Federal and State Sentencing Essay

In 1998 the District of Columbia Sentencing and Criminal Code Revision Commission was charged with developing a comprehensive structured sentencing system for the District. The Commission concluded that the District could benefit from a comprehensive structured sentencing system. Next, the Commission embarks the difficult task of creating workable sentencing guidelines for felonies. As Washington, DC follows the lead of other jurisdictions as well as an earlier effort in the District, the Commission developed two grids: one for drug cases and one for all other cases in the direction of the dominant factors in sentencing: the offense of conviction and the criminal history of the offender. The Commission also established standards for departing from the recommended prison ranges in extraordinary cases, rules for imposing concurrent or consecutive sentences, along with adjustments and exceptions to sentencing. Together, the grids, standards, rules, adjustments and exceptions form the Voluntary Sentencing Guidelines for the District of Columbia. (ACS, 2012-pg.9) Sentencing for a felony conviction is usually heard by the judge/court in a separate hearing which is held several days or weeks after the verdict. There is so many types of offenders with varied backgrounds and criminal histories that the act of sentencing them is one of the most stressful and complex decisions made by judges. (Champion, D., Hartley, R. & Rabe, Gary. 2008, 2002). At the felony sentencing hearing, the prosecution makes a recommendation of punishment, and the defendant usually argues for leniency. The Supreme Court’s decisions that struck down state and federal criminal sentencing guidelines have caused a cascade of prediction of disaster. Shephard shows  in his study how sentencing guidelines have actually increased crime and not decreased crime. It has also been shown that in a landmark Blakely and Booker decisions, the Supreme Court had found that Washington State and federal sentencing system violated the Sixth Amendment and has identified nine other states whose regimes may also be unconstitutional (ACS, 2012-pg.9). Some guidelines were deemed invalid because they allowed the judge to determine factual issues during the sentencing that should have been decided by a jury. References ACS, (2012). Voluntary Sentencing Guidelines Manual. Retrieved, Feb. 22, 2015, from DC Sentencing and Criminal Code Revision Commission (Formerly Office of Advisory Commission on Sentencing): http://acs.dc.gov/acs/frames.asp?doc=/acs/lib/acs/pdf/2012_Voluntary_Sentencing_Guidelines_Manual.pdf Champion, D., Hartley, R. & Rabe, Gary, (2008, 2002). Sentencing and Appeals: Chapter Ten p.405, Criminal Courts: Structure, Process, and Issues -Second Edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

