The thrill of reading Essay

Education is an important asset to any one’s life and should be available to every one of all ages. Certain levels of education should be available to people of different levels and should be easily accessible. We need a basic form of education in our everyday lives. If we did not learn simple arithmetic such as how to count or if we did not learn how to read, we would suffer in the real word. If we bought something, people could rob us of our change simply because we cannot count. We would not be able to learn if we cannot read. We would rely on pictures to describe things for us and to convey the message to us. We would lose the thrill of reading. All these basic skills are taught in primary school and everyone should have access to primary school education. It is essential that everyone goes to school and if money is what is stopping them, then the government needs to make a plan to help correct that. Primary education should be made free as it allows people to develop their brains and gain a basic knowledge of the world. The government should provide institutions which learners can attend to be educated which they currently do and they are called government schools. These schools should be subsidised by the government for people who really can’t afford school fees. If people have enough money and choose to attend a private learning institution and have to pay school fees, they should do that at their own will. School should be made compulsory from age six when children are able to understand and grasp concepts more easily until about the age of sixteen where they will have a broad knowledge of the world and can decide whether they want to further their studies in a more specialised way. The quality of learning should be of a good quality at all levels of education. Secondary education expands on the knowledge that learners have received from primary school. It is still a broad range of knowledge but more important knowledge is given to learners especially in terms of career choice paths. It should be free or subsidised by the government for people who are really underprivileged or who really can’t afford school fees. School gives children a basic knowledge in problem solving skills that they may need in their everyday lives. Secondary education is compulsory up until grade 9 since grade 10 is when learners choose specific subjects which they feel may help them later on in life or in the career they are interested in. School should be compulsory till the end of matric. It would keep young people off the street and they would be doing something constructive such as improving their education. Nobody wants to hire a sixteen-year-old which is the age you are allowed to leave school at. Those sixteen-year-olds end up jobless, sitting at home or can become involved in gangs or drugs. Instead of wasting their time, they should rather attend school. They choose not to go to school because they are lazy and need that push to make them do something. They stand a much better chance of getting a job with a matric certificate. Finishing school up until matric level also allows you to explore new areas in your life and so that you can help find yourself, your talents and your interests.

Cultural Differences in Turkey

Social studies Cultural differences between the youth in Turkey and the Netherlands. penn Cibii 012013001 Inhoudsopgave Introduction This project is made for the cultural studies class and will contain the differences between the younger people in Turkey and in the Netherlands. It's common that people go abroad and face with a lot of cultural problems. This is because there are a lot of cultures and they all differ from each other. Sometimes its very difficult for people to understand cultural things that are not normal fort hem but instead normal for the people of that culture.To understand why thats so difficult we have to look at the differences of 2 cultures. I chose Turkey and the Netherlands because i am from the Netherlands but i have a Turkish identity and i see a lot of differences between the Turkish and the Dutch people. For example i am here with a classmate who is dutch and from Holland. She is dealing with cultural differences and sometimes she really doesnt understand that some things are normal here because in Holland that things wouldn't accepted. The differences will be measured with the study of Hofstede. Gerard Hendrick hofstede is a dutch social psychologist.His most notable work has been in developing cultural dimensions theory. The tlve dimensions are : Individualism, masculinity power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and long term orientation. He write the books ‘Culture's conseuenses' and ‘cultures and organizations'. The five dimensions will be discussed in this project to define the differences between the youth in Turkey and the Netherlands. After the five dimensions the mwthodology of study will be explained that includes the participants, methodology and materials. After that the findings will be explained with charts and despriction of data.After the findings comes the discussion with the analysis of data and what it means. At the end there wille be a conclusion which will include implications, limitations and further research and a statement. You can find the reference list and the appendices at the end of the project. Background In this paragraph I am going to explain the study of Hofstede and what all the dimensions mean. There are five dimensions which are seen as criteria to see the differences per culture. These are : Power distance, Individualism versus collectivism, Masculinitu versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance and the Long term rientation degree.Power Distance This dimension expresses the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. The fundamental issue here is how a society handles inequalities among people. People in societies exhibiting a large degree of power distance accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further Justification. In societies with low power distance, people strive to equalise the distribution ot power and demand justification for inequalities of power. Indiv idualism versus collectivismThe high side of this dimension, called Individualism, can be defined as a preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their immediate families only. Its opposite, Collectivism, represents a preference for a tightly-knit framework in society in which individuals can expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. A society's position on this dimension is reflected in whether people's self-image is defined in terms of â€Å"l† or â€Å"we. Masculinity versus femininity The masculinity side of this dimension represents a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material reward for success. Society at large is more competitive. Its opposite, femininity, stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life. Society at large is more consensus-oriented. Unce rtainty avoidance The uncertainty avoidance dimension expresses the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity.The fundamental issue here is how a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should e try to control the future or Just let it happen? Countries exhibiting strong UAI maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas. Weak I-JAI societies maintain a more relaxed attitude in which practice counts more than principles. The long term orientation The long-term orientation dimension can be interpreted as dealing with societys search for virtue.Societies with a short-term orientation generally have a strong concern with establishing the absolute Truth. They are normative in their thinking. They exhibit great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save for the uture, and a focus on achieving quick results. In societies with a long-term orientatio n, people believe that truth depends very much on situation, context and time. They show an ability to adapt traditions to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, and perseverance in achieving results.Methodology of study participants, place (preserve anonymity) The participants for this study are the younger people between the ages 18 and 25 in the Netherlands and Turkey. I choose this as the target group because the younger people travel a lot and have to face the most and sometimes at first with cultural ifferences. They go abroad to go on vacation, to study or to live in another country. Place Because its limited to 2 countries the places of course are in the Netherlands and Turkey.The place where the interview is held is on my school in Holland ; Fontys economische hogeschool Tilburg and my school in Turkey; Fatih university in Istanbul. I choose the school because I could find here the best participants who are speaking English and belong to th e right target group. methodology (qualitative/quantitative; case study, ethnographic etc) In this study there is made qualitative and quantitative research. Quantitative research is made hrough deskresearch and qualitative research are the questions that you can't answer with deskresearch so you need the fieldresearch for.For the fieldresearch I made questionnaires. I decided to hold the questionnairies with 10 persons in each country. So 10 questionnaires in The Netherlands as 10 questionnairies in Turkey. The people who were asked for the questionnaires are all in the age group 18 till 25 and all speak English. I made the questions with multiple choice answers so it will be easy to process the data and make a conclusion. materials; data collection instruments (observation, questionnaires) The data ollection instruments are : internet, literature and questionnaires.

Characteristics and Features of E. Coli gastroenteritis Research Paper

Characteristics and Features of E. Coli gastroenteritis - Research Paper Example From this research it is clear that most of the participants with E. Coli gastroenteritis presented similar symptoms associating them with the disease. For instance, there were increased cases of diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramp and bloody stools(Qadri, et al. 2005). Other participants reported having dry mouth and dry skin. The presence of dry mouth among patients with gastroenteritis resulted from a high rate of dehydration associated with increased vomiting and diarrhea(Bielaszewska, et al. 2011). Also, children exposed to conditions that compromise their health status were at a higher risk to be infected with E. Coli. For instance, children who frequent open fields that have poor hygiene were at a higher risk of being infected as well as those who have suffered from malnutrition. E. Coli bacteria are the main cause of gastroenteritis in humans. Although the presence of the bacteria in humans does not always prove to be harmful, there are other strains of E. Coli that been prov ed to cause gastroenteritis. Both the harmless and harmful E. Coli bacteria are found in the human gut. Infection of the gut due to E. Coli bacteria has been identified to present various signs and symptoms among the infected individuals. Most of the individuals suffering from gastroenteritis complained of diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, nausea, and dehydration. The condition is prevalent among children exposed to the low hygienic environment. E. Coli is transmitted through many ways including personal contact, drinking contaminated water.

Anything having to do with economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Anything having to do with economics - Essay Example 4): Human resources: labor. The labor force is limited both in number and in skills. Manufactured resources or capital. Capital consists of all those inputs that have themselves been produced in the first place. The world has a limited stock of capital: a limited supply of factories, machines, transportation and other equipment. The productivity of capital is limited by the state of technology. Hence, scarcity arises due to comparative unlimited human wants in the limited set of available resources to satisfy these wants. In other words, in free market economy scarcity occurs either because of increase in demand or decrease in supply. Also known as pure capitalist system; where individuals are free to make their demand decisions. The decisions of consumers and firms pertaining to the demand and supply of goods are transmitted to each one of them via the effect of these decisions on prices. This in turn, sets the equilibrium price level in the economy. Hence, prices are set via free interaction of demand and supply of goods and services, in a market where consumers are free to make their own choices according to their own income levels, firms are free to supply what they decide according to their own investment. government interference to run the economic system exists with the help of businesses. United States, however, is a good example of free market system where government intervention is minimal and mostly prices are determined through market forces of demand and supply. â€Å"an economy where supply and price are regulated by the government rather than market forces. Government planners decide which goods and services are produced and how they are distributed. The former Soviet Union was an example of a command economy†. Command economies are usually recognizable in places where the presence of socialist or communist systems of

