Dead Man Walking :: essays research papers

Starring: Susan Sarandon Dead man walking is the story of a spiritual woman (Sr. Helen Prejean) who embarks on a dangerous journey with a convicted killer (Matthew Poncelot) and the profound changes it makes in her life. Confronted with the anger of the community and the private pain of the victims’ parents. Sr. Helen Prejean overcomes her own fears to fight for the life and soul of Matthew Poncelot. One of the main characters in the movie was a man by the name of Matthew Poncelot. Too me Poncelot was a very smart man. Before the movie started Matthew Poncelot had been in prison for four years instead of just sitting in his cell doing nothing he got every law book he could get his hands on and learnt every trick so he could file a appeal and get close to a good chance of winning. At the start of the movie I thought that Poncelot was innocent because of the way he presented himself to Sr. Helen and how cunning he was in the way that he made himself look innocent by reading all the law books and proclaiming his innocence. As the movie unfolded I found that my prediction was to be incorrect due to Poncelot’s behavior towards Sr. Helen and his mannerism as the movie goes on as well as the movie shows flash backs of the night and glimpses of Poncelot’s face. It must have taken great amounts of courage for Sr. Helen to confront a murder-rapist in his own environment in prison. Too me Sr. Helen played all her cards well, although she got the slack and abuse of everyone in the community she did what was best and that was to make Poncelot confess his guilt. The other main characters that suffered a lot through the whole ordeal were the victims’ parents. Though the whole movie they show little sections of how the family are feeling and how they overcome the whole problem. The movie also portrays how the parents feel towards the murderer and rapist Matthew Poncelot. The whole movie was based on justice and will Matthew Poncelot get what he deserves and that is the death penalty. Sure this is justice because of what happened but his friend should have got the same sentence. It was because Poncelot was poor that he couldn’t afford a good enough lawyer to give his client a fair trial. Dead Man Walking :: essays research papers Starring: Susan Sarandon Dead man walking is the story of a spiritual woman (Sr. Helen Prejean) who embarks on a dangerous journey with a convicted killer (Matthew Poncelot) and the profound changes it makes in her life. Confronted with the anger of the community and the private pain of the victims’ parents. Sr. Helen Prejean overcomes her own fears to fight for the life and soul of Matthew Poncelot. One of the main characters in the movie was a man by the name of Matthew Poncelot. Too me Poncelot was a very smart man. Before the movie started Matthew Poncelot had been in prison for four years instead of just sitting in his cell doing nothing he got every law book he could get his hands on and learnt every trick so he could file a appeal and get close to a good chance of winning. At the start of the movie I thought that Poncelot was innocent because of the way he presented himself to Sr. Helen and how cunning he was in the way that he made himself look innocent by reading all the law books and proclaiming his innocence. As the movie unfolded I found that my prediction was to be incorrect due to Poncelot’s behavior towards Sr. Helen and his mannerism as the movie goes on as well as the movie shows flash backs of the night and glimpses of Poncelot’s face. It must have taken great amounts of courage for Sr. Helen to confront a murder-rapist in his own environment in prison. Too me Sr. Helen played all her cards well, although she got the slack and abuse of everyone in the community she did what was best and that was to make Poncelot confess his guilt. The other main characters that suffered a lot through the whole ordeal were the victims’ parents. Though the whole movie they show little sections of how the family are feeling and how they overcome the whole problem. The movie also portrays how the parents feel towards the murderer and rapist Matthew Poncelot. The whole movie was based on justice and will Matthew Poncelot get what he deserves and that is the death penalty. Sure this is justice because of what happened but his friend should have got the same sentence. It was because Poncelot was poor that he couldn’t afford a good enough lawyer to give his client a fair trial.

Social Theory

Midterm ExamQ1: My dorm roommate Angelica is a psychology major and she disagrees with my major on Sociology. Angelica insists that psychology is the real deal for studying people and that sociology is completely clueless subject. I disagree with her on that since I was looking into the different examples of sociology applied to human behavior. I looked into the class textbook, â€Å"Introducing Social Theory† in the first section was individualistic theory. Individualism means an individual's personal attributes. I started seeing how sociology could describe people based on their personalities reflecting on their actions towards social interactions with others (Jones, Bradbury, and Le Boutillier, 1). I also showed Angelica an example on people having a controlling persona was an example of individualism based on individuals own ways of behavior. I told her, â€Å"Not everything is explained in psychology. Sociology gets more into a society realm perspective.