Technological advances in criminal identification procedures Essay

Technological advances in criminal identification procedures - Essay Example DNA analysis is more specific, as each set of nucleic acid in each person is unique. In addition, as DNA from one person's body cell is identical in each cell in the body of that person, a cell sample can be obtained from any part of that person's body. Thus, persons can be identified by referring to a DNA database which compares and matches a person's genetic information other person's DNA profile found in that database (Gans and Urbas, 2002). DNA analysis still provides limited amounts of information about a person's characteristics though it is believed that in the near future, researches may come up with a better method of DNA analysis (National Institute of Justice 2000, pp. 18-19; van Oorschot et al. 2001). At present, the use of DNA analysis in the judicial system involves comparison of DNA from two origins, for example comparing DNA that came from the location of the crime and that from a criminal (Gans and Urbas, 2002). Biometrics is the identification method that identifies persons based on their behavior and psychological profile. Often, this method is preferred than others because a person must be present at the identification point at the instance of verification and it eliminates the need for the memorization of passwords and PIN numbers. Biometric profiles increases the level of security by restricting access to that particular person only and can be potentially used in the protection of certain valuables such as ATM cards, cell phones, PCs etc. It has many uses such as for criminology and forensics, but it may have several civilian uses as well in the near future (Ross et al, n.d.). Aside from not having to memorize keywords or PIN, biometric identification is very accurate and secure, can be done easily and quickly and no documents or paraphernalia is needed to use it ("Biometric identification - advantages", n.d.). Intra-agency databases for DNA Intra-agency databases for DNA are actually a collection of DNA records that can be easily accessed by different law enforcement agencies. This will speed up the identification of criminals and solving cases. Law enforcement and other government agencies have been left behind by other sectors in having efficient database systems. This is due to their dependency on public funds, which is often insufficient and/or hastily planned. This lack of a proper criminal identification system slows down or hinders the judicial process. Criminals are aware of this lack of identification system and thus put them at and advantage over the authorities (Schroeder et al, n.d.). FingerprintAn Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) analyses, compares and then matches an individual's set of fingerprints against a fingerprint database. This system has various uses including criminal, civilian, electoral, academic purposes etc ("Automated Fingerprint Identification System", 2006). It is recommended that fingerprint matching be done in two stages namely: "pattern- type combination search" and "minutiae matching".

