Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Get Excellent Tips on Writing a Healthcare Term Paper

Get Excellent Tips on Writing a Healthcare Term Paper Before exploring the structure and the elements that characterize your term paper, it is essential to define what constitutes healthcare studies and the objectives of writing a term paper in this field. A term paper in healthcare is a project professors assign students to fulfill course requirements. You can also be assigned a term paper to assess and track expected knowledge outcomes about healthcare courses. As opposed to the essays in the field of healthcare, term papers require significant research and use of technical writing skills. Your healthcare term paper should focus on a single topic or interrelated topics in healthcare and must be organized, well-written, coherent, logical, and well-researched to reflect your knowledge of the chosen topic and area of study. The term paper should meet your professors requirements and adhere to the writing requirements observed in healthcare and social science studies. Often, your lecturer may provide the term paper topics. Conversely, the professor may allow you to explore different topics in healthcare, depending on the area of healthcare studied in the course and the course requirements. In such a case, you need to understand how to select an appropriate topic for your healthcare term paper. Since a term paper serves as a commitment to a continual dialog between the professors and students, your lecturer may use the healthcare term paper to explore your understanding of healthcare issues and interpretation of theories and concepts in healthcare and uncover your ability to synthesize course readings. Writing a term paper may be challenging. However, this guide will provide you with the step-by-step guidelines that should make your writing process less tasking. Selecting a Topic for Your Healthcare Term Paper When selecting a topic for your healthcare term paper, you should always consider the following: Length of the paper. Term papers in healthcare have a varied scope of content because the issues in this area intertwine with the individual, social, political, and economic concepts. Thus, some healthcare topics may be either too narrow or too broad. To come up with an appropriate topic that exhibits the scope of your paper, always consider the required length of the term paper provided by the professors. You should respond to the questions like â€Å"Will the paper be long, like eight pages, or short, like three pages?† or â€Å"How many words are required for the term paper?† Once you ascertain the required length of the paper, it should be easy to find and choose the topics that match the required number of words or pages. In this case, if the required length of the term paper exceeds five pages, choose a broad healthcare topic. Conversely, select topics that are narrow if the term paper should be less than five pages. Topic complexity. Depending on the level of study, (college, undergraduate or postgraduate), some healthcare topics may be quite complex. You do not need to choose the topics that you cannot handle. Therefore, select the topics that you can handle with ease. In cases when it is impossible to focus and write about simpler subjects, ensure you are able to explain the chosen area of focus regardless of its complexity. If stuck, ask your instructor to explain and help you clarify certain areas of the topic that you find complex. Resource availability. Check available literature resources, such as healthcare books, articles, and online sources to gather ideas on topics and ensure that a chosen topic has readily available and sufficient materials for reference when writing the term paper. Magazines and healthcare related news articles are also essential sources that provide different perspectives concerning healthcare issues. Examples of healthcare topics for your research paper include: Effects of Fast Foods on Adolescents; Explore the Difference Between Wholesome Foods and Healthy Foods; Examine the Benefits of Promoting Vegetable Intake on Human Health; The Socio-Economic Impacts of Lung Cancer; Evaluate the Benefits of Offering Universal Health Care Coverage. Pre-Writing Tips You Should Consider Even with clear prompts, topic, ideas, and literature materials for reference, starting off a term paper can still be challenging. Everyone faces the dilemma of translating thoughts into a coherent and carefully articulated paper. Before beginning the writing process, seek clarifications if needed and go through the provided instructions. Planning, brainstorming, clustering, and outlining ideas are among the essential health care term paper pre-writing tips that will ensure you write a stellar healthcare term paper. Since pre-writing involves planning and outlining information to ensure effective writing, it is possible to select the prewriting strategy of your choice. You can also use multiple prewriting strategies to come up with a refined topic and term paper in general. Planning. A healthcare term paper requires appropriate articulation of facts without including unfounded information and speculating on concepts. Therefore, planning is a must as it helps to determine the paper timeline, allocate time to different parts of the paper writing process, and craft a resource outline to ensure plentiful reference materials are available. Brainstorming. Ponder over the possible topic ideas as soon as you settle on a topic. Write every point that comes to your mind in no particular order to keep track of all thoughts and ideas that pop up in your head. Brainstorming will present you with new avenues to explore concerning the term paper topic. Freewriting. Free writing is similar to brainstorming as it helps you transfer your thoughts onto paper. You do not need to worry about grammar, spelling or punctuation at this point since the purpose is to write as many ideas as you can about the healthcare topic. You can set a time limit of ten minutes and free write your thoughts and ideas. However, free writing should entail writing ideas about the healthcare topic in more formal sentences that only need editing and referencing. Clustering. It is important to use the clustering strategy, especially if your ideas regarding topics and ideas are scattered. Clustering involves simple mind mapping and allows you to explore the way ideas you have developed fit together. You can cluster your ideas by writing your healthcare topic at the center of a blank paper and drawing outer circles that you should complete with ideas on your chosen topic. How to Craft Your Thesis Statement Choosing a creative and compelling topic for the term paper is only a single aspect of writing a healthcare term paper. A thesis statement summarizes the claim or the main point of the term paper. It should inform your intended audience about the importance of your healthcare subject matter and provide a roadmap for the entire paper. If the term paper is about cosmetic surgery and cost implications, the thesis statement should provide a claim for or against undergoing cosmetic surgery and the way to understand the concept. Thus, a thesis statement should: Make a disputable claim or interpretation; Be written as a single sentence at the end of the introduction to present the writer’s argument; Tell the reader your opinion about the term paper and what it will prove; Serve as the organizing principle of the term paper; Direct your audience to the major pieces