† Q3: Garfinkel was a colleague of Goffman. He was a believer of symbolic interactionism, and wanted to study close proximity behavior amongst people. He wanted to teach students how to use different tactics in order to learn more about the ordinary social atmosphere. In â€Å"Introducing Social Theory,† Ethnomethodology was based on the methods people do based on getting a reaction and using that reaction to embark that the action from the person is a true fact. Garfinkel's breaching experiment brought into gender interaction based on conversations. For instance, there is a radio station that picks on the second caller for a trivial questionnaire. The caller answers all of the questions correctly and gets a free trip to Disneyland for a weekend getaway; the caller is enthusiastic. The host asks the caller's name and the response is: Devon. The host gets an idea based on Devon's tone of voice and believes that Devon is a young woman since her tone of voice is medium pitched. Ethnomethodology also goes for the experiment on race. For example, I remember watching a YouTube video on a teenage boy that was questioned constantly about what his racial identity was. He said that people cannot understand that he is mixed race. When it comes to ethnomethodology, the aspect of race is an idea that people are assumed the things associated with identity is the real traits of someone based on their culture. Q5: W.E.B. Du Bois and C. Wright Mills are sociologists that bring in the study of people and the struggles that they face. Du Bois focuses his theory on ethnic struggles amongst African Americans and their impressions amongst living with Caucasians in â€Å"Spiritual Strivings†. His main theory involves looking at the social spectrum of society in general and a realm of the treatment of African Americans (Du Bois, 2). C. Wright Mills' â€Å"The Sociological Imagination† goes into depth about people facing personal problems and feeling very down about being stuck in a difficult circumstance and feeling internal conflict (Mills, 3). Goffman was a symbolic interactionist that believed in the fact that people would act in front of a stage and back stage in order to give off an impression from performing from a script. In his own book, â€Å"The Presentation of Self,† Goffman goes into how an individual will go into feeling like making the first impression is difficult based on making a perfect impression once group interaction takes place (Goffman, 12). This also applies with going into social roles in order to understand what the interactions are and the types of conversation taking place. Du Bois would analyze Goffman by underlining the fact that based on Caucasians are racist amongst African Americans simply for being different and the ideas of what race is that it is nothing but a mere idea of African Americans treated as outcasts. Goffman makes a point about the actor that can make up a believable statement to others while being on stage. He says, â€Å"A cynical individual may delude his audience for what he considers to be their own good, or for the good of the community, etc.† (Goffman, 18). Goffman makes the statement that an actor can cover up a default while performing in order to make a lasting impression. C. Wright Mills makes a demonstration at looking at the biography of an individual to analyze an inflicted social problem. Q7: My social problem that I chose is the high cost of living in the Bay Area. For Weber, this problem is analyzed based on social class dividing people. In â€Å"Class, Status and Social Stratification,† Weber's point of view on class has to deal with people in a group that share the same struggles and the same views of acquire basic necessities (Weber, 1). Weber would approach this problem looking at which class could easily pay for the rental costs and analyze that only middle-income people would be moderately struggling while the upper class would have no trouble for paying rent. There would be another approach when it comes to earning money and the actions that people do in order to pay the rent on time. Another approach Weber would do is analyzing the high rental costs based on capitalism. Since the rental costs are going up, people ask their bosses for a raise in order to keep their jobs without relocating or quit. Capitalism was once seen as a religious duty to preserve money and wealth was subject to be cautious. While wealth was taken seriously, living in poverty was not an excuse because of being a sign of struggle (â€Å"The Spirit of Capitalism and The Iron Cage†, 4). Capitalism amongst the Bay Area is all about paying the rent on time and making everyone work overtime in order to stay in their residential area. Durkheim would take on a different approach where he would make a positivism tactic. He would claim that the rental costs are not the problem, but it is the people that are able to survive without cracking under pressure. Durkheim goes into the fact that there are people that need strategic discipline in order to pay their rent, overlooking the high cost and more on the functions of people (â€Å"Suicide†, 3). Durkheim would be mainly about social order and categorizing the statistics of financial restraint versus bankruptcy. These two different approaches contradict Weber and Durkheim on the social problem for high cost rent in the Bay Area. ReferencesDu Bois, W.E.B. 1903. Pp. 1-12 in The Souls of Black Folk. Chicago, Il: A.C. McClurg and Co. Durkheim, Emile. 1897. â€Å"Suicide.† Excerpts from pp. 246, 247-249, 250-51, 252-254, 256, and 257-258 in Suicide: A Study in Sociology, edited by G. Simpson, translated by J.A. Spaulding and G. Simpson. New York: Free Press.Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City: New York. Double Day Action Books. Jones, Pip. Liz Bradbury, and Shaun Le Boutillier. 2011. Introducing Social Theory. Cambridge, U.K: Polity Press. Mills, Wright, C. 1959. Pp. 5-15 and 130 in The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.Weber, Max. 1902 [1996]. Pp. 17-24, 166-174, and 180-183 in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury Publishing.Weber, Max. 1909-1920. [1946]. â€Å"Class, Status, Party.† Pp. 180-195 in From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, edited and translated by H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills. New Yor k: Oxford University Press.