Political Philosophy and Human Beings Essay Example for Free

Political Philosophy and Human Beings Essay Freedom is generally term we use to talk about politics in our society nowadays. Eudaimonia is not a freedom but it betrays a more general difference in the way Aristotle approaches different societies. Eduaimonia is a biological concept with â€Å"your life going well† With your naturally attributes being fully developed. It is not a matter of your mood. If you ask if someone is flourishing it is more than if they are happy it is are they becoming everything they can be. Are they exercising all of their abilities? Freedom doesn’t have anyting to do with success. Freedoms for Aristotle is part of eudaimonia. Eudaimonia is a collection of goods. You need material things and good luck and freedom and food and water. Pg. 258 Aristotle says eudaimonia is a STATE OF ACTIVITY. VERY IMPORTANT. It is not just well being but also well doing. You’re a Eudaimonistic person only if you enact the activities of a eudaimonistic person. You cant be a good citizen or a happy citizen if you just have rights. You have to exercise these rights. Some kind of activity. Different activities in different cities because different cities have different rules and constitutions. Citizenship is a kind of doing. Citizens have function. The activity of citizens is that which supports the constitution of the city or state or polis which they are apart. The point of the polis is not just living but to have a good life. A good life that combines the success of the individual with the success of a whole. It is always in motion and an activity. Book 3 chapter 9 a polis is not the same thing as an alliance. You cant take any political agreement between 2 or 3 cities and make them one city. Only human beings because they have language Aristotle says can make moral judgments. Not like animals judge where the food is but more complex judgments. Page 10 and 11. Our language is capable of making distinctions that aren’t only physical. Aristotle claims animals don’t make moral judgments. Language and justice are immediately linked to the function of the polis. Our capacity to speak to one another is what makes us political. It is one function of the polis to define good and evil. To come to collective understanding of what is good and what is bad. Human beings have the capacity to debate and judge differently which also means judge badly and judge well. This judging is a kind of activity. It is the business of cities. Even households do in their choosing how to live together. Aristotles discussion of households and cities. Human beings in two principle ways. The member of a lesser whole the household and the member of a larger whole which is the polis Both having ruling parts and ruled parts. Polis Definition of a citizen :one who shares in the administration of justice in the holding of office. He doesn’t say what the office is to incorporate all the states in the Greek world. Some monarchies where people who don’t hold office who are still considered citizens. NOW-A citizen is someone who is a legal candidate for office even if they don’t hold an office at that specific time. Aristotle says if you have that one person who is qualified to be king either you have to make him king or get rid of him. When Aristotle gives the best govt he says different kinds of government are beter for some circumstances. If city is under attack it may be smarter to give control to one person to make all the decisions so there is no confusion. The circumstance of the not so rich not so poor with some allies and some opponents. BEST THING in this situation is to have a middle class that can alternate from ruling and being ruled. He means people who aren’t to rich and aren’t to poor. The poor are to desperate and greedy so they don’t want to consider what is good for everyone. The rich just want to boss everyone around and want charge. The polis is the one compound that can be self-concious about its situation and a ruled and a ruling element. If were ruling we might enjoy it to much so this could be a problem. If we are part of the ruled we might resent being ordered around. Human organization is like animal organization but it also has a special problem and a special solution. The best thing is someone who can understand both ruling and being ruled. That is why the middle class would be best for the position. They understand both sides. Aristotle thinks even in a family they are not totally conscious of their situation. A bee hive has a quen bee but the bee doesn’t know she is in charge and the other bees don’t mind not being in charge it just is what it is. Polity like the Athenian system is best because everyone takes a share in ruling and being ruled. They drew names out of a hat for rule and you were part of ruling if you were pulled in the hat. The city was small enough so over the course of your lifetime almost everyone could be assured to be the ruler of the city. Most of your life you were in the other position of being ruled. This is the best in most condition or the average condition. If one person comes along and seem the best to rule and will give eudaimonia for everyone then they should rule but it happens very rarely. HOUSEHOLD AND SLAVERY The household for Aristotle is another form of social compound like the polis but on a smaller scale. Will have a ruling and a ruled element. Aristotle knows in advance because there is always a ruling and a ruled element he knows what to look for so it is not surprising when he looks in a household he finds these two things. Aristotle’s perspective the adult male in a household rules and everyone else is subordinate to that position. All of the households Aristotle could see were dominated by men and for the most part were slave holding. Some period when individuals are not best in charge of their own lives. (children) Discussion 2/7/14 Aristotle is more concerned with the practical sort of things plato was thinking about how it should be. Aristotle sees the ruler and ruled everywhere. Phone- Sound and voice or pleasure and pain which pertains to animals like a cat screeching or a wolf howling. Logos- is speech and reason and judgment and language. Language and judgment go hand in hand. This is A PART OF BEING HUMAN. 4/10/14 Lecture Notes Hobbes considered by many to be first modern political theorist. Hobbes in politics in conservative for his time and place but his methods are very very radical. HOBBES AND ARISTOTLE Hobbes is opposite of Aristotle. Aristotle learned about politics through observation. He observed nature and looked at how it was replicated towards ourselves. Aristotle thinks all natural beings have a telos which is a natural end. A TELOS is something you are destined for not just death. Hobbes participated in scientific debate when he moved to paris. Attempt like aristotles to approach politics through nature. HOBBES IDEA of what nature is and how you study are so different from aristotles. The state is an artificial animal says hobbes. What you learn about the natural world will not tell you everything and not the most important things about politics and state. The art of man is like the art of god. Look on the political world as a creation but as a human creation making an artificial animal. Study human beings alongside other animals. To Hobbes the state is something radically different from animal congregations and it DOESN’T HAVE TO BE MADE unlike animals. If it is unmade it is chaos and war. Like the England he had to run away from because of civil war. States are not a part of nature. Aristotle says the state is a natural formation and is suppose to be there. For Hobbes this is not true. WHEN HUMAN BEINGS ENTER INTO A STATE NATURE IS WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND. Human beings were in an unpolitical state before the state which to Hobbes is the state of nature. We were in a previous condition before the state which is nature to hobbes. To Aristotle everything is nature and human beings are always part of the natural world. Aristotles method is human beings are natural and politics and states were natural so he was going around to all different ones to figure out what they had in common. This makes no sense to Hobbes. No state of any kind is natural to Hobbes. Human beings Hobbes says clearly are made by nature and have natural characteristics that human beings have. To Hobbes the people inside the artificial state still have those natural characteristics. You cant leave your body behind to make the state. If states are artificial we can make them how we want. Not aristotles naturally idea of 3-6 types. Hobbes’s theory is sort of liberating but also terrifying. No guarantee we are safe. We are not born into a natural order. If there isn’t an order that we make we wont make it very long. Hobbes’s modern science including distrust of the senses. Hobbes is skeptical of our sensory perception and the ability of our senses to tell us the truth. Sensations clearly come from the natural world but we don’t know exactly where it is coming from. If we know our senses deceive us in some cases we cant be sure they don’t always deceive us. PLATO ALSO DISTRUSTED THE SENSES AND ALSO LIKED GEOMETRY LIKE HOBBES AND EUCLIDIAN GEOMETRY. Plato thinks we can reach some sort of reason and perceive it correctly. Hobbes is not interested in this. Pg. 4(chapter 1) Deviathlon Information we get through introspection can be trusted. Whoever looks into himself and considers what he does when he thinks of reasons hopes and fear. The only way to know humans and to have secure knowledge is to look into yourself. What you find when you look into yourself is good information to everybody else. When I understanding what im doing when I hope then I understand what youre doing when you hope even if they are different hopes. Same thing with fear. THAT FOR HOBBES IS SECURE STARTING POINT FOR SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE TO START POLITICS. Chapter 11-No Telos meaning no teleology don’t study human beings or any part of nature by postulating there is some final ending for them and thinking we can find a way to get them there. Hobbes sees once you get something you want you find something else you want and so on and so on. Like calicles. (from another reading calicles is) Hobbes found this through his own introspection. Hobbes knows his desires are different others but he knows their desire for those things are the same. And he knows that he isn’t satisfied when he gets what he wants so he knows others are the same way. Hobbes doesn’t mean human beings all seek political power but like calicles the power to get what you want. Being able to arrange the world the way you like it. This for hobbes is what is natural. Not a natural ending but a natural beginning. Putting things into motion. Sees it as a physicist. Putting the world into motion. Hobbes says individuals have desires those desires set them in motion and once they are set in motion they don’t tend to stop. Humans are particles seeking what they want with other particles (people) in the way not always getting what we want. Its not just politics to Hobbes that are artificial. Many other things are artificial that aristotles thought was natural. MOST IMPORTANTLY IS SPEECH. (ARISTOTLE SAID SPEECH WAS THE DEFINING NATURAL CHARECTERISITC OF HUMAN BEINGS. HUMANS ARE THE ANIMALS WITH THE NATURAL QUALITY OF SPEAKING AND REASON FOR ARISTOTLE. ) Just about everything except our desires are artificial to Hobbes. Speech is an invention. Hobbes says almost every moral conclusion you want to make you will make it through speech which human beings made up so it doesn’t tell us anything. Chapter 4. All moral truths from Hobbes sense are well constructed senses. We have arranged the terms to lineup. The definition the words line up and make sense so it is true and we can define it. CHAPTER 6- GOOD AND EVIL People disagree not because they make mistakes about reasoning which plato would say they disagree because they have different preferences. They see good and evil through their own preferences. You nor I will worship to persuade each other to what we see fit. What does this mean for politics? Calicles who also thought good and evil were words that people made up. Calicles also thought people were better than others. He thought letting nature work itself out was letting the powerful people dominate the weak. HOBBES THINKS PEOPLE ARE NATURALLY EQUALLY. That doesn’t mean they are equally smart or large or strong or weak. We don’t have equal desires wehave different desires. All Hobbes means by natural equality is that everyone of us is vulnerable to being killed by others. No human being is strong enough by themselves to secure themselves physically to secure themselves from others. WE ARE PHYSICALLY VULNERABLE MOST ESPECIALLY TO ONE ANOTHER. Human beings are born with physical desires and need power and security to help you get your desires. We live in a world with no system we are destined to be apart of like Aristotle thought. We don’t settle our differences by appealing to a natural order or moral principles through reason that plato thought we could all agree on. Moral conceptual political conflicts make the world a dangerous place because if you want catholocism you want it for others not just like chocolate which is for you. Fundamentally human beings are bodies in motion. We will not stop unless we come up against counterveiling force. The state of nature is the war of everyman against everyman. Chaos terror and war. We cannot look to nature to solve our problems because nature is the problem. We are each born with set of desires which are not in agreement with others. THIS IS POLITICAL PROBLEM WHAT IS THE SOLUTION. Reason and justice are just words we need a counter force. Something to bring order to a naturally chaotic system. We need something to make all the particles move in the same direction. The sword signifies the power of the state for Hobbes. There is a solution that has to be imposed just because we are so different. Hobbes understand just how different everyone is and that is a problem. How can you handle the individuality of everyone and make them stop killing eachother when they are left in their natural condition. MUST SET UP A RULE AND GET THEM TO OBEY. We need an incentive that is greater than our natural impulsion of our own desires. Everyone should have their greatest desire being staying alive. So we can enjoy the chocolate or vanilla. We will never enjoy anything in this world unless we are alive. LECTURE 2/12/14 Hobbes In nature there is a lack of agreement, trust and language. Life at the state of nature is solitary or nasty brutish and short to hobbes. The problem is fear and the solution is fear. We fear our own death that is good because then we all know we have that in common. It is rational to want to cooperate with other people but you can be tricked or betrayed. We also fear that other people wont perform their contracts. The solution will have to be some sort of unity. Pg. 132 chapter 17 You want to do whats right and you want to agree with other people but they may not cooperate. If you fear other people the leader will take that fear away and make you fear him. You will know everyone equally fears the sovereign and the consequences for non-agreement so they all have reason to agree. Now you fear death from the sovereign but maybe not as much from other people so now you can make agreements with one another. The sword hangs over all your covenants with one another. No conflilct for hobbes about being afraid and being free. You are in a position to be liberated from the fear of fellow human beings and the state of nature by entering the commonwealth or the artificial state. All you have to do is give up your will to one man or one group of men. Hobbes thinks its more efficient to have one man do it but it can be a group. Where there is disagreement there is distrust and when there is distrust there is violence and war. By all of us agreeing to let one person speak then when he speaks that’s it he has spoken for all of us. Even if we have disagreements it doesn’t matter politically he has spoken and that is it. The existence of the leviathan allows us to make deals and agreements with one another about property etc†¦ We need a form of agreement that ends the problem so we can live in a fundamentally functioning artificial state. We can create an object of mutual equal simultaneous fear. If you can create a state that equally and simultaneously threatens everyone with terrible penalties when they break the law you create the possibility of law which doesn’t exist in the state of nature. It is not a social covenant that protects your rights. It is about a govt protecting your body and your life. Not your rights. You fear govt because it has tremendous power but you are glad it does because it keeps everyone else in line and for yourself you know what to do. If you are a good person in the first place nothing is necessarily being taken away. Yes there is a sword over your head but it brings a situation you wanted anyway. Pg. 170 â€Å"liberty of the subject lies in the silence of the laws† In nature you had the right to anything as far as hobbes was concerned. By placing everybody’s rights in one central place you get back security. Law for hobbes is prohibition. Thou, shall, not kill steal etc†¦ Law and rights are opposite. The more rights you have the less law the more law the less rights. Punishments don’t need to be frequent and laws don’t need to be harsh. Whatever the leviathan does not prohibit you are as free as the state of nature to do what you want to do. The sovereign needs to equally enforce in fear the violation of the law across a wide range of territory. The sovereign does need to be absolute. Pg. 132 ch. 17 – If the sovereign is not absolute the problem is not solved. Without a unity of will the problem isn’t solved that’s why the sovereign needs to make all the laws. Also the sovereign needs to control all doctrines. Leviathan doesn’t care what you think or believe it only cares what you say because it gets them riled up and people think they know whats right which leads them to cause problems. Is it bad to have gov’t control whats printed and distributed? Hobbes thinks its better than civil war. Hobbes thought everyone who had experienced the terror of civil war and everyman against everyman would take the leviathan. The foundation of this is the fact that we all want to live. What threatens leviathan? Competition, diffidence and glory. Diffidence is hobbes word for distrust. Glory and what hobbes sometimes calls vain glory is different because it pertains to a different type of good. Some materially desires can be solved without much difficulty like air and water. If we all want land that is a bit of a problem. We can solve that problem with a law telling us what land we get. It is a clear solution it solves the problem if we have a sword that is good enough. Being famous, being important, being well known, being socially eminent and prominent. Those are things that cannot easily be settled by law. Although laws can help them. Land food water air can be distributed but winning cant be distributed. Only one person can win. Only one person can be prime minister etc†¦ Not everyone can be a movie star because if everyone was nobody would be. Most people are happy with air water and food and land but some people want to be special and these for hobbes are the most dangerous people because some want glory so bad they will risk their lives for it. Some people want what they want even to the point of death. Antigone is someone who cares about something to the point where she is willing to give up her life for it. The antigones to hobbes are the most dangerous people. They are dangerous and make all of us insecure because the point of his threat was not to induce the fear in the law abiding person but to get you to understand everyone else in the state will abide and will be trustworthy. If the threat is not going to deter all then the system is going to break down. That’s what Hobbes thought happened in the English civil war about religion. Leviathan is a plea for rationality. The rational caculation to value your own life above all other things. There is no natural cure for nature. Letting people do their own thing will not turn into some spontaneous social agreement mostly because they cannot trust each other even if it is in both of their interest to do so. A common fear is a sharing experience. You also experience ruling and being ruled at the same time. There is also a sense that the sovereign is all of us. (a bunch of little bodies that make up the leviathan) Hobbes is serious when he says it is a unity. Yes you give up in your rights to the sovereign but you also partake in the sovereign. The sovereign did not exist until you and I agree to give in and make it so. The body of the sovereign is our collective bodies. For hobbes our bodies are what we have in common. We are free to disagree about everything so long as we don’t have a single person to speak for us. The sword is a dictionary or a set of meanings that are legal and illegal not right and wrong. The sword hangs over our head but in our hand we get a dictionary which tells us whit is legal and illegal. Leviathan is also a solution to the moral and linguistic chaos in the state of nature where we don’t agree on anything We can also have freedom and liberty as hobbes understands these terms. Not rights. Rights are what you have to give up to have the practice and experience of liberty. Febraury 19th, 2014 ROUSSEAU – THE SOCIAL CONTRACT Often appointed to a reason for the French Revolution. Pg. 53 on slavery- We are not going to look anymore at gov’t nature but we are going to assume all people are equal in nature. Force can create something but it cant create anything right. If there is going to be something in charge it has to be a covenant. (similar to Hobbes) Gov’t remains with ROUSSEAU something artificial. Rosseau hates hobbes and Aristotle because they are theorists of slavery. Rosseau says there cannot be any such thing as legitimate slavery. If politics isn’t going to have a moral function for Rosseau than it isn’t worth talking or arguing about. Aristotle theorized a natural slavery but for rosseau hobbes theorized an artificial slavery. Slavery under the sovereign. Rosseau says human beings would never consent to slavery by contract. Government has to be by consent and government has to n some sense respect the equality of every person. How to we avoid Hobbes problem of individuals having problems with everyone? Rosseau is not interested in devising a science of politics. Rosseau resembles plato because he wants to work directly in the language of reason. The book is full of historical examples. Comparative lessons on political institutions that have worked in the past. Human beings have a special moral capacity which is another reason why slavery is intolerable to him. HOW IS ROSSEAU GOING TO CREATE A SOCIAL CONTRACT THAT IS MORAL AND IS BASED ON CONSENT? Pg. 60 – if each of us takes individual rights against the state then we will end up back in a state of nature. Rosseau says the only thing that can work is the total alienation of every individual. The alienation of ones rights to the whole community. Hobbes said one gave himself to one man or an assembly of men. A contract that is completely neutral. We are all equal before and after but the nature of our equality has changed. After we are equal beings in this community or new being and we all remain as equal as we are before. The difficulty with this is how does anyone decide what to do. We haven’t solved the problem of how we decide. Pg. 69- beginning of book 2 – If we are going to give everything up to the community rosseau thinks there must be a reason to do it. â€Å"common interest† or the general will. It is not just a series of desires that we happen to share. When there is no love there is no family. Love sustains a family. Even though ‘families’ go through the motions and confide with legal forms there is no love so there is a difference. The general will is to the state what love is to the family. The animating spirit that sustains it and creates and and without it there can be no such thing as a state. Being a member of a family doesn’t mean you don’t have your own opinions or interests that may conflict with other members of the family. But being members with a real loving family there is a time you set those interests and opinions to one side because you care about the fundamental well being of the others in your family so you set those things aside. The development of your reason and your realization of your common interest go together naturally as proto human animals what you lack is not a set of interest but a rational capacity to understand the overlap of your interest with everybody else’s. Our interest don’t change but we realize those interests can be realized beter collectively than they can be singly. The general will exists so long as we continue to believe and support and develop these common interests in the same way the family continues to exist as they believe and support and develop the common view of that family. When you think you are better off without another person it is over even if you go through the motions for a decade after this thought. (likewise for rosseau with a state if we are not committed to them it will not exist even if there is parliament it will be an empty form with no general will. ) Standing behind the social contract is an animated spirit that makes the contract possible but it is only possible for a human being. Animals cannot share in a general will because they don’t have language and cannot reason together. The general will is meant to be at one in the same time a product of reason and a product of some kind of spirit. You cant see it like love in a family you just kind of know that it is there. Rosseau tended to idealize smaller communities. This kind of political community he is proposing is not well suiting for larger states. Rosseau thinks this is what it takes to actually have a state in which people remain free. You do what you need to do because you are happy to be a member of that organization. No one is holding a gun to your head. Even if you are not thrilled to perform the task when you want to do it you understand the non-performance would be letting down your fellows in the community and you don’t want tthat to happen because you value the community and the members in that community. All of us have some communities in which we are willingly apart. The only way a community of equals can be governed is if it is governed by the general will. It will be governed by voting by a community that rosseau imagines. It is very different from majority rule. There is in rosseaus republic majority decision making but not majority rule. The point of the assembly is to discover what the general will is to rosseau. You agree to be bound by the majority because it is the only practical decision role. You go along with the decision of the majority because you think they share the same interest of the common good. When you lose that feeling that you are all there for the common purpose then the state is gone and then you don’t have a good reason to go along with the majority anymore. The shared purpose is gone and you are back to the state of nature where shared individuals have nothing in common. States can fall apart because people don’t have common interest they can also fall apart because there is not constant interaction. Liberty is what you get when you have the general will in place. The general will is not the same thing as love or patriotism but it is similar to it. The spirit that animates you as you act as a citizen as oppose to a private individual.

