Causing Generation X :: essays research papers

Teenagers wasting 2.3 million dollars worth of gas a year driving around the same block. Kids at the mall for the sole purpose of shop-lifting. Underage consumption parties. Stealing lawn ornaments. These are just some of the effects of Generation X growing up.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main cause of this destruction of youth is the crumbling of families. No more “Wait until your father gets home from work and ask him'; but “I wonder if we’re going to see a child support check before Christmas.'; With the divorce rate skyrocketing, us kids are feeling more like burdens than blessings. All the problems divorce causes can rip apart a child, and leave him/her craving attention, whether it is negative or positive. To make it worse, while the only parent they live with is working, the two kids turn into a huge group of people decide to make prank phone calls and try beer for the first time. Addictions form and on and on. Pretty soon the kids acting up in class, (more attention, the perfect kind, peer,) getting smashed on the weekends and waking up in someone else’s puke.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another big reason is boredom. This where my syndrome stems from. There is honestly NOTHING to do in Tuscarwaras County. If you have money in the winter you can bowl, watch a High School basketball game, go to the YMCA, see a movie, go shopping, drive around, experiment with make-up and different types of clothes, get on the Internet, and watch TV. With no money in the winter, we can watch TV, get on the Internet, vandalize, steal , try to bum cigarettes and other such things. The reason the police log is so long every morning is not because kids are heathens, it’s because we are bored. If there was a dance club, a clean place to play pool, an indoor swimming pool , etc., that was free, I guarantee you the problems would clear up. I huge issue that stands out is the whole bike/skateboard thing. Dover/Phila has a huge problem with us riding in town and in allies. I’ve been yelled at hundreds of times “This isn’t a bike park! Get the He*l away form here!'; Well, if they’d build us a place instead of whining about it for months and getting our hopes up then saying no. In order to keep us out of trouble, we need to be occupied with good things It’s not that we don’t want to be.

Essay --

We like to think that once a criminal is put behind bars that he or she no longer poses a threat to society. In The Fertile Soil of Jihad: Terrorism's Prison Connection, Patrick Dunleavy, a former official within the New York State Department of Correctional Services, shows the delusion behind this mindset. Dunleavy’s thesis is that terrorists use the American prison system to recruit the disenfranchised to radical Islam. While many Americans may be oblivious to this practice, Dunleavy’s involvement in Operation Hades, an investigation conducted by the State of New York to determine the extent of recruiting to Islamic extremism that took place within the state’s prisons, makes him quite familiar with the process. Writing from experience, Dunleavy examines cases that show just how this recruitment takes place. Throughout the book, Dunleavy follows the story of Abdel Nasser Zaben. An immigrant and member of Hamas, in 1993 Zaben was arrested and sent to prison in New York State. Dunleavy finds that â€Å"convicts today are not isolated from society† (p.100), Zaben being a prime example. Like others before and since, once within prison Zaben became a clerk for a prison imam. This expanded his influence, furthered the radicalization process, and put him in contact with other radicals outside of prison. The Fertile Soil of Jihad demonstrates that Dunleavy has a clear understanding of the prison system in America. It benefits the reader by showing the problems in this system (at least as far as its connection to terrorist recruitment goes) as characterized by Zaben’s experience. Perhaps the most glaring issue is that of prison imams. Dunleavy indicates that many of the imams in the employ of the New York State Department of Correctional Servi... ... Patrick Dunleavy’s The Fertile Soil of Jihad endeavors to bring to light an often misunderstood or unrecognized problem. And in so much as it does that, it should be praised. However, his analysis of this issue is fraught with his own misunderstanding. Ultimately, the book’s worth depends on what the reader wants to get out of it. If he or she seeks to understand the radicalization process that occurs in American prisons, then it is a good source. Yet, if the desired outcome is to understand Islam, jihad, or how prison radicalization can be addressed on a societal or cultural (rather than institutional) level, then it is inadequate. Whether America is at war with Islam or it is the other way around is never made clear. The book could be read either way. To truly address the problem, an understanding of Muslim culture and Islam is necessary: a radical notion indeed.