Focus Group Guide Essay

Lenora Lubega Introduction Hello, my name is Lenora Lubega and I would like to welcome all of you to our focus discussion group. I will be the moderator. Our purpose for meeting today is to discuss ‘hands-free’ cellular telephone use while driving in the State of Tennessee, and to get your feedback on how you feel about the driving while using a cellular device. This focus group’s intent is to openly and discuss the question: â€Å"Should the State of Tennessee require ‘hands-free’ cellular phone use in automobiles? Everyone here this evening is an automobile driver living in the State of Tennessee. This will be a short discussion that will require an hour and thirty minutes of your time to complete. Our time will be very limited; and we will not take a break. The restrooms are conveniently located at either end of the hall. I would like to remind you that this session is highly confidential. Once this session ends, no one’s name will be used in any way outside of this group. Everyone signed consent forms to participate in tonight’s discussion. If there is anyone here that has not signed a consent form, please do so before we began tonight’s discussion or you will not be allowed to participate in this discussion group. For transcription purposes of the discussion there will be an audio recording. I will listen to the recording and prepare my final summary of our focus group accordingly. This will be an informal discussion group. You are encouraged to ask any questions or make any comments that you feel are pertinent to our discussion. Please speak freely, and if anything is unclear, please ask. The intent of this focus group is to ask, listen, and observe. As stated in the consent, please keep everyone’s identities and response confidential once you leave the group. We want to encourage oneness and honesty for everyone involved. We will begin this discussion by finding out a little bit more about each another. If I could have everyone give their name or a nickname, your occupation, and the type of cell phone that you own. I will go first and we will proceed to my right. Data Collection Warm-up Discussion: If you could take out a piece of paper and write a short paragraph on an experience you have had in dealing with drivers who are distracted by the use of a cell phone. Next I will like to ask if you, yourself us a hands free device with your cell phone? Have you used any of the newer apps that allow you to talk and text? Is it burdensome or easy to do? Does your car have a synchronizing device? How often do you us it? Secondary Research: An estimated 3,092 traffic fatalities in 2010 were blamed on distracted drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. More than one in six drivers send text messages while driving, and nearly half of drivers less than 25 years old are doing it, according to a NHTSA survey released last week. â€Å"This is becoming the new DUI,† said Robert Sumwalt, a member of the safety board. â€Å"It’s becoming an epidemic. † The District of Columbia and 35 states ban text messaging for all drivers, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. They should be made to us a hands free device or something of the like Tasha Fider: I would create a standardized audio output jack, not unlike the one available for iPods and iPhones today (which is actually a data jack), and mandate that all mobile phone manufacturers have it on each new phone that is created. Moreover, I would mandate that all future automobiles have a docking system that is adaptable to any kind of phone whatsoever. I would even mandate that current cars still on the line right now be fitted for such a docking system. I know it would be a hassle, and would put a few more dollars on everyone’s monthly car note, but I am considering the safety of our future. Anything that saves lives is worth the effort as well as the money invested into creating the technology. Renee Partida: my opinion is simple, there is no need to be using your cell phone whether text or calling or face booking while driving. I think people should us a hands-free devices they were made for that reason. I’ve seen too many people hurt while driving using their cell phones. I was in the car with a girl that dropped her’s and while driving tried to pick it up. Ruth Ellen Galgano: Once I was driving down 65 north bound and saw this lady on her phone. She was clam but as soon as the kids started fighting she became very distracted with driving. There are so many things that can and will distract driving we don’t need to have one more and cells phones are adding another problem to the long list that already exist. I would love to see the law changed on this issue. Jessica McClanahan I use to live in NY, all use of cell phones while driving is against the law including calling and text. I just honestly want to be allowed to slap idiots that know it’s against the law yet do so and I see them make several driving mistakes that only underage drivers should make like cutting someone off and not making a complete stop at stop signs. They should get their licenses revoked and cell phones stomped on! Tabitha Jerome: (She did not show up. We waited for ? hour but she never came) Specific Discussion Richard Johnson 1. How do you currently view driving while talking on the cell phone without a hands-free device? Yes, I was planning to by one but have not gotten around to it. 2. Does talking on a phone while driving seem safe, or can it lead to low driving performance? Not all the time. Why? When I am dialing the number I often find that I am not in my lane and have come very close to having an accident from time to time. Why not? 3. Of the different things involved with making or receiving a call, which task contributes most to bad driving? Making the call. You must look at the phone to dial the number and that causes your attention to be taken off the road. 4. Is it searching for the phone? Not for me, I often have my phone in the middle of the car. What about dialing? Yes, that is my biggest issue. Talking? No, I use speaker phone. Is it hanging up? No I simply let the other person hang up and my phone will hang up automattly. Or receiving the call? Sometime. 5. How do you feel the state of Tennessee should respond? Laws must be made and enforced. The issue is most driving laws are never enforced here. 6. Should the state mandate hands-free devices for driving? Why do you feel the way you do? Yes, but the phone companies need to do something to help with the cost to the customer. 7. Do you think a hands-free device would make a difference in road safety? Not really. How so? Most people will not use it if it is user friendly. Tasha Fider 1. How do you currently view driving while talking on the cell phone without a hands-free device? Dangerous 2. Does talking on a phone while driving seem safe, or can it lead to low driving performance? No *she did not give any more info, she did not seem to want to be here* 3. Of the different things involved with making or receiving a call, which task contributes most to bad driving? Both 4. Is it searching for the phone? Yes What about dialing? Yes, I think so. Talking? Yes, for sure. Is it hanging up? Yes it can be. Or receiving the call? No 5. How do you feel the state of Tennessee should respond? It is hard to say, I don’t agree with making laws to do so. We are force to do everything. I think we should be able to drive safe. 6. Should the state mandate hands-free devices for driving? Why do you feel the way you do? No they should not. I don’t like the government telling me what I can or cannot do. 7. Do you think a hands-free device would make a difference in road safety? How so? Yes, it could help but only if it is used. Renee Partida 1. How do you currently view driving while talking on the cell phone without a hands-free device? I view it as a health hazard 2. Does talking on a phone while driving seem safe, or can it lead to low driving performance? It is not safe. It can and has killed people and I think a person doing it should be charged with murder. It is not safe. Why? It kills. Why not? 3. Of the different things involved with making or receiving a call, which task contributes most to bad driving? Making the call, although, answering the phone can be just as dangerous. 