The Cause and Effects of Global Issue

The cause and effects of global issue Because of the development of technology, which people use to treat diseases, the deaths caused by communicable disease are decreasing all over the world. However, the deaths of Non-communicable diseases increase. Non-communicable diseases such as Diabetes, Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and cancer, which are caused mainly by the bad lifestyle result in the burden to the global economy and caused many deaths in the whole world. In this essay, firstly, the causes and effects of Diabetes will be introduced.Secondly, those things of CVD will be demonstrated. Finally, the Cancer’s cause and effect will be discussed. Diabetes is a quite widespread disease, which is caused by the lack of an important hormone called insulin. However, researches show that people who exercise less, insobriety and smoke more possibly get this disease and these factors are the primary causes of this disease (Colditz 1990, Helmrich 1991, Lynch 1996, Manson 2000, Ajani 2000). Because of the spread of this disease, people all over the world were greatly affected and it mainly includes three aspects.Above all, diabetes widely affects our health and daily life. Up to now, it’s still hard to cure diabetes. Diabetes has an excessive morbidity. DIABETES UK (2010) estimates that in 2009, 2. 6 million people in the UK were found to have diabetes and it predicted that the number would increase to 4 million people by 2025. Not only, in the UK, diabetes is also a big problem in the US. In a research (2011) shows that 25. 8 million people in the United States suffered diabetes, which represents 8. 3 percent of the total population. In other developing countries, the situation is even more difficult.In addition to the extremely high rate, diabetes always leads to other diseases like heart disease, High blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, nervous system disease. In 2004, 68 percent of people older than 65 who were died from heart disease turned ou t to have relationship with diabetes (2011). From the year 2005 to 2008, 67 percent of people who suffered diabetes have greater blood pressure than the equal level (2011). Besides, diabetes is the leading factor of factors of blindness. In 2008, a total of 20290 people were living on kidney disease in the United States.Most of them have the history of diabetes. What’s more, about 60% to 70% of people with diabetes have a tendency of developing into nervous system disease (2011). Finally, it is also an economic issue to both governments and individual. ‘The Cost of Diabetes in Europe-Type 2 study’ is the first coordinated attempt to measure total healthcare costs of Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Europe. It evaluated more than 7000 patients with Diabetes in eight countries which shows that the total costs of diabetes were estimated at the EUR 29 billion a year(Jonsson,2004).It has the same situation in other countries all over the world. In Canada for 1998, the econ omic burden of diabetes was likely to between $4. 76 and $5. 23 billion(Keith, 1998). In Sweden, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus is about 3%-4% of the population. The economic burden of diabetes is estimated at 5746 MSEK in1994. (Jonsson, 1983) CVD are the most common complication of diabetes: diabetes causes the microscopic blood vessels of the heart which brings myocardial necrosis. In addition, it also causes atherosclerotic which contributes to coronary heart disease.Myocardial necrosis and heart disease both are a kind of CVD (Goldberg, 2000). Not only are CVD caused by diabetes, but also both of them have something in common. It shows clearly the connection between CVD and unhealthy lifestyle as diabetes does (Wright, Douglas, Rahman, 2004). In other words, unhealthy lifestyle is the main factor of CVD. Unhealthy lifestyle is reflected in using of tobacco, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise and staying up late. On the one hand, with the development of social economy and the living standard improving, people have sufficient money to purchase tobacco.Consequently, tobacco is introduced into people’s life. It has an enormous negative effect on human’s health and is also one of incentives of CVD (Millett, Gray, Saxena, Netuveli, 2007). As another effect of society progress, diet style has changed a lot: people’s staple bread has changed into the high adipose and high protein instead of grain and vegetables (W. H. O. , 2005). Fat intake more than reasonable limit intake, which was the main factors of nutrition superfluous. Over nutrition causes overweight and obese people greatly increases.Overweight and obesity are the common risk factors of CVD (W. H. O. , 2005). On the other hand, the quick pace of city life produces lack of exercise and staying up late. Lack of exercise causes the obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension and hyperglycemia ( Furberg and Thune, 2003). It has been reported by Furberg and Thune (2003) the main risk factors of CVD are hyperglycemia, hypertension, hyperglycemia and obesity. As a result of staying up late, people usually feel ill next day. Phillips (2005) explained the reason why people feel sick. It is because staying up late engenders endocrine disorders.In addition, endocrine disorders will cause atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which is one of CVD (Phillips, 2005). Although the decrease of the death rates from CVD appears in some part of western countries (Slattery, Jacobs, Nichaman, 1989), it is still one of the most serious threats to humans, especially among the seniors, in developed countries where medical equipment and technology is comparatively advanced(W. H. O. ,1993). That means the current state of CVD is not that positive as it seems to be. CVD is still one of the deadliest diseases in most parts of western world.Statistics demonstrate that More than 30% of deaths in the United States were caused by CVD (Pakenham, 2010). To make matters worse, the disease, which con sidered to be solely happening in the western world, now spread to the developing countries and is becoming a worldwide leading cause of death (W. H. O. , 2005). Take China as an example, the number of patients with CVD reached 230 million in 2008, which means that 2 in 10 adults are suffering from cardiovascular disease (The Ministry of Health, 2010). As a whole, this kind of problem still remains a challenge for human beings (Pakenham, 2010).CVD not only causes large quantities of death, but also increases the enormous economic burden. People who have contracted this kind of diseases suffered unbearable cost pressure including expensive cost of drugs, of undertaking body examinations regularly and of surgery. In 2010 in China, as far as cardiovascular disease is concerned, the acute myocardial infarction costs Chinese society 1. 946 billion Yuan, while 6. 587 billion Yuan in intracranial bleeding and 9. 817 billion Yuan in cerebral infarction. (The Ministry of Health, 2010).Accord ing to China cardiovascular disease report(2010) despite of the fact of price changes, a respectively average annual growth rate of acute myocardial infarction, intracranial bleeding and cerebral infarction respect attained 34. 46%, 26. 85% and 31. 