The Most Traumatic Night of My Life :: essays papers

The Most Traumatic Night of My Life It happened about a month ago on a warm Tuesday night in august. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but I was soon to find out differently. I was about to experience the most traumatic event of my life. I was at my boyfriend Will’s band practice in downtown with him and his three friends. We decided to go check out some abandoned rooms in the old, run down three-story apartment building in the search of cool stuff for their practice spot. We walked into one room that turned out to be an old after hours club that was no longer in use. There were some useful things, someone grabbed a couple chairs, someone else took a couple speakers that looked like they would still work, and I carried a full-length mirror. As we proceeded into the hallway, I led followed by the rest of the crew and we headed back to their room. When we were about ten feet from where I was going to put the mirror down, for some reason the mirror just broke in half in my hand. I tried saving the other half from smashing on the ground and a jagged piece sliced deep into my wrist. Everyone saw the mirror smash but didn’t realize what had happened to me. I could barely speak. I was so shocked I just pointed down to my wrist. It all happened so quick probably in a matter of about 5 seconds. Every time my heart beat, blood would gush out of the wound. Everyone was talking to me but their words were sort of blurred together. My boyfriend took his shirt off and wrapped it tightly around my wrist. He said to hold my arm above my heart to slow the bleeding. Luckily we were only about five minutes away from Mercy Hospital. So we got in the car I was feeling really light headed and was afraid I would pass out. My mother used to work in the emergency room so I got in pretty quickly. I was still in horrible pain though. Then a nurse came in and put an antiseptic liquid on my wrist I asked her what it was for and she said â€Å"the doctors going to be in soon to stitch you up.

Evaluation Paper on People with Disabilities

? Why it is important to believe in change for individuals with disabilities in today’s community. (Hader)Developmental Services, Inc. is a nonprofit agency established in 1975 to help children and adults with mental, physical, and emotional disabilities reach their greatest potential at home, work and in the community. DSI provides early intervention services as well as job training and job placement, independent and group living, life skills training, respite care and family support. DSI currently provides service to individuals in 27 South Central Indiana counties. DSIs Web-Site Article) Everyone deserves to be treated with kindness and dignity. There are several reasons for choosing to work for or use DSI as a service provider for a loved one. The staffs are trained with specialists that have a vast amount of knowledge about working with people with disabilities. The people that DSI provides for are often in need of local support, obtaining a job, or to give a family membe r a chance away from home knowing that there loved is in the best hands possible. There are many services available for families to choose from at DSI. Weather the situation calls for a job placement or a full time service staff DSI can help individuals with disabilities in many ways. The staffs go through vigorous training before being placed on the job. The training never really ends as doctors and specialists find new and exciting ways to better life for individuals with disabilities, or special needs. When placed with DSI the individual with needs becomes a client and has their very own staff people, or staff person. Every effort is made to insure the client and family’s needs are met. There are many services that DSI can do that help make lives better, and families happier in life. Weather it is a short period of time or a family has made a decision to have an individual live in a twenty four hour group home DSI can provide the daily life style everyone has. We encourage people with disabilities to have many activities, obtain a job or volunteer, and be a versatile part of the community as anyone else would be. Since DSI is a non-for profit organization many services are ordered through a doctor’s order. Families can receive this with a regular visit, or they may need to visit a specialist where tests are ordered. When an individual with disabilities comes to DSI there is also an orientation type visit where the family helps to decide which services would be the best for the individual. The staffs meet with the families to tell what experience they have with people with disabilities and see if the family would like to have that particular staff care for the individual. Staffs are trained in blood borne pathogens, and are responsible for providing support in the homes during all hours that residents or clients are present. This ensures the residents of group homes receive the training they need to be as independent as possible. Staff also assists the residents with meal preparation, housework, laundry, good hygiene and recreation activities. Other members of the team include a QMRP (Qualified Mental Retardation Professional), registered nurse along with social workers. Along with the doctors the team effort that DSI provides ensures the client gets into the community and has life skills needed to be a functioning part of society, and thrive in their own lives. Events are held to help raise money in the community to help support the many people with financial needs. There are over 31 companies located in Indiana that bring work to clients of DSI. This is an essential need for everyone including any individual with disabilities to be able to earn an income. For a person with a disability to have a job and earn a pay check every week makes them know how important they are, and bring joy to their life. The money they earn goes back into the community and provides opportunities to learn and grow. When a client gets a pay check, they then get the opportunity to go to the bank and cash it. This builds life skills threw doing and acting as a part in the community. After the check is cashed then the individual gets to spend their money, and who doesn’t like to go buy something you want or need. There are many events held to help clients learn life skills, and daily living skills as well. Our responsibility to the client as staff is to make every learning opportunity and life experience available as it would be to anyone else in the community. The support that DSI provides to people with disabilities is always growing along with the need of good trained staff. Being a non for profit company means many people depend on the state being able to help with financial needs of the individuals receiving services. There are fundraisers held every year to help raise funds, and keep DSI going. The DSI Company has been in business for over 30 years along with over 130 outside company’s providing stable and good employment for those with disabilities. DSI has helped hundreds of families with special needs and support. With the DSI company being an accentual need in every community DSI will only to continue to grow and help support thriving families for years to come. At this time we serve over 30 counties in Indiana. We expect to grow larger every year with the support of the community, and the ever growing demand of services that we provide. Hader, Bill. â€Å"DSI. org. † 18 Jan 2009. DSI. org. March 2010 .