4. Is it searching for the phone? Yes What about dialing? Yes Talking? Yes Is it hanging up? Yes Or receiving the call? Yes, all these things contribute to unsafe driving. 5. How do you feel the state of Tennessee should respond? Laws need to be enforced. 6. Should the state mandate hands-free devices for driving? Why do you feel the way you do? Yes they should. I hate to see people killed by stupid things people do that are so very avoidable. 7. Do you think a hands-free device would make a difference in road safety? How so? I do. If people use them the danger would be lessened. Ruth Ellen Galgano 1. How do you currently view driving while talking on the cell phone without a hands-free device? I find that if a person is responsible they can do it without any issues. The problem comes in when you have people who are not responsible. Most of the time, I find that people will do one of two things, ignore the call or take it. If they take it, they will cause an accident. 2. Does talking on a phone while driving seem safe, or can it lead to low driving performance? Why? Why not? It seems safe as long as the person is paying attention to the road and not the call. A lot of what we do on the phone is for fun, it is only when the call is serious that it can be a problem. Their attention is turned to the call and not the road. 3. Of the different things involved with making or receiving a call, which task contributes most to bad driving? I would have to say, making the call. 4. Is it searching for the phone? Not really What about dialing? Yes, that is the big problem. You cannot watch the road and dial a number at the same time. Talking? Not really. Is it hanging up? I don’t think so. Or receiving the call? It can really be hard to take a call while driving. Sometime the phone can fall on the floor of the car and you try to pick it up. 5. How do you feel the state of Tennessee should respond? I think we should allow people to do what’s right and not make any new laws at this time. Although the statistic show more people die from using the phone I think it would be safe if we just use caution. 6. Should the state mandate hands-free devices for driving? No Why do you feel the way you do? I just don’t like it when I am told, by law, what to do. 7. Do you think a hands-free device would make a difference in road safety? It might if the person uses. How so? If the person never uses it what would be the point? Jessica McClanahan 1. How do you currently view driving while talking on the cell phone without a hands-free device? It is a dangerous practice, to say the least. I know different states are different, but I think TN says it is not legal to do it without a hands-free device. 2. Does talking on a phone while driving seem safe, or can it lead to low driving performance? Why? Why not? It does not seem safe, and it can lead to low driving performance, since full attention is not given to all the hands and foot motion of driving (not to mention attention to the surroundings) 3. Of the different things involved with making or receiving a call, which task contributes most to bad driving? I think making a call contributes most to bad driving 4. Is it searching for the phone? What about dialing? Talking? Is it hanging up? Or receiving the call? Dialing 5. How do you feel the state of Tennessee should respond? The state should mandate mobile phone manufacturers to make a safety modification to all new phones 6. Should the state mandate hands-free devices for driving? Why do you feel the way you do? Yes. It should also impose stiff penalties for those who do not comply. The state is responsible for the safety of its citizens. 7. Do you think a hands-free device would make a difference in road safety? How so? Yes I do. It would save lives. Tabitha Jerome (She did not show up. We waited for ? hour but she never came) 1. How do you currently view driving while talking on the cell phone without a hands-free device? 2. Does talking on a phone while driving seem safe, or can it lead to low driving performance? Why? Why not? 3. Of the different things involved with making or receiving a call, which task contributes most to bad driving? 4. Is it searching for the phone? What about dialing? Talking? Is it hanging up? Or receiving the call? 5. How do you feel the state of Tennessee should respond? 6. Should the state mandate hands-free devices for driving? Why do you feel the way you do? 7. Do you think a hands-free device would make a difference in road safety? How so? Summary We are at the end of our discussion. Today we have shared our personal views in detail on this topic. With all our newly acquired information, together with our personal feelings, let us imagine the president of AAA entering this room. Let us each give 30 seconds of advice his company should consider regarding support of a law requiring hands-free devices for cell phones while driving in the state of Tennessee. If in favor of the law, state what elements of law you think should be included in the law and which should not. If opposed to the law, do likewise, and give personal reasons why. Now is your chance to make a big difference in something you believe in. Please write this brief statement to AAA. Include what you think of legislation and the specific elements of law that should be involved. If against it, please speak out. List reasons either way. This legislation could make all the difference for you or your family, so please answer honestly. Summary of Metting Our focus group was held at the La Vergne, TN public library. The date was Sunday, March 4, 2012 at 4 p. m. Most of the participants arrived on time, but one did not come at all. Another one arrived extremely late, and with an irritable attitude. Refreshments were served. Everyone seemed okay with the idea of being there, and light, friendly chit chatter occurred. The meeting was called to order, and everyone eagerly participated. Ideas flowed freely. There were opinions the entire spectrum. Some were in agreement with the state of Tennessee coming up with moderate laws governing cellular phone usage while driving. Others were diabolically opposed to the idea. One person became feisty and almost bellicose in her expression of her view. She said she had a ‘real problem’ with the government trying to ‘run her life’. We all understood what she meant. When we were able to calm her down, the discussion continued without incident. Each person felt that something was needed but no one really could agree on what that â€Å"something† should be. It seems that much more discussion is needed on the topic. I would recommend that the state fund more groups meetings and have a smaller group to find a solution to the matter. It is my recommendation that we all meet again in a month to see if any opinions have changed. The meeting was closed, and everyone politely bid each other adieu, and we went home.