of evidence you will explore in the paper. The body of the term paper should organize information and evidence that convince the reader of the logic of the thesis statement claim. If the term paper topic asks you to develop a claim about abandoning Obamacare, you should convey that claim in the thesis statement. Crafting an appropriate thesis statement may be challenging. Thus, you have to follow the guidelines below to learn how to craft one. The following steps help with developing an appropriate thesis statement. Read and compare sources. Gather and organize information found in books, journals, articles, and online sources on the chosen healthcare topic. Look for relationships between ideas and concepts that constitute the topic and analyze the significance of the established relationships. Draft the thesis and consider the counter-arguments. Draft a statement that presents the basic argument that results from the analyzed sources, and that you can support using scholarly evidence. Since you are likely to take one side of the chosen argument, consider the other side of it, i.e., the counterclaim. The latter helps to refine the thesis statement. Notably, this strategy is more effective when it comes to writing an argumentative term paper. Healthcare Term Paper Outline that Gets You an A+: Our Writers Know Their Business A healthcare term paper may be persuasive, informative, or argumentative. Regardless of the type, the purpose and the structure, it should be well-organized, logical, and clear. The outline should entail: Cover page. The cover page text contains name, course, date, and instructor’s name. Some lecturers prefer term papers with a cover page while others insist on the omission of the cover title. The formatting style should also dictate whether or not you should include a cover page. Abstract. The abstract is usually half a page long or approximately 150 words, and it describes the term paper, its content, and its significance. Similar to the cover page, tutor preferences will indicate whether you should include an abstract or not. Introduction. The introduction is the first main part of the term paper. It begins with a hook and a statement about the topic. The elements that characterize the introduction include: A short statement of the paper objective, thesis, and questions that the term paper will answer. The place that specific healthcare topics take in the broader context but in a way that represents the paper arguments. The description of relevant and current literature on the healthcare subject of analysis. The clarification of terms typical for the healthcare discourse. Body. The body of your term paper should present a synthesis of the paper research and provide information about the topic to broaden the reader’s understanding of the healthcare issue you are exploring. The structure of the body segment depends on the goal of your term paper. Consequently, no solid conventions dictate the aspects that need to be discussed or the manner in which they should be analyzed. Important elements of the body section are: Divide the body text into segments and subsections that represent the main ideas and supporting evidence. Each unique idea or argument should be in its own paragraph. Take note that one sentence does not constitute a paragraph. Use the paragraphs and topic sentences to develop your paper argument comprehensively and without repetitions. Provide evidence for your arguments by quoting existing literature on selected ecology topics. If the paper is argumentative, quote certain claims and contrast them with your opinion or disapprove the claims. Do not forget to provide reasons for disapproving a claim. Reference all the analogous and literal text quotations. If the further clarification and comments are needed but their inclusion would disrupt the paper fluidity, insert the content as footnotes. Keep in mind that the presence of footnotes will depend on the specified term paper writing convention. The composition of your text should be clear and logically comprehensible. The structure will depend on the aspects typical for the chosen ecology topic. Provide the reasons for your idea and criticism instead of summarizing existing literature and gathering quotations. Moreover, provide only information that is essential to understand your term paper issue. Conclusion. In some ways, the conclusion of your term paper is similar to your introduction. The conclusion should restate your thesis and summarize your main points of evidence for the reader. You should restate the topic briefly and explain why it is important. Ensure your prose is concise and clear. Rewrite the thesis statement because it should not appear or sound exactly as it does in the introduction. If possible, it should be narrowed and focused on your healthcare topic. A Few Post-Writing Tips The Job Is Done! Proofread. The term paper is not complete until you proofread it to correct grammar, sentence structure, and content errors. While all the errors can be corrected during the first proofreading session, it is important to read through the paper twice or thrice to check for specific issues at each period. For instance, go through the paper to check grammatical errors and sentence structure mistakes. During the second reading session, read the paper aloud to identify incoherent content and sentence structure. Finally, assess the term paper to ensure clear content meaning, coherence, and logical flow of ideas. Finally, ensure the paper is free from nested sentences, passive constructions, and unreferenced content.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Senate Seats up for Election in 2016

Senate Seats up for Election in 2016 Republicans had a huge year in the 2010 elections following the rebellion by conservatives over President Obamas big government push. As a result, Republicans have a big task ahead of them in defending many competitive seats. The Democrats faced a similar situation in 2014 after having more than 20 seats to defend thanks to the success of the party in 2008. In that cycle, many toss-up and red-state Democrats faced re-election for the first time since casting a ballots for Obamacare, and lost. Will Republicans avoid the same fate? (Senate seats are up for election every six years, with approximately 1/3 of the seats up every two years.) Safe Republican Seats Up for Re-election The GOP should have 24 seats to defend out of the overall 34 seats up for election. Luckily, 18 of those seats will start in the likely Republican column. While many of these seats were held by Democrats before 2010, they were still red seats at heart and Obamacare helped end the myth of the blue dog Democrats. The likely safe seats include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah. While Iowa is the one state on this list twice won by President Obama, popular US Senator Chuck Grassley should have little trouble winning re-election. With the right recruit, Democrats can be competitive in any number of these seats, but they start off in the safe zone for the GOP. (See a complete breakdown of all 24 Republican seats up for re-election.) Big Races for Republican Incumbents These are the six seats that Democrats will likely target in 2016 as many of them featured some surprising and unexpected results in 2010. Democrats will be hoping to ride the coat-tails of a possible Hillary Clinton Presidential run to propel big victories in the states. Florida - Marco Rubio is running for President. He has opted not to try to