Auditing research paper for the Maybe It Was, But We Weren't case

Auditing for the Maybe It Was, But We Weren't case - Research Paper Example Relating to this case, the determination of the reports issued by Friday as appropriate or otherwise, has been taken into concern as a primary objective of this paper. Moreover, the significant terms associated with auditing like ‘scope limitation’, ‘limited engagement and ‘piecemeal opinion’ have also been considered and related to the case in the discussion of this paper. Most significantly, how Friday should submit the auditor’s report to the Board of Directors as on its performance for the Year 3 and Year 2 from a comparative perspective has also been considered in the discussion of this paper. INTRODUCTION The perception of audit or auditing is principally described as a procedure of verifying and examining the accounting as well as financial records of a particular company. It has often been argued that the organizations belonging to this modern day context normally conducts auditing for the purpose of adding credibility to their respectiv e financial statements resulting in analyzing along with recognizing the chief financial areas that are required to be enhanced. It has also been apparently observed in this regard that the modern organizations often attempt to prioritize auditing due to rising complexities particularly in the overall business or operational procedures and the decision-making systems (Gupta 1-2). In specific terms, the aim of this report is to analyze the approaches adopted and executed by the Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) appointed within Friday & Co (Friday) who are again bestowed with the sole responsibility of auditing the financial statements of Johnson Company. It has been viewed in this similar concern that the CPAs have audited the financial records or the statements of Johnson Company and duly expressed a sort of incompetent opinion on the balance sheet only, deciphering a degree of negligence when considering other forms of financial statements. In this regard, a balance sheet depict s a financial statement which recapitulates liabilities, shareholder’s equity and assets among others with respect to a particular company. It is often regarded as a condensed financial record or a statement that portrays the monetary position of a business entity on a specific date. The other forms of financial statements might generally embrace an income statement along with a cash-flow statement, statement concerning retained earnings as well as profit and loss statement among others (Nelson 193-194). According to the case, it has been apparently observed that the CPAs of Friday had expressed an unqualified opinion on the balance sheet of Johnson Company as on December 31, Year 2. Specially mentioning, Friday did not note the inclusion of the physical inventory as of December 31, Year 1, on the grounds that the transaction took place prior to the appointment of auditors. However, the report indicates certain critical issues or aspects related with auditing concerns. For in stance, the first aspect was mainly concerned on the reason owing to which the opinion was issued only on the balance sheet as on Year 2. The second aspect that has been recognized in this context had been concerned about judging whether the issuance of an unqualified opinion by the CPAs of Friday, only for year 2 was appropriate. If otherwise, what are the suitable ways of disclosing or reporting the case? Finally, the other critical issue that has been viewed to appear in this case scenario was concerned with the fact that is it

Teacher Profile Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Teacher Profile - Assignment Example Teacher: That question brings us to the value of arts in school, which is my field of professionalism apart from an educationist. College Board Advocacy and Policy Centre believe that, by supporting poetry and drama in our schools, we ultimately promote a creative economy and add quality of life to every student. Art representation and students’ well-being are two sides of the same coin. Without arts, the students will be overly incapable of a realist thinking of the way events of their lives unfold. Interviewer: Thank you for the explicit interpretation of the value and importance of art in schools. What are some of the art representation in the college you find more useful and intriguing to the students? Teacher: ArtsEdge is a well-structured website for the practical art-based points of representation. This is because one of the major arts of which we believe in upholding is the values of cultural drama and poetry to the students. The College Board Advocacy and Policy Centre was established as an artwork entity to transform education in America. This was because of cultural diversity where various cultures meet and share their values. For example, you are Chinese meeting different cultures hence respect for every cultural and art values should be paramount for a peaceful co- existence. Teacher: Various art representations are beneficial to the students. Firstly, Arts have vehemently expanded the student’s potential by encouraging innovation, critical thinking and creativity. A comprehensive and all round arts education is an effective tool for the development of the whole teens, keeping them in school and improving on their worldview of being achievable in life. Lastly, arts have played a major role in the alignment of major educational trends. Teacher: I see arts being at the epitome of every subject in the American curriculum in the near future. This is because art is a practical subject and ensures the

Compare and contrast parliamentary and congressional democracies Essay

Compare and contrast parliamentary and congressional democracies - Essay Example This paper aims to answer this question, as well as consider which of the two is best and why. To evaluate the congressional and parliamentary systems, we must first understand the basic political structure. The legislature, in modern political systems, is representative of the population (Cheibub, 2011). It is composed of members elected indirectly or directly via a popular vote and are empowered to change, make or repeal the nation’s laws and also to regulate and levy its taxes. Legislatures that provide for direct representation are considered, as being extra democratic since they are less liable to domination by one faction. The executive is devoted to the administration and enforcement of laws created by the legislature. The key to variance found between the two systems is the relationship shared by the legislature and the executive and their degree of linkage (Cheibub, 2011). Under a parliamentary democracy, the executive is subordinate to the legislature’s majori ty (Cheibub, 2011). The executive is required to keep the legislature’s majority in check to remain in power. This is the key to stability since it promotes the creation and development of disciplined and cohesive parties, as well as emphasizing on compromise and cooperation. To keep the majority, the government, may have to form coalitions with other parliamentary parties to build a majority base on mutual gain and compromise. Parliamentary system structure also allows for easy power transition since the leadership is based on parties rather than individuals. As opposed to a parliamentary structure, a presidential form of democracy separates the legislature and the executive (Cheibub, 2011). The president gains power, not through a majority in the legislature, but through a direct election. The population in this system will vote for an individual rather than a party. The winner then becomes president for a fixed term. In a majority of the cases, a major political party back s the President, and gains popularity based on party stature and personal qualities (Cheibub, 2011). The discrepancy between the two begins with the origin of the two words (Cheibub, 2011). Congress comes from the Latin word that means coming together, where representatives from all over the country come together to discuss state matters. Parliament, however, is rooted, in a French term meaning, to talk since a lot of talking goes on, in parliament. A congress is based on primary elections where the population elects their candidates based on individual office plans and personalities while, in parliament, the delegates are elected to run by their parties based on their willingness to adhere by party standards. In congress, the party really means more in elections than the individual does. In a parliamentary democracy, the PM and his cabinet are elected from the country’s majority party in parliament. Therefore, if the members begin to vote against the ideals of their party, t hen the government may come apart and force new elections. Because of this, most parties restrict the freedoms of their delegates to ensure the PM safety. In congress, however, the branch of the executive is separated entirely from the legislature and it allows members to vote based on the wishes of their constituents and their consciences, without fearing harming the government permanently. This increased power of the individual leads to

Best Buy Company Incorporation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Best Buy Company Incorporation - Assignment Example As a global company, it operates in Mexico, Canada, China, United States, and Puerto Rico. Best Buy is a public company traded on NYSE: BBY(S&P 500 Component). SWOT Analysis Strengths: No. One Electronic Retailer The company is the largest Consumer Electronic Retailer in the US holds a market share of about 20% (2011) and it’s ranked in position five on the Interbrand's Best Retail Brands 2012. Knowledgeable personnel In order to maintain its competitive streak in the market, the company recruits, trains, and retain qualified personnel. Their end-end type of customer service differentiates Best Buy from online retailers and discount electronics retailers. Smart Acquisitions In FY03 Best Buy Co. Inc. acquired Greek Squad Inc. This was specifically done in order to enhance support for customer services. The Greek Squad service is now found in all the US branded the Best Buy stores. Additionally, in FY12 Best Buy acquired mindSHIFT Technologies, Inc. a company providing data cent er and cloud services. Weaknesses: Physical stores The cost of personnel and overhead associated with the physical stores poses a challenge when comparing Best Buy with other online retailers. Customers in most cases use the physical store as â€Å"showroom† and then make the purchases of the products from the other online retailers at a lower cost. Reorganization Diluting Customer Experience The company has over the years undergone various restructuring activities in an effort to smoothen their in-store models of business.

Description of a place Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Description of a place - Essay Example It looked like a rat’s nest. The tub was full of mud. For a house that had to be sold on the market, this house needed some major rehabbing—and it was not going to be an easy job. Description #2 The old Victorian house had character oozing from every inch of its walls. Walking through the front door, one could plainly see that this house was fit for kings. Elegant paintings hung on the walls. The gilded edges of the paintings shone like pure gold. Apart from some minor issues in the kitchen and the bathroom, the wine-colored velveteen armchair in the living room and ornamental Turkish area rugs provided an inviting scenario in front of the fireplace. A pair of pink satin slippers awaited someone’s return at the base of the armchair. On the mantle, a large collection of porcelain Lladro figurines graced the entire room in various poses. No wonder this house was being put on the market for $500K. BIBLIOGRAPHY Palika, Liz, and Sheri Wachtstetter. Puppy Love. US: Joh n Wiley & Sons, 2009.

Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Sociology - Essay Example In this first article researchers examined the mental health of Arab Americans. They wanted to determine if their mental health was in any way influenced by how they fit in in their larger communities. They wanted to know if their general social environment and their lives as a minority altered their perceptions of the world. In this article, the researchers define acculturation as â€Å"the process of change on both the individual and group level that results from contact between a minority and a dominant culture, leading members of the minority culture to adjust their original cultural beliefs, values, and behaviors† (81). This definition is a useful starting point. A certain amount of stress accompanies any group that may not have as many opportunities or access to employment than a more dominant social group. For ethnic groups that are new to a country or community, or that share space with a larger group, this can be especially acute. However, the authors of this article did not find that acculturation had a determinant role in the mental health of Arab Americans. It could increase their stress levels but many other factors were involved in their mental health. Ghaddar S, et al. â€Å"Acculturation and healthy lifestyle habits among Hispanics in United States-Mexico border communities.† Rev Panam Salud Publica. 28 (2010):190–7. Many aspects of the lives of ethnic groups can be altered through acculturation.