Music Through the Centuries Essay

The period between 1400 and 1600 is called the Renaissance period. Also known as the period of rebirth, this period brought out the inventions that made a great impact on the lives of people up to the present. The critical and ambitious minds of inventors allow the invention of clock, gunpowder and eyeglasses. Consequently, certain aspects of music also changed. Polyphonic and imitation among voices became rampant. The vocals, whose main purpose is to bring forth emotion and meaning in music, were greatly utilized and some pieces of church songs were intended for a capella performance. With these, the Renaissnce period acquired the name Golden Age of A Capella Music. The impact on music was so vast that families for musical instruments develop. Harmony gained significant attention to the composers who favored blending over contrasting. At the same time, texture became richer because bass was registered for the first time. Some of the famous composers in this era included Josquin Des Prez and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. If given the chance to choose a musical composition in this period, I will choose the Ave Maria by Josquin Des Prez. The song is very relaxing and soothing. It has a great combination of overlapping and alternating high and low notes. Vocals are good and an atmosphere of peace and lightness is exemplified as one listens to this music. After the Renaissance comes the Baroque period (1600-1750), which is characterized by splendid, glamorous and lavish effects on arts, science and music. The canopy of the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica was constructed and a number of natural laws were found such as the laws of pressure by Robert Boyle. Modes, which were rampant during the Renaissance and Medieval period, were replaced with major and minor tonalities. Basso continuo was greatly accepted and used, as well as the doctrine of affection, which allows the composers to express their feelings freely in music. Composers during this period realized that counterpoint, free use of dissonance, imitative polyphony and homophobic method are essential in their field of artistry. They showed emphasis on volume, texture and pace in music and frequent usage of basic triads and inversions. At the same time, the composers began to explore the inner ability of music to express human spirits and to depict natural phenomena. Opera also flourished because of the Italian’s desire to recapture the Greek drama where music played an important part. Solo vocalists and the style of homophony were utilzed to help the listeners focus on the melody of the song. Orchestra also began to take shape as string intruments such as violin became dominant. Famous composers that popularized this grandiose style of music included Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldo, and George Frideric Handel. To name one of the great muscial compositions in this era, I would prefer Cantata 80 of Bach. This song is festive-like with good transition of high notes and low notes. The song brings a warm and welcoming aura. This song expresses a high level of emotion as well as a great evidence of how good and hard it is to compose a piece of music. After the Baroque period comes the Classical period (1750-1825). During this period, the first edition of Encyclopedia Brittancia was released. The first vaccination was made and the electric battery was invented by Volta. Compared to Baroque music, Classical music has less complicated texture but has far more variety and contrast because of the use of words such as pitch, tempo, mood, and timbre. Melody is shorter than the Baroque music but with clear-cut phrases and cadences. Functional harmony was retained but tended to focus on slow rhytmic harmony. Metric pulses were present but were not emphasized. Moreover, occasional pauses and rhythmic set points were also common. On the other hand, the orchestra continued to develop with an additional section for the woodwind instruments. The same with the opera wherein piano is considered the most inportant intrument in every performance. Great importance was given on instrumental music, and sonata form was the most important design in this period. Using these styles of music, several composers became known during this period such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. The Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart is an adorable and explicitly unique music. Listening to this music, one can feel the notes freely moving across the music sheet. It has charming and rich melodies that made this music a classical favorite not only in the past but also in the present. The joyful, skipping melody made this music enjoyable and light to hear. Classical period was succeeded by the Romantic period (1825-1900), also known as the Age of Sentimentality. It is during this time that telephone, light bulb, and radio transmissions were developed. In terms of music, there was a simultaneous development of musical extremes. Although basso continuo was totally abandoned, chromaticism flourished and textures were more developed. The virtuosity of the composers were enhanced and they put emphasis on beauty, elegance, and balance in their compostitions. Music became lyrical with dramatic contrasts in dynamics and pitch. Because this was the period for freedom of design and form, music became thematical. Programme music developed and the idea of nationalism flourished because of the need to break away from the strong influence of Germany on music. Fryderyk Franciskez Chopin and Franz Schubert were some of the famous composers in this period. The song of Erlking by Schubert is a good example of romantic music. This song is great because it is very enticing and one can feel the energy flowing through the entire piece. The continuous pulsation of notes gives this song a playful genre. It can be compared to prancing horses that can give one this feeling of excitement and curiosity. With the Classical Music declining, Modern Music became the reigning music in the 1900s. Some of the events that totally changed the history of the world are World War I and II as well as the Vietnam War. This change had a great effect on how music was viewed during this period. Modern Music focused on treating variety, continuity, and mood. Noise makers such as sirens and typewriters as well as percussion instruments became a vital part in this industry (Thinkquest, 1999). The aim to build an unusual music resulted to the employment of tongue fluttering and other special techniques. Dissonance is also preferred than consonance,which resulted to a development of fantasy-like, distant, and mystifying music. To gain an impression of imbalance, polyrhythm was employed. Some of the great composers in this era were Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky. The Ancient Voices of Children by George Crumb is a great example of how modern music should sound like. This work is extraordinary and mystifying. The music itself is powerful but there is a haunting effect that provokes the listeners to seek for musical images. It stirs up the emotions of the listeners through the tensions placed on the entire musical score. The music’s great shimmering echoes and frequent echoing silence and passages made this song my personal favorite. References Thinkquest (1999) Characteristics of 20th Century Music. Retrieved from http://library. thinkquest. org/27927/20%20century_Characteristics. htm

