The History and Archaeology of Chauvet Cave

Chauvet Cave (also known as  Chauvet-Pont dArc) is currently the oldest known rock art site in the world, apparently dating to the Aurignacian period in France, about 30,000 to 32,000 years ago. The cave is located in the Pont-dArc Valley of Ardà ¨che, France, at the entrance of the Ardà ¨che gorges between the Cevennes and Rhone valleys. It extends horizontally for nearly 500 meters (~1,650 feet) into the earth and consists of two main rooms separated by a narrow hallway. Paintings at Chauvet Cave Over 420 paintings have been documented in the cave, including numerous realistic animals, human handprints, and abstract dot paintings. The paintings in the front hall are primarily red, created with the liberal applications of red ochre, while the ones in the back hall are mainly black designs, drawn with charcoal. The paintings at Chauvet are highly realistic, which is unusual for this period in Paleolithic rock art. In one famous panel (a little bit is shown above) an entire pride of lions is illustrated, and the feeling of movement and power of the animals is tangible even in photographs of the cave taken in poor light and at low resolution. Archaeological Investigation The preservation in the cave is remarkable. Archaeological material in Chauvet caves deposits includes thousands of animal bones, including the bones of at least 190 cave bears (Ursus spelaeus). The remains of hearths, an ivory spearhead, and a human footprint have all been identified within the caves deposits. Chauvet Cave was discovered in 1994 by Jean-Marie Chauvet; the relatively recent discovery of this remarkably intact cave painting site has allowed researchers to closely control the excavations using modern methods. In addition, the researchers have worked to protect the site and its contents. Since 1996, the site has been under investigation by an international team led by Jean Clottes, combining geology, hydrology, paleontology, and conservation studies; and, since that time, it has been closed to the public, to preserve its fragile beauty. Dating Chauvet The dating of Chauvet cave is based on 46 AMS radiocarbon dates taken on tiny pieces of paint from the walls, conventional radiocarbon dates on human and animal bone, and Uranium/Thorium dates on speleothems (stalagmites). The deep age of the paintings and their realism has led in some circles to a scholarly revision of the notion of paleolithic cave art styles: since radiocarbon dates are a more recent technology than the bulk of cave art studies, codified cave art styles are based on stylistic changes. Using this measure, Chauvets art is closer to Solutrean or Magdalenian in age, at least 10,000 years later than the dates suggest. Paul Pettitt has questioned the dates, arguing that the radiocarbon dates within the cave are earlier than the paintings themselves, which he believes are Gravettian in style and date to no earlier than about 27,000 years ago. Additional radiocarbon dating of the cave bear population continues to support the original date of the cave: the bone dates all fall between 37,000 and 29,000 years old. Further, samples from a nearby cave support the idea that cave bears may have been extinct in the region by 29,000 years ago. That would mean that the paintings, which include cave bears, must be at least 29,000 years old. One possible explanation for the stylistic sophistication of Chauvets paintings is that perhaps there was another entrance to the cave, that allowed later artists access to the cave walls. A study of the geomorphology of the cave vicinity published in 2012 (Sadier and colleagues 2012), argues that the cliff overhanging the cave collapsed repeatedly beginning 29,000 years ago, and sealed the only entrance at least 21,000 years ago. No other cave access point has ever been identified, and given the morphology of the cave, none is likely to be found. These findings do not resolve the Aurignacian/Gravettian debate, although even at 21,000 years of age, Chauvet cave remains the oldest known cave painting site. Werner Herzog and Chauvet Cave In late 2010, film director Werner Herzog presented a documentary film of Chauvet Cave, shot in three-dimensions, at the Toronto film festival. The film, Cave of the Forgotten Dreams, premiered in limited movie houses in the United States on April 29, 2011. Sources Abadà ­a OM, and Morales MRG. 2007.  Thinking about style in the post-stylistic era: reconstructing the stylistic context of Chauvet.  Oxford Journal of Archaeology  26(2):109-125.Bahn PG. 1995. New developments in Pleistocene art.  Evolutionary Anthropology  4(6):204-215.Bocherens H, Drucker DG, Billiou D,  Geneste  J-M, and van der Plicht J. 2006.  Bears and humans in Chauvet Cave (Vallon-Pont-dArc, Ardà ¨che, France): Insights from stable isotopes and radiocarbon dating of bone collagen.  Journal of Human Evolution  50(3):370-376.Bon C, Berthonaud V, Fosse P, Gà ©ly B, Maksud F, Vitalis R, Philippe M, van der Plicht J, and Elalouf J-M.  Low Regional Diversity Of Late Cave Bears Mitochondrial  Ã‚  Journal of Archaeological Science  In Press, Accepted Manuscript.Dna  At The Time Of Chauvet Aurignacian Paintings.Chauvet J-M, Deschamps EB, and Hillaire C. 1996. Chauvet Cave: The worlds oldest paintings, dating from around 31,000 BC.  Minerva  7(4):17 -22.Clottes J, and Lewis-Williams D. 1996. Upper Palaeolithic cave art: French and South African collaboration.  Cambridge Archaeological Journal  6(1):137-163.Feruglio V. 2006  De la faune au bestiaire - La grotte Chauvet-Pont-dArc, aux origines de lart parià ©tal palà ©olithique.  Comptes Rendus Palevol  5(1-2):213-222.Genty D, Ghaleb B, Plagnes V, Causse C, Valladas H, Blamart D, Massault M, Geneste J-M, and Clottes J. 2004.  Datations U/Th (TIMS) et 14C (AMS) des stalagmites de la grotte Chauvet (Ardà ¨che, France) : intà ©rà ªt pour la chronologie des à ©và ©nements naturels et anthropiques de la grotte.  Comptes Rendus Palevol  3(8):629-642.Marshall M. 2011.  Bear DNA hints at age of Chauvet cave art.  The New Scientist  210(2809):10-10.Sadier  B, Delannoy JJ, Benedetti L, Bourlà ©s DL, Stà ©phane J,  Geneste  J-M, Lebatard A-E, and Arnold M. 2012. Further constraints on the Chauvet cave artwork elaboration. Proceedings of the National Acad emy of Sciences Early edition.Pettitt P. 2008.  Art and the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition in Europe: Comments on the archaeological arguments for an early Upper Paleolithic antiquity of the Grotte Chauvet art.  Journal of Human Evolution  55(5):908-917.Sadier  B, Delannoy JJ, Benedetti L, Bourlà ©s DL, Stà ©phane J,  Geneste  J-M, Lebatard A-E, and Arnold M. 2012.  Further constraints on the Chauvet cave artwork elaboration.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  Early edition.

Affirmative Action Essay 34 - 1025 Words

Affirmative Action is any effort taken to expand opportunity for women or racial, ethnic and national origin minorities by using membership in those groups that have been subject to discrimination as a consideration. The Fourteenth Amendment states that no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. As a result, Affirmative action is not consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment. In this essay, I will first discuss the violation of Affirmative Action against the Fourteenth Amendment. Second, how Affirmative Action helps one group of†¦show more content†¦The special admissions programs purports to serve the purpose of: (i) reducing the historic deficit of traditionally disfavored minorities in medical schools and in the medical profession; (ii) countering the effects of societal discrimination; (iii) increase the number of physicians who will practice in communities currently undeserved; and (iv) obtaining the educational benefits that flow from an ethnically diverse student body (266). The reasons for having these special admissions are to increase the number of minorities and to have them represent their community. To some people, they might ague that Affirmative Action gives certain advantages to certain people and it is unfair. Affirmative Action was started when the University first got started. Students that possesses athletic skills, the children of alumni, the powerful, connections with celebrities, and the famous has higher chances of getting in the University over other people (290). Not only that Affirmative Action was unfair during that time, it left out the minorities not giving them equal opportunity to receive the education they deserved. Therefore, Affirmative Action violates the Fourteenth Amendment. Affirmative Action gives p rivileges to certain groups and leaving out certain groups not able to succeed without special protection. Theres nothing in the Constitution that says A should suffer a burden because society has hurt B. Although the Blacks had been discriminatedShow MoreRelatedQuestioning the Effectiveness of Affirmative Action Policies1952 Words   |  8 PagesThis essay will analyze and thoroughly examine the ethics of affirmative action. 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It isn’t hard to see where thisRead MoreJob Analysis13751 Words   |  56 PagesExample 10 11-17 18-24 25-29 TABLE 1 - Task Clusters Derived from Cluster Analysis of the IPMAAC Personnel Assessment Specialist Task Inventory Data TABLE 2 - Mean Cluster Relative Proportion Ratings by Job Group (Seven Primary Job Groups) 30-34 35 APPENDIX A- PERSONNEL ASSESSMENT SPECIALIST JOB ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE 36-60 1 ABSTRACT In the 1980 s, IPMAAC conducted a comprehensive Personnel Assessment Specialist job analysis in order to develop information about the variety

High Crime Neighborhood Free Essays

Living in high-crime neighborhoods has a great impact on how neighbors socialize with each other. It either brings them together to fight against violence or torn them apart because the violence is promoted among other neighbors. Neighborhood environment serves as a source of socialization, mainly for adolescents. We will write a custom essay sample on High Crime Neighborhood or any similar topic only for you Order Now Being exposed to different behavioral models or cultural ideas, disadvantaged neighborhoods are thought to influence how young people make decisions about education, employment and relationships (Hackney, 2011). Adolescents interacting with older people that are unemployed, not going to school and involved in crimes can expose them to cultural models that violate social rules and norms. As mentioned in the article it became â€Å"a street culture that arguments are too often settled only when a body ends up on a slab in the morgue† (Hackney, 2011, p. 3). Cultural values are not respected and instead of having dispute-resolution skills and anger management, violence most likely becomes the way of life and solving problems. Socialization is what allows us to be skilled in the ways of the culture we were born into, however, if violence is what one was born into or grew up into that is what they will learn and do. The very fabric of our community has changed, violence has become acceptable by many due to its fast increasing rate but we have to do better (Hackney, 2011). Numerous crimes in neighborhoods destroy socialization although violence is not taught among cultures it could be acquired by its young members if seen promoted by older adults. During adolescence is when youths are developing and exploring new ways of socializing with older adults and that could be dangerous if they are hanging out with the wrong crowd. Young people are highly influenced by their surroundings and if violence is promoted that is what they will learn as a result. Despite the negative impact of violence in neighborhoods it also brings neighbors to work close together in finding solutions for the problem and making their neighborhoods a safer place for their children to grow up and become decent citizens. In Detroit the murder rate has increased and many innocent people were killed by random violence. Public safety plays a great role in socialization therefore the city developed plan to â€Å"strengthen neighborhoods and improve safety† (Hackney, 2011, p. 3). The police patrols were reinforced and many cases were closed with tips from citizens and strong police work. There were programs to get youths engaged in activities other then hanging out in the streets and involved in criminal acts (Hackney, 2011). Working close with youths and getting them involved in activities that can keep them out of the streets can reverse the effects of early exposure to violence and promote a better way of socializing. Reference Hackney, Suzette (2011, November 13). Living with murder: The agony of Detroit’s neighborhoods and their cry for help. Free Press, pp. 1-7. How to cite High Crime Neighborhood, Papers

Organizational Behavior Discussion Questions free essay sample

How much of Trader Joes’ success can be attributed to the fact that most larger chain grocery stores do not sell the type of food available at Trader Joe’s? This can partially be attributed to their success. The case study focused more on the staff of Trader Joes and their positive work environment adding to the overall customer service experience that has become as strong element of Trader Joe’s success. The opening of the case study even suggests that most customers can’t complete their shopping list at Trader Joes but still leave the store â€Å"satisfied. † 2. Is pay enough of an incentive to continue at a job you do not enjoy? No, pay is not enough incentive to continue at a job you do not enjoy. Pay is only one factor that works in conjunction with many other factors to determine whether or not a person is motivated enough to continue on at a job that they do not enjoy, or even at a job that they do enjoy. We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Behavior Discussion Questions or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Motivation is a key element in job satisfaction. Without the motivating stimulus of hygiene factors other than salary, or a combination of other motivators there would be very little incentive to continue on at a job a person does not enjoy. . Trader Joe’s promotes entirely from within the organization. This means that if you are a good, dedicated worker, you can rise up within the company. Do you feel employees would be as dedicated to the company if this were not the case? Would high pay be enough to keep employees? What if the company only promoted from within but pay were not as good? Internal promotion is definitely a motivating factor within any business. The potential for advancement is a key motivating factor. Working for a company that exclusively promotes from within creates dedication and loyalty among workers at every level within the organization. No, I do not think that high pay would be enough to keep employees. Without promotion and increased responsibilities the tendency for employees to become bored and disenfranchised with a job position increases. If the company only promoted from within but the pay were not as good, there would be less motivation but as long as the promotions came with increased pay the motivation/dedication/loyalty would still be there but at a much less significant level.