Sounds and Imagery of Human Emotion

Sounds and Imagery of Human Emotion In Marge Piercy’s â€Å"The Secretary Chant†, the author uses images and sound to both dehumanize and mechanize the female speaker, while John Updike uses imagery and sounds to make the â€Å"Player Piano† come to life. Piercy uses images of the speaker, connected with various office equipment to give a vision to the reader of a woman living her life through the office equipment that is part of her very being. Piercy uses personification in reverse and other metaphors, such as metonymy, and paradox, to give an actual picture of the office machines actually performing their functions.And also through the operation of the office equipment attached to the speaker showing her only purpose in life. Sounds are important in â€Å"The Secretary Chant as onomatopoeia, alliteration, and the descriptions that show the speaker little by little becoming more mechanized until filed away for another day. Updike also uses personification to m ake the â€Å"Player Piano† come alive. Through rhyme, alliteration, consonance, cacophony, diction, and meter the poem sounds like music. The images that the speaker brings forth when the poem is read out loud, is melodic.The perfectly played â€Å"Payer Piano† only works within the constraints of the human-made machine. John Updike’s poem, â€Å"Player Piano† and Marge Piercy’s â€Å"The Secretary Chant â€Å"convey through sound and imagery the personification and dehumanization of mechanical speakers, with Updike doing a better job by saying that people are irreplaceable because of emotion. The title of Piercy’s â€Å"The Secretary Chant† gives a good indication of the list of statements that begin with: â€Å"My hips are a desk. From my ears hang / chains of paper clips† (lines 1-3), metaphors that make the reader visualize that the speaker is only a place where office machines connect together to form her purpose at the firm, as an object to perform tasks. The first six lines, as well as, lines eight through thirteen vividly describe in detail where each office supply and machine connects. And, there are, of course, as in any office, a list of things that the speaker would be commanded to do. Would you get me a cup of coffee? Make a copy of this report, please. Have you typed that letter up for my signature?To me the speaker states a list of things she is comprised of, just like the boss gives her a list of things to perform. And the list continues on and on and on. In the first line the speaker gives the reader a vision that her hips are just a place to put things, when no other work is being performed. The lines paint a picture of the frustration and the monotony the speaker’s body parts have become. Even when the speaker complains: â€Å"From my mouth issue canceled reams† (16). The paradoxical complaint falls on deaf ears as if any one would listen to a machine that needs to get back to performing its tasks.The speaker has become one with her desk, supplies, and office equipment. This goes on to reinforce the theme that the speaker’s only usefulness is to perform the tasks that are asked for the speaker as an object, and as the office machines. Marge Piercy’s â€Å"The Secretary Chant â€Å"conveys through sound and imagery the dehumanization, while doing a good job of showing emotional frustration with the performance of tasks in the office. Piercy uses sound in two lines â€Å"The Secretary Chant† by using onomatopoeia to give the reader’s imagination of the speaker becoming a machine through words that sound like what machines sound like: â€Å"Buzz.Click† (7). And also the cash register sound of: â€Å"Zing. Tinkle† (14). The sound of the speaker’s brain frying on overload can be felt through the explicit mental image in the lines: â€Å"My head is a switchboard / where crossed lines crackle. † ( 9-10). Piercy uses alliteration, To drive home the point, in the last four lines of â€Å"The Secretary Chant† in which the speaker breaks down in a hopeless heap of printed emotion copied and delivered from herself saying: File me under W because I wonce was a woman. (21-24)Piercy visually shows the last true part of the speaker giving up her emotion and placing it only where the reader can find out about by looking somewhere else in the office machine that takes over. Marge Piercy’s â€Å"The Secretary Chant† uses sounds to show that human emotion can be filed away and replaced. In John Updike’s â€Å"Player Piano† personification is used to wake up an inhuman piano that plays itself, sort of like the poem itself does when read aloud. Updike uses assonance and consonance in the first couple of lines to give musicality to the lines.The devices are first used with a repetition of â€Å"-ick† sounds to mimic the keys on the piano. Onomatopoei a is used throughout the poem to as words make the sounds musically and mimic the â€Å"Player Piano. † The author follows those sounds with a repetition of â€Å"-uck† sounds. There are a lot of sound going on in the first stanza, including alliteration internal rhymes, diction and meter with all coming together with the smooth â€Å"s† sounds a pleasant melody. Updike uses a connotation for life when the speaker says: â€Å"Light-footed, my steel feelers flicker† (line 3).The connotation of the word flicker means life, as long as the flame is burning and the denotation means to move with a fast or jerky motion. The combination of the two meanings gives the feeling that the piano is alive. John Updike’s poem, â€Å"Player Piano† shows through sound and images that the personification of the mechanical speaker is alive and lively. In the second and third stanza build on the personification with the â€Å"Player Piano† speaker says: â €Å"My paper can caper; abandon (5).An internal rhyme that suggests that the paper can leap and jump about like it is alive, followed by abandon which adds to the unrestrained movement like someone young and full of energy. Updike uses onomatopoeia, alliteration, internal rhyme and assonance when describing lines five through eight. But there is a little change in the tone when the reader says: â€Å"Is broadcast by dint of my din, / And no man or band has a hand in / The tones I turn on from within† (6-8). Dint means force or effort; the speaker’s power of a jumble of loud, discordant sounds, followed by what I think the poem means perfect alone on his own.This is irony at its best, because the piano was created by a man, the music played, composed by a human. Then, through the speaker saying in the last two lines: â€Å"But never my numb plucker fumbles, / Misstrums me, or tries a new tune† (11-12). Cacophony is used on line eleven, lines that are discordant and difficult for a human to pronounce the piano does so with ease and perfection, But it can’t compose anything new, teach itself how to play a new song, play with feeling and emotion. And it is this very human thing that it cannot replace.John Updike’s poem, â€Å"Player Piano† conveys through sound and images the personification of the mechanical speaker is alive, but explains that a machine cannot replace human emotion. In Marge Piercy’s â€Å"The Secretary Chant†, the author uses images and sound to both dehumanize and mechanize the female speaker, while John Updike uses imagery and sounds to make the â€Å"Player Piano† come alive. Piercy uses images visualizing the speaker’s dehumanization to make some valid thoughts of only being viewed as an object, and only being good at tasks the speaker is hired to perform.Piercy through sound and description, with vivid detail, became just another task only good for what the job descripti on entailed. The speaker by giving up, because no one listened, showed that humans with emotions can be replaced. â€Å"Player Piano† through rhyme, alliteration, consonance, cacophony, diction, and meter make the poem sound and read like music. The images that Updike’s speaker brings forth when the poem is read out loud are melodic and, a perfectly played piano only works within the constraints of the human-made machine.The best use of sound and imagery goes to John Updike’s â€Å"Player Piano. † Updike through sound and imagery, and the musical feeling shown through the personification of the speaker, conveys that humans with emotion cannot be replaced.Works Cited Pierce, Marge. â€Å"The Secretary Chant. †The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 550. Print. Updike, John. â€Å"Player Piano. †The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th e d. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 708. Print.

United States History Essays - Monopoly, Market Structure

United States History Essays - Monopoly, Market Structure United States History "From 1790 to the 1870?s, state and national governments intervened in the American economy mainly to aid private economic interests and promote economic growth. Between 1890 and 1929, however, government intervention was designed primarily to curb and regulate private economic activity in the public interest." Assess the validity of this statement, discussing for each of these periods at least TWO major areas of public economic policy. The statement is essentially true, in the time of 1790 to 1870?s private business was at its peak, government and state did little to control or usually was in favor of big business. Laissez-faire was the common policy towards regulations and business dealings in general. However form 1890 and 1929 the attitudes changed, more people were concerned with the well being or the people, concerned with the ever growing power of big businesses; government and state started to regulate them in the very ways that the previous time period. I. 1790-1870 a. regulation 1. many businesses were free to do as they pleased i. Carnegie Steel ii. RR 2. monopolies were established i. multimillion dollar industries were formed a. Standard Oil b. Carnegie Steel ii. little done to regulate these "big businesses" a. not until Sherman Anti-trust Act was there an attempt made to regulate monopolies 1. even that didn?t have teeth 3. with the monopolies prices can be fixed, nothing was done to stop this until the late 1800?s 4. laissez-faire policies were favored at the time b. business in general 1. conducted in the way the top 1% saw fit i. Andrew Carnegie ii. John D. Rockefeller iii. J.P. Morgan 2. big business prospered while the small business owners were left to the mercy of the big guys 3. economy was based on the few people that had all the money i. this resulted in many poor, few rich ii. yet again government/state didn?t do a thing till after the late 1800?s 4. strikes and unions illegal at the time II. 1890 - 1929 a. regulation 1. Acts begin to show their teeth i. Sherman Anti-Trust Act ii. Interstate Commerce Act 2. Monopolies started to be broken up i. "Trust Busters" a. Teddy Roosevelt b. Woodrow Wilson ii. regulation of business more strict 3. People start to realize the evils of a laissez-faire economy i. no one but big business would profit 4. old styles of thing are soon taken over by a new thinking i. all people are important ii. economy which was mainly directed towards the few wealth was now being directed towards the majority, not the minority b. business in General 1. unions legal i. AFL 2. per capita income rose from $450 to $567 3. even presidents view changed with the election of Roosevelt i. " President was steward of the people" ii. Hepburn Act a. regulated RR b. moved to rid laissez-faire 4. Corrupt business tactics reformed i. Pure Food and Drug Act a. to control the unscrupulous tactics of the big businesses and to help the conditions of life. 5. important people are more concerned with the poverty of the country i. presidents a. Taft b. Wilson ii. some rich iii. writers 6. policies changed towards rich being all important to a more conscious moralistic view of the people being important In conclusion I believe that the economic policies during 1790 to 1870 were in fact set up to aid private interests of the few wealthy in the U.S. because of the ever prevalent growing wealth in individuals such as Rockefeller and Carnegie. Monopolies and securities grew without restraint in this time period. Things fundamental to the peoples needs were neglected, such as unions and price regulations Whereas in the 1890 to 1929 policies and views were shifted to a more central focus on the public interests and monopolies were starting to be toppled by "trust busters" and laws and regulations set against them such as the Sherman Anti-trust act and the Interstate Commerce Act which were first made effective with president Roosevelt.