SUNY Brockport Admissions Data and Acceptance Rate

SUNY Brockport Admissions Data and Acceptance Rate SUNY Brockport is a generally accessible school, admitting over half of applicants. Students can apply to the school through the SUNY website, or with the Common Application. Prospective students will also have to submit SAT or ACT scores, high school transcripts, and letters of recommendation. Check out the schools website for more information. Calculate your chances of getting in  with this free tool from Cappex. Admissions Data (2016) SUNY Brockport Acceptance Rate: 55  percentGPA, SAT and ACT Graph for Brockport AdmissionsTest Scores: 25th / 75th PercentileSAT Critical Reading: 450 / 550SAT Math: 470 / 570SAT Writing: - / -(what these SAT numbers mean)(SUNY SAT comparison chart)ACT Composite: 20  / 25ACT English: 18  / 24ACT Math: 20  / 26(what these ACT numbers mean)(SUNY ACT comparison chart) SUNY Brockport Description SUNY Brockport, or the College at Brockport, is a selective university and member of the State University of New York system. Brockport is a highly ranked Masters-granting college with a 17 to 1  student/faculty  ratio. Founded in 1835 and located 16 miles west of Rochester along the Erie Canal, the college has a long and rich history. The college offers 42 undergraduate majors and has 65 programs abroad in over 20 countries. Roughly three-quarters of all students receive some form of grant aid, and the college has earned high marks in national rankings for its educational value. In athletics, popular sports include football, soccer, track and field, hockey, and lacrosse. Explore the campus with the  SUNY Brockport Photo Tour Enrollment (2016) Total Enrollment: 8,243  (7,128  undergraduates)Gender Breakdown: 44  percent male / 56 percent female89 percent full-time Costs (2016-17) Tuition and Fees: $7,928  (in-state); $17,778 (out-of-state)Books: $1,330Room and Board: $12,418Other Expenses: $1,660Total Cost: $23,336  (in-state); $33,186 (out-of-state) SUNY Brockport Financial Aid (2015 - 16) Percentage of New Students Receiving Aid: 90 percentPercentage of New Students Receiving Types of AidGrants: 74 percentLoans: 74  percentAverage Amount of AidGrants: $7,009Loans: $7,868 Academic Programs Most Popular Majors:  Accounting, Art, Business Administration, Communication Studies, Criminal Justice Studies, English, History, Nursing, Physical Education Teaching and Coaching, PsychologyWhat major is right for you?  Sign up to take the free My Careers and Majors Quiz at Cappex. Graduation, Retention and Transfer Rates First Year Student Retention (full-time students): 82 percentTransfer Out Rate: 23 percent4-Year Graduation Rate: 48 percent6-Year Graduation Rate: 68  percent Intercollegiate Athletic Programs Mens Sports:  Football, Soccer, Hockey, Swimming, Track and Field, Baseball, Wrestling, Lacrosse, Cross CountryWomens Sports:  Soccer, Softball, Cross Country, Track and Field, Field, Hockey, Swimming, Tennis, Volleyball, Cross Country Learn About Other SUNY Campuses Albany  |  Alfred State  |  Binghamton  |  Brockport  |  Buffalo  |  Buffalo State  |  Cobleskill  |  Cortland  |  Env. Science/Forestry  |  Farmingdale  |  FIT  |  Fredonia  |  Geneseo  |  Maritime  |  Morrisville  |  New Paltz  |  Old Westbury  |  Oneonta  |  Oswego  |  Plattsburgh  |  Polytechnic  |  Potsdam  |  Purchase  |  Stony Brook If You Like SUNY Brockport, You May Also Like These Schools Nazareth College: Profile  Alfred University: Profile | GPA-ACT-SAT GraphIthaca College: Profile | GPA-ACT-SAT GraphCanisius College: Profile | GPA-ACT-SAT GraphSyracuse University: Profile | GPA-ACT-SAT GraphUtica College: Profile  St. John Fisher College: Profile  Binghamton University: Profile | GPA-ACT-SAT GraphStonybrook University: Profile | GPA-ACT-SAT GraphHobart William Smith College: Profile | GPA-ACT-SAT Graph Data Source: National Center for Educational Statistics

New Public Health Measures Essays

New Public Health Measures Essays New Public Health Measures Paper New Public Health Measures Paper Introduction All of us here today are public health enthusiasts. If we weren’t we would be somehwere else, maybe helping sick people to get better. That is a worthy calling and thank goodness for all the people who do it. But so too is prevention, so too is keeping society healthy, so too is protecting the environment, so too is keeping food and water safe, so too is attending to immunization and child health. When we talk about public health these latter things, that focus on the whole community, or groups within society and the things that determine their health, are what we are talking about. This is big picture stuff. This is about asking why some communities are healthy and some are ill. Why do some communities have such high rates of diabetes, like the Pacific Islands, while other countries have no diabetes but lots of HIV and TB? These are the kind of interests and enthusiasms that have led people into public health as a career for as long as it has been around. These are the kind of questions that were asked ages ago and which are still appropriate to be asked now. So what is this thing called the ‘new’ public health? How has it come about and does it have added value? In brief, the new public health has come about because of growing interest in the subtle interaction of the environment with people living in affluent societies. The old public health remains the public health that most of the world needs, quite frankly, because communicable disease, malnutrition and other scourges are still the major killers worldwide. These are more or less the same as those that led people in the fifteenth century to look at how things such as the plague and cholera could be controlled through sanitation, clean water and quarantine. The new public health But the new public health is much more concerned with the interplay between affluence, social well being, education and health, social capital and health. These are not hard and fast things, like having no system for waste water disposal or using contaminated drinking water. They are more subtle, but in societies like ours where the basic public health engineering and  immunization and food safety are well in place and require surveillance but not reinvention, these new factors – the social, economic and community quality factors – are rising in importance as determinants of health and causes of illness. 1 For example, Michael Marmot has done studies with Geoffrey Rose and others in the UK examining coronary disease rates among civil servants, known as the Whitehall studies. They found that things like a sense of social control and cohesiveness were important determinants of whether people develop coronary disease. Money wasn’t everything. In the Whitehall II study, Marmot (Director of the International Centre for Health and Society at the University College London) and his colleagues examined the psychological characteristic of work termed â€Å"low control† – meaning that an individual worker had little control over his or her daily activities in the workplace. The results showed that it was an important predictor of the risk of cardiovascular disease and that it had an important role in accounting for the social gradient in coronary disease. 