Jamaica Essays - Parishes Of Jamaica, Jamaican Maroons,

Jamaica The island of Jamaica is the third largest Caribbean island. It is in a group of islands called the greater antilles. It has an area of 10 991 km squared or 4 244 sq. miles. Jamaica spans 230 km east to west and from 80-36 from north to south. It is third only to Cuba, which is the largest, and Hispaniola which is the second largest island. Jamaica lies in the Caribbean sea which is a part of the much larger Atlantic ocean. The island is 960 km south of Florida, 160 km southwest of Haiti, and 140 km south of Cuba. Jamaica is mainly a mountainous island but there are 320 km of fine sandy beaches, swamps, moist fern- forests, sprawling open plains, plateaus, rushing rivers, and magnificent waterfalls. The Blue Mountains are the highest mountains in Jamaica and Blue Mountain Peak which is the highest peak in Jamaica rises to 2256 m or 7 402 feet. They are made up primarily of limestone. Farther to the west in the cockpit country the limestone has eroded over many years to form large depressions, narrow valleys, underground caverns and rivers. Most of the surface rivers are short, swift flowing and descend quickly to the coast and consist of a series of rapids and waterfalls. The island is ringed by plains separated by mountain and sea. The country is divided into three counties. They are Cornwall to the west, Middlesex is central, and Surrey is to the east. Middlesex is the largest county. Jamaica is also divided into 14 parishes which are basically like provinces or states. The parishes are Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Thomas, Portland, St. Mary, St. Ann, Trelawny, St. James, Hanover, Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth, Manchester, Clarendon, and St. Catherine. Jamaica is mainly a tropical climate. During the course of the year, Jamaica has no real winter whatsoever. The average yearly temperature ranges from 27 degrees celsius to 32 degrees celsius. It is cooler in hills, around 20 to 25 degrees and it is known to dip below 10 degrees in the blue mountains. Although it is hot in the day, light ocean breezes result in making the island more comfortable in the day and cooler breezes blow down from the Blue Mountains at night. Rain falls in Jamaica 12 months of the year because it is a rainy tropical climate. The average rainfall is 196 cm per annum. The main months for raining, however, are May to June and September to October. The major differences in elevation cause the rain to fall almost 600 cm per annum on the mountains and only 89 cm on the southeast coast. Hurricanes can strike anytime between June and October. One of the main hurricanes to hit Jamaica was hurricane Hugo in 1989 which badly damaged the country. The vegetation in Jamaica is exceptionally varied. This is mainly because of the islands varied rainfall, soil, elevations, and climate. Many of the plants which now thrive in Jamaica's rich soil have been introduced from other countries in colonial times. There are bamboo forests in the northern and northeastern areas. Also, rosewood, mahogany, ebony, and other species of wood which live throughout the island. Drought resistant plants live in the dry southeastern part of Jamaica. Sections of the plateau are heavily forested savannas or grasslands. The majority of the palm trees are in the southwest part of the island. The countryside is often covered by rampant growths of poinsettia, hibiscus, poinciana, oleander, and bougainvillaea. There are many products which are grown in Jamaica. Some of the produce raised are bananas, sugar cane, coffee, tobacco, coconut, pimento, ackee, nutmeg, & breadfruit. Jamaica has many animals although it boasts only one native mammal, the coney, which is a wild rabbit. The mongoose is large rodent originating from india. It was introduced to Jamaica in 1872 to control the problem of snakes and rats in the cane fields and has done an adequate job since then. Most of the snakes have disappeared from Jamaica except for a few non poisonous ones which look more like worms than snakes. In Jamaica, as well as many other caribbean islands there are an abundant population of small harmless lizards. There are over 200 species on the island. Crocodiles are also numerous on the south coast swamp areas. In the past, Jamaica's economy was generally based on agriculture. The dependency was on a few staple crops, primarily sugar and bananas. New economic development began with earnest in and around the 1950's. Bauxite mining began in 1952 and

Overview of Life Expectancy

Overview of Life Expectancy Life expectancy from birth is a frequently utilized and analyzed component of demographic data for the countries of the world. It represents the average life span of a newborn and is an indicator of the overall health of a country. Life expectancy can fall due to problems like famine, war, disease and poor health. Improvements in health and welfare increase life expectancy. The higher the life expectancy, the better shape a country is in. As you can see from the map, more developed regions of the world generally have higher life expectancies (green) than less developed regions with lower life expectancies (red). The regional variation is quite dramatic. However, some countries like Saudi Arabia have very high GNP per capita but dont have high life expectancies. Alternatively, there are countries like China and Cuba that have low GNP per capita have reasonably high life expectancies. Life expectancy rose rapidly in the twentieth century due to improvements in public health, nutrition and medicine. Its likely that life expectancy of the most developed countries will slowly advance and then reach a peak in the range of the mid-80s in age. Currently, microstates Andorra, San Marino, and Singapore along with Japan have the worlds highest life expectancies (83.5, 82.1, 81.6 and 81.15, respectively). Unfortunately, AIDS has taken its toll in Africa, Asia and even Latin America by reducing life expectancy in 34 different countries (26 of them in Africa). Africa is home to the worlds lowest life expectancies with Swaziland (33.2 years), Botswana (33.9 years) and Lesotho (34.5 years) rounding out the bottom. Between 1998 and 2000, 44 different countries had a change of two years or more of their life expectancies from birth and 23 countries increased in life expectancy while 21 countries had a drop. Sex Differences Women almost always have higher life expectancies than men. Currently, the worldwide life expectancy for all people is 64.3 years but for males its 62.7 years and for females life expectancy is 66 years, a difference of more than three years. The sex difference ranges from four to six years in North America and Europe to more than 13 years between men and women in Russia. The reasons for the difference between male and female life expectancy are not fully understood. While some scholars argue that women are biologically superior to men and thus live longer, others argue that men are employed in more hazardous occupations (factories, military service, etc). Plus, men generally drive, smoke and drink more than women - men are even more often murdered. Historic Life Expectancy During the Roman Empire, Romans had an approximate life expectancy of 22 to 25 years. In 1900, the world life expectancy was approximately 30 years and in 1985 it was about 62 years, just two years short of todays life expectancy. Aging Life expectancy changes as one gets older. By the time a child reaches their first year, their chances of living longer increase. By the time of late adulthood, ones chances of survival to very old age are quite good. For example, although the life expectancy from birth for all people in the United States is 77.7 years, those who live to age 65 will have an average of almost 18 additional years left to live, making their life expectancy almost 83 years.

Slang Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Slang - Essay Example One of these words that I came across recently among the college mates is fuut. In this journal article, I discuss the grammatical meaning if the word, its use among the students, its origin, as well as longevity. Definition and Grammatical Function Fuut, being a versatile word among the college vocabulary functions as a noun, a verb, as well as an adjective. The context with which the people use the word determines its grammatical function. In its contextual meaning, fuut is poor treatment of other people by a person, whom they used to share a close relationship or friendship together. As such, it could also apply to groups of people, where a group could treat another group badly. For instance when used in its plural status in a sentence, two rival groups could say â€Å"of late, the cheerleaders fuuts on the basketball team.† This means that the two groups initially were close, but due to some issues, fell apart. Subsequently, the cheerleaders now treat the basketball team b adly. As a noun, one could refer to another person, especially one who treats him/her badly as a fuut. In this context, John could say, â€Å"Mary is a fuut.† This means that Mary currently treats John badly, despite their having had a good relationship before falling out with each other. Negatively, it can also mean that the action if person lead to the occurrence of a problem. For instance, John could say, â€Å"Mary’s fuut is gives me a headache.† In order to belittle the rival, one could add â€Å"ie† to the noun to form-fuutie. This could also mean that the opponent disregard the other party’s behavior, to a point of him/her. For instance, John could say, â€Å"Mary is just a fuutie.† as such, he makes fun of her behavior, showing how lowly she reasons. Further, adding –â€Å"ie† changes the noun to an adjective. The basketball team could say, â€Å"The fuutie cheerleaders did not appear in our tournament.† In this form, fuutie describes a group of cheerleaders who treat a basketball team badly, despite their having needed their support. Finally, fuut could also mean a verb, which means the action of treating another person badly. An observer could say, â€Å"of late, Mary really fuuts on John.† This means that she currently treats him rather badly. Additionally, it could also act as a verb by adding-â€Å"ing† to mean the act of treating another badly. For instance, the basketball team could say, â€Å"the fuuting cheerleaders are unreasonable.† However, without the suffixes, â€Å"ing† and â€Å"ie†, the word could not function as a verb or an adjective. 2. Demographics for the Term Mostly, people or groups that previously had a close relationship but fell apart use fuut while describing each other. Of course, when two friends become enemies, there is loss of communication. The fact that they shared quite a lot, and knew each other well, would lead to hatre d and at times hostility. Open scorn is part of the behavior that these people exhibit towards each other. As such, the most likely groups of people to use this word are onetime close friends or lovers. Age in most cases determines the meaning of the word. For instance, is an adult person uses the word; it could have a very different meaning from when a teenager uses it. Additionally, it also has a different meaning when used by a kid. However, it is rare for the adults and the kids to use such a word. Innocently, a wife could tell his husband, â€Å"

Human Resources in Business Strategic Aspects Of Reward and Variable Essay

Human Resources in Business Strategic Aspects Of Reward and Variable Pay - Essay Example Looked through the employer’s perspective employees are rewarded for their skills (potential and output), for their input (presenting competencies). From the employee’s point of view being rewarded means that they are treated as stakeholders and that the expectations of the management have been met. Rewarding also entitles employees to bargain their wages with labour unions and to seek consultations via work and staff councils. As a statistical summary, it can be said that in the last 5 years, 60% of the companies have introduces new reward systems into their organizations. As a general rule every employee has to be advised before starting work about the payment structures, the salary progression, the monthly benefits (if/after the target is reached), and incentive plans. Not all organizations have a delegated Human Resource department. Smaller businesses prefer to allocate the role to the owner/manager. Therefore, employees have a direct access to the management and can try to negotiate their pay progression. In a bigger company though, employees have more benefits – bonuses, training programmes, social events. In traditional organizations for example in Japan, the progression of the salary depends on the length of service. These are centralized policies, and usually they have very cautious response to the economic market pressures. That is why in traditional organizations job evaluation is widespread and there are small performance rewards, but mainly aimed to the senior employees. Leading organizations have strong emphasis on performance and there payment is directly linked to individual performance. They exercise decentralized policies and have more flexibility in teamwork and line management. Leading organizations have different reward system for the various departments and they do not automatically apply the same rewards for everybody. Usually there is a basic