Gravimetric Analysis Essay Example for Free

Gravimetric Analysis Essay The purpose of experiment 1, also named Gravimetric Analysis, is to study the use of analytical chemistry. Analytical chemistry is a branch of chemistry that involves determining what matter is and how much of it exists. It is the science of separating, identifying, and determining the components that make up a compound and determining a specific amount of that compound. There are two types of analytical chemistry: qualitative and quantitative. This experiment uses quantitative analysis to determine the amount of a substance, or several species, and measure it in numerical terms. More specifically, this experiment uses gravimetric analysis, a form of quantitative analysis that uses an analytical balance, an instrument that yields accurate and precise data, to measure the masses of several substances. Experiment 1 involves the precipitation of a complex compound called aluminum 8-hydroxyquinilinate, also called Alq3. In order for this precipitation to occur, an organic precipitating agent, 8-hydroxyquinilinate (abbreviated OxH) is used to react with aluminum ions to form this complex compound. For this reaction to take place, OxH must be deprotonated, so that its anion, Ox-, will bond with the aluminum ions (the OxH molecule itself will not react with aluminum ions). As a result, the pH of the solution has a major effect on the precipitation in this experiment. If the pH is too low and there is an excess of hydrogen ions, then by Le Chatelier’s principle, the equilibrium will shift to the left, creating more OxH molecules. Ox- will no longer be available and a precipitation will not occur. If the pH is too high and there is an excess of hydroxide ions, the aluminum ions will react with the hydroxide ions. There will be no aluminum to react in the precipitation. If the pH is neutral, OxH is not very soluble and may cause it to precipitate out itself. So in order for this precipitation in this experiment to take place, it is vital that a buffer solution of ammonium acetate is used to control the pH of the solution. Also, the less aluminum ions in the solution, the more it will precipitate. In order to do this, an excess of OxH is added to shift the reaction towards the precipitate form. However, OxH has a limited solubility in water, so too much of an excess cannot be added. In order for the precipitate to work best in this experiment, we would have to allow it to digest. This lets use filter the precipitate completely. We do this by drying the precipitate in an oven and letting it age overnight. This promotes the formation of fewer, larger, and more pure particles of the precipitate. In the end, we are trying to find the concentration of aluminum in the solution (millimole of aluminum per mililiter of solution). We do this by converting the mass of the precipitate into moles and using mole-to-mole ratio and stoichiometry; we find the moles of aluminum ions. We then divide this by the volume of the solution to find the molarity, or concentration, of the aluminum ions.

The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels

The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels The passage I have chosen to analyze critically is a part of the book The Communist Manifesto authored by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels who are both political theorists. This particular passage has been taken from the second chapter of the book which is named Proletarians and Communists. The Communist Manifesto is considered to be one of the bravest books of all time. Karl Marx, after being banished from Paris for his comments on radical politics, he established a group of working class people from Germany and together they formed The Communist League. The testimonials of the communal principles of the group were written down which later took the form of the book, the Communist Manifesto. The book unwraps with the thought that- The history of all hitherto societies has been the history of class struggles. In the book, the authors talk about the drawbacks that have arisen in the society due to the formation of two classes: the bourgeois and the proletariats, and the antagonism between these two classes. In the first chapter of the book Bourgeois and Proletarians, Marx and Engels describe the rise of the bourgeois class, in which he thought the French revolution had played a huge part. He also explains that how tremendously the bourgeois class is harmful to the society and that it will be the cause of its own destruction. In the second chapter of the book Proletarians and Communists, the authors main focus is on the ideologies and features of the Communists and that they aim to work on behalf of the proletariats. He also expresses own thoughts regarding the modern bourgeois property features, wage-labor, capital accumulation and lastly ends his argument by saying, In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in this chapter mostly talks about the determined willpower of the communists towards the formation of proletariat into a class, overthrow the bourgeois supremacy and the power governance/takeover by the proletariat class in this chapter. They discuss many of the reasons why property and capital are at the power of the bourgeois class. In the passage I have chosen they argue that the wage labour creates only capital which in turn creates the property, but only for the bourgeois not the proletariats and this system needs to be changed in the society. In the first paragraph, the author talks about wage labour- the person who comes to work to earn a minimum salary for living. There is a certain aggression in the tone of the writing throughout the whole chapter which reflects their rage regarding the issue. They say that the average salary of a wage-labour is only the least possible amount of money needed for the worker to only come to work every day. What, therefore, the wage-labourer appropriates by means of his labour, merely suffices to prolong and reproduce a bare existence.- Marx and Engels seem to write this with complete offence and disbelief.ÂÂ   Because the scenario which they are talking about, which in fact still exists now, is that workers put their effort and are exploited constantly by the bourgeois class. The two dollars therefore expresses the relation in which labor-power is exchanged for other commodities, the exchange value of labor-power. The exchange value of a commodity estimated in money is called its price this is an extract from Karl Marxs writing Wage Labour and Capital in which he clearly explains that the wage labourer only receives the money in exchange for his work. This turns to the fact that a proletariat sells its own flesh and meat in exchange of a minuscule amount of money, which is completely undeserved. Moving on to an example from Adam Smiths book The Wealth of Nations. He says that a commodity is only priced at the cost of what it requires for the person to bring the product into the market. He explains the factors that are looked into while pricing a commodity where wage of the labour is only one of the factors; hence it is very distinct that the wage labourer cannot even afford to buy the product he himself has produced in the factory. His salary is just a bare minimum for him to afford some food and clothing so that he can come to work the next day to be exploited again by the bourgeois. The two kinds of societies that are talked about are the bourgeois or todays capitalist society, and the other is the imagined communist society which communists aim to establish. The authors expresses that in the capitalist mode of production, the workers are only seen as the work power or the force that will earn more capital for the bourgeois through their effort. But in the communist society, the whole proletariat class is a way to promote and enrich themselves and their lives too and not only serving the bourgeois. In bourgeois society, therefore, the past dominates the present; in Communist society, the present dominates the past- this statement is not very precise or clear, but from the lines written just before and after this statement it appears as if Marx and Engels think of the accumulated labour as the past and living labour as the present. Hence, the motivation and ambition to produce more labours will give rise to exploitation by the bourgeois on the present working lab our. The labourer only exists because it has to work for increasing the capital which brings me to the point that capital is materialistic, an inanimate object whereas the proletariat is a living person with will, wish and needs. Despite this being a fact, in the capitalist society, the bourgeois dominate the proletariats for which they gain no power or anything and are not free willed. Whereas capital, when controlled being a material object, has complete power to run anything or anyone. It is possible for the owner of capital to run his work without any particular labourer amongst the millions, but it is the labourers who are entirely and in a very complexed way dependent upon selling their labour. Also, the labourers do not have the opportunity to choose between a numbers of capitalists. In this way the labourers are destined to cope up with conditions in which they always give more labour power as an input than they get back in reward as the incentive. In the last paragraph from the suggested passage I have chosen, the authors seems to talk about the fact that the destruction of this cycle of manipulation and corruption, which is desired by the communists is thought to be unreasonable by the bourgeois society. The bourgeois society holds the communists accountable for depriving them of their individuality and freedom. By critically analyzing it appears that Marx and Engels critiques the existing capitalist society by saying that By freedom is meant, under the present bourgeois conditions of production, free trade, free selling, and free buying. In Capitalist mode of production the freedom is the freedom to buy and sell in the market for free, but only for the bourgeois.ÂÂ   Bourgeois desire to earn as much as capital they can earn needed that is crucial to acquire all the social power in the society. Throughout the whole writing it is very evident that Marx and Engels have persistently portrayed that the whole society is about the exchange of the propertied class and the property-less class. But this is only for profitable development of the former class by the help of the latter. The Communist Manifesto, being one of the most influential political theory books has been an inspiration for many also in the contemporary society today. It has very boldly addressed the social relations and structure of power in the society and how it depends on the production process. It has shown that proletariats are only worth to the bourgeois as long as it brings profits. But there are some aspects of the writing which makes us think about the usefulness and consequences of the establishment of a communist society. Marx and Engels point out several times that if the bourgeois possess majority of the property then exploitation will continue but an argument they also make is that the owner of the m eans of production do not work but make others work for them. Therefore, if proletariat forms into a class and earns property for them, they are also bound to become idle. Proletariats will also not work and fall under the bourgeois class and use their cogency to compel others to work for them. This circle of power struggles is bound to continue in different forms probably, which is why Marx and Engels writing is still essential.