1 The origins of the new public health. The Canadians have been very active over many years in promoting our understanding about the interplay between society and social environmental factors and health. This started in 1974 when Marc Lalonde, who was then the Canadian health minister, commissioned a report on the health of Canadians which proposed four sets of factors that were important to keep in mind when thinking about the health of the public. The Lalonde Report2 refers to these four factors collectively as â€Å"The Health Field Concept†. The four elements are human biology, environment, lifestyle and health care organization. The human biology element includes all those aspects of health, both physical and mental, which are developed within the human body as a consequence of the basic biology of man and the organic make-up of the individual. The environment category includes all those matters related to health which are external to the human body and over which the individual has little or no control (for example, foods, water supply, etc). The lifestyle category consists of the aggregation of decisions by individuals which affect their health and over which they more or less have control. The fourth category in the concept is health care organisation, which consists of the quantity, quality, arrangement, nature and relationships of people and resources in the provision of health care the health care system. The Lalonde Report was ground breaking in its day and provoked widespread international interest. Implementation proved to be far harder than was expected and the resilience of the health-care system to drain resources away from the first three fields was spectacular. Nevertheless, Canada has had a more lively interest in the contribution of the first three fields to health and has preserved a degree of control over health care, including rigid enforcement of a restriction on numbers of doctors trained and practicing, ever since. Although perhaps not a direct consequence of the Lalonde Report, Canada has also 2 played a leading role in the evolution of health promotion as a discipline. Several of the leaders in the field, now nearly 30 years on from the Report, are Canadians. They have had a special sensitivity to the potential for health gain by examining not only what can be done to encourage and sustain changes in individual human behaviour that will contribute to better health, but also those changes that can be effected in the natural and built environment that can assist in achieving this goal. Health promotion and the new public health In Australia, the new public health has been reflected in the steady rise of health promotion, expressed such ways as the formation of the Australian Health Promotion Association. The Association’s major objectives include providing opportunities for members’ professional development, increasing public and professional awareness of the roles and functions of health promotion practitioners, and contributing to discussion, debate and decision making on health promotion policy and programs. Since its incorporation in 1990, the Health Promotion Association has grown and developed such that it now has an established function and a central place in Australia’s health promotion landscape. Health promotion is an active form of public health in which an agenda is set with communities and individuals to affirm positively the value of health and push towards high levels of health, seeing it rather as the WHO does as a positive state of well being and not simply the absence of illness. Health promotion uses a range of tactics and methods to achieve its ends, including community participation, development and skill strengthening, advocacy (where health professionals and others lobby for health to be taken seriously at political and commercial levels), and education. Something of a contrast has come to be drawn between the activist promotion end and the formal epidemiological end of the public health spectrum, the former hoeing in boots and all to effect change and the latter taking careful steps, using rigorous studies and statistics, to establish cause and effect relationships before acting. Both groups tend to drive one another nuts. This is a lively tension and not one that is likely to go away. Professor Fran Baum who is head of the Department of Public Health at Flinders University in Adelaide has written a book entitled The new public health: an Australian perspective, that I commend to you. In it the idea of the new public health is given extensive coverage. 3 Source: Baume, F (1988) The new public health: an Australian perspective The new public health overlaps and interacts with other health movements of the past decade – particularly health promotion, primary health care, community health, women’s health, Aboriginal health, workers’ health and health education. 3 History of the new public health The new public health started to develop in the 1980s. It was in the mid-1980s that there was a significant shift in public health when the WHO’s first international conference on health promotion was held in Ottawa, Canada. There were two driving forces behind the Ottawa Charter. It was clear that the Health for All by the Year 2000 strategy was not being adopted by industrialised countries, and the limitations of the lifestyle and behavioural approaches were increasingly being seen as requiring a new conceptualization for health promotion. Also the time was opportune for a more health promotion statement. The Ottawa Charter managed to integrate many of the different perspectives of health promotion. While being seen as the foundation of the new public health, it did not reject behavioural and lifestyle approaches, but saw them as part of the acquisition of personal skills for health. The Charter is based on the belief that health requires peace, shelter, education, food, income, a stable ecosystem, social justice and equity as prerequisites. 4 Box 3. 