Hamlet cigar Essay

The well known brand for cigars Hamlet is produced by Japanese Company. It was initially launched in the year 1964 in United Kingdoms. Their tagline spread a little happiness is well described in their art work. Art Work for Hamlet Cigar Art work for Hamlet Miniature Cigar’s urinal advertisement is very interesting. It has the background of a men’s washroom. A tall man’s back is placed on the extreme left who is urinating, while in the 80% of the remaining art work three vertically challenged people are standing. Being short heighten they can’t reach up to pee in the urinal. One standing in the right has his knees bent and the one standing in left has his knees crossed. They both have flinching expressions on their faces and they holding their stomach. Where as the third vertically challenged person standing in the middle looks content and is smoking and offering Hamlet Cigar from the packet to the person standing left to him. Though his legs are a little bent too which mean he also wants to take a leak but his expression are very cool and calm. The moral of the advertisement is Hamlet Miniatures Cigar can satisfy you even in the dire of situations. Top right of the green tiled bathroom wall has cigar’s cover pasted. Their tagline ‘Spread a little happiness’ is placed right next to hamlet miniature cigar cover. The fonts are big and in white making it prominent on green background due to the color contrast. This advertisement received 19 complaints. It was considered offensive and vulgar. It was more of a mockery to short people. The company in its defense claimed that it was portray of problems these people face in their daily lives (BBC, 2002). Never the less, the art work conveys the message very clearly to its target audiences.

