordinated care. The main interest of both health care plans is to cut medical costs and none of the plans has an incentive that accounts for the quality of health care services offered. Medicare program is run by the federal government and individuals who are eligible for the program are those above 65 years of age, irrespective of their earning and young individuals who are disabled and have qualified for Social Security’s disability. Medicaid on the other size is a health care plan run by the state and provides insurance cover for all income-based employees of all ages. One of the key strengths of both plans is that that they give individuals a chance for dual eligibility. It is essential to offer extensive acute as well as long-term health care services for dually eligible beneficiaries of both Medicaid and Medicare. One major weakness of Medicare is the fact that it does not provide insurance cover for services like acute care dental, transport services and vision services. The major service that is not covered by Medicare is long-term care. Moreover, it majorly covers for the elderly and does not serve the population that is below 65 years. Medicaid on the other part has a weakness in that it is more costly compared to Medicare. Moreover, unmarried patients must be financially broke in order to qualify for Medicaid. It is however evident that all services that are not covered by Medicare are paid by Medicaid h ealth program. Medicaid and Medicare have been the principal means through which a large portion of the population gains access to health care in the United States. It is however evident that Medicaid is more committed toward promoting health care access compared to Medicare. In the year 1960, about ten million United States’ citizens were enrolled in Medicaid. This number has gradually increased and currently, the program covers a total number of citizens exceeding forty one million. The minimal commitment of Medicare is owed to the fact that there has been no primary expansion of eligibility requirements from the 1970s. A good example of Medicaid expansion program that has led to increased accessibility to health care is the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. This program provides insurance cover to children from low-income families. With the ever-rising costs of health care, both Medicare and Medicaid health plans are struggling to establish equilibrium between access expansion and cost regulation. A major similarity between both plans is that the government funds them and they work in partnership to provide health care costs cover to the poor and elderly population. The cost growth risk is one of the consumer risks associated with both Medicare and Medicaid health care plans. Inadequate health care services, is a consumer risk associated with Medicaid. With the increasing number of insured patients, there are inadequate primary care doctors. Physicians in majority of the states are discouraged by Medicaid health care plan. It is therefore common for individuals covered by Medicaid plan to report poorer health condition compared to the uninsured and those covered by private programs. A feature associated with Medicare program is prohibiting doctors from receiving health care payment that is more than the amount supposed to be paid by Medicare beneficiaries. It is thus not surprising to find some physicians refusing to provide health care services to Medicare patients on the grounds that the program pays an amount that is less than the costs. Fraud and waste, is another consumer risk that is associated with Medicaid and Medicare health care programs. With so many people enrolled in these programs, fraud is a common issue. The issue of waste and fraud is prevalent due to the fact that there is limited oversight to suppliers, providers and other people taking part in the health care plans. There are some recommendations that be suggested to improve the health care plan. One of the recommendations for Medicaid is to give greater support to uniform eligibility. This would help in solving the issue of unmarried patients’ requirement to be low-income earners so as to be insured. Another recommendation is for the program to increase the amount of money paid to physicians taking part in the program. This would increase accessibility and the quality of health care services provided to Medicaid patients. Due to the fact that Medicaid is more expensive compared to Medicare, effort should be made to reduce the costs. This would also minimize the consumer risk of increased costs. One recommendation for Medicare program is expansion of coverage, access and eligibility requirements. Currently, only people aged 65 and above are eligible for Medicare cover. Including the rest of the population would promote accessibility to health care. Another recommendation is reduction in Medicare spending, which help in cutting down the costs of health care services for insured patients. It is also recommendable for Medicare to expand the range of services pr ovided to beneficiaries. Long-term health care services and other services like transport services should be issued. This is owed to the fact that the beneficiaries are the elderly population and disabled children who may have limited access to transportation facilities. In conclusion Medicare and Medicaid are two U.S. government programs that guarantee health insurance for the elderly and the poor, respectively. With Medicare, medical bills are paid from trust funds, which those covered, have paid into. It serves people over 65 primarily, whatever their income; and serves younger disabled people and dialysis patients. Patients pay part of costs through deductibles for hospital and other costs. Small monthly premiums are required for non-hospital coverage. Medicare is basically the same everywhere in the United States and is run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency of the federal government. Medicaid is an assistance program in which Medical bills are paid from federal, state and local tax funds. It serves low-income people of every age. Patients usually pay no part of costs for covered medical expenses. A small co-payment is sometimes required. Medicaid is a federal-state program. It varies from state to state. The state and local governments within federal guidelines run Medicaid. References 1. Fong, Tony. (2005). Assessing Four Decades of Medicare, Medicaid, 6-7, 24, 42 http://hs1.farmingdale.edu:2177/docview/211948589/13AE0E52EFA2427EF35/8?accountid=8066 2. Berkowitz, Edward (2008). Medicare and Medicaid: The Past as Prologue. Health Care Financing Review29. 3: 81-93 http://hs1.farmingdale.edu:2177/docview/196958775?accountid=8066 3. Carlson, G. (2009). Difference between Medicaid and Medicare. Health Feature articles http://missourifamilies.org/features/healtharticles/health46.htm 4. Medicaid and Medicare, pgs. 1-16 http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=4d8184 9a-33fa-40c0-a995-e7f17b1d8a47 5. Pamela Farley Short, Lauren McCormack, Judith Hibbard, James A. Shaul, Lauren Harris-Kojetin, Michael H. Fox, Peter Damiano, Jennifer D. Uhrig and Paul D. Cleary (2002). Similarities and Differences in Choosing Health Plans. Medical Care, 40(4), 289-302 http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3767833?uid=3739832&uid=2129&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21101469438031 6. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2009). Focus on Health Reform. Health Reform Opportunities: Improving Policy for Dual Eligible, pgs. 1-7 http://www.kff.org/medicaid/upload/7957.pdf