1: The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, 1986. The Development of healthy public policy, which recognises that most of the private and public sector policies that affect health lie outside the conventional concerns of health agencies. Rather they are in policies such as environmental protection legislation, progressive taxation, welfare, occupational health and safety legislation and enforcement, land rights legislation and control of the sale and distribution of substances such as alcohol and tobacco. Health becomes, therefore, a concern and responsibility of each sector of government. The creation of supportive environments in which people can realise their full potential as healthy individuals. The Charter recognises the importance of social, economic and physical environmental factors in shaping people’s experiences of health. Strengthening community action refers to those activities that increase the ability of communities to achieve change in their physical environmental factors in shaping people’s experience of health. The development of personal skills acknowledges the role that behaviour and lifestyles plays in promoting health. The skills called for are those that enable people to make healthy choices. It also extends the skills base for health to those associated with community organisation, lobbying and advocacy, and the ability to analyse individual problems within a structural framework. Reorientation of health services is a call for health systems to shift their emphasis from (in most industrialised countries) an almost total concentration on hospital-based care and extensive technological diagnostic and intervention to a system that is community-based, more user-friendly and controlled, which focuses on health. The Ottawa Charter stresses the importance of, and recommends: Advocacy for health Enabling people to achieve their full health potential Mediation between different interests in society for the pursuit of health Source: Baume, F (1988). The new public health: an Australian perspective Following in the spirit of the Ottawa Charter, in 1986 the Better Health Commission (BHC), a group established by the then Commonwealth Minister for Health, Neal Blewett, published Looking Forward to Better Health. Its brief was to recommend ways in which health in Australia might be promoted, especially though ways that were 5  unconventional for the medical and public health professions. It was part of Australia’s response to the World Health Organization’s commitment to achieve equitable levels of health for all people, according tot the political and economic possibilities of each country, by 2000. This report contained proposals for achieving greater equity in health in Australia together with strategies to address several major preventable contributors to death and disease. Task forces established goals and targets for three priority health topics: cardiovascular disease, nutrition and injury. 4 In making these choices the Commission was concerned to identify not only big problems, but also problems potentially amenable to prevention. Heart disease, the principal cause of death, was also chosen because of its multiple modifiable causes (e. g. diet, smoking an sedentary living), nutrition because of its multiple consequences (e. g. diabetes, heart disease and cancer) and injury because it cannot be dealt with preventively by efforts confined to health care but must involve industry, transport, law enforcement and industrial relations. These three major health problems in contemporary Australian society are priorities for health promotion by virtually any criterion. The work of the BHC was taken further in the National Better Health Program and led to the formulation of national health goals and then national health priorities which remain in place today. By the end of the 1980s, despite success, there was some Australian scepticism about the new directions in public health. Some questioned whether the new public health was really ‘new’ or simply old ideas in new clothing. This criticism is somewhat harsh as one of the features of the Ottawa Charter is that it does not ignore public health history but rather builds on it. The Ottawa Charter reflected numerous social and health movements of the previous 120 or so years. Its claims to be ‘new’ derives from how it pulled together numerous and diverse movements to present a package which gave public health a more radical and cohesive direction than had been the case for some time. Today, public health is alive and well and confronting in this country the challenges that it can assist ameliorate. We are an astonishingly healthy nation – on average. We have the second longest healthy life expectancy of all nations, a fraction behind Japan. But within our country we have communities including those of some of our Indigenous people where these privileged are far from being available. It is here that a combination of old and new public health measures is required. Good work is being done and more is needed. This is the mission of public health. 6 References 1. Marmot, M ‘Inequalities in Health’, The New England Journal of Medicine 2001;345(2):134-136 2. Lalonde, M (1974) A New Perspective on the Health of Canadians. Ottawa: National Ministry of Health and Welfare 3. Baume, F (1998) The new public health: an Australian perspective Publisher: Oxford University Press 4. Leeder S R (1999) Healthy Medicine, Challenges facing Australia’s health services Publisher: Allen Unwin 7

The Keyboards Every Writer Should Be Using - Freewrite Store

The Keyboards Every Writer Should Be Using - Freewrite Store As a writer, you’ve probably used a variety of different keyboards, and  know that they’re not all created equal. Keyboards come in many different styles and choosing the right one can have a big effect on your typing speed, comfort, and accuracy. Some have traditional solid, clicky keys with switches inside them, some have modern flat, silent keys, and some fall halfway in between. What kind of keyboard should you be using? In this article, we’ll look at the three main types of keyboards, what makes them different from each other, and which one is likely to be best for you. Membrane keyboards These days, most desktop keyboards are membrane keyboards. Their name derives from their construction. Rather than each key being independent with an inbuilt mechanical switch, all the keys sit on top of a single plastic membrane that houses the electronic circuitry. Between the keys and the circuitry is a rubber sheet with domes that give the keys their characteristic bounce-back when you type. They’re popular because they’re light, cheap to produce, are relatively spill-resistant and give you a bit of tactile feedback. Chiclet keyboards If you’re typing on a modern laptop, chances are you have an island-style keyboard, popularly known as a chiclet keyboard because the square keys with radial corners look somewhat like Chiclets chewing gum. While there’s usually a membrane beneath these keyboards too, the rubber domes that are present beneath higher-profile keys are either omitted altogether or replaced with scissor switches or butterfly switches, which enable the use of very low, flat keys that can fit into thinner and thinner devices. Mechanical keyboards The main difference with a mechanical keyboard is that each key is a separate component with its own switch and metal spring. There are many different kinds of switches that can be used in mechanical keyboards, and each type gives a different user experience with varying levels of travel (the distance