Death Penalty Argumentative Essay

Death Penalty Argumentative Essay The death penalty is the ultimate punishment. There is no harsher punishment than death itself. Currently fifty-eight nations practice the death penalty. Our nation, the United States of America, is one of the fifty-eight nations that practice the death penalty. Currently the United States will only use the death penalty, if one commits first-degree murder. Individuals that believe in the death penalty believe that capital punishment will deter murderers. In this paper, I will be arguing that the death penalty does not deter criminals and that the United States should outlaw the practice. Before I make my argument, I would like to provide some background information regarding the death penalty to the readers. The idea of capital punishment was brought over from Britain, when the founding fathers declared independence. Our ancestors loved the idea of the death penalty, since it was a common part of life. Europeans gave the death penalty for various crimes. The first recorded execution in America occurred in Jamestown, 1608. A man named George Kendall was executed for treason. In the earlier colonial days, laws regarding capital punishment varied area to area. During the nineteen century, the death penalty changed dramatically. Around this time the death penalty started to lose popularity. States no longer committed public executions. All executions were done in private. Pennsylvania was the first state to adopt this trend. Eventually some states abolished the death penalty all together. In current times, fourteen out of fifty states no longer carry out the death penalty. These states are Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhone Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. In addition, a series of cases regarding the death penalty went to the Supreme Court. Many tried to argue that the death penalty violated the eighth amendments and that capital punishment is cruel and unusual. In 1972, Furman v. Georgia successfully brought an temporary end to the death penalty for ten years. Eventually the death penalty was reinstated with the execution of Gary Gillmore on January 17, 1977. As of today, the United States still practices capital punishment. However there are limitations. For example, the government cannot execute the mentally handicap and is not supposed to execute juveniles. The United States currently has six ways to execute, lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas, a firing squad and hanging. Methods will vary state by state. Although the United States still practices the death penalty, executions are declining, compare to the past, according to statistics. Those that are for the death penalty claims that the death penalty will serve as a deterrence and is the only way for retribution against murderers. Both issues are highly debatable and have been a subject of criticism. Punishment as a deterrence has been a goal for ages. This concept does work, but it should not be applied to all criminals, in my opinion. Pro capital punishment individuals claims that it is an efficient deterrence against criminals. In the article Death penalty is a deterrence, the authors claims that by practicing the death penalty, violent crimes will decrease. violent crime has declined 11 percent, with murder showing the largest decline at even more than 22 percent. We believe that this has occurred in part because of the strong signal that the death penalty sent to violent criminals and murderer.  [1]  These statistics taken from this article may be inaccurate and should be closely examined. There is a huge amount of conflicting evidence from similar studies done currently and in the past. Retribution has also been a goal for punishment. Logically if a killer is put to death then there would be no more killings. American society seems to favor retribution. An eye for an eye has been a law for ages. In a pro death penalty article, the author believes that, When someone takes a life, the balance of justice is disturbed. Unless that balance is restored, society succumbs to a rule of violence. Only the taking of the murderers life restores the balance and allows society to show convincingly that murder is an intolerable crime which will be punished in kind.  [2]  This ideology has many flaws, mainly with morality issues. For example, if the country is punishing one for killing, what gives the country the right to kill? Both articles fail to present any solid evidence that supports their thesis. Death penalty is a deterrence had statistical information, but fail to present how the information was obtained. Depending on the researchers information gathering methods, the statistical information could have been different. For example In an article in the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, Dr. Jeffrey Fagan of Columbia University describes numerous serious errors in recent deterrence studies, including improper statistical analyses and missing data and variables that are necessary to give a full picture of the criminal justice system. Fagan writes, There is no reliable, scientifically sound evidence that [shows that executions] can exert a deterrent effectà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. These flaws and omissions in a body of scientific evidence render it unreliable as a basis for law or policy that generate life-and-death decisions.  [3]  There needs to be solid evidence in order to prove a theory. Those who clai m that the death penalty is an efficient deterrence fail to submit conclusive evidence, therefore as a critic, we should dismiss the claim that the death penalty works as deterrence. In addition, many studies seem to disprove the theory that the death penalty is a good deterrence against violent crimes and murders. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, states without the death penalty have had lower murder rates. In their seventeen-year old study, states without the death penalty showed a 40% decrease in murder rates. In regards to the article Death penalty is a deterrence, New York has now abolished the death penalty and their murder rate has gone down significantly compared to when the state was still practicing capital punishment. In fact, in the first year that New York abolished the death penalty they saw a four percent decrease in their murder rates. The reason why the death penalty does not serve as deterrence is that offenders do not believe they will be caught. Logically, no one would commit a murder, if one knew he/she was to be executed. Deterrence is a psychological process. Therefore, if an offender does not believe that a real risk is present, there will be no deterrence. The death penalty as retribution no longer makes sense in our current society. By executing an offender, our government, is sending subliminal messages regarding murder. The point of capital punishment is because the United States government wants to express that killing is an intolerable crime. By killing, an offender the government is contradicting itself. In addition, the death penalty can be seen as revenge. We are simply taking an eye for an eye. Two wrongs will not make a right. Killing a murderer will not bring back the murdered. In the 21th century our criminals laws should now reflect a higher standard that an eye for an eye. In current times, the death penalty can no longer be claimed as an efficient form of retribution. There are huge delays in carrying out the executions of an inmate. Statistics show that there is over an eight-year wait before an execution can take place. In fact, most death row inmates die of old age, before their execution sentence. Californias death row is a great example. Since 1976, only thirteen inmates have been executed. Currently there are around seven hundred inmates in Californias death row. If the trend continues, that would mean most of the inmates would die of natural causes before their execution sentence can be carried out. Those that claim the death penalty as retribution fail to take notice of the execution process in our criminal justice system. Legally an inmate is allowed to appeal his/her case. Appealing is needed in the American criminal justice system because the process is designed to protect against human errors. An average appeal can take over ten years. There are simply not enough judges to response to all case reviews. For example, the United States Supreme court receives thousands of case reviews annually, but because there are only nine judges in the Supreme Court, only a handful of cases are reviewed. For these reasons, the death penalty cannot be claim as an efficient form of retribution. Since the death penalty is no longer an affected punishment, I purposed that we abolish the practice in the United States. Throughout Americas history, many have tried to abolish the death penalty. Many were successful in temporary abolishing the death penalty, but most states reinstated the death penalty after judicial review. The most current issue regarding the abolishment of the death penalty was Baze v. Rees. Baze V. Rees, was an attack on the process of execution, specifically lethal injections. Baze argues that lethal injections is a form of cruel and unusual punishment and went against the constitution. That debate ultimately failed, since the judges ruled in favor of the death penalty. The trial court held extensive hearings and entered detailed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. It recognized that [t]here are no methods of legal execution that are satisfactory to those who oppose the death penalty on moral, religious, or societal grounds, but concluded that the proced ure complies with the constitutional requirements against cruel and unusual punishment.  [4]  Baze V. Rees was a good attempt in trying to abolish the death penalty, but ultimately was unsuccessful because they were attacking the process not the problem. In addition, Baze fail to show any solid evidence that lethal injections may cause pain. In order to abolish the death penalty in the United States successfully, one would need to make a case to the United States Supreme Court. One would need to submit a writ of either certiorari, mandamus, or prohibition. In addition, one can appeal against the death penalty. If the case were selected, then one would need to argue that the death penalty is no longer a form of justice. The key to winning this case, in my opinion, is to present solid and conclusive evidence. Show the nine justices, that the death penalty is a waste of resources and unconstitutional. Some may criticize that by abolishing the death penalty, crime rates will increase. Studies have already shown that the death penalty will not deter criminals. Currently there is no solid evidence that proves that the death penalty will deter criminals; however, there is evidence showing that states with no death penalty has a lower murder rate than states with the death penalty. In a recent examination, researchers concluded that the estimates claiming that the death penalty saves numerous lives are simply not credible. In fact, researchers stated that using the same data and proper methodology could lead to the exact opposite conclusion: that is, that the death penalty actually increases the number of murders  [5]  . Conclusive evidence such as the fact should dispel any criticism regarding the death penalty and murder rates. The death penalty should be abolish. Those that believe in the death penalty, failed to make their case. There is no conclusive evidence that supports their claims. There is evidence however that the death penalty is failing. Executing a death row inmate is no longer an easy task. There can be long delays in the execution process. Inmates are dying before their execution sentence can be carried out. For all the reasons stated above, the United States of America should abolish the death penalty. Work Cited Death Penalty Curriculum A just society requires the death penalty for the taking of a life: Agree, Michigan State University http://deathpenaltycurriculum.org/node/10 Death Penalty Information Center, Discussion of Recent Deterrence Studies, Berkeley Electronic Press http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/discussion-recent-deterrence-studies Death Penalty Information Center, Discussion of Recent Deterrence Studies, Ohio State Journal http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/discussion-recent-deterrence-studies George E. Pataki, Death penalty is a deterrent, USA Today http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/Articles/Pataki.htm Unknown Author, RALPH BAZE AND THOMAS C. BOWLING, Petitionersv.JOHN D. REES, COMMISSIONER, KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, ET AL. United States Supreme Court. 2008, 1

