Thursday, October 31, 2019

Prison Gangs in the United States Research Paper

Prison Gangs in the United States - Research Paper Example First, inmates are not to interfere with other inmates, a rule which places a premium on "minding your own business." Inmates are not to inform on one another and not to place a fellow inmate in a precarious situation. The second principle commands "don't lose your head." Inmates should control their emotions during their incarceration. Third, inmates should not exploit each other. The traditional inmate code forbids racketeering, welshing on bets, stealing from other inmates, or retracting promises. Inmates have an obligation to share any wealth which they may acquire. Fourth, inmates should not show weakness or they jeopardize their masculine image. It is very important for an inmate to maintain his masculinity. Any signs of fear or cowardice will greatly harm an inmate's reputation in the prison. Finally, "don't be a sucker," in other words, prisoners should not trust the administration. This final principle demands that inmates reject the values of society represented by prison o fficials. Guards are always considered to be wrong in any dispute with inmates. The administration must not be trusted for any reason (Sykes and Messinger, 1960, p. 7-8). Adherence to the inmate code varies greatly. While most inmates make strong verbal commitment to the code, the actual behaviors of inmates often deviate from it (Ross & Richards, 2002). The inmate code serves to lessen the pains of imprisonment by increasing solidarity among the inmates (Sykes and Messinger, 1960. p. 16). By uniting inmate society, the code lessens the sense of isolation inmates often face. An inmate follows the prescription to share wealth, he can alleviate animosity and hostility. By sharing the limited wealth offered by prison society, the potential for psychological harm can be decreased substantially (Sykes and Messinger, 1960, p. 16). The threat to an inmate's masculine self  ­image can be substantially alleviated by the requirement that inmates maintain their manhood through shows of stren gth and suppression of weakness (Sykes and Messinger, 1960. p. 17). When inmates arrive in prison they undergo prison procedures which have been likened to a series of status degradation ceremonies (Cloward, 1960; Sykes, 1958). These ceremonies convey two messages to the inmate. First, they involve the "ritual destruction of the individual's identity" (Cloward, 1960, p. 20). The individual's dignity is removed as his status is lowered. The lowering of status and stripping of dignity occurs through such procedures as strip searches, assignment of identification numbers instead of names, and the provision of uniforms, all of which create a homogenous inmate society. Second, the new identity provided to the inmate is of a lower status than their previous rank as a member of free society (Cloward, 1960, p. 20). Cloward (1960) argues that prison allows inmates to enhance their status through illegitimate means. Inmates may take on several roles in their efforts to gain status within pris on culture. They may become merchants or peddlers who specialize in providing material goods to other inmates. Politicians, or "big-shots," will control the spread of information among inmates (Cloward, 1960, p. 34). These inmates will seek positions, which grant them greater freedom of movement or greater access to prison officials, allowing them to gather information. Finally, an inmate may assume the role of "right