simultaneously run for the Presidency and the US Senate, and current state laws would have prevented him from doing so. The field is wide open on the both the Republican and Democratic sides.Illinois - Moderate Mark Kirk won a close election (2 points) over close Obama friend Alexi Giannoulias in 2010. Illinois is a fairly blue state, but Kirk has had plenty of success there. Democrats have rallied around congresswoman Tammy Duckworth who will provide a very stiff challenge.New Hampshire - Kelly Ayotte had a blowout, 24-point victory in 2010. She will probably be a strong bet for re-election and at least one early poll showed her in a strong position even against one of the states top Democrats. The Democrats have recruited Governor Maggie Hassan to challenge Ayotte.Ohio - The good news for Republicans is they had huge victories in three of the five most competitive seats for 2016. Ohio follows Florida and New Hampshire as a state where the incumbent will be coming off big double-digit victories. Here, Rob Portman cruised to a 57-39% victory over his Democratic opponent in 2010. The Democrats have rallied around former Governor Ted Strickland and polls have showed a tight race. Pennsylvania - Like Illinois, Pennsylvania will be a big question mark. Pat Toomey had a 2-point victory in 2010 and will need to rely on his work over the previous six years to improve that. A strong Presidential run by a Democrat could give the potential challenger significant coat-tails in this race.Wisconsin - The big surprise of 2010 was Ron Johnsons 52-47 victory over progressive US Senator Russ Feingold. Johnson has proven an odd state to handicap given its support for both President Obama and constitutional conservative Scott Walker as Governor. Russ Feingold has decided to try and win his seat back, and early polls show he might be able to do it. Safe Democratic Seats Up for Re-election The Democrats should only have 10 seats up for election in 2016. Luckily for them, most of these will be safe. After all, these Democrats are the lucky few who survived the tea party sweeps in 2010. The early safe bets are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Most of these seats should survive incumbent retirements as well. (See all 10 Democratic Senate seats up or re-election in 2016) Big Races for Democratic Incumbents Colorado - This is one of the seats that got away from Republicans in 2010 and it will be one of two real shots at a pick-up in 2016. A large field has yet to be whittled down.Nevada - Democrats went all in to save US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada. Reid will be nearing 80 years old in 2016 and has opted to retire. Republican Congressman Joe Heck will make the open seat immediately competitive.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Human Resource Management in a Business Context Essay - 1

Human Resource Management in a Business Context - Essay Example This essay focuses on the discussion of the racial discrimination in police, that is one of the problems affected human relations and work productivity. The most insidious prejudices are negative attitudes directed toward groups of people. They take the form of assumptions or generalizations about all or most members of a particular group. This kind of in-group versus out-group hostility that disrupts work unit interactions and subverts organization effectiveness. The behaviors, customs, and values of out-group people are labeled strange or weird. Verbal misunderstandings are frequently the beginning of problems between culturally different police officers. Most police officers fear things and people who are different and they often verbally strike out or physically lash out in an aggressive manner to protect themselves. Aggressive discourse occurs as dominant-group members verbalize negative feelings toward minority-group members, and vice versa. The researcher states that effective communication and diversity training initiatives are the main methods, which help to eliminate racial envy and ethnic differences in police. The absence of positive conversations about particular minorities can usually be correlated to the absence or underrepresentation of these individuals in the workplaces in question. In conclusion, the researcher mentiones that racial discrimination is unlawful and illegal, so police administration should take corrective actions to avoid further dissemination and victimization of racial minorities.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Utopia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Utopia - Essay Example Houyhnhnm Land and El Dorado differ considerably in their environment. Houyhnhnm Land is an island, accessible only by sea. El Dorado is land-locked, â€Å"bounded by inaccessible mountains† (Voltaire, 76). The former has a largely natural pastoral environment with â€Å"plenty of grass, and several fields of oats† (Swift, 6). On the other hand, El Dorado is characterized by a more contrived, landscaped beauty. The beaten roads of Houyhnhnm are in contrast to the covered roads of El Dorado, on which the pebbles and sand are gold and precious stones. The public buildings and houses in El Dorado are built on a palatial scale, and are adorned with all manner of precious material. Even the â€Å"very plain house† (Voltaire, 78) of the retired courtier is ornamented in gold and silver. On the other hand, in Houyhnhnm Land, the â€Å"buildings, although very rude and simple, are not inconvenient, but well contrived to defend them from all injuries of cold and heatâ₠¬  (Swift, 12). In all aspects, Houyhnhnm Land is the epitome of simplicity, while El Dorado is filled with material wealth. The inhabitants of the two lands stand in marked opposition to each other. The Houyhnhnms are highly refined, intelligent horses, whose â€Å"grand maxim is, to cultivate reason, and to be wholly governed by it† (Swift,  9). In contrast to these noble horses, Houyhnhnm Land is also inhabited by the savage-like Yahoos, who are completely ruled by avarice and sensual depravity. The citizens of El Dorado are of one kind only: humans who have no passion for the gold and jewels which abound in their land. Peruvian is the language of El Dorado, while the Houyhnhnms and Yahoos have their distinct speeches. There is no religion in Houyhnhnm Land while the people of El Dorado offer thanksgiving to a single God, without the trappings of formal religious institutions. El Dorado has a â€Å"palace of sciences, --- filled with instruments

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Columbus - Ohio Essay Example for Free