Business and organizational aspects of HCI (HW) Research Paper

Business and organizational aspects of HCI (HW) - Research Paper Example IBM’s HCI research is the most extensive to date. The company has designed its business agenda around HCI. The challenge that IBM faced was to treat their employees as the most valuable asset that can be turned into the company’s competitive edge. The design of IBM is visualized on the belief that future social collaboration functions will be sophisticated making consumer access and commercial services cost-effective over the internet. Since at IBM, design is the vital component for products and services to be successful, the affects of the design directly impact the product use, service cost and customer loyalty. For this purpose, the designs of IBM are focused on providing user experienced services to the customers. The designs at IBM are built to tackle the architectural issues of large-scale information portals and cities that are opened for social and economic commerce. The IBM Services such as Dojo Globalization, IBM Lotus Sametime 8.5, and Dojo Enhanced Grid help the businesses for integration of people is based on the HCI. The development of technologies that allows for speech recognition, and interaction designs, the HCI research at IBM is there since 20 years. IBM designs it HCI technologies from disciplines of computer science, sociology, industrial design, anthropology and psychology to provide on-site collaborations with its users and other customers. Some of the research projects of IBM on HCI are Koala which uses the HCI technology to record and share business processes over the Web between different users; Unified Activity Management is used to understand how the employees plan, manage and share their activities amongst themselves; and Shape Writing technology is the new and latest in HCI technology which highlights the importance of users’ interaction with mobile phones, PDAs, and handheld devices. As IBM is a business and consumer solution provider, it

Issues in Social Media for Teenagers

Issues in Social Media for Teenagers Dear Shannon Kyle After reading your article on the 10 Reasons Social Media Is Great for Teenagers I understand that your argument is essentially that social media is great way for teenagers to find entertainment and to network. I also acknowledge the fact that social media is convenient way to expand your social circle. However, on the whole, I am in disagreement with your article for many reasons. Firstly, these so called social circles and online friends could be anyone. Some people pose as another a person in order to lure the other person in; a term commonly known as a catfish. This is a person who aims to deceive the young and vulnerable teenagers of todays society into sharing personal information and pictures of themselves which can be used against them. It is through these online hidden personas where grooming, trafficking and paedophilia come into play. Moreover, another reason why social media is counter-productive is because many teenagers do not experience life in person. Alternatively, they replace real life experiences with virtual ones. Teenagers are stuck in this virtual reality where everything is fraudulent or deceptive. Teenagers do not acquire the skills to meet real people and converse and interact with them face to face, thus leaving the individual with no applicable socialising skills which often leaves them struggling in life. Social media gives a false and unrealistic image of what teenagers should look like and the type of personality they should encompass. Mostly girls are affected by this perception but boys can also be affected. This fake perception affects the minds of the teenagers by making them feel psychologically and physically obliged to look painfully perfect. Teenager undergo major changes to their appearance and personalities to try to fit into this fabricated and distorted image of perfection which social media enforces in the minds of teenagers. Not only does this encourage insecurities to develop but also advocates a feeling of inadequacy amongst younger generations. I do agree that social media is an easy way to share pictures and boost self-esteem. However, with the increased use of social media, cyber bullying is also on the increase. More than 50% of teenagers said that they have received abusive comments about their appearance and body image on social media accounts. In spite of social media platforms claiming that there is no cyber bullying, cyber bullying is still at large ruining the confidence of teenagers. Cyber bullying can come in many forms The first is by posting a hurtful image or a video shaming another person. This form of bullying is common amongst social media. Posting a hurtful image or video shaming and making fun of another persons looks, body image or gender makes the other person often feel worthless. This form of bullying has many detrimental effects such as inflicting an individual with feelings of self-consciousness, making the other person turn to self-harm and the worst yet making the other person commit suicide. The second form of cyber bullying is through harassing another person on social media. This includes making rude comments about another persons appearance, sending rude and abusive threatening messages directed to one specific person and many more. Harassment also makes the other person feel unsafe with such unwarranted attention being inflicted on them. The final form of cyber bullying is when an individual uses a social media platform to pretend to be someone else. This form of bullying is widely known as catfish. This is when someone poses as another person on a social media account. The catfish aims to leak out personal information about the person they are posing as. Also, the catfish could share untrue and potentially damaging information about the other person in order to spread fake rumours like wildfire and provoke gossip about that individual. In conclusion social media deteriorates the minds of the young, vulnerable and gullible teenager of todays society. Social media instils a false and fabricated perception of life be it through image or personality. This subsequently ruins the lives of teenagers as many, if not all, become fixated on the notion of conforming to these unattainable standards that social media dictates Yours sincerely Mohsin Ijaz

How to Train a Horse Essays -- essays research papers

How to Train a Horse Training a horse to ride is hard work, it involves ground work, riding, and in both patience is very important. In the next few paragraphs I will be explaining the steps needed to train a horse. When you first start training a horse you want to start with doing the ground work. When you are doing the ground work such as leading, lunging, brushing, picking up the hooves, putting on the saddle, blanket, and bridal, and putting weight on the saddle, the ground work allows you know the horse and the horse also starts to know you. It is very important to have a good relationship with your horse because you want your horse to respect you and also know who you are. When doing these steps you should do them in order. First you should brush your horse. Brushing your horse is a very good way for you to let your horse know that you respect him or her. One type of brush that is used is a curry comb which is usually used to comb the mane and tail. Another type of brush that is used is a soft bristled brush, this type of brush is used for the body of the horse. You should always be careful when brushing the tail or the butt of the horse. When you brush the tail you should stand to the side of the butt and pull the tail to the side, this will prevent you from being kicked. Second you should practice leading and lunging your horse. Leading your horse is just like taking your dog for a walk but when you lead your horse you want them by your side, you don?t want them too far in front of you or too far behind you. When you lead your horse you should have a halter and a rope. Your rope should be long enough for you to lunge your horse, which is about fifteen feet. When you are leading your horse you should never let the hors... ...hing good. The last step in training a horse is riding them in different places. The first thirty days of riding should be done in a round pen or riding arena. After you have done this it?s time to take them outside. Different types of places you should ride your horse is near the highway, in the woods, and in town. The first time you ride your horse in a new place you want to be very alert because you never know what might spook your horse. After you have completed all the steps of training your horse should be ready for other people to ride. Training a horse is very hard work, the steps involved are very time consuming. Not every horse is the same, some may be smarter than others. The steps sound very simple, but actually doing them is very different. When training a horse patience is the key. I hope after reading this you have an idea of how to train a horse.

Critical Analysis †Night of the Living Dead Essay

1968’s â€Å"Night of the Living Dead† is one of the most influential zombie movies of all time. Despite its extremely low budget the movie was a great success. I actually believe that the limited budget is what made the movie successful. Due to the fact that it was shot in black-and-white, it gave the film an unique look contributing to its style. In various instances during the movie it the movie looks like a documentary, which adds to the realism of the movie. But what makes the movies scary? The zombies are the main element of horror in Night of the Living Dead. The viewer is afraid of the threat the zombies represent. They carry the horror, hold our attention, instill dread and act as the prime motivator. During the 1960s, this movie really shocked its audiences with its gory violent scenes and twisted plot lines. The brutal scenes in the movie produce a type of â€Å"pain† on the viewer – the images of the vicious deaths allows the audience to envision what it would be like to be in that situation. So, when we view a scene like the eating of the flesh from the victims of the car explosion, we are reacting bodily to the actions of the zombies. Scenes such as that one feel and look real to the viewer contributing to the horror and truthfulness of the movie. 1. After decades of cinematic re-releases, the film was a financial success, grossing $12 million domestically and $18 million internationally. This fact shows how successful this movie really was. 2. The initial budget was $6,000 with the ten members of the production company investing $600 each for a share of the profits. When it was found that another $6,000 was required another ten investors were found but this was also soon found to be inadequate. Image Ten eventually raised approximately $114,000 for the budget. 3. â€Å"Night of the Living Dead† has been remade twice. The first remake was made in 1990 and it included more gore and a revised plot. The other remake was made in 2005. All of these facts contribute to the fact that â€Å"Night of the Living† dead is  one of the most influential zombie movies of all time. The director, Geroge A. Romero, completely revolutionized the horror film genre with this movie. â€Å"Night of the Living Dead† also redefined the word â€Å"zombie†. While the word â€Å"zombie† itself is never used, Romero’s film introduced the theme of zombies as reanimated, flesh-eating cannibals. [1] â€Å"Night of the Living Dead.† Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. . [1]

General Rules About Abbreviations

General Rules About Abbreviations General Rules About Abbreviations General Rules About Abbreviations By Mark Nichol This post outlines basic rules about abbreviations. There is a bewildering variety of standards, which will be explained in more detail in subsequent posts about specific categories of abbreviation, but the following guidelines cover an array of general types. Use of abbreviation varies widely depending on the formality of writing employed for a given publication or a piece of content. Generally, the more formal the content, the less likely it is that abbreviation will be used, except in multiple references to terms commonly abbreviated or in tabular matter and other graphic elements. In formal writing, journalistic contexts, and some informal content as well, terms are spelled out on first reference, followed by abbreviation in parentheses, as in â€Å"The Global Positioning System (GPS) uses satellite signals to fix the location of a radio receiver on or above the earth’s surface.† Thereafter, the abbreviation is used exclusively. However, this tradition applies to single pieces of content, so that- unless, for example, an entire publication is devoted to articles about GPS technology- two articles in a publication that mention it will independently introduce the full spelled-out version of an abbreviation on first reference. Note, too, that specialized publications will likely abbreviate all references to widely used terms in that specialty. Abbreviations consisting entirely of uppercase letters (including NY, US, FBI, and NASA) or that end with an uppercase letter (as in PhD) are not followed by a period; some publications retain periods in these types of abbreviations (at least two-letter ones), but that style is in decline. Abbreviations that end with a lowercase letter (a.m., Dr., i.e., etc.) are generally followed by a period. Acronyms (abbreviations of phrases using initial letters of each word to form new word, such as AIDS) are almost invariably styled in all capital letters, though some, such as laser and scuba, have lost their uppercase form, and Nasdaq is treated as a proper noun. Initialisms (abbreviations of phrases using initial letters of each word, each of which is pronounced, such as FBI) are also generally capitalized. When using an article before an abbreviation, choose a or an depending on the first sound, not the first letter, of the abbreviation: â€Å"an NBA [en-bee-ay] team† but â€Å"a NASA [nasa] program.† Avoid ampersands except in proper names (â€Å"Johnson Johnson†) and in widely known abbreviations (â€Å"RD,† for â€Å"research and development†). 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 Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Passed vs Past40 Synonyms for â€Å"Lie†50 Tips on How to Write Good

Awesome Google Tricks You Didnt Know Existed [Infographic]

Awesome Google Tricks You Didnt Know Existed [Infographic] Google is an integral part of our lives. Whether we’d like to admit it or not, we rely on Google for many things. It has become an encyclopedia for most of us. But how can we take our use of Google to the next level in order to truly make the most of theis valuable tool? The folks over at whoishostingthis  have compiled an infographic detailing some pretty awesome  Google tricks  that you probably are not  familiar with. Check them out below:

ASSESSMENT 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

ASSESSMENT 2 - Assignment Example Another important aspect that is worth mentioning in the paper is the fact that there was a limited period of time that the company gave when it comes to the claiming of the funds by the owners of the money used in the business operation. This was therefore the means that the company employed to enable it to realize exorbitant sales and so is the profit. It is quite normal that the aim of every business entity is to make profits and so all businesses will do all he possible actions just to enable them reach this aim. During the liquidation, the firm therefore found out it a bit challenging since there was the need for the payment of the moneys that were taken from the mother company, Fone4U to the new subsidiary company Telephony Limited. This is the case that the company is now facing. It therefore calls for the necessity of giving some pieces of advice to the various stakeholders who were involved on this kind of business transactions on he various measures that they can take to sa ve the situation (Alex, 2012). On giving advice to the customers, it is important to highlight that the customers need to take various actions to enable them to get the 60% of the finances that they are entitled to claim from the company. For any transaction that involves parties, it is always very clear to have a written document as proof that kind of show that there was an agreement that was made by the parties. This therefore binds the company with the other parties who are affected in one way or the other based on the actions that the company has taken. Considering this, it is important to note that the customers therefore were in some form of binding agreement with the company that they were to claim the money in limits of three days and because this was quite short for certain customers to make it there, some had to let the money stay and continue with the business operation (Matt, 2011). This was the core factor that made the business to make

The Key Marketer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Key Marketer - Essay Example Somewhere along its contents, they will be committed intelligently to buy our products and services as we will place ads strategically in the free e-book. And the marketing cycle is never ending as our readers will voluntarily e-mail this e-book to their friends, and their friends to their friends, and so on ad infinitum. This is the main idea behind Viral Marketing. On the other hand, for Brady Brewer (2001, February 21) there are five principles to follow up in order to find optimization in any E-Mail Viral Marketing campaign. They're needed to be followed carefully in order to avoid negative reactions. They are the following: (Brewer, B. (2001, February 21). Tips for Optimizing Viral Marketing Campaigns". Clickz Network. (World Wide Web page). Available: http://www.clickz.com/experts/em_mkt/opt/article.php/837511. (27 Sept. 2005)). According to Steve Jurvetson (1997, May 1), inventor of the buzzword "Viral Marketing" back in 1997, and Tim Draper (1997, May 1), Viral Marketing is essential in the marketing efforts of any company. Their words are a living testimony about the importance of Viral Marketing in the present times: "A good idea can spread more quickly over the Internet than had ever been possible before in the physical world, where manufacturing and distribution fundamentally limit the rate of product adoption. Especially in the Internet era, a company's competitiveness seems to depend on its velocity of thought and action. () Rapid growth is of no value without customer retention." (Jurvetson, S., & Draper, T. (1997, May 1). Viral Marketing. Draper Fisher Jurvetson. (World Wide Web page). Available: http://www.dfj.com/cgi-bin/artman/publish/steve_tim_may97.shtml. (27 Sept. 2005)). It doesn't matter if you consider the business world to be a battlefield or a playground. In any case, Viral Marketing is for you! So get inside its secrets and apply its methods consistently over and over again, being sure that Viral Marketing can be very lucrative and rewarding for those who had learned to fight or play to the fullest extent in the exciting business of doing business. Joint Venture Marketing Synergy. What a wonderful buzzword! One plus one is three. Wow! A lucrative way for producing this kind of miracle is through Joint Venture Marketing. Two different companies with related and complementary products and services join forces together in their marketing efforts, and both of them share the profits according to their deal. For instance, an Internet newspaper has a significant subscribers' list to its weekly newsletter, and a publishing house wants to market a new hot novel with the burden of a very low advertising

Current Event -Values, Attitudes & Perceptions Essay

Current Event -Values, Attitudes & Perceptions - Essay Example Current Event on Values, Attitudes & Perceptions: The Definition of Workplace Values Summary The article entitled The Definition of Workplace Values written by Juarez on January 18, 2011 and published by Demand Media, Inc. aimed to determine the factors that define values, attitudes and perceptions in the workplace. As initially averred, these factors are ultimately grounded from cultural orientations that have been specifically examined by Dr. Geert Hofstede who founded five specific patterns in cultural dimensions, to wit: power distance, individualism, gender, avoidance and traditions. Background The author based the contents of the article from Hofstede’s Cultures and Organizations that examined the five dimensions of culture, found to be instrumental in determining expressions and manifestations of values and attitudes in organizational setting. The author aimed to write a concise abstract of each dimension as applicable in the workplace. The study of organizational behav ior manifests the inclusion of diversity in culture to provide a more comprehensive understanding of why and how people behave the way they do. Findings The author clearly averred that â€Å"different cultures have different workplace values along five cultural dimensions, which help us define our own workplace values† (Juarez, 2011, par. 1).

Active Directory database Essay Example for Free

Active Directory database Essay Dover Leasing currently has information about all users stored in a database application used by the Human Resources Department. The IT manager has asked you to explore some ways this information could be used to create user accounts and populate the Active Directory database. Which tools could be used, and what are some issues involved in using these activates? Information about all users has been stored in a database application. On the basis of the available information from the Human Resource Department’s database, user accounts have to be created. The main tool for creating and proper managing the user accounts is Active Directory Users and Computers. There are few issues and concerns involved in this specific activity with this tool though the actions and steps are all very simple and straight. The foremost issue can be a problem to log in to the Windows sever and also the active directory network. Some problem can be due to the account locking issues. In many cases the interactive and user friendly way of user authentication process may be disrupted due to the setting problem. Incorrect user name and password, account disabled, logon hour restrictions, users issues with local login are some of the concerns which may happen for creating and maintenance of the user accounts. Case Project 7-2 The Dsadd Command is an effective way to create new user accounts from the command line. Write Dsadd statements to create the two users shown in the following chart. All user accounts should be created in the Users container in your DovercorpXX. local domain. Use Help and Support Center to determine the switches you need to configure these accounts from the command line. Dsadd user â€Å"cn= TRucci, cn= Users, dc=DovercorpXX, dc= local† –memberof â€Å" cn= Engineering,cn=users,dc= DovercorpXX, dc= local† Dsadd user â€Å"cn= APan, cn= Users, dc=DovercorpXX, dc= local† –memberof â€Å" cn= Management,cn=users,dc= DovercorpXX, dc= local† Case Project 7-3 Assume your Active Directory tree contains two domains named North and South. A domain controller named DCN located in the North domain has a folder named StrategicPlan that users in the North domain need to access. In addition, one manager from both the North and South domains needs to be able to manage data in the StrategicPlan folder. Describe how you would use domain local, global, and universal group scopes to grant access to the StrategicPlan folder. The administrator creates the North and South domain. A domain controller named DCN located in the North domain has a folder named StrategicPlan. The local, global and universal group scopes can be defined in the following way to grant access to the StrategicPlan folder. Create a global group StrategicPlan and add appropriate users to it to access the StrategicPlan folder or we can create an universal group called Universal StrategicPlan and can add the global groups which want access to it. If we want to create a local domain group then we can create one and give the required permission to access the folder.

Playground Payback - Original Essay -- Papers

Playground Payback - Original Essay In the far hills of North Carolina, there was a school called Blue Creek Elementary. It was half a century old, and you could definitely tell. The yellow stained walls of the classrooms had marks from play dough and crayon. The chalk board was cloudy with dust from a thousand words before. The smell of each room was basically the same, chalk clappers and weak tea, and the colour of autumn leaves was present throughout the year. It was January 2002. The climbing frame in the playground was rust incrusted, and the paint was crumbling off, but still was in use as if it was new everyday. No one child was dissatisfied with their school life, they could see nothing wrong with the way they were ruled, the rota they followed or the order they had come to be in for so many years. They were treated equally as each other, by the council they had elected. Every new school year in September there would be an election. Any volunteers would under go a number of campaigns to become the new king of the playground. For the last three years no one had been a match for King Rob. In the last year no one was even prepared to challenge Rob Jenkins, but it wasn’t because they were scared, no, quite the opposite. There was nothing wrong with the way he ruled them. He took care of them; he was their agony aunt to their problems, a King Solomon in his own day. He brought them new games, fought for new rights and changed the word recess itself. But all this was about to change, something, or someone was just around the corner. PJ, Felicity, Pikes, Jennie and Russ were playing kickball, a game Jennie ruled without a dou... ... the crowd a few seconds to mull over the information they had just been given, and then spoke once more, â€Å"So I ask you, are you regretful? Are you sorry? But most of all, do you want King Rob back?† the crowd gave no pause, just a dramatic, deafening â€Å"YES!† Prince (or Jack) was expelled from Blue Creek Elementary for stealing. He and his family moved to Alabama. King Rob was restored to his throne. The Jaimes were given luxuries to go in their clubhouse. The gang were labelled playground heroes, and Pikes was given an honorary stationary kit because of his bravery in City Hall. As for PJ, he was given the job of Royal Assistant. He monitored Jack’s movement in Alabama, and checked out any new kids. Blue Creek Elementary was back to where it started, but with more trust, guidance and hope for the future- High School.

Human Rights In Kuwait :: Human Rights Essays

Human Rights: Yet another commodity for the new society or a necessity? As one stands on the doorsteps of a new millennium, one can only imagine the future ahead. With the globalization movement making its way around the world, issues such as human rights are coming up, and are becoming international issues of concern rather than local ones. International organizations monitor governments and note the extent to which those governments adhere to and respect human rights. In the age of globalization, free trade between the nations of the world exists along with a sizeable transfer of knowledge and technology. And for one nation to succeed in that new environment it must have positive relations with others. For this good relation to evolve and develop, a nation must first address its inner issues of which human rights is a part of, for the human factor is prime in the globalization age that is based mainly on human-brain based industries. The Director of the Kuwait Information Office in Washington, in a lecture at Georgetown University, said, "The democratic process taking place in Kuwait is compatible with the Western definition of democracy, and it is clear when tracing country’s modern history that there is in fact a true democratic process presently sweeping the country." In 1948, the United Nations adopted the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" which included the minimum requirements that nations around the world must aim for to achieve and maintain man’s fundamental freedoms and rights. This included principles of equality without regard to race, color, sex, language, religion etc. in addition to the right to life, liberty and security. The Declaration was the platform on which all people should act. Any breach of its articles would put the breaching Nation under great pressure and criticism from its peers, who usually aim to correct the situation. Al-Ghabra added, "It has become increasingly difficult to maintain authortarian government in the modern era." By 1997, more that 116 nations had a president chosen by elections, up from only 39 nations in 1974. In the middle eastern nation of Kuwait, human rights have come a long way towards achieving a formidable status for the 38 years old nation has taken measures that surpass those taken by older nations. Kuwait’s constitution that dates back to the year 1962 ensured human rights in many of its articles. Kuwaiti Parliament member AbdulMohsen Jamal said that the constitution is a, " great achievement that has gained Kuwait the respect of the international community.