Communications Decency Act Essay

Different countries have different laws. Since different countries have different laws, internet service providers from different countries have different policies. Because of that, it will be hard to come up with a universal standard for the Internet. And enforcing that standard will be a different story on its own. â€Å"The laws concerning decency are only as good as those who are willing to abide by them† (â€Å"Grossman† internet). There have been a lot of attempts to censor the Internet. There has been an attempt to make censorship on the Internet a law, as a part of the telecommunications bill, Communications Decency Act, shortened as CDA. CDA would have made it a crime to post anything on the internet â€Å"that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards, sexual or excretory activities or organs† (â€Å"Grossman† internet). Also caught up in the internet-censorship-fervor are the software companies. Almost overnight, many companies sprang up providing parents and libraries programs that promised to filter out all the inappropriate materials on the Internet. Branched out from the filter programs are filter search engines. Basically, it is a same old search engine that puts its results through the filter engines. Another attempt to censor the Internet is made by companies that attempted to rate every website on the homepage. They are independent companies that visit each website and give it a rating. All of the attempts to censor the Internet had been ineffective. All of the past actions about Internet censorship have been, more or less, failures. The filter programs have failed to truly filter out the unwanted. It is like using mesh wires to filter out basketballs. Not only do you filter out the basketballs, you also filter out the tennis balls and golf balls. The filter programs filters by two ways: searching for keywords or blocking a list of websites previously reviewed by someone as inappropriate. When the filter program filter out websites by keyword, they also filter out a lot of appropriate and possibly useful information. For example, a website containing information about breast cancer would be blocked out because it contained the word breast. Same result would happen with a website containing a recipe for chicken breast. When the filter program uses the pre-made list to block out, it is very accurate because someone has already reviewed the website, and would not confuse a website about breast cancer with a breast fetish website. However, there are two downfalls to the method. First, there is just too many websites to review. There are literally billions of websites out there and millions of new ones being made everyday. If a staff of a thousand people reviewed day and night for a year, they still wouldn’t have gotten close to reviewing all the websites. Second, unlike books and magazines, Internet websites come and go on a snap of a finger. It doesn’t take long to create a homepage, neither does relocating it. The second a new list of â€Å"banned† website is released, it is already obsolete. Since the so-called â€Å"family-friendly† search engines are based on the same inefficient filter programs, they are also inefficient. Only a very small fraction of the Internet contains inappropriate material, however, the inefficient â€Å"family-friendly† search engines filters out around 95% of the Internet (â€Å"Faulty† internet). Even when Dr. Suess was searched, most of the websites were blocked. 2630 of the 2638 websites found in a normal search engine was blocked (â€Å"Faulty† internet). It is a fact that pornography websites tend to link themselves all over the search engine to attract the most customers. But do they really link themselves to 99. 7% of a Dr. Suess search (â€Å"Faulty† internet)? Even after they wiped out 99. 7% of the search result, one of the eight that wasn’t blocked was an inappropriate website (â€Å"Faulty† internet). It was a parody of a Dr. Suess story using details from the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson (â€Å"Faulty† internet). The companies that tried to set up a rating system have yet to succeed either. The companies have yet created an universal standard for the ratings.