05% since 2004. China cardiovascular disease report (2010) stated that such a rapid growth of cost of CVD have a close connection with the rapid growth of the number of people and increases personal and national economic burden. Be similar to diabetes and CVD, the cancer spread very wide and quick and influence seriously. There are many factors, which can cause the increasing of Cancer.The main factor is the unhealthy lifestyle, such as alcohol abuse, inadequate diet, physical inactivity and tobacco’s use. Tobacco’s use, which has the biggest influence on human causes highest rate of cancer. The more and more use of tobacco causes the increasing of lung cancer, which has a high fatality rate. According to the J Natl Cancer I nst (1981), by far, the largest reliably known percentage is the 30% of current U. S. cancer deaths that are due to tobacco. On the other hand, the physical inactivity also causes the increasing of cancer, because the cancer is from the genic mutation.If people do fewer exercises, the more rate of genic mutation will be. So people will have a higher rate of getting cancer. Moreover, the pollution of environment causes the increasing of cancer too. It even can cause 37 forms of cancer (core-reading. No date) Because of the increasing of the cancer described above, it costs much money and influences the economy. This phenomenon not only occurs in developing countries but also in developed countries. According to the Boyle (2008), this is going to present an amazing problem at every level in every society worldwide. However, the influences in different countries are different.For example, the cost of cancer in the United States is less than 1. 73% of GDP but in the Hungary, which has a smaller population and domestic economy it is more than 3. 05% of GDP. (Global Health, 2010) This kind of difference between developing and developed countries is the result of the different degree of attention in the countries. In developing countries, the government pay more attention to the development of economy thus the control of cancer was ignored. Only when cancer becomes an evident disaster, the government will turn to treat it. However, it will cost more money, because the treatment costs more money than the prevention.The truth is that both developing and developed countries spend much money on cancer. The total economic impact of premature death and disability from cancer worldwide was $895 billion in 2008. This cost represents 1. 5 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP). This economic toll from cancer is nearly 19 percent higher than heart disease, the second-leading cause of economic loss ($895 billion and $753 billion, respectively). (Global healt h, 2010) The high cost of cancer happened because the cancer has direct and indirect influences on the economy.The direct influences include the cost of treatment and prevention of cancer and the funds which be used in research of cancer. The indirectly influences is the decrease of the productivity, because there are no longer enough healthy adults who can work for the industry. Moreover, the death of cancer is more than any other disease, especially in the developing countries. People in Butler County are more likely to die from cancer than heart disease, counter to the trend seen nationally and across the region, according to Journal News’s examination.In some developing countries, the cancer death can equal or larger than 60% of the total death in there per year(Boyle,Levin,2008). In 2008, there were 12. 4 million new case of cancer diagnosed and 7. 6 million deaths from disease (Boyle,Levin,2008). There are a number of factors, which account for the increasing of Non-com municable diseases. However, the main factor is the bad lifestyle of people. On the other hand, the Non-communicable diseases cause many deaths and loss of global economy. It has been argued that there are three kinds of Non-communicable diseases, including Diabetes, CVD and Cancer, which play the important role in NCD.These three diseases caused by the bad lifestyle such as the lack of the exercise and the superfluous or unhealthy diet. Because of the increasing of the NCD, it cost a lot of government’s money to treat it and becomes a heavy burden to the global economy. All in all, the Non-communicable diseases as a global issue result in the burden with the global economy and cause many deaths in the whole world. References Colditz GA, Willett WC, Stampfer MJ,(1990)Weight as a risk factor for clinical diabetes in women. Am J Epidemiol Helmrich SP, Ragland DR, Leung RW, Paffenbarger RS Jr.Physical activity and reduced occurrence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. N Engl J Med 1991 Lynch J, Helmrich SP, Lakka TA, et al. Moderately intense physical activities and high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness reduce risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in middle-aged men. Arch Intern Med 1996 Manson JE, Ajani UA, Liu S, Nathan DM, Hennekens CH. A prospective study of cigarette smoking and the incidence of diabetes mellitus among US male physicians. Am J Med 2000 Ajani UA, Hennekens CH, Spelsberg A, Manson JE. Alcohol consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus among US male physicians.Arch Intern Med 2000 Data from the 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet (released Jan. 26, 2011) http://www. diabetes. org/diabetes-basics/diabetes-statistics/ Revealing the cost of Type II diabetes in Europe(B Jonsson – Diabetologia, 2002 – Springer) Goldberg, K. B. (2000) Risk factor CVD in diabetic patients modification for cardiac disease. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies JT Wright Jr, JG Douglas, M Rahman(1998)Prevention of cardiovascul ar disease in hypertensive patients with normal renal function, [online]Available at <http://www. ciencedirect. com/science/article/pii/S0272638698003357 >(13/12/2011 15:27) Gerald B. Phillips(2005)Is Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease an Endocrinological Disorder? The Estrogen-Androgen Paradox, [online]Available at <http://jcem. endojournals. org/content/90/5/2708. short> (13/12/2011 15:38) ML Slattery, DR Jacobs Jr and MZ Nichaman (1989)Leisure time physical activity and coronary heart disease death. The US Railroad Study [online]Available at http://circ. ahajournals. org/content/79/2/304. short (13/12/2011 15:38)The Ministry of Health. (2010) China cardiovascular disease report, 21th Oct [online]Available at http://www. moh. gov. cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/mohbgt/s6717/201109/52995. htm(13/12/2011 15:39) world health organization report(2005) Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)not date [online]Available at http://www. who. int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs317/en/ind ex. html (13/12/2011 15:41) Making connection Unit 1 reading 2 J Natl Cancer Inst, (1981) . The causes of cancer: quantitative estimates of avoidable risks of cancer in the United States today. online]Available at<http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/sites/entrez/7017215? dopt=Abstract&holding=f1000,f1000m,isrctn> (13/12/2011 10:25) <<Core reading book>> Cancer In Developing World(2010). [online]Available at<http://www. globalhealth. org/view_top. php3? id=1056>(13/12/2011 10:26) American Cancer Society,lnc. (2010),The Global Economic [online]Available at<http://www. globalhealth. org/images/pdf/2010_cancer_report. pdf> (13/12/2011 10:34) Boyle/ P, and Levin, B. World Cancer Report (2008),