What is Microeconomics

In Incentives, Commitments, and Habit Formation in Exercise: Evidence from a Field Experiment with Workers at a Fortune-500 Company study a wellness incentive program implemented at a large corporate headquarters office. Three groups of employees were given different types of financial incentives to visit the on-site fitness center, and their gym-going behavior was monitored for many months afterward. The incentives were that a set of employees received $10 per gym visit over 1 month. After the month was over then they were offered a 2 month contract to continue going with a little bit of a twist, to see the effect of it. How does a commitment contract work? The employee puts down a certain amount of money, they get to choose the amount. If they don't stick to their commitment, they lose the money. They need to be able to go to the gym every 2 weeks over the next 2 months. It is all about risk vs commitment. How much do you really want this, do you want to see personal growth in yourself, are you doing it just so you don't lose the money, it is all in your hands the way you decide to play it. Why would anyone want to take up this offer, the best possible result is breaking even? This was made to differentiate between your long-term preferences vs the short-term preferences. You may set a schedule saying I'm going Monday and Friday every week. You go Monday and you feel great after going and are excited to continue on Friday. You make it to Friday and you make plans with your friends instead of having your gym time. It was a long week so you want to have a good time. You should be able to reward yourself after a long week but do you think that you would feel even better and have a better time out if you went to the gym beforehand. With having this contract, say you know you haven't been to the gym in 13 days and you need to go tomorrow or you lose your money. That might push people to get to the gym, not just for the money but that specific trip could make them want to keep going back in the long run. So the best-case scenario for a commitment contract is not just breaking even: its changing behavior in a positive way. About 1 out of every 8 employees offered a chance to create a commitment contract decided to do it (Royer, Stehr, & Sydnor, 2015). Below are the results of the commitment contract subjects. It was shown that there was a spark in the gym visits more for the group who signed the contracts than when they were offered the $10 per visit. With the contract you are putting your own money on the line. You have something to lose if you don't hold up your end of the bargain. In the long run it is not about the money, it is about your lifestyle and goals. You have things you want to achieve and sometimes you just need a little nudge to get you going. After the 2 month commitment ended, it was wanted to be known the long term effects of the subjects. It was shown that they had noticeably more frequent gym visits on average. Main Hypothesis:Does linking incentives to fitness really help you get to the gym more?Why is it that after the free trial period ends that most of the memberships decline? Why do people not continue on? See no results? Have no incentives?Commitment devices (Fitbit/ Apple Watch) may be the best way to achieve long-term changes New Year's resolutions for most seem to be about Eating healthier, go to the gym more, and cut out sugar, most of health/Fitness related. Get statistics on the New Year's resolutions. How may are making this there resolution and how many actually keep this resolution. 45% of people said that there 2018 resolution was to lose weight/get in shape Fitbit (27.4 million users) and My Fitness Pal (19.1 million users) are 2 of the most used fitness trackers in 2018 Only 8% of people keep their resolutions. People tend to over set goals. When they are too big to reach, you tend to fail. You also don't want to under set your goals because you may be able to reach them too easily and not get the results out of them that you had really hoped. If you fail at your goal, that doesn't mean you should give up. You just have to reevaluate the goal. You want to get back out there achieve your goals. Ex. You said you wanted to go to the gym 4 days a week, but that was too much with your schedule, you shouldn't quit all together just go 2 days a week instead. Sources:https://www.statista.com/statistics/378105/new-years-resolution/https://www.statista.com/statistics/650748/health-fitness-app-usage-usa/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-years-resolutions-psychology_us_5862d599e4b0d9a59459654cEconomic Concepts: Everything is in the incentives, put it all out there.54864132751300Supply describes the total amount of a specific good or service that is available to consumers (Something needed or wanted) available to someone. (Market driven)People want a membership, they want to achieve their fitness goals, and they want to be a better version of themselvesDemand consumer's desire and willingness to pay a price for a specific good or service.Cost of membership may increase as more member sign up In the study- they had to put up their own money, they were able to risk for their goals45720036575900 Cost – (of an object or an action) require the payment of (a specified sum of money) before it can be acquired or done. The money they had to put up, their time, their energy, their commitment Benefit -an advantage or profit gained from something. Better body, feel good about themselves, achieved goalsBottom linehttps://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/11/five-economic-concepts-need-to-kno w.aspConcluding thoughts Reading articles, writing this essay has got me thinking about my fitness goals and lifestyle. I own a Fitbit and I do enjoy it but I need to get back to using it for all of its features and feeling proud of what I have accomplished in a day. You need to be persistent and have goals. You can't just decide one day to start working out. You need a plan and be physically and mentally ready to conquer the task you set up for yourself. You need an incentive first, that is what gets your foot in the door, and then you continue going because you want to better yourself. Once you start the drive to better body helps keep going back.

Titanosaurs - The Last of the Sauropods

Titanosaurs - The Last of the Sauropods By the beginning of the Cretaceous period, about 145 million years ago, gigantic, plant-eating dinosaurs like Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus were on the evolutionary decline. However, this didnt mean that sauropods as a whole were destined for early extinction; an evolutionary offshoot of these huge, four-footed plant-eaters, known as titanosaurs, continued to prosper right up until the K/T Extinction 65 million years ago. The problem with titanosaursfrom a paleontologists point of viewis that their fossils tend to be scattered and incomplete, much more so than for any other family of dinosaurs. Very few articulated skeletons of titanosaurs have been discovered, and virtually no intact skulls, so reconstructing what these beasts looked like has necessitated a lot of guesswork. Fortunately, the close similarity of titanosaurs to their sauropod predecessors, their wide geographic distribution (titanosaur fossils have been discovered on every continent on earth, including Australia), and their huge diversity (as many as 100 separate genera) has made it possible to hazard some reasonable guesses. Titanosaur Characteristics As stated above, titanosaurs were very similar in build to the sauropods of the late Jurassic period: quadrupedal, long-necked and long-tailed, and tending toward enormous sizes (one of the biggest titanosaurs, Argentinosaurus, may have reached lengths of over 100 feet, though more typical genera like Saltasaurus were considerably smaller). What set titanosaurs apart from sauropods were some subtle anatomical differences involving their skulls and bones, and, most famously, their rudimentary armor: its believed that most, if not all, titanosaurs had tough, bony, but not very thick plates covering at least parts of their bodies. This last feature raises an interesting question: could it be that the sauropod predecessors of the titanosaurs perished at the end of the Jurassic period because their hatchlings and juveniles were preyed on by large theropods like Allosaurus? If so, the light armor of titanosaurs (even though it wasnt nearly as ornate or dangerous as the thick, knobby armor found on contemporaneous ankylosaurs) might have been the key evolutionary adaptation that allowed these gentle herbivores to survive tens of millions of years longer than they would have otherwise; on the other hand, some other factor may have been involved of which we are not yet aware. Titanosaur Habitats and Behavior Despite their limited fossil remains, titanosaurs were clearly some of the most successful dinosaurs ever to thunder across the earth. During the Cretaceous period, most other families of dinosaurs were restricted to certain geographic areasthe bone-headed  pachycephalosaurs of North America and Asia, for examplebut titanosaurs attained a worldwide distribution. There may, however, have been stretches of millions of years when titanosaurs were clustered on the southern supercontinent of Gondwana (which is where Gondwanatitan gets its name); more titanosaurs have been discovered in South America than on any other continent, including huge members of the breed like Bruhathkayosaurus and Futalognkosaurus. Paleontologists know as much about the everyday behavior of titanosaurs as they do about the everyday behavior of sauropods in generalwhich is to say, not a whole lot. Theres evidence that some titanosaurs may have roamed in herds of dozens or hundreds of adults and juveniles, and the discovery of scattered nesting grounds (complete with fossilized eggs) hints that females may have laid their 10 or 15 eggs at a time in groups, the better to protect their young. Theres still a lot thats being worked out, though, such as how quickly these dinosaurs grew and how, given their extreme sizes, they managed to mate with one another. Titanosaur Classification More so than with other types of dinosaurs, the classification of titanosaurs is a matter of ongoing dispute: some paleontologists think titanosaur isnt a very useful designation, and prefer to refer to smaller, anatomically similar, and more manageable groups like saltasauridae or nemegtosauridae. The doubtful status of the titanosaurs is best exemplified by their eponymous representative, Titanosaurus: over the years, Titanosaurus has become a kind of wastebasket genus to which poorly understood fossil remains have been assigned (meaning that many of the species attributed to this genus may not actually belong there). One final note about titanosaurs: whenever you read a headline claiming that the biggest ever dinosaur has been discovered in South America, take the news with a big grain of salt. The media tends to be especially credulous when it comes to the size and weight of dinosaurs, and the figures touted are often at the extreme end of the probability spectrum (if theyre not completely made up out of thin air). Practically every year witnesses the announcement of a new biggest titanosaur, and the claims usually dont match up with the evidence; sometimes the new titanosaur that has been announced turns out to be a specimen of an already-named genus!

My Antonia essays

My Antonia essays After good experiences pass by, it is natural for a human to feel as if though the pleasure from spending that time should have lasted longer. In the same way, Optima dies... prima fugit, is true for the life of Jim Burden also. Experiencing many of his good child hood times in the country, and thereafter being far away from there in Lincoln for college makes him feel that the jovial moments went by very quickly. Visiting familiar places where Jim spent good times produces memories of childhood delight. Jim Burdens mentality of reminiscing past events and dwelling upon them in deeper thought lends him to feel like the first days are the first to flee. Jim Burden is keen to reflect upon memorable moments of his past because of his poetic and pensive disposition. Jim often thinks of the prairies vividness when he describes the ocean of copper-red prairie grass, golden sunflower bordered roads, and the fierce sunlight drenching the blonde cornfields. His strong feelings are manifested for the prairies beauty when he says, The whole prairie was like the bush that burned with fire and was not consumed. That hour always had the exultation of victory. It was a sudden transfiguration, a lifting-up of day (22). Jims nature leads him to believe that he can never become a scholar because the excitement of thinking is quick to remind him of his cherished prairie land and the people who inhabited it (125). Jims is more reminded of moments like these of his friends when he goes off to college. In college, Jim thinks more of Black Hawk, the prairie, and all the people he knew. He would often reminisce about Antonia and others he knew and wished those fleeting times would come back again. For instance, he expresses the concept of Optima dies... prima fugit when he states, As I sat down to my book at last, my old dream about Lena coming across the harvest field in her short skirt see...

7 Dramatic Monologues by Greek Playwright Sophocles

7 Dramatic Monologues by Greek Playwright Sophocles Here is a collection of ancient yet profound dramatic speeches from The Oedipus Plays by Greek playwright Sophocles. Each dramatic monologue is ideal as a classical audition piece. Also, English students can use them as study resources for analyzing the characters. Antigone’s Defiant Monologue: This scene is a favorite from Antigone and is an excellent exercise for a young female performer. Antigone delivers this commanding speech, defying the laws of the king in order to follow her conscience. Shes a stubborn young woman, intent on civil disobedience in order to fulfill her family obligations and what she believes is a higher law of the gods. She will risk punishment rather than settle for a noble life without honoring her dead brother.Creon from Antigone:  At the beginning of the  play,  Creon sets up the conflict that will lead to Antigones defiance. His two nephews, Antigones brothers, died in a duel over the throne. Creon inherits the throne by default and gives one a hero’s funeral while determining the other was a traitor whose body should rot unburied. Antigone rebels against this and buries her brother, resulting in her punishment. Besides this monologue, there is another at the end of the play  that is also worth y. In the play’s finale, the antagonistic Creon realizes that his stubbornness has led to his family’s demise. That is an  intense, gut-wrenching monologue. The Chorus from Oedipus at Colonus: Greek Drama isn’t always dark and depressing. The Chorus monologue is a peaceful and poetic monologue describing the mythic beauty of Athens.Jocasta from Oedipus the King: Here, the mother/wife of Oedipus Rex offers some psychiatric advice. She tries to allay his anxiety over the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, unaware that both have already occurred. Freud must have loved this speech.Antigone’s End: Towards the end of her young life, Antigone contemplates her actions and her fate. She is sentenced to be walled up in a cave and die a slow death for her defiance of the kings edict. She maintains that she made the correct choice, yet she wonders why the gods have not yet intervened to bring justice in her situation.Ismene from Antigone: Antigone’s sister, Ismene, is often overlooked in student essays, which makes her a terrific topic to analyze. This dramatic monologue reveals the duplicitous nature o f her character. She is the beautiful, dutiful, outwardly obedient and diplomatic counter to her stubborn and defiant sister. Yet, they have lost both of their parents and their two brothers to suicide and duels. She counsels a safer course of obedience to the law, to live another day. Oedipus the King: This monologue is a classic cathartic moment. Here, Oedipus realizes the wretched truth about himself, his parents, and the terrible power of fate. He has not escaped what fate foretold, he has killed his father and married his mother. Now, his wife/mother has committed suicide and has blinded himself, determined to become an outcast until he dies.