Child Labor - Economic Exploitation of Children Essays -- Foreign Dome

Child Labor - Economic Exploitation of Children   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child labor is a serious problem in many parts of the world, especially in developing countries. It has been linked to many nations and cultures for hundreds of years. Child labor is defined by Article 32 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: as any economic exploitation or work that is likely to be hazardous or interferes with the child’s education, or is harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral, or social development. Labor is defined as a difficult, or fatiguing mental and/or physical work. It wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution that it became the problem it is today. With the arrival of the factory system in the 18th century, during the 1700s, children as young as five were being used as workers in England. During this period, a law called the English Poor Act gave the government the responsibility to care for children that had no parents or whose parents were too poor to care for them. Under this law, the government would take these â€Å"pauper children† and place them in jobs where they could become apprentices and learn a trade. The law was not usually affective because when children were handed over to the factory owners and usually became slaves. This is a violation of the â€Å"Human Rights Document: Universal Declaration of Human Rights† in article 4, which states: no one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. Children were used to tend to machines in factories and many worked in the dark, damp coalmines, carrying coal on their backs up ladders. Many children would work 10 to 15 hour days. This is a violation of the â€Å"Human Rights Document† in article 24, which states: everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay. They were forced to work in dangerous and unhealthy conditions, and their wages were incredibly small. There are many reasons why these children work; poverty, lack of education, lack of knowledge of one’s rights, and cultura l tradition are all contributing factors. These children are often deprived and mistreated. They may get beaten or severely punished for making even the slightest mistake. This is another violation of the â€Å"Human Rights Document† in article 1, which states: all human beings are bor... ...the child labor; they don’t have any legal power. The trade unions are weak and don’t have the funds to do the job. Over several years the proposed law, now known as the Child Labor Deterrence Act, has been reintroduced along with a companion bill in the House. However, no vote has been taken on the House bill and the proposal was still pending at the beginning of 1998.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some U.S. cities are passing laws to ensure that the goods they purchase are not made in foreign or domestic sweatshops. In 1992, the organization established the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), which has implemented more than 600 action programs in 27 countries. The goal of these programs is to prevent and fight child labor by helping children withdraw from work in selected villages, provide support services for the children and their families, and change community attitudes towards child labor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Putting an end to child labor requires changes on many fronts, especially on attitudes about child labor and the world’s poor. To help bring about changes in attitudes, activists in many countries are raising awareness that child labor violates fundamental human rights.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

The Influence of Frank Lloyd Wright on Frank Gehry in the Design of his

Many of Frank Gehry’s early works reflect a refined manipulation of shapes and structures, whereby many of his buildings present distorted shapes or apparent structures. From the Guggenheim museum to the Walt Disney concert hall, Frank Gehry’s architecture is close to none. He cleverly plays with shapes and geometries. In this essay, I shall start with a brief analysis of Gehry’s house and the influences in the design of the house. I shall then analyze the extent to which Frank Lloyd Wright has inspired and influenced Gehry in the design of his house through a comparison with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Jacob’s house. Gehry draws his inspiration from famous paintings such as the Madonna and Child which he qualifies as a â€Å"strategy for architecture† (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 42) and which he used as an inspiration for a project in Mexico . Through his interpretation of the paintings and artwork, Gehry looked for a new kind of architecture. His search for a new type of architecture culminated in 1978 with his own house in Santa Monica. What was once a traditional Californian house would be redesigned to become one of the most important and revolutionary designs of the 20th century, giving Gehry international prestige and fame. Frank Gehry’s â€Å"Own House† uses a mixture of corrugated metal, plywood, chain link and asphalt to construct a new envelope for an existing typical Californian house. This house has been inspired by Joseph Cornell, Ed Moses and Bob Rauschenberg. Gehry comments on his house by saying that there was something â€Å"magical† (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 54) about it. He admits having â€Å"followed the end of his [my] nose† (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 54) when it came to constructing the â€Å"new† house, which led Arthur Drexler, former Director... ...nian architects. Frank Lloyd Wright, on the other hand is considered as one of the founders of modern architecture but what is certain is that they have both had a tremendous influence on the world of architecture today. Works Cited (2000, August-November 12). Retrieved December 15, 2010, from http://www.arcspace.com/gehry_new/index.html?main=/gehry_new/html/ar.html Carter, R. M. (2001). Frank Lloyd Wright. London: Phaidon Press Limited. Friedman, M. (2003). Architecture+ Process Gehry Talks. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd. Friedman, M. (2003). Gehry Talks. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd. Humphries, L. (1970). Programs and manifestoes on 20th-century architecture. Cambridge Massachusetts: Michael Bullock. Maddex, D. (2000). 50 Favourite houses by Frank Lloyd Wright. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd. Zevi, B. (1998). Frank Lloyd Wright. Boston: Birkhauser.

Capitalism :: essays research papers

Capitalism and the Renaissance   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market. Capitalism lead to great changes in banking and business for Europeans It came to Europe after the devastating black death and while Europe was suffering from poor economic growth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By looking at this definition, it is hard to see how this economic systems is linked to the Renaissance, which occurred in Europe. These two events in western civilization have great links which tie the two event together.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Renaissance was a period of time in Europe when craftsmen, mostly artists, broke away from craft guilds to pursue their own ventures in their trade. It is also know as the rebirth of the classics. Artists began painting and sculpting for the royal and wealthy. Most of the masterpieces had to do with religion or portraits of royalty to make the patron that was paying for the service merely immortal since this painting would be famous and around for as long as it could be preserved. Religious scenes were painted to give people a visual idea of events that took place. Artist also put their own design into artwork in order to express feelings that were felt at this time in their life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After comparing the Renaissance and the type of economic system that capitalism is, you can see that they both allow to entrepreneurs to operate as a single unit rather than be a part of the state of part of a guild. The word that pulls both the Renaissance and capitalism together is individualism. Both events were to events helped individuals to prosper immensely for themselves and move away from government and religious controlled work.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Renaissance and capitalism both brought about a way for individuals to make money. Capitalism allowed for sole proprietors to run businesses and make a living for themselves. In a similar way, artists were able to make money buy using their talent and providing a service to others on an individual basis. The artists were looked up to my even the most wealthy merchants because of the power the had to make them know forever though their work. Both the businessmen and artists both earned respect and were well known in society and also earned a certain status for themselves.