Columbus Ohio Essay Do helium filled footballs travel further than footballs filled with ordinary air? Two experiments were conducted by members of the media in Columbus, Ohio to investigate this question. The experiment conducted using two different footballs, one of which was filled with helium while the other was filled with ordinary air. Each football was kicked four times with the wind and four times against the wind. The results of this study seem striking, the lighter helium filled football went much farther when the wind was at the kickers back, but did not perform so well into the wind. The helium filled football traveled an average of ten yards farther with the wind and an average of five yards less against the wind than its air filled counterparts. This all came about in1993, Auburn University played Mississippi State University in football. Auburn was set up to punt the football. The football was kicked and eyed in disbelief as it sailed an estimated seventy one yards through the air. Shocked, Mississippi State coaches claimed the football was filled with helium in order to produce such a kick. The football was immediately seized by officials and was later tested to see if it had been filled with helium. No helium was found in the football. A single outlier could account for the observed differences. Observing differences in small scales studies are often attributable to chance, if there is considerable variability in the individual results. To determine if there is considerable variability in the data or if there are outliers, people would like to see the actual data. It is difficult to evaluate the results of a study of you are not given the actual date. We don’t know if any randomization was used in the study. One would want to control for difference in the footballs perhaps by using several footballs. Mostly all the kicker for both helium and air filled footballs show a lot of variability with greater variability with the helium filled football than the air filled footballs. They mentioned in the histogram that the pair of kicks comparing a given trial might be viewed as a matched pair. It is often valuable to examine the difference in the pair of values comprising the matched pair. It is hard to see that there is any marked advantage  to kicking a football filled with helium versus one filled with ordinary air. There is weak evidence of a slight advantage for the helium filled football. The results do not substantiate the study, which seem to suggest a much clearer advantage to the helium filled football. There does not seem to be much evidence that a helium filled football outperforms an air filled football. The knowledge could effect the way the kicker kicked the football, kicking the helium filled football more smoothly than the air filled ball when the wind was at his back, while lunging at the helium filled football when kicking into the wind. A smoother rhythm generally produces a longer kick. After hearing all the results, skeptics from The Columbus Dispatch decided to conduct their own experiment with help of a team of physicists and chemists from The Ohio State University, by doing this experiment they learned that the kicks for both the helium and the ordinary air filled footballs show a lot of variability with the helium filled football than the ordinary air filled football. In the histogram the distributions of both are slightly skewed to the left but do have a rough bell shape. The center of the helium filled football data seems a bit larger than that for the air filled football. The difference is small and the variability is the data makes it hard to assert that there is any marked advantage to kicking the helium filled football.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Gangs Essay -- Youth Gangs Essays

Gangs Works Cited Missing Gangs are a violent reality that people have to deal with in today's cities. What has made these groups come about? Why do some kids feel that being in a gang is an acceptable and prestigious way to live? There are many different theories to these questions. On the surface, gangs may appear to be shallow and materialistic; a result of human beings' personal wants, but there are speculations that are more profound. In reference to the way humans are influenced in society, there is valid evidence to distribute blame at negative forces of economic disadvantages, capitalism, and the media. Along with gang membership comes easy gains for the gang member. The gang members are easily consumed with the money, power, protection, and thrill that being a part of a gang can offer. Instead of committing to a 9 to 5, considering if the unemployment rate would permit it, gang members can easily get the desirables all rolled into the package that accompanies gang initiation. They get the sense of identity, status, and boost in self-esteem that human nature craves, (Grinney 76) but not without the cons. The risks that these gang members take on include loosing their lives to the spur of a few short-term thrills.  ¡Ã‚ °[The appeal of] Gang life is predicated on immediate economic gain from drug and other crime profits and social gain from the agency of rulelessness. Mainstream life is oriented toward the future, and social and material gains are slower but steadier, more reliable, and less risky. ¡Ã‚ ± (Fleisher 214) Even though, the material gains seem to be the obvious temptat ion, there are deeper meanings to why these children turn to gangs. Gang members are being influenced by a society in which while the negative ... ...rs were just two in the many tragic accidents that are provoked by obscenity such as Gangsta Rap. U.S. District Judge Jose Gonzales declared a rap group ¡Ã‚ ¯s (2 Live Crew) albums obscene saying  ¡Ã‚ °Obscenity is not a protected form of speech under the U.S. Constitution. ¡Ã‚ ±(Tucker 21) It is entirely unfortunate that so many of America ¡Ã‚ ¯s youth are subjected to such low standards of life that they turn to gangs just to stay alive only to end up dying. In prevention of the risks of gang membership, the society should begin taking drastic measures. If home life for a child has its tribulations, let there be a positive society, a resourceful community, or a caring neighbor that he can turn to. It would make the task of minimizing gangs a lot less complicated if the negative influences of the media, capitalism, and flaws of the economic situation were also being minimized.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Drug offenders sdmitted to prison Essay

The single greatest force behind the growth of the U. S. prison system since the mid-1980s has been the national â€Å"war on drugs. â€Å"45 Spearheaded by major federal drug policy initiatives that significantly increased penalties for drug offenses and markedly increased federal funds for state anti-drug efforts, federal and state measures to combat drugs have concentrated on criminal law enforcement rather than prevention and treatment. 46 An estimated 400,000 people — almost one-quarter of the total incarcerated population in the U. S.– are confined in local jails and state and federal prisons on drug charges. 47 Citing the extraordinary number of drug offenders in U. S. prisons, General Barry McCaffrey, has decried the creation of what he termed a â€Å"drug gulag. â€Å"48 Policies adopted to battle the use and sale of drugs have led to marked increases in arrest rates, in the likelihood of going to prison, and in the length of sentences for drug offenders. Between 1980 and 1997, the number of annual drug arrests tripled to a high of 1,584,000. 49 The rate of drug arrests per 100,000 residents rose from 288 to 661. 50 The rate of commitment to state prison per drug arrest quintupled between 1980 and 1990, rising from 19 prison commitments per 1,000 arrests to 103 per 1,000. 51 The estimated time served by drug offenders in state prisons increased a full year between 1987 and 1996; federal drug sentences doubled. 52 As of 1997, there were an estimated 285,009 men and women in state and federal prisons on drug charges, a twelvefold increase since 1980. 53 Relative to the adult population, the rate of incarceration of drug offenders hasincreased almost tenfold, rising from less than 15 inmates per 100,000 adults to 148 per 100,000. 54 In 1980, drug offenders comprised only six percent of state prison populations. By 1998, they constituted 21 percent. In federal prisons, drug offenders now comprise 59 percent of all inmates, whereas they represented only a quarter of federal inmates in 1980. 