On Dumpster Diving Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

On Dumpster Diving - Essay Example In the end, this contributes to wastage. For example, in the article, Eighner states that college students would throw away good items at the end of a semester even when such items could have lasted until the start of the new semester. It is also clear that the consumption culture in America encourages people to focus on the wants and luxuries- things they do not need. The culture of consumerism is one that can affect the economy greatly since it encourages wastage of resources. Eighner’s article also brings to light the kind of foods people buy. In this article, he notes that rarely does he find fresh foods in the dumpster but instead find food such as yoghurt, chocolates among others. This shows that consumerism is a culture that encourages people to engage n unhealthy consumption habits where little consideration is given to the quality of foods eaten. This can further be extended to other items as well, such as electronic devices and clothing. The fact that people are interested in satisfying their demands, little attention to given to the nature of these products and the harm they cause to the consumer and the

PHARMACEUTICAL COMMERCIAL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

PHARMACEUTICAL COMMERCIAL - Essay Example With the advent of globalization, world market trade drugs that were once confined to a particular area or country. People across the world are being benefitted with the research and studies being conducted in one laboratory in one corner of the world. It could be made through commercialization of pharmaceutical products. On the other hand various laboratories are working in collaboration to bring out the best pharmaceutical results. They work under legislative and safety measures ensuring the customer satisfaction and to procure better results without negligible health hazards. It is mandatory that the companies must get approval from the ethical committees to pursue the research study prior to the drug manufacturing. Drug designing is becoming more precise and target oriented so as to minimize the damages caused to other tissues. Any kind of ignorance or manipulation in this designing may emancipate worst to mankind. It is mandatory that pharmaceutical companies take utmost precaution and precisions not to spin huge profit and ignore humanity but to come out with a devise in the form of drug that can provide a better alternative to the ailments and their cure with trifling side effects. These are all very vital and major contemporary issues that must be addressed when we look drug commercials and the controversies surrounding their increasing prevalence in our everyday lives. Historical background is imperative for any commercial advertisements. 19th century witnessed a huge expansion in the sale and use of drugs. Although many of these drugs were easily accessible but possess tremendous side effects; however limited instructions regarding the methodology of their use was mentioned. These directives are essential for the commercialization of the pharmaceutical products, else these pharmaceutical products become misleading for the customer resulting in life threatening

Americas History of Immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Americas History of Immigration - Essay Example To begin with, the most notable point in the American Immigration history lies in the creation of its colonial era. The American experience was perceived as a colony where there would be freedom as well as a feeling of mutual bonding. (Parrillo, 2002) This was first demonstrated by the Puritans who built the first English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, in the year 1607. These efforts were replicated by various communities throughout the two century old immigration experience of the United States. Therefore, the turning point was the creation of a model which was to be followed by the variety of people arriving at the American shores, so as create an essentially American way of life. (Gjerde, 1998. Pp 288 to 290 ) Another turning point came in the form of the framing of the US Constitution in the nineteenth century. This helped the diverse American population gain an insight into what was typically American. The Constitution laid special emphasis on freedom, which led to the definition of various unique groups and their ways of living. The Constitution provided the necessary impetus that forced the people to unite on the common grounds of secularism and freedom. Also, with a new focus on new age terms like welfare state and public policy, there was a mass paradigm shift towards understanding the plight of the various communities and creating a platform upon which they may voice their issues and thus gain new insights into public life. (Parrillo, 2002) The election of Andrew Jackson in 1828, as the first "outsider" to be elected as the President, paved the way for the creation of an America that could expand its frontiers through the sheer power of diversity presented by the people thronging it. (Palmer, 2005) This trend was further fuelled through the modifications rendered to public policy to cater to the needs of minorities who were fast taking to America as their homeland. There was a new brand of administrative policy activism during this period, which triggered federal immigration policies to be restructured along dynamic innovative lines. Further, nationhood and social order were described during this period in terms of the ethnicities and their diverse needs. The coming of the Irish to the American shores during the 1800s ushered an age of renewed political agenda aimed at the so called "outsiders". The Irish settled around New England, poised for a greater role in the political affairs of the nation. This brought about a new breed of causal politicians who showed America what culture and refinement feel like. Having followed directly after the abolishment of slavery and the migration of the Southern Blacks towards the Northern industrial states, the migration of the Irish served to better understand and define freedom in terms of the ethnic diversity thronging the American shores. (Parrillo, 2002) Further, the progressive movement was closely followed by the First World War, where the traveling American was brought face to face with social issues on the home front. There was an acknowledgement of the fact that the social dictates of the land had grown to disproportionate dimensions in the face of multi cultural interactions. This led to the need for government action during the 1900s in a bid to demonstrate the ideal American family. While many Asian communities were averse to these trends, the second generation immigrants were more forgiving.

Regression Report Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Regression Report - Research Paper Example But again, what is its value against its color? May be she loves speed and that’s why she went for the Porsche and pink is the color to speed in. As a result, the underlying baseline requirement towards the selection of a pink Porsche reduces the disparity between new and used prices. This is the extent with which value of a car chips in. This is paramount towards a vehicle selection. If one doesn’t have cash to buy a Porsche, they should live according to their standards. A Porsche for instance is a fuel guzzler and even after parting with such a huge lump sum, one will still go deep in their pockets to cater for the fuel expenses. A car should not at any time be a liability to your financial status. Sooner or later you will be the laughing stock in your town. Fraser, Cynthia. Business Statistics for Competitive Advantage with Excel 2010: Basics, Model Building and Cases. New York: Springer, 2012.

The Buddhist Discipline Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

The Buddhist Discipline - Research Paper Example This research paper demonstrates Buddhists history, practices, teachings and disciplines, that are followed by more than 375 million people these days. Founded in northeastern India between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE by Siddhartha Gautama, Buddhism has emerged into one of the world’s most influential major religions and philosophical thoughts. Through missionary activity, it spreads from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan, and in the 20th century it found its way into Africa, Europe, The Americas, and Australia. Currently, the fourth largest religion, Buddhism plays a central role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of its followers. Despite the distinctive practices and unique collections of canonical texts of the two schools (branches) of Buddhism, Mahayana and Theravada, Buddhism’s main teachings (discipline) are focused on resolving the issue of human suffering. These teaching are summarized in the Four Noble Truths, of which the fourth is the Eightfold Path. Accepted by all schools of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths is one of the fundamental teachings of Buddhism and is said to have been taught by the Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, in his first sermon, which he delivered after his enlightenment. The Eightfold Path is a subject of less discussion in Buddhist circle than the Four Noble Truths. These eight elements, which are correct view, an accurate understanding of the nature of things, specifically the Four Noble Truths. Rebirth and karma are other Buddhist teachings, that are mentioned in this research paper.

Regression Report Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Regression Report - Research Paper Example But again, what is its value against its color? May be she loves speed and that’s why she went for the Porsche and pink is the color to speed in. As a result, the underlying baseline requirement towards the selection of a pink Porsche reduces the disparity between new and used prices. This is the extent with which value of a car chips in. This is paramount towards a vehicle selection. If one doesn’t have cash to buy a Porsche, they should live according to their standards. A Porsche for instance is a fuel guzzler and even after parting with such a huge lump sum, one will still go deep in their pockets to cater for the fuel expenses. A car should not at any time be a liability to your financial status. Sooner or later you will be the laughing stock in your town. Fraser, Cynthia. Business Statistics for Competitive Advantage with Excel 2010: Basics, Model Building and Cases. New York: Springer, 2012.

Strategic Management and Strategic Planning Essay

Strategic Management and Strategic Planning - Essay Example The aim of the paper is to analyze and evaluate how the Gillette Company responded to just such a set of circumstances and introduce change management into practice. The Gillette Company is a leading division of Proctor and Gambler specialized in personal care and household products. In this company, creative management consists of new ideas, new directions, new methods, and new modes of operation (Gillette Home Page 2008). Innovative management is much the same as the second element of creative and innovative activities--better results. Innovative management is involved with those innovation processes that implement creative ideas and move successfully in new directions. "The concepts "planned change" and "managed change" refer to changes that are deliberately shaped by the organization members (managers, consultants, groups). What distinguishes between the two concepts is the type of people they refer to (Hage, 1999). "Planned change" usually refers to how experts, outside or inside the organization, can help the organization cope with difficulties, and to plan and implement desired changes" (Levy and Merry 1986, p. 3). The Gillette Company op erates in turbulent environment marked by increased competition. The need for change is caused by new economic and social conditions, technological improvements and innovations implemented by direct competitors of Gillette. In order to remain competitive, Gillette has to respond to market changes and meet demands and expectations of diverse customers. The aim of change process is to restructure the company and introduce technological innovations and IT into everyday practice. These changes will cover organizational structure, climate, morale and culture (Mclagan 2002; Gillette Home Page. 2008). Strategic Planning Defined Strategic planning has many definitions. It basically answers the question of what will be done. Strategic planning is a leadership instrument and a process. It begins with establishing organizational aims and purposes, followed by formulation of ways and means to achieve those purposes, and provides direction for implementation of operational or tactical planning (Senior 2001). Strategic planning is a process for setting future direction, a means to reduce risk, and a vehicle for training managers. It is also a process for making strategic decisions, a way to develop consensus among top managers, and a means to develop a written long-range plan. Another definition of strategic planning is "that element of a manager's job and of the organization's function that deals with the contrivance of change, rather than the simple reaction to it" (Senior 2001, p. 54). Strategic planning involves those choices related to overall organizational purpose, oriented towards the future. Strategic pla nning/thinking entails operational (tactical) planning--the planning of those actions to be taken to put strategies into effect. This type of planning answers the question of how to get the job done. It often consists of specific objectives accompanied by short narrative action plans (Gillette Home Page 2008). Strategic management may have two diametrically opposed definitions. One is that it is the overall encompassing effort for total management of an

William Hazlitt Essay Example for Free

William Hazlitt Essay Money isn’t everything, but for English writer William Hazlitt that saying couldn’t be farther from the truth. The essay he has chosen to write is a list of contradictions given to show the reader why the true purpose in life is money. Hazlitt conveys his thoughts on money to persuade others that money is everything. To persuade his reader he uses specific syntax, tone and diction to convey this message. William Hazlitt begins his passage with stating â€Å"literally and truly, one cannot get on well in the world without money† (1). By starting the essay like this his stance whether or not money is everything is clear. As the passage develops you find that he is trying to persuade people who think money isn’t everything by belittling this with statements like â€Å"to be a burden to your relations† (39-40) to make the reader second guess them self. Also by him addressing â€Å"yourself† (45) in the passage he is directing it at a particular person or group of people. By doing these things he creates an informal essay with little detail. Hazlitt expresses a contemptuous tone throughout the essay. In his essay he compares having no money to â€Å"laborious employment† (16) and â€Å"thrown into†¦ a gaol,† (33) these are all situations that a majority of people dislike or do don’t want out of life. He uses this to persuade readers into his way of thinking. Hazlitt uses one huge compound sentence combining many contradictions. This compound sentence takes up lines 2-47 which is the majority of this passage; overwhelming readers by also adding intricate diction like â€Å"gaol† (33) â€Å"acquirements† (8) all to enhance his point by still using an informal tone. In conclusion William Hazlitt attempts to persuade his non-believer readers about the advantages of money and why it is truly everything. Whether it is by burdening your family or â€Å"sitting at a desk† (17) is condemns the reader and uses negative connotations. This strikes a reader and shows reasons why money is truly everything.