The Children’s Hour

PACE UNIVERSITY WS 296: Dealing with Difference Dr. Karla Jay Midterm Directions: Write an essay of approximately 600-800 words on two of the following questions. Lengths are suggested. Be sure to support your position with facts, details, and examples. Check your essay structure, grammar, and spelling against the checklist on Blackboard (Writing Tools). Remember to include a good opening paragraph and a conclusion! Please provide citations and a bibliography if you use outside sources.There are writing rubrics on Blackboard under the Writing Tools button. Your midterm is due March 7 at 11 p. m. (I have provided an extension. ) You will lose three points for each day your midterm is late. Your midterm will not be accepted more than a week late without a doctor’s note or other valid excuse. Follow directions for Turnitin. com. Remember that our course number is 5841197, and the password is â€Å"beebo. † (You all seem to be registered. ) Note: Please load the two essays as one file. Remember to label the file as follows: Yourname.WS269. midterm. 1. How do Willa Cather, Gertrude Stein, and Angelina Weld Grimke let lesbian readers know that they are reading a lesbian story or poem without ever using terms like â€Å"lesbian† or â€Å"third sex†? 2. Lillian Hellman said The Children’s Hour is not about lesbianism but about a â€Å"lie. † Do you agree with her? Why or why not? 3. In The Well of Loneliness, Radclyffe Hall took the position that members of the â€Å"third sex† are different from birth. Though today, some critics use different terminology and label characters like Stephen â€Å"butch,† mannish† (Esther Newton), or even â€Å"transgendered,† do you think that Hall was ahead of her time in suggesting that lesbians are biologically (essentially) different in some way? How is Stephen different from most of the other lesbians in the novel? Even Hall sees two types of lesbian. Though this e ssay allows for you to be speculative, try to ground your thoughts in some details from the novel, please. Do only one of the following questions that relate to Beebo Brinker: 4. Many lesbian novels have been banned or prosecuted for â€Å"obscenity. † Start with the trial and content of the Well of Loneliness.Then connect it to the Gathings Hearings and government concern about pulp novels like Beebo Brinker. You should consider some of the following questions: Why were they banned? Were similar non-lesbian books banned? What is the impact of banning books on lesbian readership? You MUST credit all research in the text. Please do not use Wikipedia, as it is not a reliable source. 5. What did you learn from Beebo Brinker about gay and lesbian life in Greenwich Village in the late 1950s? Don’t retell the story but use specific details of to characterize the life that people led.

Biology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 10

Biology - Essay Example All living things are composed of one (unicellular) or more (multicellular) cells. All the cells gather energy and utilize energy for growth, reproduction, repairing processes etc. Many different types of cells perform different jobs and together co-ordinate and keep living beings alive. Unicellular (one celled) organisms are bacteria and paramecium, while fungi, plants and animals are multicellular (many cells). The living things are classified into prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Bacterial cells are prokaryotes with simple structure without complex organelle system. Figure 1.A (1) shows prokaryotic cell structure of unicellular bacteria and Figure 1. B shows many bacterial cells. Bacteria are the smallest organism on our planet. Plant cells (Figure 2) (2) form plants. Animal cells (Figure 3) (3) form animals. The plants and animal cells are eukaryotes having larger size than eukaryotes and have complex organelle system. Cells put together form tissues. Tissues form organs. The organs put together form organ system. The organ systems put together make plants and animals. The organelle nucleus in the eukaryotic cell accommodates deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) which is a blueprint of our life. The DNA houses the intelligence needed to determine the characteristic shape (structure) and job (function) of all living creatures. We get this DNA from our parents which decides our physical make up, our intelligence, and it reflects our personality. DNA of a cell decides the characteristic role of that cell it has to play in our body. This double helix DNA is like a spiral staircase. DNA can be extracted from any living things and can be seen in a test tube with naked eye in the form of long ropy strings. This DNA is made up of four nucleotides A, T, C and G (Figure 4) (4). The various permutations and combinations of these nucleotides differentiate each living being. It decides who and how we should be. The human beings

Five Forces of Competition Model Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Five Forces of Competition Model - Case Study Example The second force considers the threat created by new market entrants. The railroad business requires huge capital in starting a business operation. Moreover, potential new players lack access to land that is essential for the development of rail networks. The advancement of other transportation systems also hinder the widespread investment in this industry. For current players, the market remains stable as the rate of receiving new entrants is low. The bargaining powers of buyers stands as the third force (Hill & Jones, 46). In the railroad industry, buyers possess little bargaining power. The charges incurred in transportation are a dictate of legal laws regulating prices. Therefore, buyers lack power in price control. Moreover, the importance of goods transported through rail such as agricultural products limits the bargaining power of the buyers. The fourth force suggested by Porter considers the power of suppliers. In the case of railroad transport, suppliers hold a significant power. Union Pacific Corporation notes that the companies in the trade over-rely on specific suppliers for locomotive parts. Consequently, the withdrawal of one of the suppliers serves as a major challenge for these players. Suppliers in this industry control major processes of operation. The fifth force evaluates the threat of substitutes. The transportation industry offers substitutes in the shipping and air freight industries. Shipping costs sign ificantly cheaper while air transport remains faster. However, railroads remain significant due to their large operations on the land. Their major substitutes primarily operate in the air and water. Based on this analysis, the railroad industry stands out as unattractive. Challenges of competition create substantial problems. Moreover, the high cost of operation and the power of suppliers makes the industry unstable and unsustainable by new