55 Drug Offenders Admitted to Prison Between 1980 and 1998, the number of new admissions of drug offenders to state and federal prison soared, exceeding 1. 5 million in total (Figure 5). In recent years, about one hundred thousand drug offenders have been admitted to prison annually. Nationwide, 31 percent of all admissions to state prison in 1996 were drug offenders. Among the states, the proportion of drug offenders varied between a low of 10 percent in Maine to a high of 46. 6 percent in New Jersey and 44. 7 percent in New York (Figure 6). In three quarters of the states, more than one in five persons sent to prison was convicted of a drug offense. In contrast, violent offenders accounted nationwide for only 26. 8 percent of new state prison admissions. Rate of Admission of Drug Offenders There is a remarkable range in the extent to which states subject their populations to incarceration on drug charges (Table 8). The rates of admission of drug offenders to prison per 100,000 adult residents vary from a low of 6 per 100,000 in Maine to a high of 91 in California. The ten states that have the highest rates of drug offender admissions relative to population are: California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington. Nationwide, drug offenders are sent to prison at a rate, relative to population, that is 13 percent higher than the rate for violent offenders (Table 9). In one half of the states reporting to NCRP, the admission rates for drug offenders exceed those for persons convicted of violent crimes. Six states — Arkansas, California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia — send drug offenders to prison at rates that range from 50 to 100 percent higher than the rates for violent offenders. Drug Offending and Prison Admissions The broad range in admission rates for drug offenders across the country cannot be ascribed simply to variations in drug use and sales in different states. Table 10, covering twenty six states, presents federal estimates of the percentage of the population over 12 in those states who were current illicit drug users in 1991-1993. 56 Although some drug users may cross state lines to purchase drugs, we assume that relative rates of drug use in each state also roughly reflect relative amounts of drug sale activity. Comparing drug use rates with calculations of the rate relative to population at which drug offenders in those states were sent to prison reveals the lack of a consistent correlation between drug offending and the imprisonment of drug offenders. First, the percentage of the population that used drugs varied among states from 4. 1 to 8. 2 percent, compared to a range in drug offender admission rates that extended from 8 to 91. Second, the states with higher rates of drug use were not necessarily the states with higher drug offender admission rates. Oregon, for example, had the third highest percentage of drug use, yet it had one of the lowest rates of drug admissions. In contrast, California had both the highest rate of drug use and the highest rate of drug offender admissions. Third, lower drug use did not necessarily correlate with low drug offender admissions rates. The percentage of Illinois’ population that used drugs was quite low, yet the statehad the second highest rate of drug offender admissions. Similarly, Louisiana had a relatively low rate of drug use yet it had one of the highest rates of drug admissions. Obviously, no definitive conclusions can be drawn from a comparison of these two rather crude sets of figures. Nevertheless, the data suggest the explanation for the different rates at which people are sent to prison for drug offenses must lie in different penal policies and priorities among the states, including different law enforcement resources and strategies, prosecutorial charging preferences, and sentencing laws, as well as structural and demographic factors, e. g. , degrees of urbanization, rather than rates of drug offending. Drugs Involved In Offense The NCRP data does not permit reliable calculations about the extent to which different â€Å"hard† drugs (e. g. , cocaine, amphetamines, heroin) were involved in drug offenses. The data is somewhat better with regard to the identification of marijuana offenses, which were identified as the drug involved in 4. 3 percent of all drug admissions. 57 In nine states marijuana offenses accounted for more than ten percent of drug admissions: Alabama (16. 09), Iowa (17. 22), Kentucky (12. 4), Mississippi (14. 50), New Hampshire (28. 83), North Dakota (43. 02), South Carolina (11. 25), South Dakota (18. 3), and West Virginia (20. 63) (Table 11). Type of Drug Conduct People are sent to prison for both drug possession and sales-related conduct. In 1996, the simple possession of drugs (excluding possession with intent to sell) was the most serious conviction offense for 28 percent of all drug offenders admitted to state prison (Table 12). Fifty-six percent of drug offender admissions were for drug sales, and the rest for other drug-related offenses (e. g. , fraudulent prescriptions and unlawful possession of syringes). In nine states (Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Virginia) more than 50 percent of drug offenders sent to prison were convicted of simple possession.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Being a Girl

Being Girl: A Sociological Memoir My first memory of kindergarten was this: dozens of tiny, petrified 5-year-olds being dropped off at their first day of school, and dozens of exhausted, overworked mothers consoling their weeping sons and daughters. I remember it vividly because, despite the terror and chaos, a single thought pervaded my mind, the thought that â€Å"these moms are not as pretty as my mom. † I wasn’t entirely biased, either. By North American standards of beauty, I was correct. Here was my mother, a rail-thin, blonde-haired, blue-eyed statuesque stunner, among a sea of frumpy women with visible wrinkles and tangles of black hair.And here I was, the daughter of this perfect specimen, the proud owner of a mother who was more â€Å"feminine†, more â€Å"womanly†, and therefore, I naively deduced, â€Å"a better mother†. In fact, although my vocabulary was fairly limited at the time, I believed her to be the epitome of all mothers. She l ooked, I told her that morning, â€Å"like a mom was supposed to look. † In interviewing my mother, she said that this was my â€Å"first brush with what it meant to be a girl. † Throughout kindergarten, I was labeled â€Å"weird†. I dug for worms, collected Pokemon cards (which was deemed a â€Å"boyish† activity), and none of my friends were girls.My teacher, a young woman who had just recently graduated from university, was often concerned for me, and thought that my lack of female friends would be detrimental to my developing of social skills, so she would often encourage the popular girls in the class to include me in their recess activities. They did as they were told, and despite my hesitation, I jumped rope with them at recess, while still managing to play with the boys for short periods of time. Finally, one day, the girls gave me an ultimatum: â€Å"us† or â€Å"them†.If I wanted to be an â€Å"official† member of their â₠¬Å"club† (This was serious business; they had membership cards made out of construction paper), I had to give up the toy trucks and the rambunctious boys. With the encouragement of my teacher, I severed