Monday, October 28, 2019

Why Is Credentialing Important Essay Example for Free

Why Is Credentialing Important Essay Physicians in general often undergo credentialing by the medical institutions and managed care organizations they want to work for and be affiliated with. Such organizations include hospitals, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and preferred provider organizations (PPOs) which are responsible in providing quality services to their subscribers (Sobelman, 2001). According to Freed et al (2006, p. 913) â€Å"credentialing is a systematic approach to the collection, review, and verification of a practitioners professional qualification†. A practitioners qualification can be assessed based on his or her professional license, certification, educational background and preparation, clinical experience and professional activity and practices (Jones, nd). Credentialing therefore is important in evaluating and assessing the competence of medical practitioners. It is important to both the physicians and medical institutions because credentialing serves as the basis of maintaining quality health care and patient safety (Norcal, 1999, p. 1). Basically, credentialing is a necessity for almost every healthcare providers particularly the physicians for they are directly responsible for the patients treatment outcomes. Credentialing is an ongoing process (Rozovsky et al, 1994) that involves review and verification of the physicians current professional license, current, education, training, hospital privileges and levels of liability insurance as well as review of the physicians office if applicable to determine the quality of service the physician provide to his own clients (Sobelman, 2001). It is an ongoing and continuous process because of the need to ensure that the training and practices of the physicians are aligned with the changing needs of the patients. The processes involved in credentialing are necessary particularly the validation of certificates, training and current hospital privileges as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration and Controlled Drug Substance Certificates because these are very important in avoiding any possible risk and professional liabilities in which the managed care organizations can be held liable. Certificates in particular assured the public that the physician has successfully completed an accredited educational programs, examinations and evaluations, and provide assurance that the physician possess the skills, expertise, knowledge and experience required in practicing his profession (Hillemeier, 2004) When the physicians capability, scope of practice and specializations are known, risks and liabilities are avoided and managed. From this, it can be viewed that managed care organizations conduct credentialing of physicians as part of their risk management activities. Defining, risk management, â€Å" it is a planned and systematic process of reducing and/or eliminating the probability that losses will occur† (Yale New Haven Hospital, n. d). It is very common that when patients has complaints regarding the quality of care given to them, the hospital or HMO lose patients or subscribers that could have provided them better profitability. Complaints from patients and subscribers also pose threat as it can decrease the level of trust patients and the public have for the organization. Thus, managed care organizations see to it that the physicians who will work for them have undergone credentialing which must be designed to aid organizations in choosing competent physicians that has the capability of providing quality care for their patients. Organizations are aware that competent physicians are an important asset to the organization. On the part of the physicians themselves, credentialing broadens the scope of their practice. The more the credentials a physician holds, the more clinical activities he will be authorized to perform. Therefore credentialing is a process that benefits both the organization and the physicians as well as the public. Because of credentialing, physicians and organizations have aimed to improve the competence and quality of healthcare services they offer and provide. Credentialing raises the standards of healthcare organizations. References: Freed, G. , Singer, D. , Lakhani, I. , et al (2006) Use of Board Certification and Recertification of Pediatricians in Health Plan Credentialing Policies, The Journal of American Medical Association, 295:913-918 Hillemeier A, (2004). Recertification now requires a secure examination. Journal of Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. ,38:376-377 Jones, Dolores, Reimbursement, Privileging, and Credentialing for Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, Retrieved online on February 24, 2007 www.medscape.com/

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Effects of Moderate Alcohol Consumption on Oxidative Stress

Effects of Moderate Alcohol Consumption on Oxidative Stress Abstract Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction. Moderate alcohol consumption has various favourable metabolic changes. In this study Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and activities of enzymatic antioxidants namely superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT) were determined in 120 non smoker healthy males with self reported daily consumption of 90ml or 120ml of whisky and rum. 30 non smoker healthy males with no history of alcohol consumption were taken as controls. The result shows significantly elevated levels of MDA (p

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Priotities of Gene Therapy Essay -- Genetics Science Medicine Papers

Priotities of Gene Therapy Gene therapy is a relatively new area of medicine that attempts to apply recent advances in molecular biology, genetics and biotechnology to the treatment of human diseases. Gene therapy uses a set of approaches to the treatment of human disease based on the transfer of genetic material (DNA) into an individual. Gene delivery can be achieved either by direct administration of gene-containing viruses or DNA to blood or tissues, or indirectly through the introduction of cells manipulated in the laboratory to harbor foreign DNA. As a sophisticated extension of conventional medical therapy, gene therapy attempts to treat disease in an individual patient by the administration of DNA rather than a drug. (1) Genetic manipulations, such as replacing defective or missing genes with healthy ones, can be used to alter germ cells (egg or sperm) and somatic cells. Theoretically germ-line gene therapy appears to have more advantages since it aims at preventing a genetic defect from being transmitted to future generations. However, the prospects of germ-line gene therapy look more remote due to many unresolved ethical and social problems as well as technical obstacles. (2) What is presently understood as gene therapy is, mostly, somatic cell gene therapy. By altering the genetic material of somatic cells onetime cures of devastating, inherited disorders may be potentially achieved. But, "in principle, gene therapy should be applicable to many diseases for which current therapeutic approaches are ineffective or where the prospects of effective treatment appear exceedingly low." (1) However, gene therapy is still extremely new and highly experimental. The number of approved clinical trials is smal l, and relativ... ...scarbamylase deficiency. Hum Gene Ther 10(14):2419-37. 5. Lehrman, S. 1999. Virus treatment questioned after gene therapy death. Nature 401(6753):517-8. 6. Federico M. 1999. Lentiviruses as gene delivery vectors. Curr Opin Biotechnol 10(5):448-453. 7. Iwakuma, T, Y. Cui, L.J. Chang. 1999. Self-inactivating lentiviral vectors with U3 and U5 modifications. Virology 15;261(1):120-32. 8. Ropert, C. 1999. Liposomes as a gene delivery system. Braz J Med Biol Res;32(2):163-9. 9. Lanzov, V.A. 1999. Gene Targeting for Gene Therapy: Prospects. Mol Genet Metab 68(2):276-282. 10. Kren, B.T., R. Metz, R. Kumar, C.J. Steer .1999.Gene repair using chimeric RNA/DNA oligonucleotides. Semin Liver Dis 19(1):93-104. 11. Zanjani, D., W. French Anderson.1999. Prospects for in Utero Human Gene Therapy. Science 285(5436) p.2084-8. 12. New York Times, August 4, 1998.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Ai Weiwei: More Than Just an Artist