Some Marketers Believe That The Customer Is Always Right Essay

Some Marketers Believe That The Customer Is Always Right - Essay Example It is evident that all of these approaches cannot be regarded as the most effective strategy. Of course, all of them are to be observed and used while planning company's future. It seems that the third one provides the most favourable basis for creating effective strategy, but it also should be examined and completed. Management is an integral part of the modern society's activity. It is connected to all fields of activity and that is why it is necessary to know as much as possible about its laws and specificity. The directive philosophy in any strategic management development, no matter in the public or in private sector, are about appreciating what changes are required, how to realize and run these changes, and how to produce a schedule for supporting betterments that lead to better presentation. The problems of relationship between economy and ethics are examined and discussed by many scholars at present. More and more experts say about conflicts between these two spheres. But recently some of the most talented economists started to address most relevant problems in society at present. (Hunger) One of the founders of modern economics, Alfred Marshall wrote in his book that poverty and its elimination "give to economic studies... their chief and their highest interest". (qtd in Kabodian)But a complex structure of global economical processes today demonstrates that up-to-day ethical reflection is problematic today. And the statement of various economists to be occupied with making social "value-free" science, became a reason for ethicists and average customers to start a dialogue. (Kabodian) Amartya Sen, a scholar who was awarded Nobel Prize in Economics for establishing links between economy and ethics, states that economic strategies and methodologies are to be estimated in terms of their influence on the ability of individuals to function successfully in the society they belong to. This author points out that individuals should be treated as the agents of morality, possessing such features as responsibility, ability and freedom. The purpose, as defined by this author, is to view economic sphere and all other aspects of life through the scope of moral perspective. He adds the following remark on this topic: "What matters, finally, is how we see each other." (qtd in Hicks) It is not a secret that people are regarded and treated as customers within contemporary society. This concerns not only the sphere of consumption, but many other spheres of life, even those that are far from economy and finance. As Maier states, "In the business sector itself, "customer service," "customer satisfaction," and "customer loyalty" have become watchwords for marketing and strategic growth practices. From their market-based home, these concepts have seeped into other sectors". That is why understanding and evaluating the concept "customer is always right"

Organizational culture is fundamentally about symbolic meaning and as Essay - 2

Organizational culture is fundamentally about symbolic meaning and as such cannot be managed. Discuss - Essay Example 92). Although it is an important concept, yet organizational culture is too subjective to be defined concretely. In spite of that, an integrated, explicit, consisted, and accepted organizational culture is deemed important to achieve success in the organizational performance. Keeping this into consideration, it is quite likely that the dynamism and richness of the organizational processes may be seen, shaped, and improved with the help of the cultural lens. An organization’s culture has an eminent influence on the actions and decisions taken within the organization. The ideas, attitudes, beliefs, and values that prevail in an organization often unconsciously serve as a guide for the thinking, actions, and feelings of the employees. Developing the understanding of culture is important to describe and analyze the organizational phenomena. Culture for some is a glue that compiles and bonds all aspects and units of an organization together whereas for others, culture serves as a c ompass that provides the organizational personnel with the direction (Tharp, n.d., p. 2). ... The â€Å"culture has† view holds that corporate leaders can create and modify the culture. There are three fundamental debates; one is about concerning the way managers can make the weak culture of their company strong, the role culture plays in the innovation of a company and its rapid adjustment to the environmental changes, and the role of leaders’ management styles and vision in the management of their cultures. The â€Å"culture has† view suggests that the senior company executives should execute cultural leadership that has both an innovation and a maintenance dimension. Symbolic leadership is essentially a way by which leaders can make the employees feel that their efforts are directed at achieving something that is worthwhile. This inculcates the motivation in them to be more productive and work harder. Leaders can influence the culture this way rather than the managers. Managers serve as heroes who serve as role models for the employees of the organizat ion internally, and internally for the outside stakeholders including the customers, government, and the public at large. The managerialist view suggests that it is possible to help the employees to internalize the values of the organization. On the other hand, the â€Å"culture is† view suggests that the organizational culture is composed of a subjective reality of meanings, rites, and rituals. This is essentially a shared cognitions, social constructionist, or symbolic perspective that refutes the notion that culture constitutes any independent and objective existence that is given to the employees. The â€Å"culture is† view holds that the culture of an organization cannot be measured or quantified easily. It