ties with the boys. Although I missed them, I quickly learned that being a girl was â€Å"better† anyways. Apparently, girls were allowed to wear makeup and dresses and boys had cooties and never took baths and didn’t I like being clean? I suppose I liked being clean, but what I really liked was being accepted by this particular group of popular girls.I suppressed my love of all things â€Å"dirty†, all things that were labeled â€Å"boy†, and developed a superficial affinity for all things typically â€Å"girly†, in an attempt to fit comfortably into this group. I skipped rope at recess, I choreographed dances, and I received a ballerina outfit from my parents at Christmas that I absolutely adored. Being a girl was not very hard. It came with a list of instructions. Do this, talk like this, wear this, and you are a girl. It was less of an innate instinct than it was a learned act. I wasn’t born with an eyelash curler in hand, rather, it was handed down to me by a girl older than myself.The torch of femininity was passed down from generation to generation until it finally landed in my dirt-stained lap. In 9th grade, in a fit of rebellion against my mother, who I fought with often around this time, I cut my hair short. Not just â€Å"short†, I cut my hair boy short, a look my mother wasn’t too fond of, which, naturally, made me covet and admire it more, because nothing is as satisfying as a mother’s disapproval when you are a rebellious teenager. When I returned to school the Monday following my haircut, however, I didn’t get the positive reaction I had anticipated.No, the minute I walked into my first period class, the official â€Å"bully† of the grade, a tall, unattractive fell ow, asked me if I had become a â€Å"dyke†, and insisted on calling me â€Å"dykey† for the remainder of the day. The strange behavior of my classmates didn’t stop there. Girls I only casually talked to began avoiding me, which I learned while interviewing a friend from that time was because they were â€Å"convinced I was trying to hit on them†. Boys treated me differently as well. According to this same friend, it was because they believed I was gay.Not â€Å"lesbian†, because, for them, the word â€Å"lesbian† conjured up images of attractive girls drunkenly kissing at a house party, but gay. Gay as in homosexual, gay as in â€Å"fag†. I didn’t understand why a simple haircut had drastically changed my classmate’s opinions of me. Sure, I dressed a bit â€Å"boyish†, as I wasn’t fond of dresses and found skirts to be uncomfortable, but that was all a matter of taste, not sexuality. Wasn’t it? Besid es, I wasn’t gay. I had a boyfriend at the time. I quickly learned that being â€Å"gay† had little to do with who you liked, and more to do with what you did.The â€Å"last straw†, the event that acted as a catalyst, the one that prompted me to conform to what it meant to be a â€Å"girl†, occurred the day I accompanied my sister to our high school’s uniform shop to buy her a blazer. My hair was still cropped short at the time. I wore long, baggy jeans, no makeup, and an oversized band t-shirt. Upon walking up to the cash register, the lady behind the counter turned to my sister and blurted out, innocently, â€Å"Oh, is this your brother? † I was too embarrassed to correct her, and instead gazed at her awkwardly until she realized her mistake.After a moment of tense silence, it dawned on her. â€Å"Oh! haha, silly me, I meant sister,† she swallowed nervously, embarrassed. I honestly didn’t really mind being confused for a boy, but this lady was intent on defending my womanly honor. â€Å"I’m really, really sorry. You know, when I was young, I had short hair for while, and tons of people thought I was a boy. It was so embarrassing. † Surprisingly, her short anecdote did not make me feel better. According to her, being confused for a boy was this terribly embarrassing ordeal that she carried with her all her life.She apologized profusely for the mixup, and continued to do so throughout the school year, whenever I happened to stop by the uniform shop. Through her, I learned that not adhering to strict gender rules on how one should dress caused embarrassment and humiliation, and I therefore should’ve been profoundly humiliated when the mixup occurred. When future incidents similar to this one occurred (I was confused for a boy a second time in a restaurant a few months later), I knew that I should be ashamed of myself. I had utterly failed at being feminine, so much so that I might as w ell have been a boy.Oh the horror. The fear of â€Å"not being girly enough† grew more intense with every snide remark and homophobic slur, and I soon found myself staying home on weekends, retreating to my room, my fortress, playing video games while my peers downed copious amounts of alcohol and partied, for the few months it took my hair, the symbol of my femininity, the only thing that differentiated me from a boy, to grow back. Once it did, I was quickly re-accepted into my group of peers. I was a girl, I looked like a girl, and I acted like a girl, and this seemed to please them. I â€Å"knew my place†, so to speak.Gender Roles and Sexuality While gender has both biological and neurological components, my personal experiences with gender have allowed me to see gender as more of a social construct. In terms of gender, I’m a believer in behaviorism, the psychology that emphasizes socialization over biology in creating gender identity. In my experiences, for the most part, gender was not a naturally occurring phenomenon, it was taught. My experiences mostly relate to feminist postmodernism, which, out of all the categories of feminism in relation to gender, emphasizes the influence of social constructs the most.Queer Theory, a methodology within postmodernism that was introduced by Professor Judith Butler in her book Gender Trouble, also relates to my experiences. The theory states that gender identity is not created by biology, but by â€Å"gender performance. † She argues that individuals are not distinctly â€Å"male† or â€Å"female†. Male and female were opposites on a spectrum, and most people fell somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, but â€Å"acted† more male or female depending on the situation. Growing up, I displayed different characteristics that were specific to both males and females.I was quiet, a characteristic usually attributed to girls, and I was â€Å"tough†: I occasionally pick ed fights, a characteristic usually attributed to boys. Butler’s theory that people act exclusively male or female to conform to gender expectation is completely relatable. In order to be a â€Å"girl†, I had to give up my â€Å"other half†. In my above narrative, I mentioned that, to be part of the popular girl’s posse, I had to sever ties with the boys. In this situation, I was either a â€Å"girl† or a â€Å"boy†, and I had to choose which one I wanted to be.I ultimately chose girl, although I would have much preferred if I could maintain both my male and female characteristics and qualities. Queer Theory also states that gender â€Å"performances† are restricted by sanctions (Steckley, Letts 360). We avoid acting out (or performing) in ways that conflict with gender norms because we want to avoid negative sanctions. In my experiences, negative sanctions imposed by my peers (including overt forms of bullying, being labelled a †Å"dyke†, and being rejected) fostered in me a deep-seated fear of ostracism, and I learned to conform to gender norms and roles in order to gain acceptance among my lassmates. I