From the Sichuan earthquake To art and twitter: Ai Weiwei, more than just an artist 1 Table of Contents Introduction: the Sichuan Earthquake †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 Ai Weiwei’s Communication Tools †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 â€Å"Remembering† †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 Twitter †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Going Local to Global †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 2 Introduction: the Sichuan Earthquake On the 12th may 2008 in the Sichuan province, a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 8 on Richter’s scale occurs during the afternoon (Fawu Wang, 2009). According to an official report, 69’197 people were killed, 374’176 injured and 4. 8 Million were left homeless. Although earthquake predictions remain in a certain way always random, a scientist named Chen Xuezhong brought in 2002 evidence of a potential coming earthquake in the region (Zhiyue, 2010). It stresses that China’s government was warned of a potential coming disaster. After this short introduction, this essay will focus on the repercussions of this incident, in China as well as internationally, emphasised by Ai Weiwei’s actions through, on one hand art and on the other Internet, respectively twitter. Ai Weiwei’s Communication ToolsThe Sichuan earthquake raised strong criticism against the Chinese government, especially because of the huge number of victims among children. According to a construction engineer who published the Chinese book â€Å"Book Blade†: â€Å"School construction in China is the worst† (Li, 2008). Indeed, they are often called â€Å"tofu construction†. Several reasons cover this problematic. Among them, the tiny budgets in poor areas. This is why we find infrastructure deficits in those regions (Li, 2008). Indeed this event has raised interest and the one of a particularly renowned artist, named Ai Weiwei.In his documentary â€Å"Never sorry† Ai Weiwei explains he pursued an independent personal investigation on this accident; he wanted to find out how many children had been killed and wanted to sue the government for their deaths, because according to him, it didn’t face its responsibilities. Furthermore he reveals the difficulties encountered, due to the government’s restricted information policy, to obtain the official number of children victims (Klayman, 2012). Thus, supported by helpless parents, depressed because of their loss, he gathered the names of an important number of children killed so that they could be remembered (Helmhirst, 2012). â€Å"Remembering† Ai Weiwei is an international renowned artist with strong beliefs and personal views. As a matter of fact, he likes to use his world reputation to make the public opinion aware of the problems the Chinese population is facing because of the communist party and has always been a great defender of their rights. The Sichuan earthquake would have been hidden and forgotten in the government’s propaganda, but thanks to him and to his art creation, those students’ life will never be forgotten. Remembering† is a piece of art created by Ai Weiwei on the wall of the â€Å"Haus der Kunst† in Munich. Made with 9’000 schoolbags (McMahon, 2010), it symbolises the life of the students who died during the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan. Different colours have been chosen to decorate the schoolbags, in order to read the following phrase, written with Chinese characters, on the wall of the â€Å"Haus der Kunst†: â€Å"She lived happily for seven years in this world† (Branigan, 2011).This sentence, pronounced by the poor mother of a victim, shows how sad and tra gic this accident has been. Through this artistic work and its exposition in a cultural centre like Munich, Ai Weiwei has been able to export local Chinese problems to the rest of the world and make us aware of the repressed liberty of expression and the lack of assistance to the population in China Province, especially when it comes to people living in poor areas. In addition it expresses Ai Weiwei’s beliefs by showing us that he holds the government responsible for those high casualties.Twitter Ai Weiwei uses twitter and Internet to share his views and assess his notoriety. This tool became an essential part of Ai Weiwei’s style of communication. During the Sichuan earthquake, twitter has been used to make the people aware of the damages caused and to reveal whom Ai Weiwei holds responsible for this incident. People outside China could be informed. On the opposite, people living in the mainland of China have a restricted access to Internet, respectively twitter.Still , there are some ways to deviate from the, imposed by government, restricted freedom of speech; although the use of Internet is limited, some people in China use