Information Management and the Digital Firm Essay

Information Management and the Digital Firm - Essay Example Cloud computing comes in different forms, and example includes; SECaas, which refers to security as a service, IaaS, which deals with infrastructure and DBaas which mainly deals with databases. (Wang,, 2012). Cloud computing has five essential characteristics, and they are (Smoot and Tan, 2012), 1. Capability of pooling resource. Cloud computing can pool the resources of the providers computer in order to serve a high number of customers, through the use of a multi-tenant model. This model has different virtual and physical resources which are dynamically assigned according to the requirements of the customer. 2. It has a broad network access. The cloud computing system has a variety of capabilities which are available over the host network, and accessed through devices that promote the use of heterogeneous thick and thin platforms such as laptops, work stations and mobile phones. 3. It has an on-demand self-service system: The system allows the customer to control its capabilities s uch as server time, network storage system, and other application, and it does not need the human intervention of the system producer/ provider.The system allows customers to configure, deploy and obtain cloud computing services by their own initiative through guidance from the cloud computing catalogues. On this note therefore, developers of cloud computing technology have templates which contain configurations that the customer can use in setting up the system. These templates contain information on the cloud computing infrastructure, and information concerning servers contained in the system. These servers can perform specialized work like hosting of websites and databases (Hwang and Fox, 2012). 4. It has a measured service system. The system allows customers to monitor, control, report and provide a feedback concerning the use of the technology. The system also automatically controls and optimizes the use of the computing resources by creating a lever on the metering capability of the system. The creation of the lever on the metering capability of the system is dependent on the type of service the clouding system provides. These services might include provision of a system that allows customers to create active online accounts with the organization, storage or processing services (Hwang and Fox, 2012). 5. Its elasticity is rapid. The cloud computing system has capabilities that are provisioned elastically, and in some instances, its capabilities are automatically provisioned. Cloud computing provisions that are available for provisioning are unlimited, and it is possible to appropriate them in whichever quantity, and time is not an issue. In my own opinion, there are only some specific elements of the cloud computing system that are used in a digitally enabled business environment. The type of cloud computing system that is applicable in a business set up is the software as a service system (SaaS). In this system, it is possible to enable customers an acce ss to the databases and applications of the software. In this system, the role of the providers is to manage the platform, and infrastructure upon which the software is installed on. This system allows a business organization to reduce the costs associated with its information

Media and the phenomenon of child killers Essay

Media and the phenomenon of child killers - Essay Example The gruesome sight of the body of four-year-old Horace Millen at the beach at Dorchester Bay initially led those who had seen it to believe that it was the work of a grown man or an adult. Little did they know that such savagery was the handiwork of a boy barely out of childhood. He was sent to a reform school prior to the incident for beating up younger children and using an astounding degree of unnecessary physical force.When people began speculating about the kind of background this child might have that led him to commit such unspeakable acts of atrocity, one thing that came up was his penchant for dime novels.Sordid tales of killing and violence leapt from the pages of these dime novels, and many believe that these tales emboldened him to commit the crimes himself.From the first example of Jesse Pomeroy, recent history has had its share of child killers and child criminals. There is the Heath High School shooting where Michael Carneal, just fourteen years old, opened fire at a g roup of students praying and killed three female students while wounding five others. Two years later, in 1999, the Columbine massacre took place wherein two teenagers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killed twelve students and a teacher, and wounded twenty four others, before turning the guns on themselves and committing suicide.Just this year, on April 16, 2007, in Blacksburg, Virginia, a Korean-American by the name of Cho Seung -Hui went on a killing spree that was to become the deadliest shooting rampage in America. After the smoke had cleared, the death count was 32 bodies. Much speculation has taken place as to what might have caused children to behave in this manner. Of course, several factors came into play: mental illness, family background, a history of child abuse, teen-age social stratifications (particularly in the case of Columbine and Virginia Tech) and a host of other factors that contribute to maladjustment. However, ever since the case of Jesse Pomeroy, an accusing finger has been particularly directed towards the media. It has been said that the surfeit of violent images depicted in it that could have triggered psychological responses in the child-perpetrators. Indeed, there is no dearth of cases and examples to prove that there is a causation between media violence and violent behavior. In an article entitled "The Impact of Mass Media Violence on US Homicides", Phillips (1983, p. 560) presented "what may be the first systematic evidence suggesting that some homicides are indeed triggered by a type of mass media violence." Just a year before, he came out with another paper, with the following findings: Violent, fictional television stories trigger imitative deaths and near fatal accidents in the United States. In 19877, suicides, motor vehicle deaths and non-fatal accidents all rose immediately following soap opera suicide stories. The U.S. female suicides increased proportionally more than male suicides. Single-vehicle crashes increased more than multiple vehicle suicides.1 Several years after Phillips came out with his seminal studies, new researchers came out with evidence to support his conclusions. Cornstock2 found "a very solid relationship between viewing anti-social portrayals or violent episodes and behaving anti-socially." Even more compelling, Huesman and Erron3 published a 20-year follow up of 400 children and discovered that heavy exposure to television violence at eight years old was associated with violent crime and spouse or child abuse at age 30 and this is true for all socio-economic levels and for all levels of intelligence. More careful than her predecessors but presenting evidence equally noteworthy, Sheenan4 found that the question of the young being more vulnerable to the effect of media is a complex and difficult one to interpret precisely. The