Effects of a Student Lifestyle on Health

Effects of a Student Lifestyle on Health An investigation into the effects of a student lifestyle on health Results and discussion The questionnaires were sent out to the student population in the manner described. A total of 240 were distributed and we received back 120 of these – a 50% return rate. Of these 120 (n), 68 (56%) were from male respondents and 52 (44%) were from females this approximately reflects the male / female ratio of students at the University. We shall consider each question in turn. Questionnaire I Age. As could easily be predicted, the vast majority of respondents were from the 18-21 yr. age range 100 (83%) in total, with the remainder scattered over the range 22-32 yrs., again this roughly equates with the student age profile of the University campus. 108 (90%) were full time students with only 12 (10%) being part time We decided to make a preliminary breakdown into sports and non-sports related courses. We felt that this was better for our purposes than specifying each individual course studied, as it lent itself to clearer analysis. 24 (20%) were on sports related courses and 96 (80%) were not. It would be a useful breakdown of male / female in these two groups if you have the information. In terms of hours studied, the results were rather surprising as 29 (24%) admitted to studying less than 6 hrs a week, the biggest cohort of 50 (41%) admitted to 6-10 hours a week and only one (a female) felt that she was studying more than 21 hours a week. The relevance of this is that, in the context of exercise and health, it would be difficult for any of these students to present a convincing argument that they did not exercise because they were committing too much time to their studies. They clearly had plenty of uncommitted non-study time on their hands. Perhaps a bar chart would be appropriate here. Smoking. Given the data presented earlier our results were not totally in line with the national averages. Our cohort had 64 smokers (53%) of which 60% were men. If our cohort had followed the national patterns then we would have expected 42% of men and 39% of women in this age range to be smokers. The reasons for this are not clear from our survey One possible explanation may be the unexpectedly high response to our question about stress levels (see on) With regard to the number of cigarettes smoked the range was surprisingly narrow with over 75% of smokers admitting to smoking 15 or less per day and only 2 admitted to smoking over 30 a day The length of time that each had smoked was less than four years in 75% of smokers. Although we do not have the data, we should perhaps not be surprised at that as we have already mentioned, the majority (83%) of our group were under the age of 22yrs. You might like to break down the ages of the smokers further to see if you can demonstrate that the majority started smoking when they got to university – the figures should bear this out. This figure is quite significant when we compare it against the number who profess to be concerned about their fitness (see on) as we have highlighted above that smoking is one of the greatest impediments to general good health. Drinking. 112 (93%) of our respondents said that they did drink alcohol with only 8 (6%) stating that they were teetotal. Of much greater interest was the amount that was drunk. Given that the current recommended weekly intake is 21 units for men and 14 units for women, 75 of our respondents admitted to drinking more than that (66% of drinkers) with the biggest groups 38 in total, drinking in the range of 26-35 units on a weekly basis. It has to be said that it was rather worrying that 15 of our respondents (13% of drinkers) admitted to regularly drinking over 41 units a week and 3 of those were women. 7 a+b) When contrasted against the figures for drinking before coming to University, it can be seen that there is a marked increase in the quantity of alcohol consumed since the transition to the â€Å"student lifestyle†. There may of course be many factors at work here. Sudden relaxation of parental control, the availability of more money, and being older may all play a part. It is also possible that the influence of peer pressure is a significant factor here. It is probably also significant that only two of the group actually admitted to drinking more than 30 units a week before coming to university which certainly is in marked contrast to our findings. the enquiry into illicit drugs brought out an interesting response. We had considered the possibility that students may not be willing to openly discuss their use of illicit substances and mainly it was for this reason that we elected to make the questionnaire anonymous. We received a definitive answer in every case and 42 of out cohort (35%) currently use drugs of some sort while at university. This compares to a much lower figure of 20 (16%) who used drugs before arriving at university and the student lifestyle. From this evidence it would appear that the fact that someone comes to university is associated with a doubling of the incidence of recreational drug use. Again we can only postulate about the reasons for this. In much the same way that there was a marked increase in the use of alcohol after the transition to university life, it is possible that the factors which we suggested may have been responsible for this increase may also be the same factors that are relevant in the i ncrease in drug use. 8b) The breakdown of admitted drug use is interesting not only for its description of the actual drugs used but also for the pattern of sex distribution that it reveals. There is clearly multi-drug usage as 42 respondents admitted to using drugs and there are 85 different admissions of type. We do not have the figures to tell us if the majority of drug use is single use with a comparatively few users accounting for the polypharmacy or whether most drug users are using multiple types of drugs. The majority of use is in the category of so-called recreational drugs 71 reports (88% of total drug use) and only 14 reports of cocaine use (12% of total drug use). It certainly is a clear trend that the drug use amongst men is greater than that amongst women. Of the admitted drug users (by type) 53 (62% of use) was by men and 27 (38%) was by women, this compares with the prevalence of men in our sample (56%) and women (44%). When these results are compared with the responses of drug use prior to arrival at university, it can be seen that the pattern of drug use is different. Cannabis and Ecstasy form the preponderance of drug use in this age group and the incidence of cocaine use is clearly much less. It would therefore appear that cocaine tends to be used by an older age group and this may or may not be an influence of life at university. It is not the function of this survey to pontificate on the apparent rights and wrongs of drug use. We are trying to define and delineate the effects of a student lifestyle on health and there is considerable evidence (see above) that drug use is certainly not conducive to health. Perhaps we should confine ourselves to the comment that there is certainly a public health issue here. 10) The psychological aspects of â€Å"the student life style† also produced some unexpected surprises. With specific regard to anxiety there is an immediate problem seen in the results. In 10a) the students were asked if they felt stressed while at university. 72 (60%) responded â€Å"yes† but when asked to grade the severity of their stress 109 (90%) indicated that they had experienced a degree of stress. This may represent a difficulty in perception. Some people may be able to relate to the experience of minor degrees of stress and regard it as â€Å"normal† rather than â€Å"feeling stressed† which is a term that they may reserve for higher levels of actual perceived stress. We would have to regard this as a criticism of the actual wording of the question, in which 10a) might have been better phrased as â€Å"have you ever felt any degree of stress while at university?† when, presumably, the two figures would then have matched. It is certainly significant that the majority of the â€Å"yes† respondents were women. The majority of the studies done on the subject of stress (see above) show that women will report feeling stressed more frequently than their male counterparts. Many reasons and hypotheses have been advanced for this observation. It may well be that men are physiologically better equipped to deal with stress than women. There does not, however, appear to be any evidence to back up this point. It has been shown that men are less likely to seek help for psychological (and indeed physical) symptoms than women – quite often to their own detriment. Any sociologist will tell you that in our current social climate the gender roles of the two sexes are programmed differently during rearing. Boys are expected and encouraged to be stoical and brave, hiding their emotions whereas it is generally considered far more acceptable for girls to exhibit emotional liability. It is therefore not unexpected to find that at the highest end of the reported stress range. The proportion of women is greater than men. Equally the converse is also true that men are over represented at the lower-stress and no-stress levels. The pre-university results are not as diverse as they appear to be in other areas of enquiry. This should not altogether surprise us as we have to bear in mind the fact that all of the students who have made the transition from school to university will, almost without exception, have been through the A-level system, which is an inherently stressful experience. It is interesting to note that the sex differences are almost identical in this group when compared to the university group. Again this reflects the findings of other, more general, studies on the subject. 12) With regard to the comments made about the discrepancy of the figures in the questions about anxiety (11a and 11b) we can see that there is exactly the same disagreement in the questions about depression (12a) and 12b). When asked the direct question about whether they had felt depressed while at university 98 (81%) said â€Å"no†, but when asked to grade their degree of depression only 34 (28%) indicated that they had not felt depressed to any degree. This apparent discrepancy can presumably be analysed along the same lines as our suggestions with regard to anxiety. This is given further credence by the observation that in the group who admitted to experiencing depression, women were represented at nearly double the relative frequency of the men. When we look at the group admitting to severe depression the proportion rises to over three times the relative frequency. When compared to the responses that were reported before coming to university we can see however, that this time (compared to the anxiety situation) there is a marked difference as very many fewer respondents admitted to feelings of depression in their pre-university life. We do know that levels of depression reach a peak in the early twenties ( most markedly in men) and therefore we would expect to find lower levels in younger age groups. We also have other environmental factors in play as the majority of pre-university or school age pupils, will normally be living in the comparative security of a family lifestyle with all its attendant support networks hopefully in place. At university however, the situation is generally quite different with young people thrust into a different, and possibly alien environment, with no pre-existing support networks to fall back on for advice. This is clearly a fertile breeding ground for reactive depression and also endogenous depression if there is a predisposition for it. 14) This section is even more subjective than the preceding two as it deals with the question of self confidence ( you might like to see if your results show a correlation between the people doing sports related courses and high self-confidence rating because the chances are that there will be – see on) the self-assessed results in this section show a fairly predictable Gaussian distribution curve with the highest concentration in the middle ranges of self confidence and a slight preponderance towards the above average assessment. One always has to approach self-assessments with a fair degree of scepticism but one could reasonably expect a higher than average number of self-confident people at university as they clearly would have to have a fair degree of self-confidence to take the necessary exams and to put themselves forward in the first place. One interesting point in the analysis is shown by the fact that there is an increased correlation in a high self confidence rating and the participation in a sports-related course. We can only conjecture why this might be but, in order to excel in sports it is usually totally counter-productive to be shy and retiring, so perhaps we could postulate a preponderance of certain personality types in a sports-related field. 15) there is very little difference in the ratings of self-confidence before and after coming to university. If anything, there is a slight increase in the perceived ratings. This may well correlate with the feelings of independence and the necessity to be responsible for one’s own actions at university. The increase in the ratings may simply reflect the confidence that comes with experience of the independence of the â€Å"student lifestyle† which most of our respondents clearly have had. 16) When designing the questionnaire we considered the problems that may arise with questions of a personal or sexual nature. We are therefore very heartened by the fact that the vast majority of respondents found that they could give us answers in this section with 115 (95%) responding positively. Sadly, the results do tend to bolster the tabloid editors portrayal of promiscuity which we referred to in the section on sexually transmitted diseases of our respondents, only 4 (3%) admitted to being a virgin (or celibate). The biggest group – 25 (21%) had only one partner since being at university, but it was something of a surprise to see that the next biggest group of 20 (17%) had five partners since arriving at university. 10 of our sample (12%) admitted to having 10 or more partners while being at university. We do not presume to make any moral judgements on this set of results but it would be fair to say that to have 10 or more different sexual partners within a three year spell at university (and some may have had ten partners in less than that time) does put the respondents in a high risk group for sexual health problems (see conclusions) With the single exception of the lowest degrees of promiscuity (Groups admitting to one or no partners at all), men outnumbered women in all the groups. It is hard to fully explain this anomaly. A logical evaluation would suggest that there are three possibilities, either it is an unexpected statistical quirk, it reflects the fact that normal sexual activity is carried out by most men but a few very promiscuous women or that there is an unexpectedly high amount of male homosexual activity going on within the university. The author could not possibly comment on which eventuality is the most likely. 