Right of Revolution essays

Right of Revolution essays As John Locke believed, I too believe the right of revolution has but one meaning and that is; that the people in a society have the right to choose who will represent them in government. They have the right to elect another government or leader when the one originally in control is not doing what is in the peoples best interest. We call this right democracy. A recent example which best illustrates this is the election in Serbia where President Slobodan Milosevic has allegedly lost the election but is refusing to turn over power to the newly elected official, violating every principle of the right of revolution or democratic selection process. In order to fully understand what is happening we must examine historically the event leading up to the election. Reporters and politicians have touted the Serbia-Kosovo problem as being the result of ancient ethnic hatred but that is not the case. The people of this region lived together peacefully for centuries and any conflicts that have arisen amongst them were based not on ethnic origin but on other things like class and ruling party, just to name a few. In the late 1980s, Slobodan Milosevic came into power in Serbia. His first actions were directed against Kosovo Albanian dominance in the province. He removed virtually all of the Albanians rights, their leadership role in government, their party, and their parliament. He further removed their control of their Albanian-language library and the administration of their school system. This was the classic case of human rights violations. Milosevic took away their right to govern themselves and as a result, he gained the att ention of the United States Congress under the interest of human rights. Annual human rights reports submitted to the White House by the Department of State read like a prison record when it came to Serbian abuses of the people of Kosovo. ...

Should You Take the PSAT 10 or PSAT NMSQT

Should You Take the PSAT 10 or PSAT NMSQT SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The two tests are very similar, but not identical. So which one should you take? Back in my day (when dinosaurs roamed the earth), there was just one version of the PSAT, a.k.a. the Practice SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. But now, the College Board has multiple versions of the PSAT, including the PSAT NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) and the PSAT 10. So what are the differences between the two tests? And which one should you take? Read on for an exclusive guide. What's the Difference Between PSAT 10 and PSAT NMSQT? Before we give you any advice on which version of the PSAT to take, we're going to quickly review the difference between the PSAT 10 and PSAT NMSQT. Seeour in-depth post about the PSAT 10 here. So What’s the PSAT 10? You’ve probably heard of the PSAT NMSQT – it’s the practice SAT that also gives juniors a chance to qualify for the National Merit competition. (Read more about National Merit over here.) So what is the PSAT 10? Like its name implies, the PSAT 10 is another practice SAT. It has SAT question types and the same content: Reading, Writing, and Math. But the PSAT 10 is specifically designed for sophomores, whereas the PSAT NMSQT is written with juniors in mind. We’ll go over some of the similarities and differences between the tests to help you decide which one to take. Similarities Between the Tests There are more similarities than differences between the PSAT 10 and the PSAT NMSQT. Both tests are SAT practice tests. That means both are shorter than the â€Å"real† SAT but contain similar question types to help you prepare for it. The timing of the tests is also the same. Both the PSAT 10 and PSAT NMSQT are two hours and 45 minutes long. The Reading section is 60 minutes and has 47 questions. The Writing section is 35 minutes long and has 44 questions. And finally, the Math section is 70 minutes long and has 48 questions. And while two hours and 45 minutes is a long time, it's a walk in the park compared to the marathon experience that is the SAT. Both tests present each sub-area (Math, Writing, and Reading) as a single section, like the SAT. Additionally, neither test has an essay, unlike the SAT. Both tests are primarily designed to introduce students to SAT content, so the question types and content are very similar to the SAT. However, both tests are easier than the real SAT. The Math section won’t be as difficult (expect less trigonometry, plus easier geometry and algebra questions), the Reading passages will not include college-level texts, and the Writing section will have more straightforward passages. The two tests also have the same scoring scale: you will be scored between 320-1520 for PSAT 10 and PSAT NMSQT, as compared to 400-1600 for the â€Å"real† SAT. This comes out to between 160 and 760 per section. Differences Between the Tests There are two differences between PSAT 10 and PSAT NMSQT: The first is difficulty. The PSAT 10 is designed for sophomores, and PSAT NMSQT is designed for juniors, so the PSAT NMSQT is slightly harder. Unfortunately, while College Board has released some specifications as to what the new SAT and PSAT questions will be like, they haven’t gone into detail about how the difficulty level varies between tests. In general, you can expect the PSAT NMSQT to have harder math including geometry and trigonometry, reading passages designed for 11th graders as opposed to 10th graders, and trickier grammar rules. For a more detailed breakdown of what you can expect on the PSAT 10, see our post. The second difference between the tests is the National Merit Competition. Only taking the PSAT NMSQT during your junior year can qualify you for the National Merit competition. Taking the PSAT 10 will never qualify you for National Merit, even if you take it as a junior. And taking the PSAT NMSQT in any year other than your junior year will also not qualify you, even if you get a high enough score. If you’re hoping to qualify for National Merit, that goal will be a pretty big part of your decision between the two tests. We’ll look at both your options in detail and help you decide which test to take. Should I Take PSAT 10 or PSAT NMSQT? This advice varies by grade level, so find your current grade below to get our advice. The College Board recommends that juniors take the PSAT NMSQT, sophomores take the PSAT 10, and freshmen take the PSAT 8/9 (yep, there is yet another version of the PSAT designed for even younger students!). We’ll go over some reasons why you might want to take a different PSAT level than College Board recommends. Get a step ahead. Decision for Seniors You should not be taking any version of the PSAT at this point! Study for the SAT! Decision for Juniors The vast majority of juniors should take the PSAT NMSQT if they take any version of the PSAT. Even if your school allows students to take the PSAT 10 as a junior, the NMSQT is your best bet. Even if you think you won’t do well, this is your shot at qualifying for National Merit, so you might as well take it. Plus, regardless of how well you do, the PSAT gives you practice for actual SAT questions – and the PSAT NMSQT is the hardest PSAT you can take. That means it’s a great way to either jump-start your SAT studying, or continue it if you’ve already begun. You can use your PSAT score to help create goals and guidelines for your SAT studying. (Read more about how to get the most out of your PSAT score here.) This can help you get the best possible score on the SAT, which opens doors to selective colleges and scholarships. In rare cases a junior might consider the PSAT 10 – since it’s slightly easier, it might be a good option if you’re an English Language Learner and want an easier introduction to the SAT (particularly the reading section), or if you’re seriously behind in one subject. The PSAT 10 will still introduce you to SAT content and question types and help prepare you for the SAT. If you’re a junior but think you might benefit from a slightly easier introduction to the SAT, talk to your guidance counselor to see if your school will let you take the PSAT 10 instead of the SAT NMSQT. Want to improve your PSAT score by 150 points? We have the industry's leading PSAT prep program. Built by Harvard grads and SAT full scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so that you get the most effective prep possible. Check out our 5-day free trial today: Decision for Sophomores Sophomore year is the year you will probably have the hardest time deciding which test to take. You could feasibly take either the PSAT 10 or PSAT NMSQT, depending on your goals. I called College Board and verified that sophomores can take the PSAT NMSQT as long as it’s ok with their high schools. So make sure to double check with your guidance counselor whether or not you can take the PSAT NMSQT as a sophomore before proceeding! Take the PSAT NMSQT If: You’re a high-achieving student aiming to get into Ivy Leagues or similarly competitive schools. You’re aiming for a National Merit Scholarship. You have any previous exposure to high-stakes testing (for example you took the ACT/SAT for a talent competition in middle school, you took AP tests freshman year, or you have already taken the PSAT in some form). Why is the PSAT NMSQT better for high-achieving tenth graders? Because taking the PSAT NMSQT gives you more rigorous SAT practice early on, and increases your chances of doing well enough on the PSAT NMSQT to qualify for National Merit your junior year. I actually took the PSAT NMSQT as a sophomore (this was long before PSAT 10 existed). Although my scores were much lower sophomore year than junior year, having that extra practice run helped me score well enough junior year to qualify for National Merit since I knew what was coming for me junior year. While you can definitely get good practice with the PSAT 10, getting previous exposure to the National Merit qualifying test can be more helpful. Take the PSAT 10 If: You’re not aiming for a top 20 school but you’re still looking to score well enough on the SAT to get into other good colleges and/or get scholarships. You don’t have any previous exposure to high-stakes testing and want an easier introduction to SAT content and question types. In terms of qualifying for National Merit, keep in mind that you can take the PSAT 10 and still study for the PSAT NMSQT for junior year. However, you should study extra hard to be prepared for the slightly harder PSAT NMSQT in junior year. Decision for Freshmen For freshmen, the choice is between the PSAT 10 and PSAT 8/9 (The PSAT 8/9 is an easier version of the PSAT 10 and PSAT NMSQT, with very similar question types and content). The PSAT NMSQT will likely have content beyond your reach and be frustrating. It will be more productive for freshmen to take a test designed for their grade level, or close to it. You’ll still get excellent practice on the PSAT 10 and PSAT 8/9 and build up to take the PSAT NMSQT for the first time sophomore year. Take the PSAT 10 If: You’re a high-achieving student aiming for a top college. You took the PSAT 8/9 in eighth grade and want a bigger challenge. You have past exposure to high-stakes testing (for example, you took the SAT or ACT for a talent competition in middle school, or tested into a competitive school or gifted program). Take the PSAT 8/9 If: You haven’t taken the PSAT 8/9 before. You don’t have any exposure to high-stakes tests yet. You want an introduction to the SAT without quite as much stress. Though College Board has yet to invent a stress-free test. Maybe that will be in the next batch of assessments. And remember, if you're just a freshmen, qualifying for National Merit and taking the real SAT aren't immediate concerns. Whichever test you take, remember that it's just practice. And focus on doing well in your core classes, especially math and language arts, so you can build the skills you'll need to do well on the SAT in a few years' time. Bottom Line The PSAT NMSQT, PSAT 10, and PSAT 8/9 are all quite similar - their only difference is the slightly ramped up difficulty for each successive test. That means each test is going to give you excellent practice for the real SAT. You should aim to take the harder test for your grade level (PSAT NMSQT in 10th grade, PSAT 10 in 9th grade) if you are set on getting a National Merit scholarship and/or getting into a top college. Otherwise, taking the test designed for your grade level is a great way to get introduced to the SAT and prepare for the college admissions process. What’s Next? The PSAT 10 and PSAT 8/9 were created as part of an expanded line of SAT assessments, including the new SAT. Read about the new SAT to get a detailed breakdown of what it tests and how it asks questions – these specifications apply to all the new SAT assessments. Early achievers, are you already thinking about when to take the SAT? Learn the optimal time in your high school career to take the SAT. Also hoping to fit in AP or IB courses to your high school career? Read about how many AP courses you should take and the difference between AP and IB. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