Healthcare System in Cuba

8)  Sources †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 16 )  HISTORY Modern Western medicine has been practiced in Cuba by formally trained  doctors  since at least the beginning of the 19th century and the first surgical clinic was established in 1823. Cuba has had many world class doctors, including  Carlos Finlay, whose mosquito-based theory of  yellow fever  transmission was given its final proof under the direction of  Walter Reed,  James Carroll, and  Aristides Agramonte. During the period of U. S presence (1898–1902) yellow fever was essentially eliminated due to the efforts of  Clara Maass  and surgeon Jesse W. Lazear.In 1976, Cuba's healthcare program was enshrined in Article 50 of the revised  Cuban constitution  which states â€Å"Everyone has the right to health protection and care. The state guarantees this righ t by providing free medical and hospital care by means of the installations of the rural medical service network, polyclinics, hospitals, preventative and specialized treatment centers; by providing free dental care; by promoting the health publicity campaigns, health education, regular medical examinations, general vaccinations and other measures to prevent the outbreak of disease.All the population cooperates in these activities and plans through the social and mass organizations. Cuba's doctor to patient ratio grew significantly in the latter half of the 20th century, from 9. 2 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants in 1958, to 58. 2 per 10,000 in 1999. In the 1960s the government implemented a program of almost universal  vaccinations. This helped eradicate many contagious diseases including  polio  and  rubella, though some diseases increased during the period of economic hardship of the 1990s, such as  tuberculosis,  hepatitis  and  chicken pox.Other campaigns included a program to reduce the infant mortality rate in 1970 directed at maternal and prenatal care. 1. POST-SOVIET UNION The loss of Soviet subsidies brought famine to Cuba in the early 1990s. In 2007, Cuba announced that it has undertaken computerizing and creating national networks in Blood Banks, Nephrology and Medical Images. Cuba is the second country in the world with such a product, only preceded by France.Cuba is preparing a Computerized Health Register, Hospital Management System, Primary Health Care, Academic Affairs, Medical Genetic Projects, Neurosciences, and Educational Software. The aim is to maintain quality health service free for the Cuban people, increase exchange among experts and boost research-development projects. An important link in wiring process is to guarantee access to Cuba's Data Transmission Network and Health Website (INFOMED) to all units and workers of the national health ystem. 2)  PRESENT | | | | |WHO  health statistics for Cuba | |[Source:  WHO country page on Cuba] | |Life expectancy at birth m/f: |76. 0/80. (years) | |Healthy life expectancy at birth m/f: |67. 1/69. 5 (years) | |Child mortality m/f: |8/7 (per 1000) | |Adult mortality m/f: |131/85 (per 1000) | |Total health expenditure per capita: |$251 | |Total health expenditure as  % of GDP: |7. 3 | Rank |Countries | |Statistic |Date of | | |surveyed | | |Information | |125 |167 |HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate |0. 10% |2003 est. | |162 |175 |Fertility rate |1. 66 (children/woman) |2006. | |153 |224 |Birth rate |11. 9 (births/1,000 population) |2006 est. | |168 |226 |Infant mortality rate |6. 04 (deaths/1,000 live births) |2006. | |129 |224 |Death rate |6. 33 (deaths/1,000 population) |2005. | |37 |225 |Life expectancy at birth |77. 23 (years) |2006. est | |17 |99 |Suicide rate |18. 3 per 100,000 people per year |1996. | 3)  COMPARISON OF PRE- AND POST-REVOLUTIONARY INDICES |Cuba: Public health 1950-2005 | |   |Years | | | 1. HEALTH INDICATORS AND ISSUES Cuba bega n a food rationing program in 1962 to guarantee all citizens a low-priced basket of basic foods.As of 2007, the government was spending about $1 billion annually to subsidise the food ration. The ration would cost about $50 at an average grocery store in the United States, but the Cuban citizen pays only $1. 20 for it. The ration includes rice, legumes, potatoes, bread, eggs, and a small amount of meat. It provides about 30 to 70 percent of the 3,300 kilocalories that the average Cuban consumes daily. The people obtain the rest of their food from government stores (Tiendas), free market stores and cooperatives, barter, their own gardens, and the black market.According to the Pan American Health Organization, daily caloric intake per person in various places in 2003 were as follows (unit is kilocalories): Cuba, 3,286; America, 3,205; Latin America and the Caribbean, 2,875; Latin Caribbean countries, 2,593; United States, 3,754. The table below shows the relative seriousness of commun icable diseases, non-communicable diseases (e. g. , heart disease and cancer) and injuries, in various parts of the world. Data is from the World Health Organisation and is for year 2004. Distribution of years of life lost by cause (%) | |Place |Communicable |Non-communicable |Injuries | |Cuba |9 |75 |16 | |World |51 |34 |14 | |High income countries |8 |77 |15 | |United States |9 |73 |18 | |Low income countries |68 |21 |10 | | | |Source: World Health Organisation. World Health Statistics 2009, Table 2, â€Å"Cause-specific | |mortality and morbidity†. | Like the rest of the  Cuban economy, numerous reports have shown that Cuban medical care has long suffered from severe material shortages caused by the  US embargo. The ending of Soviet subsidies in the early 1990s has also affected it. While  preventive medical care,  diagnostic tests  and  medication  for hospitalized patients are free, some aspects of healthcare are paid for by the patient.Items which are paid by patients who can afford it are: drugs prescribed on an  outpatient  basis, hearing,  dental, and  orthopedic  processes,  wheelchairs  and  crutches. When a patient can obtain these items at state stores, prices tend to be low as these items are subsidized by the state. For patients on a low-income, these items are free of charge. 2. SEXUAL HEALTH †¢ According to the  UNAIDS  report of 2003 there were an estimated 3,300 Cubans living with  HIV/AIDS  (approx 0. 05% of the population). In the mid-1980s, when little was known about the virus, Cuba compulsorily tested thousands of its citizens for  HIV. Those who tested positive were taken toLos Cocos and were not allowed to leave. The policy drew criticism from the United Nations  and was discontinued in the 1990s. Since 1996 Cuba began the production of generic  anti-retroviral  drugs reducing the costs to well below that of developing countries. This has been made possible through the substant ial government subsidies to treatment. †¢ In 2003 Cuba had the lowest HIV prevalence in the Americas and one of the lowest in the world. The  UNAIDS  reported that HIV infection rates for Cuba were 0. 1%, and for other countries in the Caribbean between 1 – 4%. Education in Cuba concerning issues of HIV infection and AIDS is implemented by the  Cuban National Center for Sex Education. According to  Avert, an international  AIDS  charity, â€Å"Cuba’s epidemic remains by far the smallest in the Caribbean. †Ã‚  They add however that †¦ new HIV infections are on the rise, and Cuba’s preventive measures appear not to be keeping pace with conditions that favour the spread of HIV, including widening income inequalities and a growing sex industry. At the same time, Cuba’s prevention of mother-to-child transmission programme remains highly effective. All pregnant women are tested for HIV, and those testing positive receive antiretrovi ral drugs. †¢ In recent years because of the rise in  prostitution  due to  tourism,  STDs  have increased. 3. 3 EMBARGODuring the 90s the ongoing  United States embargo against Cuba  caused problems due to restrictions on the export of medicines from the US to Cuba. In 1992 the US embargo was made more stringent with the passage of the  Cuban Democracy Act  resulting in all U. S. subsidiary trade, including trade in food and medicines, being prohibited. The legislation did not state that Cuba cannot purchase medicines from U. S. companies or their foreign subsidiaries; however, such license requests have been routinely denied. In 1995 the  Inter-American Commission on Human Rights  of the Organization of American States informed the U. S. Government that such activities violate international law and has requested that the U. S. ake immediate steps to exempt medicine from the embargo. The Lancet  and the  British Medical Journal  also condemned the e mbargo in the 90s. A 1997 report prepared by  Oxfam  America and the  Washington Office on Latin America,  Myths And Facts About The U. S. Embargo On Medicine And Medical Supplies, concluded that the embargo forced Cuba to use more of its limited resources on medical imports, both because equipment and drugs from foreign subsidiaries of U. S. firms or from non-U. S. sources tend to be higher priced and because shipping costs are greater. The Democracy Act of 1992 further exacerbated the problems in Cuba's medical system. It prohibited foreign subsidiaries of U. S. orporations from selling to Cuba, thus further limiting Cuba's access to medicine and equipment, and raising prices. In addition, the act forbids ships that dock in Cuban ports from docking in U. S. ports for six months. This drastically restricts shipping, and increases shipping cost some 30%. 3. 4 MEDICAL STAFF IN CUBA According to the World Health Organization, Cuba provides a doctor for every 170 residents, and has the second highest doctor to patient ratio in the world after Italy. Medical professionals are not paid high salaries by international standards. In 2002 the mean monthly salary was 261 pesos, 1. 5 times the national mean. A doctor’s salary in the late 1990s was equivalent to about US$15–20 per month in purchasing power.Therefore, some prefer to work in different occupations, for example in the lucrative tourist industry where earnings can be much higher. The  San Francisco Chronicle, the  Washington Post, and  National Public Radio  have all reported on Cuban doctors defecting to other countries. 3. 5  BLACK MARKET HEALTHCARE The difficulty in gaining access to certain medicines and treatments has led to healthcare playing an increasing role in Cuba's burgeoning  black market  economy, sometimes termed â€Å"sociolismo†. According to former leading Cuban  neurosurgeon  and  dissident  Dr  Hilda Molina, â€Å"The doctors in the hosp itals are charging patients under the table for better or quicker service. † Prices for out-of-surgery X-rays have been quoted at $50 to $60.Such â€Å"under-the-table payments† reportedly date back to the 1970s, when Cubans used gifts and tips in order to get health benefits. The harsh economic downturn known as the â€Å"Special Period† in the 1990s aggravated these payments. The advent of the â€Å"dollar economy†, a temporary legalization of the dollar which led some Cubans to receive dollars from their relatives outside of Cuba, meant that a class of Cubans was able to obtain medications and health services that would not be available to them otherwise. 