you have to press the key for it to register a stroke), bump (the level of tactile feedback) and noise (the click the key makes when depressed). Most mechanical keyboards contain Cherry switches. While their patent for the switch design has recently expired, opening the way for other manufacturers to imitate it, Cherry is still considered the industry leader in keyboard switch technology. Their MX switch, which was first introduced to the market in 1983, is one of the most successful ever made. Cherry switches come in different colors, and each color has its own set of characteristics. The full range is wide, but there are three main variants. Cherry MX Blue These switches have a tactile bump and a loud click that occurs when the keystroke registers, and are favoured by those who like a more typewriter-esque experience. They only need to be depressed to the click point to activate the keystroke but require more force than the Red or Brown variants. Cherry MX Red These switches are favoured by gamers because they have no tactile bump or noise and require less force to press, which is an advantage when you’re engaged in a fast-paced cyber-battle. Cherry MX Brown These are an excellent all-rounder switch – they require the lighter actuation force of the Reds but have the nice tactile bump of the Blues. They lack the Blues’ loud click, however, making them perfect for use in offices or coffee shops where you don’t want to annoy those around you with a constant flurry of clacky keystrokes. Why mechanical keyboards are better for writers People who convert to mechanical keyboards often become lifelong fans because of the satisfying typing experience and range of benefits they get from using them. What makes mechanical keyboards so good for writers? 1. Accuracy There’s nothing worse than trying to type fast on a chiclet keyboard where all the keys are flat and close together, and you’re forever hitting the key beside the one you want with the edge of your finger. Like the keys on a traditional typewriter, mechanical keyboard keycaps tend to be nicely contoured to help your finger naturally hit the centre of the key as you type, resulting in fewer typos. 2. Comfort Mechanical keyboards require less force to type, and you don’t need to press the keys all the way down – only to the point of the click or the tactile bump. Membrane keyboards require you to â€Å"bottom out† each key complete the circuit, something that people often describe as a heavy, â€Å"mushy† typing experience, leading to fatigue in the fingers, hands and wrists. 3. Speed Contoured, more responsive keys naturally lead to faster typing. Another benefit of mechanical keyboards is n-key rollover. Rollover is a technical term for how many simultaneous keypresses a keyboard can register accurately. Membrane keyboards often have a much lower rollover which results in â€Å"ghosting†. That’s when you’re typing flat out, your keystrokes overlap, and your keyboard registers extra keystrokes, resulting in additional â€Å"ghost† letters. Keyboards with n-key rollover can accurately register every keypress, regardless of how many keys you strike simultaneously, meaning you don’t have to slow down to improve accuracy or stop to fix ghosting typos. 4. Durability Mechanical keyboards last a lot longer than their membrane counterparts. Rubber dome switches tend to lose their bounce after about five million keystrokes, and you’ll notice that some keys will become unreliable or stop working completely. In comparison, Cherry key switches are designed to last for fifty million keystrokes. 5. Customization If you’ve got Cherry switches on your mechanical keyboard, you can swap out the keycaps for other styles. Gaming? Change your W, A, S, D keys to red, so they’re easier to locate quickly. Swap your function keys or numeric keypad to a contrasting color for extra style and visibility. Want to modify the feel of the keys? Grab a dampening kit to reduce the travel and key noise. Ready to make the switch? If you’re raring to write your next novel, article or poem on a mechanical keyboard, have a look at The Freewrite by Astrohaus - a smart typewriter that incorporates an industry-leading full-size mechanical keyboard into a portable device with an E-ink screen that works perfectly outdoors as well as indoors. A stand-alone writing tool, it contains none of the distractions of your desktop or laptop, but still has the ability to save your work to the Cloud. Designed especially for writers, the mechanical keyboard contains Cherry MX Brown switches which means not only will you be distraction-free, but so will everyone around you. Check out the Freewrite 2nd Generation Smart Typewriter for more information. Related: Laptop vs. Freewrite    About the author: Claire Wilkins is a freelance copywriter and editor from New Zealand. She loves to write about travel, health, home, and proper punctuation. After a career in financial services spanning almost three decades, Claire left the corporate world behind to start Unmistakable - her writing and editing business. She creates website copy, blogs, and newsletters for creative agencies and small businesses, and  specializes  in polishing existing content until it shines. In her spare time, Claire enjoys cloud-spotting, singing in the car and editing video.

Why longhouses are beneficial to college campuses Research Paper

Why longhouses are beneficial to college campuses - Research Paper Example perfect gathering place on college campuses where people from different cultural backgrounds could learn with each other, and deepen the native programs within colleges. Longhouses are a platform for supporting indigenous arts. The Evergreen State College in Olympia intended to build a longhouse that would serve as both a social facility and a public service center with the aim of supporting indigenous arts. The longhouse would serve as a multipurpose facility that can serve cultural, community, and educational functions. The primary vision for instituting a multi-purpose facility in college campuses is to provide a platform for hospitality and service for people from different cultural backgrounds. If people in learning institutions learned to stay together, they would elevate the levels of education by creating and maintaining conducive learning environments. As a public service center, the longhouse would promote indigenous arts and cultural exchanges through education, creative expression, cultural preservation, and economic development. The Evergreen State College received a $325,000 grant to build the longhouse to support the following program s; Colleges have been committed to expanding Native programs and faculty. Longhouses have provided a program where the Native focused programs link undergraduate and graduate native students. The Evergreen State College’s case has underscored the need for longhouses. The Native focused programs enable students from different cultural backgrounds