a VPN located outside of China to communicate within the mainland (A digital rallying cry, 2011). Thus the government’s politic, this doesn’t 4 bother Ai Weiwei who’s an active twitter user, sharing his thoughts almost daily (Twitter Ai Weiwei). As a precursor of twitter in China, Ai Weiwei considerably influenced the style of communication and the liberty of expression of Chinese people.Effectively, the following example highlights clearly those facts: when Ai Weiwei was in detention, a lot of his followers shared twitts almost every day for his liberation and manifested in the streets with the famous slogan: â€Å"Free Ai Weiwei† (Twitter Free Ai Weiwei). This shows the considerable impact he has on Chinese society. Going Local to Global The repercussions of the Sichuan earthquake can be charac terised by the influence of the western culture on the Chinese population through Ai Weiwei, respectively art and twitter.As a matter of fact Ai Weiwei has studied art both in Beijing and in New York (Wines, 2009); this certainly allowed him to draw comparisons between the Occidental and the Asian culture and to figure out which changes were to be made in the Chinese politics, for example regarding the freedom of speech. Indeed from a local incident and thanks to an international renowned artist, a positive anger in the Chinese population, against the government, has raised to fight for their rights and to freely express their opinions.Effectively, it is to be underlined that the use of twitter by the Chinese population is a relevant example for this characterisation. Conclusion In the light of these factors the Sichuan earthquake emphasises the infrastructure deficit the country is facing in Province and more importantly in poor areas. Secondly, â€Å"Remembering† is the sym bol of the anger and the sadness Ai Weiwei and the parents face regarding respectively the government and this tragic accident. Thirdly, twitter highlights a communication tool, which can easily and instantly be used. Ai Weiwei hrough a combination of these tools positively influenced the Chinese people. Although it may seem somehow utopic, Ai Weiwei with â€Å"Remembering† and twitter made a huge step forward, by making a population aware    5 how to use their rights, in the fight he struggles with the government of mainland China. Hereby, I declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. 6 7 Ai Weiwei: More Than Just an Artist From the Sichuan earthquake To art and twitter: Ai Weiwei, more than just an artist 1 Table of Contents Introduction: the Sichuan Earthquake †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 Ai Weiwei’s Communication Tools †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 â€Å"Remembering† †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 Twitter †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Going Local to Global †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 2 Introduction: the Sichuan Earthquake On the 12th may 2008 in the Sichuan province, a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 8 on Richter’s scale occurs during the afternoon (Fawu Wang, 2009). According to an official report, 69’197 people were killed, 374’176 injured and 4. 8 Million were left homeless. Although earthquake predictions remain in a certain way always random, a scientist named Chen Xuezhong brought in 2002 evidence of a potential coming earthquake in the region (Zhiyue, 2010). It stresses that China’s government was warned of a potential coming disaster. After this short introduction, this essay will focus on the repercussions of this incident, in China as well as internationally, emphasised by Ai Weiwei’s actions through, on one hand art and on the other Internet, respectively twitter. Ai Weiwei’s Communication ToolsThe Sichuan earthquake raised strong criticism against the Chinese government, especially because of the huge number of victims among children. According to a construction engineer who published the Chinese book â€Å"Book Blade†: â€Å"School construction in China is the worst† (Li, 2008). Indeed, they are often called â€Å"tofu construction†. Several reasons cover this problematic. Among them, the tiny budgets in poor areas. This is why we find infrastructure deficits in those regions (Li, 2008). Indeed this event has raised interest and the one of a particularly renowned artist, named Ai Weiwei.In his documentary â€Å"Never sorry† Ai Weiwei explains he pursued an independent personal investigation on this accident; he wanted to find out how many children had been killed and wanted to sue the government for their deaths, because according to him, it didn’t face its responsibilities. Furthermore he reveals the difficulties encountered, due to the government’s restricted information policy, to obtain the official number of children victims (Klayman, 2012). Thus, supported by helpless parents, depressed because of their loss, he gathered the names of an important number of children killed so that they could be remembered (Helmhirst, 2012). â€Å"Remembering† Ai Weiwei is an international renowned artist with strong beliefs and personal views. As a matter of fact, he likes to use his world reputation to make the public opinion aware of the problems the Chinese population is facing because of the communist party and has always been a great defender of their rights. The Sichuan earthquake would have been hidden and forgotten in the government’s propaganda, but thanks to him and to his art creation, those students’ life will never be forgotten. Remembering† is a piece of art created by Ai Weiwei on the wall of the â€Å"Haus der Kunst† in Munich. Made with 9’000 schoolbags (McMahon, 2010), it symbolises the life of the students who died during the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan. Different colours have been chosen to decorate the schoolbags, in order to read the following phrase, written with Chinese characters, on the wall of the â€Å"Haus der Kunst†: â€Å"She lived happily for seven years in this world† (Branigan, 2011).This sentence, pronounced by the poor mother of a victim, shows how sad and tra gic this accident has been. Through this artistic work and its exposition in a cultural centre like Munich, Ai Weiwei has been able to export local Chinese problems to the rest of the world and make us aware of the repressed liberty of expression and the lack of assistance to the population in China Province, especially when it comes to people living in poor areas. In addition it expresses Ai Weiwei’s beliefs by showing us that he holds the government responsible for those high casualties.Twitter Ai Weiwei uses twitter and Internet to share his views and assess his notoriety. This tool became an essential part of Ai Weiwei’s style of communication. During the Sichuan earthquake, twitter has been used to make the people aware of the damages caused and to reveal whom Ai Weiwei holds responsible for this incident. People outside China could be informed. On the opposite, people living in the mainland of China have a restricted access to Internet, respectively twitter.Still , there are some ways to deviate from the, imposed by government, restricted freedom of speech; although the use of Internet is limited, some people in China use a VPN located outside of China to communicate within the mainland (A digital rallying cry, 2011). Thus the government’s politic, this doesn’t 4 bother Ai Weiwei who’s an active twitter user, sharing his thoughts almost daily (Twitter Ai Weiwei). As a precursor of twitter in China, Ai Weiwei considerably influenced the style of communication and the liberty of expression of Chinese people.Effectively, the following example highlights clearly those facts: when Ai Weiwei was in detention, a lot of his followers shared twitts almost every day for his liberation and manifested in the streets with the famous slogan: â€Å"Free Ai Weiwei† (Twitter Free Ai Weiwei). This shows the considerable impact he has on Chinese society. Going Local to Global The repercussions of the Sichuan earthquake can be charac terised by the influence of the western culture on the Chinese population through Ai Weiwei, respectively art and twitter.As a matter of fact Ai Weiwei has studied art both in Beijing and in New York (Wines, 2009); this certainly allowed him to draw comparisons between the Occidental and the Asian culture and to figure out which changes were to be made in the Chinese politics, for example regarding the freedom of speech. Indeed from a local incident and thanks to an international renowned artist, a positive anger in the Chinese population, against the government, has raised to fight for their rights and to freely express their opinions.Effectively, it is to be underlined that the use of twitter by the Chinese population is a relevant example for this characterisation. Conclusion In the light of these factors the Sichuan earthquake emphasises the infrastructure deficit the country is facing in Province and more importantly in poor areas. Secondly, â€Å"Remembering† is the sym bol of the anger and the sadness Ai Weiwei and the parents face regarding respectively the government and this tragic accident. Thirdly, twitter highlights a communication tool, which can easily and instantly be used. Ai Weiwei hrough a combination of these tools positively influenced the Chinese people. Although it may seem somehow utopic, Ai Weiwei with â€Å"Remembering† and twitter made a huge step forward, by making a population aware    5 how to use their rights, in the fight he struggles with the government of mainland China. Hereby, I declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. 6 7