How did abolitionism, women's movement rights, and immigration change Essay

How did abolitionism, women's movement rights, and immigration change the nations of the Western Hemisphere - Essay Example (http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/civil_rights.html) The 13th Amendment built up for the country, after the amendment was adopted the slave pen at that time was destroyed and in its place they put the Statue of Liberty. The amendment wasn't just about freeing slaves, but more on the side of making equal rites for everyone, making colored and whites the same. The amendment caused the damage of every incriminating evidence of 'slaves', ignored the reports against freedom, took away the word 'white' and its meaning, and took away the right to own a man. Prior to the Civil War, the constitution didn't have specification for voting because laws weren't governed by the constitution or the federal law, but only a few of the northern states allowed the free 'colored' men to register and vote. But right after the War, congress adopted the Military Reconstruction Act of 1867, which let the confederate states be a part of the union under the condition of universal male suffrage. The 14th Amendment, in 1868, gave citizenship to everyone born in the US, which in turn meant that only males could vote.

The Israeli Wall Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Israeli Wall - Research Paper Example It has also taken a lot of international assistance to bring the situation to an end but this has not been so productive in that all the opportunities to enable the two sides come to a conclusive solution has always been lost because of one way or the other. One of the most spirited international efforts to bring peace in the war torn area was in the 1993 when Oslo accord was signed to pave ways for the two warring sides to strike a deal in ending their differences that has resulted to humanitarian crisis in the area. The Oslo accord was secretly discussed in Norway and the agreements officially signed in the US, Washington DC in the Presence of the then US president Bill Clinton but because of the Intifada war that followed, the intention of the accord hit a dead end and no conclusive resolution was reached. What is the Israeli Wall? Following the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians over Gaza and West Bank, the areas have been demarcated, thought without any consensus from the parties involved, which territory belongs to the Israel and that which belongs to Palestine. The demarcation has always not been taken as a fair consideration by the Palestine and they have developed over time a tendency of advancing terrorism activities in the Israeli infested areas resulting into cycles of casualties year round (Gelvin 62). To avert this notoriety, the Israeli decided to construct a barrier wall that will delimit the Israeli and the Palestine so that they are cushioned form their terrorist activities that have been very devastating. The construction of the will is estimated to be about seven hundred meters long and about eight meters tall consisting of concrete wall, 90% of the constructed wall is an inhibiting fence with a vehicle-barrier trenches that is surrounded by about 60 meter area of wide exclusion area (Gelvin 67). With the reference made by the Israeli human rights organization, they conform that the barrier wall is concentrated in the West Ba nk area and extends along the 1949 armistice line that is between the Israeli and Palestine side of the West Bank. The Israeli wall is not a surprise, they have previously constructed the Gaza strip barrier that delimits Israel and Egypt, and this was constructed in the 1994 and was concluded in 2005 (Kershner 49). The Israeli has developed the tendency of secluding themselves through the barrier wall in cases of foreseeable attack by their enemies. Israeli’s Justification On their side regarding the construction of the wall, the Israeli have insisted that providing protection to their civilian is their responsibility in whatever cost and will do all that is possible to ensure that their civilians are not under coercion, pressure or threats from any quarter and to be specific, the Palestinian terrorism activities. They confirm that since the onset of the second Intifada, the Palestine has attacked the Israeli civilian in several occasions by suicide bombers and that needed to be put under stringent check, otherwise, it was going to be out of control. They say the attacks they have witnessed form the Palestinians since the second Intifada justifies the construction of the wall for the purposes of their civilian protection (Semmerling 104). The Israeli also confirms that since the beginning if the wall’s construction, there has been a significant reduction in the number of the suicide attack from Palestine. With

Week 4 response papers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 4 response papers - Essay Example The disadvantage with such an approach is that businesses relax their CSR actions when they are not economically rewarding. This means that organisations no longer derive their motivation for CSR mainly from their negative environmental effects and need to protect the environment, but the need to have a good image and make profit. The avoidance of CSR may not be detrimental to the organisation but its effect cannot be ignored in a society where customers are becoming more cautious about environmental issues. Over the recent years, CSR has afforded organisations some social power and ignoring this because of economic or other reasons is bound lead to a gradual reduction of social power. Davis’s statement therefore holds some truth. As mentioned, businesses know the effects of their actions on the environment. In this case, they have an obligation to focus on environmental change whether voters and politicians are not pushing agendas that focus on environmental change. In opposition to Hussein’s (1999) statement that adopting such a position can be harmful to the organisation, CSR has turned into one of the biggest source of competitive advantage for businesses. Multinationals have also tapped into it as a risk management model. In addition, many governments respond positively to such actions by recognising and rewarding organisations which undertake good CSR activities in efforts to protect the environment. This has increased awareness of such organisations, their products and consequently, they have experienced a positive return on their sales (Bhattacharya et al, 2011). Customer/voter purchases are now influenced by CSR to the benefit of organisations that have good CSR reputations. Since the 1950s, many organisations have formulated their own CSR policies. However, if the decision to become responsible was totally left at their disposal, many would choose not to because CSR activities

Project Management System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Project Management System - Essay Example The advent of Information system and its importance for the business organisation has forced the organisations to implement different Information system projects. Many of the projects became a failure due to lack of proper skills in order to undertake these projects successfully. On the other hand the companies which initiated and successfully implemented these projects enjoyed the hyper growth. In order to make these projects different tools and techniques were introduced by the management gurus in order to increase the success rate of these projects. The identification and listing of stakeholders is very important and the initial step in an Is project. The list of the stakeholders should include all the people who have the power to effect the system. The second category of stakeholders includes the people whose position and power will be affected by the project. The third and most important category is the users of the project. It is important to recognise the actual stakeholders of the project. The representatives of these stakeholders should be included in all the discussions related to the Scantel project in order to sketch the clear vision and necessities of project. After the identification process it is important to determine the problem statement. The entire stakeholder should reach an agreement on the definition of problem in order to design a project to fit the problem size for all the stakeholders. 2. Identify and List Actors The perceptions of the stakeholders regarding the Scantel

American Government And Politics Today Research Paper

American Government And Politics Today - Research Paper Example The country is subdivided into small regions such as states, counties or provinces, and the regions are organized into local governments that can make decisions on certain matters (Cropf, 2008). Most countries in the world use the unitary system of government (Ferguson, 2006). Presently the United uses the federal system of government. It is divided into states, and the different states are governed by local governments that do not report to the central government on most matters. The unitary system has its advantages and disadvantages. 2. During emergencies such as war or catastrophes such as the earthquake, the government can respond quickly in a unitary state as compared to a federal state. The reason is that, in a unitary state, the decision-making process is short. In very big countries and countries with a large racial diversity, it is difficult to rule with the unitary system of government. The powers are centralized in the central government, and it is not easy to govern the rural areas far away from the political capital. For example, whenever there is a conflict between communities, it is difficult for a unitary state to handle it. The differences in ethnicity, religion, and culture can best be handled by federal states (Bardes, Shelley & Schmidt, 2014). In unitary states, more attention is given to the development in the urban areas, and less attention is given to the rural areas. This creates a form of monopoly in the urban dwellers that further impede the development of the rural dwellers. In a unitary state, power is centered in the central government. The central government, therefore, makes decisions unchecked. In the case of any wrong decisions, the government gets away with it. I such a situation, the people bear the consequences. This is a likely scenario in the USA in case the powers of the central government are increased (Bardes et al., 2014).

Family Conditions And Child Treatment Research Paper

Family Conditions And Child Treatment - Research Paper Example Other than parental monitoring, there are also several other aspects of family functioning that influence the behaviour and thinking of the child and they are family relation characteristics like beliefs, cohesion and organisational structure. Studies have shown that low emotional warmth, lack of proper organisational structure, low beliefs and low cohesion levels are associated with delinquent behaviour (Gorman-Smith, p.170). More often than not, juvenile delinquents are individuals who come from broken home background (Siegel, p.74). These children either reside in single-parent households or in any other household in which their biological parents are not there. Intact family may be defined as a nuclear family arrangement in which both biological parents reside in the household with their biological children (Kierkus & Baer, 2002; cited in Murray, p.88). Two-parent arrangement in which a step parent is present, single-parent arrangements, extended family member arrangements and fo ster family arrangements do not fall under intact family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Association between broken homes and juvenile delinquency was studied as early as 1932 by Shaw and McKay (cited in Murray, p.88). These researchers reviewed literature pertaining to type of homes and delinquents and compared delinquents from intact homes and disrupted homes. In their review they opined that most of the studies pertaining to these had several limitations and that several other factors other than intactness of homes influenced development of juvenile behaviour.... Intact family may be defined as a nuclear family arrangement in which both biological parents reside in the household with their biological children (Kierkus & Baer, 2002; cited in Murray, p.88). Two-parent arrangement in which a step parent is present, single-parent arrangements, extended family member arrangements and foster family arrangements do not fall under intact family. Association between broken homes and juvenile delinquency was studied as early as 1932 by Shaw and McKay (cited in Murray, p.88). These researchers reviewed literature pertaining to type of homes and delinquents and compared delinquents from intact homes and disrupted homes. In their review they opined that most of the studies pertaining to these had several limitations and that several other factors other than intactness of homes influenced development of juvenile behaviour. Research from that period has questioned the influence of family intactness on development of juvenile delinquency. According to a rece nt study by Demuth and Brown (2000, cited in Murray, p.88), though broken homes are strongly associated with juvenile delinquency, the family arrangement are not just the broken home issue. This is because; there is enough evidence to suggest that the risk of juvenile delinquency is higher among teenagers residing with single fathers when compared to those residing in a 2-parent household. This probably is because of the decreased parental involvement in the former case. The researchers opined that the main factors which contributed to delinquency were lack of supervision from parent's side and absence of close relationship between the adolescent and his or her parents. Geismar and Wood (1986;