4)  CUBA AND INTERNATIONAL HEALTHCARE In the 1970s, the Cuban state initiated bilateral service contracts and various money-making strategies.Cuba has entered into agreements with  United Nations  agencies specializing in health:  PAHO/WHO,  UNICEF, the  United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization  (FAO), the  United Nations Population Fund  (UNFPA), and the  United Nations Development Fund (UNDP). Since 1989, this collaboration has played a very important role in that Cuba, in addition to obtaining the benefits of being a member country, has strengthened its relations with institutions of excellence and has been able to disseminate some of its own advances and technologies Cuba currently exports considerable health services and personnel to Venezuela in exchange for subsidized  oil. Cuban doctors play a primary role in the  Mission Barrio Adentro (Spanish: â€Å"Mission Into the Neighborhood†) social welfare program established in Venezuela under current Venezuelan president  Hugo Chavez.The program, which is popular among Venezuela's poor and is intended to bring doctors and other medical services to the most remote slums of Venezuela,  has not been without its detractors. Operacion Milagro (Operation Miracle) is a joint health program be tween Cuba and Venezuela, set up in 2005. Human Rights Watch  complains that the government â€Å"bars citizens engaged in authorized travel from taking their children with them overseas, essentially holding the children hostage to guarantee the parents' return. Given the widespread fear of forced family separation, these travel restrictions provide the Cuban government with a powerful tool for punishing defectors and silencing critics. †Ã‚  Doctors are reported to be monitored by â€Å"minders† and subject to curfew.The Cuban government uses relatives as hostages to prevent doctors from defecting. According to a paper published in  The Lancet  medical journal, â€Å"growing numbers of Cuban doctors sent overseas to work are defecting to the USA†, some via Colombia, where they have sought temporary asylum. Cuban doctors have been part of a large-scale plan by the Cuban state to provide free medical aid and services to the international community (especiall y third world countries) following natural disasters. Currently dozens of American medical students are trained to assist in these donations at the Escuela Latino Americana de Medecina (ELAM) in Cuba. 4. 1  HEALTH TOURISM AND PHARMACEUTICSCuba attracts about 20,000  paying  health tourists, generating revenues of around $40 million a year for the Cuban economy. Cuba has been serving health tourists from around the world for more than 20 years. The country operates a special division of hospitals specifically for the treatment of foreigners and diplomats. Foreign patients travel to Cuba for a wide range of treatments including  eye-surgery,  neurological  disorders such as  multiple sclerosis  and  Parkinson’s disease,  cosmetic surgery, addictions treatment,  retinitis pigmentosa  and orthopaedics. Most patients are from Latin America, Europe and Canada, and a growing number of Americans also are coming.Cuba also successfully exports many medical produ cts, such as  vaccines. By 1998, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Cuban health sector had risen to occupy around two percent of total tourism. Some of these revenues are in turn transferred to health care for ordinary Cubans, although the size and importance of these transfers is both unknown and controversial. At one nationally prominent hospital/research institute, hard currency payments by foreigners have financed the construction of a new bathroom in the splanic surgery wing; anecdotal evidence suggests that this pattern is common in Cuban hospitals. 5)  ALTERNATIVE HEALTHCAREEconomic constraints and restrictions on medicines have forced the Cuban health system to incorporate  alternative  and  herbal  solutions to healthcare issues, which can be more accessible and affordable to a broader population. In the 1990s, the Cuban Ministry of Public Health officially recognized natural and  traditional medicine  and began it s integration into the already well established Western medicine model. Examples of alternative techniques used by the clinics and hospitals include:  flower essence, neural and hydromineral therapies,  homeopathy,  traditional Chinese medicine  (i. e. acupunctural  anesthesia for surgery), natural dietary supplements,  yoga, electromagnetic and laser devices.Cuban biochemists have produced a number of new alternative medicines, including PPG (policosanol), a natural product derived from sugarcane wax that is effective at reducing total cholesterol and LDL levels, and Vimang a natural product derived from the bark of  mango trees. 6)  MEDICAL RESEARCH IN CUBA The Cuban Ministry of Health produces a number of  medical journals  including the  ACIMED, the  Cuban Journal of Surgery  and the  Cuban Journal of Tropical Medicine. Because the U. S. government restricts investments in Cuba by U. S. companies and their affiliates, Cuban institutions have been limi ted in their ability to enter into research and development partnerships, although exceptions have been made for significant drugs. In April 2007, the Cuba IPV Study Collaborative Group reported in the  NewEngland Journal of Medicine  that inactivated (killed) poliovirus vaccine was effective in vaccinating children in tropical conditions. The Collaborative Group consisted of the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, Kouri Institute, U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pan American Health Organization, and the World Health Organization. This is important because countries with high incidence of polio are now using live oral poliovirus vaccine. When polio is eliminated in a country, they must stop using the live vaccine, because it has a slight risk of reverting to the dangerous form of polio. The collaborative group found that when polio is eliminated in a population, they could safely switch to killed vaccine and be protected from recurrent epidemics.Cuba has been free of polio since 1963, but continues with mass immunization campaigns. In the 1980s, Cuban scientists developed a vaccine against a strain of bacterial meningitis B, which eliminated what had been a serious disease on the island. The Cuban vaccine is used throughout Latin America. After outbreaks of meningitis B in the United States, the U. S. Treasury Department granted a license in 1999 to an American subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company SmithKline Beecham to enter into a deal to develop the vaccine for use in the U. S. and elsewhere. 7)  ANALYSIS In 2006,  BBC  flagship news programme  Newsnight  featured Cuba's Healthcare system as part of a series identifying â€Å"the world's best public services†.The report noted that â€Å"Thanks chiefly to the American economic blockade, but partly also to the web of strange rules and regulations that constrict Cuban life, the economy is in a terrible mess: national income per head is minuscule, and resources are amazin gly tight. Healthcare, however, is a top national priority† The report stated that life expectancy and infant mortality rates are nearly the same as the USA's. Its doctor-to-patient ratios stand comparison to any country in Western Europe. Its annual total health spend per head, however, comes in at $251; just over a tenth of the UK's. The report concluded that the population's admirable health is one of the key reasons why Castro is still in power.A 2006 poll carried out by  the Gallup Organization's Costa Rican affiliate — Consultoria Interdisciplinaria en Desarrollo (CID) — found that about three-quarters of urban Cubans responded positively to the question â€Å"do you have confidence to your country's health care system†. In 2001, members of the  UK  House of Commons  Health  Select Committee  travelled to Cuba and issued a report that paid tribute to â€Å"the success of the Cuban healthcare system†, based on its â€Å"strong emph asis on disease prevention† and â€Å"commitment to the practice of medicine in a community†. CUBA’S COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH PROGRAM: 1. Confronting the Real Disaster †¢ Direct long-term medical care †¢ Applying lessons from Cuban experience On-the-ground training of local personnel †¢ Development and sharing of research †¢ Academic training for Cubans at international sites †¢ Trilateral cooperation †¢ Scholarships for medical education †¢ 29 countries involved (21 in Africa) 2. Direct Medical Services – Strengthening Health Systems †¢ Bilateral government accords, identify needs †¢ Bolster public health infrastructure, capabilities †¢ Shared financial responsibility †¢ Mainly remote, rural postings †¢ Individual commitment/institutional commitment †¢ Numbers of professionals enough to make a difference 3. Challenges and Opportunities – Bolstering Local Public Health Systems Opportunitie sChallenges ___________________________________________________________________ SustainabilityFrustration with local infrastructure Increase understanding locallyBend to local opinions Long-range perspective, understandingVulnerable to govt changes, political will Horizontal model, broad presenceIntegrate vertical programs Increase staffing for health systemCreate felt need in population Broad skill setMismatched, narrow skill set 4. Training Professionals for Global Health †¢ At least 100,000 new doctors by 2015 †¢ Second Latin American Medical School †¢ Cuba has founded 11 medical schools and 2 nursing schools abroad †¢ Cuban professors teach in a dozen others 5. Health Equity & Cooperation: Challenges They Face $$ Resources |Lacking |Wise use (still lacking†¦) | |Goals |Disease driven |Healthy people driven | |Programs |Silos |Blankets | |Models |Stand-alone |Building health systems | |Priorities |Donor driven |Effective local leadership | |Investments |I n buildings |In people | |Reach |Pilot programs |Scaling Up | |Way |Independent |Real cooperation | |Movement |Band aids |Change | 8)  SOURCES †¢ The World Health Organisation, and its regional branch, the Pan American Health Organization, publish regular reports as well as making data available on the web. †¢ World Health Organisation,  World Health Statistics 2009  consists mostly of tables (. df format) of health indicators, for most countries, for selected years between 1990 and 2008. World Health Organisation,  National Accounts Series  consists of statistics on the financing of health care in various countries. Cuba tables covers years 1995-2007. †¢ Pan American Health Organisation,  Health situation in the Americas: Basic Indicators 2008. Table of health indicators for countries, one datum from a recent year (2000-2008) for each indicator. Pan American Health Organisation,  Health in the Americas 2007  is primarily a text report; also contains t ables. First section is on the region as a whole, second section is reports on individual countries, including Cuba.