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

How to Use the Spanish Word Como

How to Use the Spanish Word Como Como is a common and useful word in Spanish that is frequently used to compare two things, persons, or actions that are similar. Como Often Equivalent to Like or As Como is frequently used as a preposition or conjunction that means like or as. Regardless of which of the two parts of speech it is used as, it is generally understood much the same way by English speakers, so this introductory lesson will look at examples of its usage as both parts of speech together. (Note: English translations used in this lesson reflect English as it is frequently spoken rather than distinguishing among proper uses of like and as.) Como nearly always means something similar to in the manner of and/or is used to make actual or implied comparisons: Piense como un millonario. (Think like a millionaire.)Dice que usa las redes sociales como un presidente moderno. (He says he uses social networks like a modern president.)Si se parece a un pato, anda como un pato y grazna como un pato, entonces es un pato. (If it seems like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then its a duck.)Te quiero, pero como amigo. (I love you, but as a friend.)No hay nadie como Francisco. (There is nobody like Francisco.) ¡No me trates como un perro! (Dont treat me like a dog!)Como tu profesor, quiero ayudarte y ser tu amiga. (As your teacher, I want to help you and be your friend.)No duermo como antes. (I dont sleep like I did before.)He decidido vestirme como quiero. (I have decided to dress myself the way I want.)Te odio como jams he odiado a nadie. (I hate you like Ive never hated anyone before.)Como era de esperar, la pelà ­cula ha batido todos los rà ©cords. (As expected, the film has broken all records.)Mà ­rame como si fuera la prim era vez. (Look at me as if it were the first time.) Salieron como si nada hubiera pasado. (They left as if nothing had happened.)El cine se lo conoce como el sà ©ptimo arte. (Cinema is known as the seventh art.)Quiero la piel como estaba antes. (I want my skin to like it was before.) Como the conjunction/preposition should not be confused with the homonym como, the first-person singular indicative form of comer that means I eat. Como in Approximations Colloquially, como is sometimes used for approximations. Typical translations include about and approximately. Tengo un primo que pesa como 200 kilogramos. (I have a cousin who weighs approximately 200 kilograms.)Maneje como dos millas pasando la gasolinera Texaco. (Drive about two miles, passing the Texaco gas station.)Al final me costà ³ como mil dà ³lares tomar el examen. (In the end, it cost me something like $1,000 to take the text.)Llevo como dos semanas intentando comprar los boletos en là ­nea para el concierto. (I spent about two weeks trying to buy the tickets online for the concert.) Using Como for How With an orthographic accent, cà ³mo becomes an adverb and is often translated as how. This occurs most often in questions and indirect questions:  ¿Cà ³mo ests? (How are you?) ¿Cà ³mo puedo adquirir un pasaporte? (How can I get a passport?) ¿Cà ³mo puede algo tan pequeà ±o hacerte sentir tan grande? (How can something so small make you feel so great?)No sà © cà ³mo bajar los fotos del servidor. (I dont know how to download the photos from the server. Note: This is an example of cà ³mo being used in an indirect question.)No me importa cà ³mo lo haces. (It doesnt matter to me how you do it.)

Monday, October 21, 2019

Free Essays on People Make History

In one of his quotes, Dr. William Clyde de Vane states â€Å"one of these things is the capacity for greatness in man- his capacity for being often the master of the event - and sometimes even more- the changer of the course of history itself.† I agree with this quote that people do make history and people can change history. People throughout that past of changed to course of history and people will continue to make history as time progress on forever and ever. In Charles Dickens novel Tale of Two Cities, we see how people make history. One major factor in how this takes place is the mob action describe by Dickens during the French Revolution and during The Terror of 1792-1794. These specific events in history were basically the cause and effect of people. The cause; rich aristocrats who didn’t’ care about the mass in general, as long as the rich were happy the poor could starve and die for all they cared. The effect; the poor, revolted and took things into their own hands. Mob mentality took over and history was made in the hands of the poor, better yet in the hands of men. But what does it take for a mob to become strong and have the strength to change and make history? In answer to that a mob needs a strong man. One person to defy the monarchy and take things into their own hands. When people see this, this drives them to do what others are doing. The whole thing with a mob is that if everyone is doing it then no one could get into trouble. Dickens describes this mob mentality during many scenes in his book but one scene that sticks out in my mind is where the mob storms the Bastille. Thousands of people are slaughtered at the hands of men and if it weren’t for the voices of few, no one would have had the courage to do that. By choosing to take part in these frivolous activities, people made history and throughout these revolutions continued down this path, making history. Another argument of how people ma... Free Essays on People Make History Free Essays on People Make History In one of his quotes, Dr. William Clyde de Vane states â€Å"one of these things is the capacity for greatness in man- his capacity for being often the master of the event - and sometimes even more- the changer of the course of history itself.† I agree with this quote that people do make history and people can change history. People throughout that past of changed to course of history and people will continue to make history as time progress on forever and ever. In Charles Dickens novel Tale of Two Cities, we see how people make history. One major factor in how this takes place is the mob action describe by Dickens during the French Revolution and during The Terror of 1792-1794. These specific events in history were basically the cause and effect of people. The cause; rich aristocrats who didn’t’ care about the mass in general, as long as the rich were happy the poor could starve and die for all they cared. The effect; the poor, revolted and took things into their own hands. Mob mentality took over and history was made in the hands of the poor, better yet in the hands of men. But what does it take for a mob to become strong and have the strength to change and make history? In answer to that a mob needs a strong man. One person to defy the monarchy and take things into their own hands. When people see this, this drives them to do what others are doing. The whole thing with a mob is that if everyone is doing it then no one could get into trouble. Dickens describes this mob mentality during many scenes in his book but one scene that sticks out in my mind is where the mob storms the Bastille. Thousands of people are slaughtered at the hands of men and if it weren’t for the voices of few, no one would have had the courage to do that. By choosing to take part in these frivolous activities, people made history and throughout these revolutions continued down this path, making history. Another argument of how people ma...