American Government And Politics Today Research Paper

American Government And Politics Today - Research Paper Example The country is subdivided into small regions such as states, counties or provinces, and the regions are organized into local governments that can make decisions on certain matters (Cropf, 2008). Most countries in the world use the unitary system of government (Ferguson, 2006). Presently the United uses the federal system of government. It is divided into states, and the different states are governed by local governments that do not report to the central government on most matters. The unitary system has its advantages and disadvantages. 2. During emergencies such as war or catastrophes such as the earthquake, the government can respond quickly in a unitary state as compared to a federal state. The reason is that, in a unitary state, the decision-making process is short. In very big countries and countries with a large racial diversity, it is difficult to rule with the unitary system of government. The powers are centralized in the central government, and it is not easy to govern the rural areas far away from the political capital. For example, whenever there is a conflict between communities, it is difficult for a unitary state to handle it. The differences in ethnicity, religion, and culture can best be handled by federal states (Bardes, Shelley & Schmidt, 2014). In unitary states, more attention is given to the development in the urban areas, and less attention is given to the rural areas. This creates a form of monopoly in the urban dwellers that further impede the development of the rural dwellers. In a unitary state, power is centered in the central government. The central government, therefore, makes decisions unchecked. In the case of any wrong decisions, the government gets away with it. I such a situation, the people bear the consequences. This is a likely scenario in the USA in case the powers of the central government are increased (Bardes et al., 2014).

Understanding Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Understanding Research - Essay Example The entrepreneurs need to use their own mental model to interpret their business environment and culture of the area before they commit. For a startup to succeed in the long term, it must be able to scale up. Many studies have been conducted on startup success in the Tampa bay region to establish major factors that bring about their success and motivation to exist. The business environment and culture in the Tampa Bay is not conducive, the region lacks more high net worth individuals to aid in writing more seed-stage checks to their startups. There should be lots of money to encourage and grow startup culture in any given region. Tampa Bay has an emerging culture of innovation that tries to take hold as more individuals seek to pursue business dreams from scratch; however, the move is soon thwarted due to lack of startup money. Many businesses then transfer to other locations with conducive business culture and environment. The region needs to create a startup community so as to survive. This kind of research is an applied research; it aims at solving a practical problem. The research looks into the startup community of Tampa Bay in order to come up with a business culture that helps improve the human condition. The research aims at discovering some solution for the pressing practical problem, unfavorable startup community. It has mainly used observational research methods. Under this category, the research has specifically used case study. The research falls into this category because it has no clearly defined research question and problem. The research recognizes that even though the emerging startup community in the region exudes enthusiasm, it still has big concerns about its long-term viability as a serious hub for entrepreneurs. It maintains that businesses should embrace basic rules of entrepreneurship in order to succeed. Entrepreneurs need not regret

Establish and adjust the marketing mix Essay Example for Free

Establish and adjust the marketing mix Essay Promotions are not just aimed at increasing usage of the products. Followings are five other specific promotional aims. Sales Growth There have two term of campaigns, long term and short term campaigns. In a short-term, the main aim would be to drive revenues or cash flow, it also trigger the buyer actions. In the long-term campaign, the main aim would be intended to lead optimized profit margins. Especially for a new business they might aim to build a customer base in order to cover new start-up business costs and maintain a sustainable business. For the established companies, their aim would be to generate more business during slow or off season periods, and to expand the business into the newer markets. Brand Recognition One of the most popular promotional objectives would be building or maintaining brand recognition. The objective is to let customers or people know and well recognized your brand logo, other symbols or characters. Customers identify it with your company and hopefully associated with good impression to it, this might lead to customers will advertise our brand to his/her friends. It also gives people something to remember you by , that helps the business stand out even more. Understanding and connecting with the image of your brand is critical to long-term customer’s loyalty and profits. Purchase Intent As customers become more familiar with your brand, the next stage is to motivate purchase intent. The goal is to eliminate, neutralize or blocks the efforts of competitors to grab market share. You need to lure customers away from aggressive competitors. Promotional activities can be used such as refreshing trial use, encouraging existing customers to consume more quantity it occurs when customers are satisfied and can see no reason to buy  form another company and more frequency and getting customers to switch from competing options. Some customers are so satisfied with your services they cannot imagine shopping somewhere else A variety of promotional tools are used in this endeavor, including free trial offers or first-time buyer discounts Create Awareness Increased market awareness is a primary promotional objective. A mature product that is providing something new such as a product improvement or enhancement can also turn to promotion. A product thats new to the marketplace will need promotion to be introduced to consumers. In all these cases, the objective is to make noise in the market that results in sales. Goodwill One ongoing objective of companies is to promote goodwill with the public and also public relation campaign. Staying active in community activities and giving to charities are common promotional tools with public relationship. Coinciding with building and maintaining goodwill, public relationship and other promotional campaigns are sometimes used to combat negative publicity already festering. Wal-Mart often uses advertising to promote positive attributes of the company in the face of criticism for some of its business practices.