believe the â€Å"ideology of fag† perfectly sums up my aforementioned experiences. The ideology of fag is a set of beliefs which dictates that â€Å"if you violate a gender role, you must be gay† (Stekley, Letts 360). Prior to my ostracism, the word â€Å"gay†, to me, was a neutral word. It simply referred to homosexuality. However, in high school, â€Å"gay† became an accusation, a threat. Being a â€Å"lesbo† or a â€Å"dyke† was something immoral. It was an insult hurled at me with the utmost contempt.It became the most powerful sanction, the one that I believe played the biggest role in my gender socialization. My classmates made it clear that a â€Å"dyke† was something that I didn’t want to be, and therefore, to eliminate any traces of lesb ian-ness, I had to â€Å"become† a girl. If I was gay because I violated gender roles, because I dressed like boys and enjoyed activities that boys typically enjoyed, then all I needed to do to not be gay was to stop violating these gender roles.Gayness, in essence, was in no way related to who you were sexually attracted to; it referred to the violation of gender norms. Acting aggressive, initiating fights and being obnoxious â€Å"meant† that a girl was a lesbian. A passive, nurturing, sensitive boy was gay. This relates to Ann Oakley’s concept of gender and gender roles. Gender roles are â€Å"sets of expectations concerning behavior and attitudes that relate to being male or female† (Steckley, Letts 354). Gender roles, their enforcement, and the severity of the consequences doled out to those who reject them differ across cultures and societies.In my classroom, in my pseudo-society, there was no room for androgyny. Gender roles were rigidly enforced, and anyone who strayed from them was ridiculed and marginalized. Boys who did not assert themselves, or boys who ventured into the category of subordinate masculinity, as opposed to complicit or hegemonic, were routinely beaten, demeaned and humiliated until they â€Å"manned up†, hid their homosexuality (in most cases, however, they were not gay, simply â€Å"too sensitive†) and participated in complicit masculine practices.Girls who did not act typically feminine, sensitive and unabashedly â€Å"girlish† were marginalized as well, and although they did not suffer to the same extent that the marginalized boys did, and were not subjected to beatings, they nevertheless were severely pressured into assuming a â€Å"traditional† female gender role. Today, my hair is longer. It is blonde at times, brown at times, it is often black, but it is never short. My uniform consists of tights, shorts and skirts.I have worn pants approximately 3 times this semester, an d on each occasion it was because I was running late. I never leave the house without at least some form of makeup. I justify my sudden change in taste by reassuring myself that I have simply â€Å"grown up†. I’ve navigated away from my boyish nature in the same way that I navigated away from cartoons and cheeseburgers: It followed the natural order of things. However, despite my reassurances, the real reason behind my change is not becoming â€Å"more mature†.The truth is, I’m scared. I’ve been socialized into this gender role and I know that scrutiny is awaiting me if I ever choose to leave it. I fear breaking gender norms and being subjected to negative sanctions in the same way I fear dark alleys at night. It is a rational fear, in that it protects me from being ostracized and it satisfies a very basic human need: the need to be accepted. Work Cited Steckley, J. , and Kirby Letts, G. (2010). Elements of Sociology. Oxford University Press Canada .

Thursday, November 7, 2019

The Language Police

The Language Police The Language Police The Language Police By Maeve Maddox Lovers of language and literature, especially those with children or grandchildren still in Grades K-12, will find The Language Police by education historian Diane Ravitch riveting, revelatory, and extremely disturbing. The Language Police is an exposà © of the practice of systematic self-censoring by textbook manufacturers to avoid offending either the political right or the left. Ravitch, an education historian who has worked in the administrations of both political parties, says she learned only gradually that educational materials are now governed by an intricate set of rules to screen out language and topics that might be considered controversial or offensive. The systematic censorship Ravitch describes stems from â€Å"bias and sensitivity† guidelines provided by state textbook selection committees and other groups. Such guidelines proscribe words, phrases, images, and concepts that someone- anyone- might consider sexist, religious, elitist, ageist, regionalist, or unhealthful. Here are a few of the words and phrases writers are warned to avoid or to exclude outright when writing for the educational market: able-bodied seaman, actress boatman, busboy cabin boy, cameraman, caveman, cult devil, dogma, dwarf Eskimo, fairy, fanatic, fat, fisherman God, gringo, gypsy heathen, hell, heroine, hut jungle, junk bond, juvenile delinquent Middle East, maniac, myth night watchman, nobleman, normal old, old wives’ tale pagan, papoose, past one’s prime, polo Satan, schoolboy, schoolgirl, seamstress, Sioux, slave, snow cone, snowman, soul food, stick ball, swarthy tomboy, tote bag, tribal warfare, tribe, turn a deaf ear to un-American, uncivilized victim, yacht For a detailed description of The Language Police, read the review by science teacher Anne C. Westwater in The Textbook Letter, Vol. 12, No.4 of the Textbook League. Better yet, read the book. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Book Reviews category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:"Because Of" and "Due To" 7 Patterns of Sentence StructureDouble Possessive

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Biography of Christopher Columbus

Biography of Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was a Genoese navigator and explorer. In the late 15th century, Columbus believed that it would be possible to reach the lucrative markets of eastern Asia by heading west, instead of the traditional route which went east around Africa. He convinced Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain to support him, and he set off in August of 1492. The rest is history: Columbus discovered the Americas, which had been unknown until then. All in all, Columbus made four different journeys to the New World. Early Life Columbus was born to a middle-class family of weavers in Genoa (now part of Italy) which was a city well-known for explorers. He rarely spoke of his parents. It is believed that he was ashamed to have come from such a mundane background. He left a sister and a brother behind in Italy. His other brothers, Bartholomew and Diego, would accompany him on most of his travels. As a young man he traveled extensively, visiting Africa and the Mediterranean and learning how to sail and navigate. Appearance and Personal Habits Columbus was tall and lean, and had red hair which turned prematurely white. He had a fair complexion and a somewhat reddish face, with blue eyes and a hawkish nose. He spoke Spanish fluently but with an accent which was difficult for people to place. In his personal habits he was extremely religious and somewhat prudish. He rarely swore, attended mass regularly, and often devoted his Sundays entirely to prayer. Later in life, his religiosity would increase. He took to wearing the simple robe of a barefoot friar around court. He