17) When compared to the figures obtained for sexual activity before coming to university we can see that there is a marked difference. The degree of promiscuity is much lower pre-university. This may well be a reflection of the age and circumstance of the pre-university respondents, quite apart from the independence factor that becomes more apparent after arriving at university. We can also see that the number of celibates pre-university is also much higher. This again, is probably a reflection of the perception of independence found at university. 18) In continuation of the issues discussed in section 16, the issues of sexual health are tackled here. The question is purposely blunt – â€Å"Have you ever had a sexually transmitted disease?† In our sample 6 (5% of sexually active respondents) had admitted to having one. This may very well not be accurate, as any experienced health professional will tell you that there are a lot a sexually transmitted diseases that are asymptomatic or may clear up spontaneously. Male monillia is often both trivial and self-curing and may only show as a transient blotchy rash of 24-36 hours duration. Male and female chlamydia may be completely asymptomatic in both sexes and the sufferers may truthfully respond that they do not think that they have a sexually transmitted disease. The fact of the matter is that both monilliasis in the female and Chlamydia in both sexes, can have serious repercussions with regard to fertility in the future. As we have flagged up in our earlier discussions, high levels of promiscuity are a potential problem for the overall sexual health of the student body. Questionnaire II BMI was worked out from the statistics of height and weight supplied by each respondent. The first inference of note is that there is a predictable Gaussian curve for both male and female distributions of BMI with the mean for males (predictably) coming to the right of the female peak ( a graph showing the two distributions would be helpful here) although the male curve actually has two maxima, this is almost certainly a statistical quirk due to the relatively small number of the sample. There are only three respondents that fall into the clinically obese range (25 and over) and only two – both female – who would be considered clinically underweight with a BMI of 15 (WHO definitions). This distribution is approximately the distribution that one would expect from the population as a whole in this age range. The first question asks respondents to rate their degree of physical activity. This set of answers should be analysed in conjunction with the responses to questions 3a-6 and the knowledge that 24 (20%) are on sports related courses and we would therefore expect them to be physically active in the pursuance of their course in any event. As we can see 32 (26%) take less exercise than the Government recommended target of 30 mins. five times a week and a further 49 (40%) just straddling the target level. If we arbitrarily equate â€Å"very physically active† with doing in excess of 80 minutes of exercise a day, â€Å"fairly physically active† with doing more than 40 mins a day, together with â€Å"not very physically active† doing more than 20 minutes a day then we can see a marked discrepancy straight away. Those who professed to be very physically active were 22 (18%) but this compares with 13 (10%) who actually do more than 80 mins. exercise a day. In the fairly physically active group there were 58 respondents (48%) but this corresponds to 39 (32%) who actually take more than 40 minutes of exercise a day. For those 25 (20%) who profess to be not very physically active they correlate with 49 (40%) who straddle the Government guidelines by taking between 21-40 minutes exercise a day. The group with the lowest professed activity – 15 (12%) correlate with the 32 (26%) who do virtually no physical activity at all. Immediately one can see that there is a discrepancy here. Those who feel that they take a lot of activity tend to overestimate the amount of exercise that they actually do, equally there are a second group who, say that they are not very active when the figures suggest that the actually-inactive group is much bigger than the professed-inactive group. Professed Actual Activity (n) Activity (n) Very active 22 13 Fairly active 58 39 Not very active 25 49 Inactive 15 32 All in all it would appear that the respondents have an ability to feel that they are actually doing more exercise than they actually are doing. Equally you could argue that we are making the criteria too strict and that we are being over-ambitious in our expectations of what amount of exercise people of this age should be doing. Perhaps the best independent arbiter should be the Government’s own documents and consultation papers quoted elsewhere in this piece (Game Plan and At least five a week). It can be seen that approximately 50% of our respondents do not meet these criteria. 3b 4a 4b You have given me no information here and I have no real idea of what the results might actually show. I would suggest that you base your analysis along the lines of my previous answer (which may have to be modified in the light of whatever your figures show) 2a+b) The weight of our respondents seems to have remained remarkably steady with 103 (85%) remaining effectively unchanged. We note that in the case of the 17 (14%) where the weight has changed we did not ask them to specify whether this was up or down. If this is analysed in conjunction with 2b) where 2 respondents indicated that this was an intentional change and 15 said that it was unintentional, the normal inference would be that people who have elected to change their weight intentionally might normally have been expected to loose weight however, in this particular cohort with a strong sporting interest, it is possible that this group may have been trying to put weight on. And equally the converse may also be true, we do not have enough information to make this judgement. 5) when asked if they thought that they got enough exercise to keep them healthy 62 (51%) of our respondents thought that they did. Interestingly 10 (12%) didn’t know. This is presumably a reflection of public education issues although you could take the opposing view that the message has got through to the other 88% who felt that they did know. 88 (73%) of our respondents felt that they wanted to increase the amount of exercise that they did. We are not in a position to say whether these are the ones who felt that they did not do enough exercise to start with or whether they are the ones who already exercise and feel that they need to do more. Presumably, for those on a sports related course there is always the incentive to try to make yourself even fitter. 44(36%) of our sample visited the gym on a regular basis. We can reasonably assume that at least 24 of these will be on the sports related courses as one can assume that they would be visiting the gym regularly as part of their course so at least another 20 were actively trying to get fitter. We can see that there is a preponderance of males in this group (33m to 12f). With regard to this question you might like to see if the 32 negative respondents correlate highly with the active or non active groups. You could then draw appropriate conclusions here. For example if they were the predominantly the active group then you might conclude that they didn’t feel the need for sedentary activities or conversely, if they were the inactive group it may be that their sedentary activities precluded them from activity. 11-14 The diet related questions are perhaps better considered as one entity. The most interesting comparisons come from the pre-university and at university comparisons as one can see that there is a marked change in the eating activity of our respondents It is something of a surprise that 81 (67%) of our respondents used a fast-food outlet less than twice a week. The general perception of the student lifestyle is frequent use of such facilities. This clearly is not borne out by our survey. A worryingly large number of students eat less than the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables with 83 (69%) and 86 (71%) respectively taking less than the WHO recommended minimum. This contrasts dramatically with the results in the pre-university question where it can be seen that the amount of fruit and vegetables eaten (presumably primarily under parental influence) is much higher. In terms of health, this is an important finding as fruit and vegetables are a major source of roughage, vitamins and anti-oxidants (and of course many other essential nutrients) that are essential for health in general. A reduction in intake therefore jeopardises the overall healthy diet. 13. It is an interesting comment that 36 (30%) of our respondents said that they were concerned about their diet. One would have thought that with the independence of student life, if they were concerned that they now actually had the means to do something about it. Clearly this is a sweeping statement that does not take into account a mass of other obvious factors such as the finances involved in buying comparatively expensive items such as fruit. Conclusions There are many conclusions that one can draw from the figures presented above. Top of our list should be a consideration of the shortcomings of the survey which obviously will have a bearing on the conclusions that we feel able to draw from our figures. It is acknowledged that the survey is comparatively small. Although we can hope that it may be representative of the student body, it small size precludes rigorous statistical analysis. It is certainly possible to detect trends within our survey and many of these have been commented upon as we have looked at the figures. The mechanism of using the same sample of students as their own controls by asking their activity before coming to university, is a useful tool to gain a degree of statistical validity, and certainly has helped us to answer the original question of the effects of a student lifestyle on health. To specifically answer that question, we can point to a number of areas where there appears to have been marked changes in behaviour patterns pre- and post-university. Smoking, drinking, diet and sexual behaviour have all changed dramatically and to a lesser extent, drug taking patterns and depression levels have also changed. To some extent, a cynic might observe that this equates with the worst aspects of the typical tabloid editor’s portrayal of the â€Å"typical student†. The reality is, of course, far more complex than that We have already alluded to the major sociological changes that occur when the typical student leaves school and arrives at university. The release from the comparatively structured and dependent world of home life and school into the comparatively independent and less structured world of the university allows a sudden explosion of freedom in many cases where new experiences and activities can be tried, exploited and (perhaps) enjoyed. Can we draw any conclusions as to whether the typical university student is more or less healthy than their pre-university counterpart? Clearly we have delineated some important pointers to this question. In terms of diet (perhaps one of the most important long-term factors in deciding the criteria of health) there is little doubt that our typical student has a worse diet at university than they did before coming to university. We can clearly see the reduction in fruit and vegetable intake although it is gratifying to see that the expected transition to fast-food existence is not a major factor in most cases. The amount of exercise appears to have increased, although we have to accept that a disproportionate number in our sample have a sporting interest, so clearly that will skew the figures to a degree. As we have discussed earlier, there is a basic amount of exercise that has been shown to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction and stroke, obesity and Type II diabetes. Our typical student just qualifies for the basic minimum target set by the Government, but the range is great. As we have seen, exercise varies from virtually minimal to enormous amounts on a regular basis. We can probably just about conclude that university has a positive effect on health as far as exercise levels are concerned. Drug taking is another area where the student lifestyle has a bearing on health. Less than a third of our respondents have used illicit drugs, so they clearly are not the majority, but this group nonetheless represents a significant group within the whole. It is a matter of intense current debate as to the effect that drugs have on the actual health of a person and therefore we cannot presume to take a firm view when there is still such controversy raging. We can say that there is probably a general consensus that there is evidence that some illicit drugs do appear to have long term implications for health and on that basis, we can point to a negative effect of the student lifestyle on health. An area that we can point to that has far more clear-cut implications for health is the explosion of sexual activity that appears to equate with the student lifestyle. We have already passed comment on the degree of promiscuity that our survey has revealed. Celibacy or monogamy is clearly the best way of avoiding the risks of sexually transmitted diseases. We have commented on the number of respondents who have already known that they have had a sexually transmitted disease, but perhaps our concern should be for those who have contracted asymptomatic disease and are therefore, unknowingly passing it on to other contacts. Again, this is an apparent negative effect of the student lifestyle on health. Recommendations It is difficult to know how to structure this section as, on the one hand, we have clearly identified areas where the student lifestyle could be changed to improve the overall health of the individual, but a much deeper and possibly more significant question remains – â€Å"should we seek to change it?† There are many significant arguments here. One is the basic freedom of choice argument. Some may say that it is appropriate to give people information on matters such as health but it is ultimately up to them as to whether they actually take or implement that advice. Equally there is the converse argument that points to the drain on the public purse of avoidable ill-health. Do people have a duty to society to keep themselves as healthy as they practically can? Should they avoid obvious factors that will cause ill-health in later life? If we follow this argument through to its logical conclusion then we would insist that everybody had a uniform healthy diet, did not smoke or drink to excess, took daily exercise and remained monogamous for their lifetime. A more balanced approach may be to conclude that, in general terms, people learn by their mistakes. Is has been said that the student lifestyle is not only about getting and education it is about getting an Education. Most students will utilise their time at university to explore and perhaps formulate their ideas and personal guidelines for their future life. Perhaps we should take a pragmatic view and observe that, although we have been able to point out some short term negative aspects of the student life style on health, perhaps it is a necessary phase of experimentation which is part of the evolution to a healthier lifestyle as an adult. PDG 25.3.05 Word count 5,572