Aims and Values in School. 2.5

Aims and Values of Schools: Aims: * To attempt to reach a certain goal that gives people a purpose or intension to achieve a desired outcome. * It gives people/organisastions something to follow and work towards to achieve the best outcome. * To attempt the accomplishment of a purpose; to try to gain; to endeavor and aim to do well. Values: In order to achieve goals and aims, one strives and endeavours to attain certain actions, however such actions will not be undertaken at the expense of core values. Values offer principles and standards of behaviour that people and organisations follow. Values have a major influence on a person’s behaviour and attitude and serve as guidelines in all situations. * They are ideals and beliefs shared by members of a culture about what is good or bad, desirable or undesirable. * Values offer a moral code to follow. How schools demonstrate and uphold their aims and values: Aims in schools are set out to follow guidelines and attain what the scho ols desire to achieve. The schools strive to exceed their personal objectives.The aims and objectives of the schools are set by the Head Teacher, working closely together with, parents, staff, the community and sometimes the children of the schools. Although schools mostly share the same aims and objectives, they may differ slightly as schools set out there own goals. It is important for schools to communicate with others their aims and objectives as much as possible, as this gives parents and others the opportunity to gain an impression of the schools in question. This can be done through school prospectuses, school website, and open evenings/days.The schools can also demonstrate their aims by developing links with local communities where they work to develop the aims to improve pupil’s education and environment. Looking at one school in particular, we can see how they communicate and set their aims, and whether they do this successfully. Aims 1: To maximise every child†™s potential both educationally and socially: The schools aim is to teach in a way that interests and motivates pupils and to ensure that all pupils achieve outstanding academic results relative to their ability.The school regally tests the children’s level of abilities and offers extra tuition when needed. This offers extra support on a ‘one to one’ tuition bases. The school also offers the following to maximize every child’s potential: * In year 6 all children will have in their own individual tutor. The tutor meets the child on a regular weekly basis and discusses pastoral concerns as well as academic progress. Parents are welcome, therefore, to liaise with the tutor, who will have a good knowledge and understanding of their child’s progress. At the end of each term, parents are sent full reports, including subject comments, as well as social involvement in the school. * Parents are also sent ‘marked reading slips,’ during the term , which indicate attainment and effort grades, together with comments from the tutor. * Tests are done internally through the school during various times through the school year. This allows for the teachers to monitor the pupil’s academic abilities. The school states that one of the features of the school ethos is that no two days are the same.They offer a wide range of sports and lessons to improve the child’s overall experience. They keep the children busy and offer a fun environment for learning. Sporting success is certainly a major part of life at the school in question, but they also realize that sport is about giving an opportunity for the majority of the school to work in a team, and to give them a sense of pride in their own performance. Games sessions at the school take place for all pupils every day of the week, except Thursdays, including matches on Wednesdays and Saturdays.They believe in ‘putting out' as many teams as possible on match afternoons t o include boys of all abilities. The school offers the following sports: cricket, athletics, squash, swimming, cross-country, hockey, polo, shooting, rugby, table tennis, and chess, tennis, football, athletics, golf, polo and croquet. Aim 2: To ensure that every child is treated equally regardless of race, gender, social background and special needs: Promoting equal opportunities is fundamental to the aims and ethos of the school. They welcome applications from candidates of all cultures and backgrounds.The school believes that this enriches the community and is vital in preparing the pupils for today’s world. They concentrate strongly on educating the individual, providing a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere where each individual feels valued. The school is committed to equal treatment for all, regardless of an individual’s race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, learning difficulty, body image or social background. We believe that the educationa l experience can only be enriched if children are exposed to as wide a range of cultural experiences as possible whilst they are developing.Scholarships and bursaries may be offered in order to make it possible for as many as possible who meet the school’s admission criteria to attend the school. The Headmaster, senior management team and staff play an active role in monitoring the schools policies on equal opportunities. Within their classes, assemblies, and sports they promote the following: * Interact with all children, and encourage them to work as a team. * Tolerance of each other and respect for each other’s position within the school community. * Positive images and role models to avoid prejudice and raise awareness of related issues. Foster an open-minded approach and encourage pupils to recognise the contributions made by different cultures. Bias should be recognised. * Understand why and how we will deal with offensive language and behavior. * Understand why we will deal with any incidents promptly and in a sensitive manner. * The school also offers extra English for children who are struggling with the language. A successful equal opportunities policy requires strong and positive support from parent and guardians, and full acceptance of the school’s ethos of tolerance and respect.Aim 3: To work in partnership with parent to encourage positive attitudes towards learning: A child’s home life has such a powerful effect on children’s learning especially in early years. It is important for parents to get involved and pay a keen interest in the progress of their child in school. The child not only receives skills, knowledge and intellectual stimulation but they also absorb a positive attitude towards learning and encouragement outside of school. At home parents can provide more one-to-one attention.At the school being discussed, they offer the following to encourage families to take an interest in their child’s pr ogression: * Formal meetings for parents to discuss their child’s progress with individual subject teachers are held twice a year. The school also offers parents the chance to attend informal meetings any time of the year to discuss their concerns with their child progress. * Follow a homework policy: as the school along with the Department for Education believes that, ‘Well organised homework can play a vital role in raising standards of achievement. * The school believes that homework provides the following to the child’s success: It raises children’s achievement. It consolidates and extends the work they have done in school. It helps to inform parents about their child’s schoolwork and allows parents the opportunity to support their work. It is a valuable life skill and develops good work habits for secondary school and future employment. Aim 4: To ensure a safe and secure school community: Child Protection is always a top priority at the school in question.They recognise that it is its objective and duty to safeguard from harm, and actively promote the welfare of each individual child. * Their focus is of positive welfare outcomes for the schools children and upon reducing any risks to the children while they are at school. * Their primary aim is to ensure that they create an atmosphere in the school where all children feel secure and valued. All welfare provision is directed towards this goal, whether the provision is a matter of people, premises, policies or practices. Their policies and practices follow the National Minimum Boarding Standards and are informed by the Berkshire Local Safeguarding Children Boards Child Protection Procedures. * The school states that there is no place for abuse of any kind in their community and they will do all in their power to prevent any incidents of physical, emotional or sexual abuse at the school. The school itself recognises that all staff have a full and active part to play in prot ecting the pupils from harm, and that the child’s welfare is of paramount concern.Staff at the school are reminded that the following things must be avoided at all times: * Corporal punishment, having favorites, humiliation and punishment outside of the schools disciplinary system. * Inviting individual boys into a staff room. Staff must respect privacy and private space, particularly in lavatories, changing rooms and showers. They are reminded to supervise and not watch. The school clearly states that all staff receive the relevant training in child protection and interagency working which must be updated every two years. All staff are issued with credit card sized key points for child protection. All staff who are appointed to a position in the school are subject to recruitment checks in line with DCSF Standard 4 and governors to DCSF Standard 4B, as well as in line with National Minimum Boarding Standard 14. * Risk assessments are done throughout the school to ensure that all environments are safe. * The school itself is a gated school and has CCTV cameras which provides the school with valuable information. The school’s child protection policy and procedures will be reviewed once a year by the Governing Body, including a review of the efficiency with which the related duties have been discharged.