was a fervent millenarist, believing that the end of the world was near. Personal Life Columbus married a Portuguese woman, Felipa Moniz Perestrelo, in 1477. She came from a semi-noble family with useful maritime connections. She died giving birth to a son, Diego, in 1479 or 1480. In 1485, while in Cà ³rdoba, he met young Beatriz Enrà ­quez de Trasierra, and they lived together for a time. She bore him an illegitimate son, Fernando. Columbus made many friends during his travels and he corresponded with them frequently. His friends included dukes and other noblemen as well as powerful Italian merchants. These friendships would prove useful during his frequent hardships and bouts of bad luck. A Journey West Columbus may have conceived of the idea of sailing west to reach Asia as early as 1481 due to his correspondence with an Italian scholar, Paolo del Pozzo Toscaneli, who convinced him it was possible. In 1484, Columbus made a pitch to King Joo of Portugal, who turned him down. Columbus proceeded to Spain, where he first proposed such a trip in January of 1486. Ferdinand and Isabella were intrigued, but they were occupied with the reconquest of Granada. They told Columbus to wait. In 1492, Columbus had just about given up (in fact, he was on his way to see the King of France) when they decided to sponsor his trip. First Voyage Columbus’ first voyage began on August 3, 1492. He had been given three ships: the Nià ±a, the Pinta and the flagship Santa Maria. They headed west and on October 12, sailor Rodrigo de Triana spotted land. They first landed on an island Columbus named San Salvador: there is some debate today as to which Caribbean island it was. Columbus and his ships visited several other islands including Cuba and Hispaniola. On December 25, the Santa Maria ran aground and they were forced to abandon her. Thirty-nine men were left behind at the settlement of La Navidad. Columbus returned to Spain in March of 1493. Second Voyage Although in many ways the first voyage was a failure–Columbus lost his biggest ship and did not find the promised route west–the Spanish monarchs were intrigued with his discoveries. They financed a second voyage, whose purpose was to establish a permanent colony. 17 ships and over 1,000 men set sail in October, 1493. When they returned to La Navidad, they discovered that everyone had been killed by irate natives. They founded the city of Santo Domingo with Columbus in charge, but he was forced to return to Spain in March of 1496 to obtain supplies to keep the starving colony alive. Third Voyage Columbus returned to the New World in May of 1498. He sent half of his fleet to resupply Santo Domingo and set off to explore, eventually reaching the north-eastern part of South America. He returned to Hispaniola and resumed his duties as governor, but the people despised him. He and his brothers were bad administrators and kept much of the little wealth generated by the colony for themselves. When the crisis reached a peak, Columbus sent to Spain for help. The crown sent Francisco de Bobadilla as governor: he soon identified Columbus as the problem and sent him and his brothers back to Spain in chains in 1500. Fourth Voyage Already in his fifties, Columbus felt he had one more trip in him. He convinced the Spanish crown to finance one more journey of discovery. Although Columbus had proven a poor governor, there was no doubting his sailing and discovery skills. He left in May of 1502 and arrived to Hispaniola just ahead of a major hurricane. He sent a warning to the 28-ship fleet about to depart for Spain to delay but they ignored him, and 24 of the ships were lost. Columbus explored more of the Caribbean and part of Central America before his ships rotted. He spent a year on Jamaica before being rescued. He returned to Spain in 1504. Legacy of Christopher Columbus Columbus’ legacy can be difficult to sort out. For many years, he was thought to have been the man who â€Å"discovered† America. Modern historians believe that the first Europeans to the New World were Nordic and arrived several hundred years before Columbus to the northern shores of North America. Also, many Native Americans from Alaska to Chile dispute the notion that the Americas needed to be â€Å"discovered† in the first place, as the two continents were home to millions of people and countless cultures in 1492. Columbus’ accomplishments should be considered in conjunction with his failures. The â€Å"discovery† of America would certainly have taken place within 50 years of 1492 had Columbus not ventured west when he did. Advances in navigation and ship construction made contact between the hemispheres inevitable. Columbus’ motives were mostly monetary, with religion a close second. When he failed to find gold or a lucrative trade route, he began collecting slaves: he believed that a trans-Atlantic slave trade would be quite lucrative. Fortunately, the Spanish monarchs outlawed this, but still, many Native American groups correctly remember Columbus as the New World’s first slaver. Columbus’ ventures were often failures. He lost the Santa Marà ­a on his first voyage, his first colony was massacred, he was a terrible governor, he was arrested by his own colonists, and on his fourth and last voyage he managed to strand some 200 men on Jamaica for a year. Perhaps his greatest failure was his inability to see what was right before him: the New World. Columbus never accepted that he had not found Asia, even when the rest of Europe was convinced that the Americas were something previously unknown. Columbus’ legacy was once very bright–he was considered for sainthood at one time–but now he is remembered as much for the bad as the good. Many places still bear his name and Columbus Day is still celebrated, but he is once again a man and not a legend. Sources: Herring, Hubert. A History of Latin America From the Beginnings to the Present.. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1962 Thomas, Hugh. Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan. New York: Random House, 2005.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Energy Resource Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Energy Resource Plan - Essay Example Energy conservation is important because it is good for the environment and good for your wallet. Many exciting developments have occurred in the study of energy conservation over the past few decades. This is especially true in the field of renewable energy. Renewable energy is so named because it comes from sources that will not be depleted over time. Solar, wind and geothermal energy are all considered renewable energy sources. Non-renewable sources are carbon-based fuel sources such as coal, oil and natural gas. The shift towards using renewable energy resources for home needs is gaining momentum because it is less damaging to the environment and is becoming cost effective. All of us as members of the Home Owner’s Association can do some simple things to conserve energy. The first is to be sure that our homes are all insulated completely. This will ensure that heating and cooling systems are working to make homes comfortable, not trying to cool or heat outdoor air. The sec ond thing we can do is to work on installing the most energy efficient appliances, furnaces and air conditioners. These may be more expensive in up-front cost, but will pay themselves off over the years in energy savings. Finally, we can all begin to consider incorporating renewable energy resources in our home energy system.