Info Systems

Part I: True/False evaluation and Multiple-choice questions (0. 5 points/each question) 1. The overarching goal of information security is to ensure data integrity, availability, and confidentiality. 2. Managing security refers to a comprehensive set of activities that develop, implement, direct, and monitor the organization’s security strategy and activities. 3. The most expensive cybercrime are computer viruses. 4. Authentication is a means of providing proof of data transmission or receipt so that the occurrence of a transaction cannot later be refused. . The trend in computer security is toward policy-based management. 6. The core challenge of security management is ___________. a)Finding the right balance between shielding the organization’s main assets from potential harm b)Enabling staff to do their jobs c)Both a) and b) 7. Which of the following hacker tricks involves launching software that monitors all traffic looking for passwords or other valuable informatio n? a)Main-in-the middle b)Denial of service c)Trojan horse d)Network sniffing 8.Defining security policies and then managing and enforcing those policies via security management products and services is known as _______. a)Intrusion-based management b)Policy-based management c)Incident-based management 9. To protect against spoofing, firms need a way to ____________. a)Authenticate the identity of an individual b)Repudiate the identify of an individual c)Dispute the identity of an individual 10. To protect against hacking, companies install ___________ which controls access between networks. a)Virtual private systems b)Encryption c)Firewalls

The Adventures of Lewis Carroll’s Alice

From a young age Charles Dodgson’s fondness for writing was already made apparent. He had made several contributions to some national publications in England as well as to two local publications in Oxford (Karoline 31). It was in one of his contributions to the latter where he used the pseudonym by which he would be remembered: Lewis Carroll. It took some time before Carroll finally came out with a published version of his manuscript for Alice in Wonderland. Among other things Carroll was also a mathematician and a deacon in his church (Collingwood 22-23).These occupations contributed to the delay in publication of the classic story of Alice. After its release and widespread acclaim however, it wasn’t long before Carroll published its sequel, Through the Looking Glass. The two texts have been popularized as children’s literature. However, closer analyses by critics have brought forth a string of explanations accounting for the uncommon descriptions and images in the texts. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the creation of the stories, it cannot be denied that the same were written for the enjoyment and benefit of children.Controversies Surrounding Alice The zeitgeist during the release of Alice in Wonderland was one of drug abuse resistance and a counter-culture of dependence on psychedelic substances. Such an air led scholars to deconstruct the text based on the prevalent norms in society. It was easy for scholars to relate Alice’s mushroom-eating and herb-use to regular pot sessions. Some scholars have claimed that the imageries in the story are akin to the hallucinations experienced when under the influence of addictive substances.From these factual circumstances arose the belief that Carroll himself was under the influence at the time that he wrote the text or that he was a habitual user. However, there is no evidence to show that at any point in his life Carroll was involved in drug abuse. There is evidence to support however that Carroll may have been ill thus prompting the hyperbolic descriptions in Alice in Wonderland and its sequel. It was observed that Carroll documented suffering from severe migraines which most often affected the ill person by skewing his or her perspective, such as making objects appear bigger then they actually were (Carroll 52).It is surmised that Lewis Carroll suffered from such an affliction all his life and thus the vivid imagery in his popular texts. The disease has now become popularly known as the Alice in Wonderland Syndrome or, medically, micropsia and macropsia. This is a neurological disease which affects visual perception in humans causing illusions in size, shape and color (Cinibis and Aysun 316). Some scholars have attributed the creativity in Carroll’s text to the fact that he was ailing from this disease.As regards the text Through the Looking Glass, critics have unanimously categorized the same as nonsense literature. It is not hard to imagine why , what with the text’s deconstruction of norms and the topsy turvy manner by which the text upends unquestioned customs – such as telling time for example. More than anything however, the text is a clear presentation on a play of words and wit. The Real Alice The first and strongest argument that Carroll’s stories were written simply for children to enjoy is an inspection of the life of Carroll. It has already been mentioned that Carroll was a deacon in his church.This paved the way to his acquaintance with a little girl who sparked the creation of his children’s masterpiece. In her text, The Real Alice, Clarks shows that sometime in 1855 Carroll met the Liddell family whose head, Henry Liddell, was the dean of Christ Church in Oxford. Because of his acquaintance with Henry Liddell, Carroll in turn became acquainted with Henry’s children. Alice Liddell was one of three girls belonging to the Liddell family. Carroll was quite fond of children and he often took the Liddell children to picnics and boat rides where he regaled the children with stories and make-believes.It was on one such occasion that Alice asked Carroll to tell them a story and the ensuing tale is what is known today as Alice in Wonderland. Although Carroll had told the children other stories prior to this particular one, the difference this time was that Alice Liddell had asked him to write down the story for her. Several pieces of evidence show that indeed Alice Liddell was the model, or at least the inspiration, for Carroll’s Alice. One of the strongest proofs is that Carroll actually dedicated the book to Alice Liddell thus demonstrating that Alice played a part in its completion.If it were merely a sign of the close relationship that he shared with the Liddell children, then Carroll should have dedicated the book to all of them and not just to one in particular. Moreover, a poem in Through the Looking Glass reveals an acrostic spelling out the name o f Alice Pleasance Liddell. Although Carroll himself admitted using acrostics to spell out the names of young ladies with whom he was acquainted, the appearance of Alice Liddell’s name in both his books is quite significant.No other acquaintance of his was mentioned in both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Certainly it was more than just the similarity in names of his friend and his protagonist that prompted him to spell out Alice’s name in the sequel of his story. There is also evidence showing that Carroll set the story on dates significant to Alice Liddell. The first story was set on May 4, Alice’s birthday, and the second story was set on November 4, Alice’s half-birthday (Wikipedia Alice Liddell). Carroll certainly went out of his way to allude to such significant dates in both his stories.Furthermore, when the fictional Alice stated her age it reflected the actual age Alice Liddell would have been at that time. Certainly that too co uld not have been mere coincidence. Although Carroll denied any association between his writings and Alice Liddell, the subtle hints that he planted in the story speak for themselves. A possible cause for the denial might have been the intrigue that eventually followed his intimate relationships with children. Karoline Leach first raised such a point in her book, In the Shadow of a Dreamchild, when she attempted to deconstruct the Carroll Myth.In essence, Leach insinuated pedophilia by observing that the relationship Carroll maintained with young girls was unnatural. Of course, with the stature and popularity that Carroll had attained, such statements, though founded with as much proof as other accepted historical facts regarding Carroll, were hotly contested and rebutted. This is not to say however that they have been debunked as such is not the case. Regardless of the relationship between Alice Liddell and Carroll, it is uncontested that the first book was dedicated to Alice Lidde ll while she was still a young child.Above any other proof of motivation, this clear manifestation of intent reflects that the story of Alice in Wonderland was written for the fancies of children. It necessarily follows therefore that its sequel also catered to children’s delights. A Journey into Wonderland Apart from the biographical setting, one may also look at the fictional setting which Carroll developed. The story starts out with a random romp in the woods with a little girl’s closest companion, her pet. It is a dull day and, upon falling into the rabbit hole, Alice finds herself in a refreshing change of scenery.The situation is not unlike the many dull summer’s days wherein children are wont to play make-believe. Wonderland itself is a crayon enlargement of pictures that are commonly drawn by children. The different colored trees and stark colors worn by the characters, both on their clothes and on their furs, shows a child’s easy use of colors. T he scenery in itself has a nursery rhyme quality around it reflecting the target audience it was written for. The contrast in colors is very much the same manner by which children view the world.It is only the adult-world that defines colors by hues of black, gray, and khaki. Such a variety of colors as is seen in Alice’s adventures is the world of young children. The mere fact that children often like to reverse colors in their portrayals of the world around them shows that they enjoy such mismatches. This only serves to reveal the delight they must have felt to have been launched alongside Alice into a world filled with mixtures of colors. Furthermore, the skewed perception of size of objects was entirely in line with the perspective of small children.For children, size is magnified in proportion with their own size. More so, size is magnified in proportion to their understanding of the utility of a particular object. Take for example the larger-than-life portrayal of the c hess board pieces. The game of chess is a game of knowledge and of skill. It is not unlikely therefore that a child would find such a game taxing, particularly so when he or she is free to enjoy the free terrain of nature. Another such example is found in the upturning of the concept of time telling in the story.One of the most difficult things to teach a child is how to tell time. The importance of the long hand, the short hand, and the second hand are sheer mysteries to a child who needs only to keep track whether or not it is night or day outside. The mockery of timepieces in the story is entirely in line with such difficulty. The concept may be refreshing to adult readers but it also allows child readers to completely relate with the story. Apart from the setting, Carroll’s use of characters already familiar to children showed that the story was indeed intended for them.The characters Tweedledee and Tweedledum for example, jump right out of the nursery rhyme to meet Alice in her adventure. This is very significant because to no other audience would these two characters hold strong bearing than to children. The language used in the story is also reflective of the genre for which the texts were intended. To most the language is mere nonsense. But the play of words, particularly in Through the Looking Glass, presents so much more than just play. The manner in which Carroll communicates his feelings with non-words is reflective of the way children themselves attempt to express themselves to adults.For example, in the poem Jabberwocky, Carroll uses the combination of words and the emotions evoked by non-words to paint out a story for his audience. Such mixture of words to express a new feeling or thought is most often observed in children who, for lack of vocabulary, resort to such splicing when the need arises. Furthermore, children often take meaning from the feelings that a particular word arouses in them, particularly so when they don’t know t he meaning of the word. The use of language in the two stories is a play on such psychology of children.Finally, the variety of sounds that Carroll brings to life in his stories presents good exercise for children’s linguistic abilities. The spectrum of sounds that his stories present is good training ground for improved diction and muscle memory for his young readers. Finally, let us examine Alice herself. Alice’s disposition is that of an obedient young girl who is both shocked and amused by the play of the characters she meets. Alice presents the character of a child who has learned to believe the teachings of her elders without fully understanding why she should do so.This very character of Alice persists from her falling into the rabbit hole to her arguing against the disruption of norms. Yet every time that Alice is forced to explain her stands, she finds herself running out of thoughts and words. Such blind obedience is common in children, particularly those sta rting education but not yet fully being taught about the concepts behind the lessons being learned. It is argued that Alice’s adventures had a darker undertone to it, with Alice finding each of her hopes being crushed throughout the story.However, such an observation does not discount the fact that Alice’s story still holds for the benefit of child readers. If nothing more, such an undertone elevates Alice’s story to apply even to young adults. It seems that Alice’s realization that her fantasies and dreams are not always in line with reality and therefore must be discarded shows a coming of age theme in the story. As with most coming of age stories, it is not uncommon that adults themselves find the issues they face being addressed.However, the benefit that children may derive from the story is not undermined because the issues portrayed are particularly addressed to the ones that they themselves face. A Child’s Wonderland Scholars have applied th e themes present in the stories to everyday life of more mature audiences. Moreover, numerous criticisms have been aimed at Carroll’s stories reflecting them to be no more than the products of a hallucinating mind. Despite these judgments regarding the source of the idea of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, it cannot be denied that both pieces have had a tremendous impact on its young readers.There is no doubt that these stories were created primarily for the enjoyment of children and for their beneficial understanding. This intention is the focal key in understanding the disjointed world that Lewis Carroll painted. To most adults and to the scholarly world, an in-depth analysis of the text was needed, particularly so when considering the intellect and the capacity of the man who rendered the same. But it is undeniable that the very reason why Alice’s Adventures are still loved today is borne of a deep affiliation between children and Alice herself.Car roll’s depiction of Alice and her Wonderland embodies the make-believe world that children often find themselves voiceless to express. In his masterpiece, Carroll is not only able to express the world of a child but he is able to impact the viewpoints of adults as well. Works Cited Alice Liddell. Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. April 2008. 16 April 2008 . Carroll, Lewis. The Diaries of Lewis Carroll. London: The Lewis Carroll Society, 1993-2007. Carroll, Lewis. The Complete, Fully Illustrated Works.New York: Gramercy Books, 1995. Cinibis, M. , and Aysun, S. â€Å"Alice in Wonderland syndrome as an initial manifestation of Epstein-Barr virus infection. † British Journal of Ophthalmology, 76, 316, 1992. Clark, Anne. The Real Alice. New York: Stein And Day, 1982. Cohen, Morton N. Lewis Carroll: A Biography. London: Macmillan, 1995. Collingwood, Stuart D. The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1898. Leach, Karoline. In the Shadow of the Dreamchild : A New Understanding of Lewis Carroll. London: Peter Owen Publishers, 1999.