Matters of Life and Death Essay

In a new book, A Miracle and a Privilege, Dr Francis Moore, 81, of Harvard Medical School, discusses a lifetime of grappling with the issue of when to help a patient die. An excerpt: Doctors of our generation are not newcomer to this question. Going back to my internship days, I can remember many patients in pain, sometimes in coma or delirious, with late, hopeless cancer. For many of them, we wrote an order for heavy medication – morphine by the clock. This was not talked about openly and little was written about it. It was essential, not controversial The best way to bring the problem into focus is to describe two patients whom I cared for. The first, formerly a nurse, had sustained a fractured pelvis in an automobile accident. A few day later her lungs seemed to fill up, her urine stopped, her heart developed dangerous rhythm disturbances. So there she was: in coma, on dialysis, on a breathing machine, her heartbeat maintained with an electrical device. One day after rounds, my secretary said the husband and son of the patient wanted to see me. They told me their wife and mother was obviously going to die, she was a nurse and had told her family that she never wanted this kind of terrible death, being maintained by machines. I told them that while I respected their view, there was nothing intrinsically lethal about her situation. The kidney failure she had was just the kind for which the artificial kidney was most effective. While possibly a bit reassured, they were disappointed. Here was the head surgeon, seemingly determined to keep everybody alive, no matter what When patients start to get very sick, they often seem to fall apart all at once. The reverse is also true. Within a few days, the patient’s pacemaker could be removed, and she awoke from her coma. About six months later I was again in my office. The door opened and in walked a gloriously fit woman. After some cheery words of appreciation, the father and son asked to speak to me alone. As soon as the door closed, both men became quite tearful. All that came out was, â€Å"We want you to know how wrong we were† The second patient was an 85-year-old lady whose hair caught fire while she was smoking. She arrived with a deep burn, I knew it would surely be fatal. As a remarkable coincidence, there was a similar going on at the time in medical ethics, given by the wife of an official of our university. She asked me if I had any sort of ethical problem I could bring up for discussion. I described the  case and asked the students their opinion. After the discussion, I made a remark that was, in retrospect, a serious mistake. I said, â€Å"I’ll take the word back to the nurses about her, and we will talk about it some more before we decide†. The instructor and the students were shocked: â€Å"You mean this is a real patient?† The teacher of ethics was not accustomed to being challenged by reality. In any event, I went back and met with the nurses.  A day or two later, when she was making no progress and was suffering terribly, we began to back off treatment. When she complained of pain, we gave her plenty of morphine. A great plenty. Soon she died quietly and not in pain. As a reasonable physician, you had better move ahead and do what you would want done for you. And don’t discuss it with the world first. There is a lesson here for everybody.