The Juvenile Court System Essay Example for Free

The Juvenile Court System Essay The Juvenile Court is the fulcrum around which rolls the judicial machinery for the treatment of juvenile offenders.   The court may counsel and dismiss a youthful offender or allow a discharge upon the offender submitting a bond to be of good behavior.   The court may also order the commission of the juvenile offender to the care of a relative or other responsible person or to an approved school for corrective education. Oftentimes, parents or guardians are ordered to carry out a bond to exercise proper care and guardianship. The court may issue an order of probation or payment of a fine, compensation or costs. Imprisonment may be ordered as a last resort if determined that the delinquent cannot be appropriately meted out in any other conceivable means.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A state may allow youth offenders to be tried in adult courts for offenses which are serious as murder or rape.   There are ways by which a juvenile may be tried as an adult. One is through a waiver where the juvenile court judge decides whether or not a juvenile case should be transferred to a criminal court. The most popular way is for the prosecution to decide if the juvenile delinquent is to be tried in an adult court or in the juvenile court. The last one is where some offenses are excluded by the state from prosecution in juvenile courts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A landmark case concerning juvenile due process is Kent v. United States, where a 14-year old defendant was charged for robbery and rape and interrogated for seven hours until finally admitting his guilt.   Several motions were filed by the defendant but were denied by the judge without a hearing.   The case was appealed to the Court of Appeals but the same was denied.   However, the Supreme Court ruled in his favor, declaring that the accused has the right to the same due process accorded to adult offenders, such as the right to be assisted by counsel during custodial investigation and the right to access to evidence.   This case vaunted an extreme or rigorous effect on how a juvenile court dealt with a juvenile delinquent (l966). In re Gault, which is another landmark case involving the rights of the juvenile offender to due process, Gault, aged 15 was arrested when a neighbor complained that Gault and his friend had called her   and made obscene remarks over the phone.   Without due process, the juvenile was committed to an industrial school until he reaches the age of 21. At that time the Arizona Juvenile Code did not provide specified constitutional rights to the offenders. And under the Arizona law, Gault has no right to appeal. The Supreme Court held that a notice of hearing, informing the juvenile of the charges against him, the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses and the right against self-incrimination accorded to adult offender must also be provided to the young offender; that the guarantees provided by the constitution do not distinguish a juvenile offender from adult offender (Palicz). In Breed v. Jones, the respondent was only 17 years old when accused of committing acts while holding a gun.   If he was an adult the act was criminal.   The Juvenile Court held that he was guilty of a criminal offense and was again tried as an adult in California Superior Court.   The U.S. Supreme Court held that the proceeding was a violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The respondent was first tried in the juvenile court as a juvenile and again at the superior court as an adult (l975). These cases had strikingly ensued on the manner juvenile delinquents are treated.   The courts now had to afford the juvenile his rights under the constitution.   Legitimate transfer hearing must be provided and notice must be served at the right time to provide ample time for the juvenile and his family to prepare for the case.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Status offenders are juveniles committing actions if committed by adults are not considered as felony or misdemeanor, such as running away from home, smoking,  Ã‚  Ã‚   alcoholism, truancy, and incorrigibility or beyond the control of the parents.   Parents are compelled to file petition to get services from the juvenile justice system as there is little or nothing in the community that provides services or support for status offenders. If a juvenile is adjudged as incorrigible, he is placed under probation which include counseling, psychiatric examination, parenting and assessment for medication. This process is to assist the child and the family in resolving the problem and improve the child’s conduct. For those who ran away from home, the court may order a family relative or friend to take custody of the child.   However, if there is no other option, the court may decide to put the child in jail for a short term. Proceedings in the juvenile court are civil and not criminal and special terms are used for the stages in the proceedings.   There is no jury and hearings are informal, but the rules of evidence apply. In juvenile court the defendant is called respondent and the case commences by petition and not by indictment.   The juvenile may admit or deny the offense charge in the adjudicatory hearing; if the court finds the respondent dangerous, proceedings begin with a detention hearing. Adjudication must take place within 30 days after the service of the petition.   If found that the child committed the acts, a disposition hearing is held.   Adjudication and disposition hearings are two separate proceedings.   In disposition hearing, the court determines whether the respondent needs treatment or rehabilitation and whether he is delinquent. The court may order the services of care providers such as the Department of Social Service, the Board of Education, the Department of Juvenile Services to help in rehabilitating the child.   The final stage is the restitution hearing for the determination of the monetary compensation for the victim who suffered injury for the delinquent acts of the juvenile. The Juvenile Court today has adopted the significant Supreme Court rulings in the landmark cases mentioned above.   Before deciding the case, the court determines the general demeanor of the offender, home and school environment and medical history.   Every possible way to help the parents and the juvenile delinquents are being coordinated not only by the judge but also by other members of the judicial system. References Kent v. U. S. 383 U.S. 541 (1966). Supreme Court of the United States, Supreme Court Collection. Cornell University Law School.   Retrieved on October 25, 2007 from http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0383_0541_ZO.html Palicz, A. K. Review in re Gault. Retrieved on October 25, 2007 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.yria.alcade.net/essays/inregault.htm Breed v. Jones, 421 U.S. 519 (1975, May 27). U. S. Supreme Court.   Findlaw. Retrieved on October 25, 2007 from http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ getcase.pl?court=usvol=421invol=519