Communication Skills in Nursing | Reflection

Communication Skills in Nursing | Reflection This essay will present a reflective account of communication skills in practice whist undertaking assessment and history taking of two Intensive Care patients with a similar condition. It will endeavour to explore all aspects of non verbal and verbal communication styles and reflect upon these areas using Gibbs reflective cycle (1988). Scenario A Mrs James, 34, a passenger in a road traffic collision who was not wearing a seatbelt was thrown through the windscreen resulting in multiple facial wounds with extensive facial swelling which required her to be intubated and sedated. She currently has cervical spine immobilisation and is awaiting a secondary trauma CT. Mr James was also involved in the accident. Scenario B Mr James, 37, husband of Mrs James, the driver of the car, was wearing his seat belt. He had minor superficial facial wounds, fractured ribs and a fractured right arm. He is alert and orientated but currently breathless and requiring high oxygen concentrations. Patients who are admitted to Intensive Care are typically admitted due to serious ill health or trauma that may also have a potential to develop life threatening complications (Udwadia, 2005). These patients are usually unconscious, have limited movement and have sensation deprivation due to sedation and/or disease processes. These critical conditions rely upon modern technical support and invasive procedures for the purpose of monitoring and regulation of physiological functions. Having the ability to effectively communicate with patients, colleagues and their close relatives is a fundamental clinical skill in Intensive Care and central to a skilful nursing practice. Communication in Intensive Care is therefore of high importance (Elliot, 1999) to provide information and support to the critically ill patient in order to reduce their anxieties, stresses and preserve self identity, self esteem and reduce social isolation (Joà £o: 2009, Alasad: 2004, Newmarch:2006). Effective communic ation is the key to the collection of patient information, delivering quality of care and ensuring patient safety. Gaining a patients history is one of the most important skills in medicine and is a foundation for both the diagnosis and patient clinician relationship, and is increasingly being undertaken by nurses (Crumbie, 2006). Commonly a patient may be critically ill and therefore the ability to perform a timely assessment whilst being prepared to administer life saving treatment is crucial (Carr, 2005). Often the patient is transferred from a ward or department within the hospital where a comprehensive history has been taken with documentation of a full examination; investigations, working diagnosis and the appropriate treatment taken. However, the patients history may not have been collected on this admission if it was not appropriate to do so. Where available patients medical notes can provide essential information. In relation to the scenarios where the patient is breathless or the patient had a reduced conscious level and requires sedation and intubation, effective communication is restricted and obtaining a comprehensive history would be inappropriate and almost certainly unsafe (Carr, 2005). The Nursing Midwifery Council promotes the importance of keeping clear and accurate records within the Code: Standards of Conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives (NMC, 2008). Therefore if taking a patients history is unsafe to do so, this required to be documented. Breathing is a fundamental life process that usually occurs without conscious thought and, for the healthy person is taken for granted (Booker, 2004). In Scenario A, Mrs Jamess arrived on Intensive care and was intubated following her facial wounds and localised swelling. Facial trauma by its self is not a life threatening injury, although it has often been accompanied with other injuries such as traumatic brain injury and complications such as airway obstruction. This may have been caused by further swelling, bleeding or bone structure damage (Parks, 2003). Without an artificial airway and ventilatory support Mrs James would have struggled to breathe adequately and the potential to become in respiratory arrest. Within scenario B, Mr James had suffered multiple rib fractures causing difficulty in expansion of his lungs. Fractured ribs are amongst the most frequent of injuries sustained to the chest, accounting for over half of the thoracic injuries from non-penetrating trauma (Middle ton, 2003). When ribs are fractured due to the nature and site of the injury there is potential for underlying organ contusions and damage. The consequence of having a flail chest is pain. Painful expansion of the chest would result in inadequate ventilation of the lungs resulting in hypoxia and retention of secretions and the inability to communicate effectively. These combined increase the risk of the patient developing a chest infection and possible respiratory failure and potential to require intubation (Middleton, 2003). A key component of Intensive Care is to provide patients and relatives with effective communication at all times to ensure that a holistic nursing approach is achieved. Intensive care nurses care for patients predominantly with respiratory failure and over the years have taken on an extended role. They are expected to examine a patient and interpret their findings and results (Booker, 2004). In these situations patient requires supportive treatments as soon as possible. Intensive Care nurse should have the ability and competence to carry out a physical assessment and collect the patients history in a systemic, professional and sensitive approach. Effective communication skills are one of the many essential skills involved in this role. As an Intensive Care nurse, introducing yourself to the patient as soon as possible would be the first step in the history taking process (Appendix A) and the physical assessment process. Whilst introducing yourself there is also the aim to gaining consent for the assessment where possible, in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Councils Code of Professional Conduct (NMC, 2008). Conducting a comprehensive clinical history is usually more helpful in making a provisional diagnosis than the physical examination (Ford, 2005). Within Intensive Care the Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure/Examination (ABCDE) assessment process is widely used. It is essential for survival that the oxygen is delivered to blood cells and the oxygen cannot reach the lungs without a patent airway. With poor circulation, oxygen does not get transported away from the lungs to the cells (Carr, 2005). The ABCDE approach is a simple approach that all team members use and allows for rapid asses sment, continuity of care and the reduction of errors. Communication reflects our social world and helps us to construct it (Weinmann Giles et al 1988). Communication of information, messages, opinions and thoughts are transferred by different forms. Basic communication is achieved by speaking, sign language, body language touch and eye contact, as technology has developed communication has been achieved by media, such as emails, telephone and mobile technology (Aarti, 2010). There are two main ways of communication: Verbal and non verbal. Verbal communication is the simplest and quickest way of transferring information and interacting when face to face. It is usually a two way process where a message is sent, understood and feedback is given (Leigh, 2001). When effective communication is given, what the sender encodes is what the receiver decodes (Baron:2005, Zastrow:2001). Key verbal features of communication are made up of sounds, words, and language. Mr James was alert and orientated and had some ability to communicate; he was breathless due to painful fractured ribs which hindered his verbal communication. In order to help him to breath and communicate effectively, his pain must be controlled. Breathless patients may be only able to speak two or more words at a time, inhibiting conversation. The use of closed questions can allow breathless patients to communicate without exerting themselves. Closed questions such as is it painful when you breathe in? or is your breathing feeling worse? can be answered with non ver bal communication such as a shake or nod of the head. Taking a patients history in this way can be time consuming and it is essential that the clinician do not make assumptions on behalf of the patient (Ashworth, 1980). Alternatively, encouraging patients to use other forms of communication can aid the process. Non verbal communication involves physical aspects such as written or visual of communication. Sign language and symbols are also included in non-verbal communication. Non verbal communication can be considered as gestures, body language, writing, drawing, physiological cues, using communication devices, mouthing words, head nods, and touch (Happ et al:2000, Alasad:2004). Body language, posture and physical contact is a form of non verbal communication. Body language can convey vast amounts of information. Slouched posture, or folded arms and crossed legs can portray negative signals. Facial gestures and expressions and eye contact are all different cues of communication. Alt hough Mr. James could verbally communicate, being short of breath and in pain meant that he also needed to use both verbal and non verbal communication styles. A patients stay in Intensive Care can vary from days to months. Although this is a temporary situation and many patients will make a good recovery, the psychological impact may be longer lasting (MacAuley, 2010). When caring for the patient who may be unconscious or sedated and does not appear to be awake, hearing may be one of the last senses to fade when they become unconscious (Leigh, 2000). Sedation is used in Intensive Care units to enable patients to be tolerable of ventilation. It aims to allow comfort and synchrony between the patient and ventilator. Poor sedation can lead to ventilator asynchrony, patient stress and anxiety, and an increased risk of self extubation and hypoxia. Over sedation can lead to ventilator associated pneumonias, cardiac instability and prolonged ventilation and Intensive Care delirium. Derlerium can be distressing for both the relatives andthe patient, who may have some recolection after the deleium epsiode (Mclafferty, 2007). Delirium is found to be a predictor of death in Intensive Care patients (Page, 2008). Every day a patient spends in delirium has been associated with a 20% increase risk of intensive care bed days and a 10% increased risk of morbidity. The single most profound risk factor for delirium in Intensive Care is sedation (Page, 2008). Within this stage of sedation or delirium it is impossible to know what the patients have heard, understood or precessed. Ashworth (1980) recognised that nurses often failed to communicate with unconscious patients on the basis that they were unable to respond. Although, research (Lawrence, 1995) indicates that patients who are unconscious could hear and understand conversations around them and respond emotionally to verbal communication however could not respond physically. This emphasises the importance and the need for communication remains (Leigh, 2001). Neurological status would unavoidably have an effect on Mrs Jamess capacity to communicate in a usual way. It is therefore im portant to provide Mrs James with all information necessary to reduce her stress and anxieties via the different forms of communication. For the unconscious patient, both verbal communication and non verbal communication are of importance, verbal communication and touch being the most appropriate. There are two forms of touch (Aarti, 2010), firstly a task orientated touch when a patient is being moved, washed or having a dressing changed and secondly a caring touch holding Mrs James hand to explain where she was and why she was there is an example of this. This would enhance communication when informing and reassuring Mrs James that her husband was alive and doing well. Nurses may initially find the process of talking to an unconscious patient embarrassing, pointless or of low importance as it is a one way conversation (Ashworth, 1980) however as previously mentioned researched shows patients have the ability to hear. Barriers to communication may be caused by physical inabilities from the patients however there are many types of other communication barriers. A barrier of communication is where there is a breakdown in the communication process. This could happen if the message was not encoded or decoded as it should have been (Baron, 2005). If a patient is under sedation, delirious or hard of hearing verbal communication could be misinterpreted. However there could also be barriers in the transfer of communication process as the Intensive Care environment in itself can cause communication barriers. Intensive Care can be noisy environment (Newmarch, 2006). Other barriers can simply include language barriers, fatigue, stress, distractions and jargon. Communication aids can promote effective communication between patient and clinician. Pen and paper is the simplest form of non verbal communication for those with adequate strength (Newmarch, 2006). Weakness of patients can affect the movement of hands and arms making gestures and handwriting frustration and diff icult. Patients may also be attached to monitors and infusions resulting in restricted movements which can lead to patients feeling trapped and disturbed (Ashworth, 1980). MacAulay (2010) mentions that Intensive Care nurses are highly skilled at anticipating the communication needs of patients who are trying to communicate but find the interpretation of their communication time consuming and difficult. The University of Dundee (ICU-Talk, 2010) conducted a three year multi disciplinary study research project to develop and evaluate a computer based communication aid specifically designed for Intensive Care patients. The trial is currently ongoing, however this may become a breakthrough in quick and effective patient clinical and patient relative communication in future care. This assignment has explored communication within Intensive Care and reflected upon previous experiences. Communication involves both verbal and non verbal communication in order to communicate effectively in all situations. Researching this topic has highlighted areas in Intensive Care nursing which may be overlooked, for example ventilator alarms and general noise within a unit may feel like a normal environment for the clinians however for patients and relatives this may cause considerable amounts of concern. Simply giving explanations for such alarms will easily alleviate concerns and provide reassurance. From overall research (Alasad: 2004, Leigh: 2001, MacAuley, 2010: Craig, 2007) Intensive Care nurses believed communication with critically ill patients was an important part of their role however disappointedly some nurses perceived this as time consuming or of low importance when the conversation was one way (Ashworth, 1980). Further education within Intensive Care may be requ ired to improve communication and highlight the importance of communication at all times. Communication is key to ensuring patients receive quality high standard care from a multidisciplinary team, where all members appreciate the skills and contributions that others offer, to improve patients care and the overall patient experience. Appendix 1, The History Taking Process: The questions are the key to a good interview. You need to use a mix of open ended questions and close ended questions. Open ended questions leave the door open for the patient to tell you more. Questions like when it this problem start?, have you had any recent health problems?, and can you show me where it hurts? are open ended. The patient feels free to provide additional information. While questions like does it hurt here?, did you have this pain yesterday?, and have you had the flu in the past month? are close ended. Close ended questions seek very specific, often yes or no responses from the patient and dont encourage the patient to provide any additional information. Good interviews are a mixture of both kinds of questions. (Secrest, 2009) Basic Elements: 1. Greeting a. Introduction b. Identification of patient and self c. Assessment of the patients overall appearance and demeanor 2. Personal history a. Age b. Occupation c. Sex d. Height / Weight e. Marital / Family status i. Children 3. Chief complaint (CC) or Presenting complaint a. Why is the patient seeking care? b. What other problems concern the patient? 4. History of present illness a. Location and radiation of complaint b. Severity of complaint c. Timing of onset d. Situation (setting) of onset e. Duration of complaint f. Previous similar complaints g. Exacerbating and relieving factors h. Associated symptoms i. Patients explanation of complaint 5. Past medical history a. Systematic questioning regarding previous adult illnesses i. Neurological/Psychiatric ii. Eye, ear, nose, throat iii. Skin/Hair/Nails iv. Musculoskeletal v. Cardiovascular/Respiratory vi. Genital-urinary vii. GI tract b. Childhood illnesses c. Surgeries, injuries or hospital admissions d. OB/GYM i. Birth control ii. Pregnancies / Births iii. Menstrual periods iv. Pelvic exams / Pap smears e. Psychiatric f. Immunizations g. Screening tests h. Allergies 6. Family history a. Disease history b. Parental health c. Childrens health 7. Drug history a. Current medications i. Prescription ii. Over-the-counter b. Drug allergies 8. Lifestyle (social history) a. Alcohol b. Smoking c. Recreational drug use d. Sexual life style/orientation e. Reproductive status f. Occupational issues (Secrest,2009)