Critique of the poster

Critique of the poster Critique of the poster PURPOSE The purpose of my poster was to effectively present my research topic, describing my methodology and aims in a clear, precise manner. The poster needed to be a brief, well organised summary, organised in sequence, with an introduction, outline of my planned methodology, results, conclusion and references. http://connect.le.ac.uk/posters The poster needed to appeal to a specialist university audience of students and teachers, who would expect to view sufficient technical information. DESCRIPTION Reviewing my poster, I feel that its presentation on five single-sided handwritten pages of black type was confusing and lengthy. It was inadequate, bland and didnt indicate key points. EVALUATION Reviewing poster guidelines for creating and designing academic posters on Leicester Universitys Academic Poster website, I realised that mine failed to use good layout, short amounts of text, graphics, charts, or colour, to highlight key aspects of my outline research. (Feedback: Dr Chris Comber: email: 13.01.10) Visually, it only contained one font and one (black) colour, and some rather bland headings, so it was not appealing in its presentational techniques. Use of different fonts to highlight my title, introduction and chosen methodology may have shown that I had a more logical structure for my topic . My chosen picture an image of a primary school teacher facing a class during a lesson was an attempt to show an ‘effective teacher in control of a calm classroom situation. I feel, with hindsight, that the picture could have been more carefully chosen. The rather basic, uniform presentation could have used Microsoft Publisher with a set ‘template of fonts and colours, to give it a more professional and serious feel. My handwritten version perhaps looked rushed and hurriedly assembled and reflected my own lack of technical expertise and confidence in creating an academic poster. There were also a lack of references in support of my very general points and assertions (eg how teachers are ‘challenged; ‘lack of support; ‘teachers are blamed for everything and so on, identified in my research background. I really should have made it clear that I was outlining from professional experience as a primary teacher in Greece, or made it clear I had sourced these terms. Feedback: Dr Chris Comber: email: 13.01.10) Finally, I realise that I should have more closely defined (using literature) effective and successful teacher (referenced back to research). Feedback: Dr Chris Comber: email: 13.01.10. Overall, the disadvantage of my poster was that I didnt properly define my methodology, clearly arguing the case for undertaking a case study. I should also have perhaps outlined how I would collate and present my case study. I should also have read up on poster sites including Leicester Universitys http://connect.le.ac.uk/posters to see their stage-by-stage guide to creating effective posters which are eye-catching and convey the right academic information. I should have presented the strengths and weaknesses of such a case study, summarised into key points, more clearly. I should have referenced my main summarised points for the case study drawing a more careful distinction between personal and professional experiences and literature into ‘effective and ‘successful teaching. On these two words, I should have defined them precisely. They are used too vaguely. ATTACHMENT A template copy of what I should have done, approximately, is attached for your information. The source of this template is http://connect.le.ac.uk/posters: 5

History of, and Impact of Cinema

History of, and Impact of Cinema INTRODUCTION Cinema is one of the few mediums which have managed to successfully depict the true reality of society in general and our lives in particular. As like other art forms, it depicts the multiple realties that one is faced with. It explores one of the most discarded yet eternal truths which every individual experiences and that is isolation. Each individual longs for social ties despite belonging to organized societies; it is what each one of us is ultimately reduced to. A Short filmis a technical description originally coined in theIndian film industryand used in the North American film industry in the early period ofcinema. The description is now used almost interchangeably withshort subject. Although the North American definition generally refers to films between 20 and 40 minutes, the definition refers to much shorter films inEurope,Latin AmericaandAustralasia. InNew Zealand, for instance, the description can be used to describe any film that has duration longer than one minute and shorter than 15 minutes. The North American definition also tends to focus much more on character whereas the European and Australasian forms tend to depend much more on visual drama and plot twists. In this way, the North American form can be understood to be a derivation of the feature film form, usually acting as a platform for aspirant Hollywood directors. Elsewhere, short films tend to work as showcases for cinematographers and commercial directors. (Short Film) A short film manages to tell the same tale as a full length feature film, but in a shorter duration of time. It is characterized by the directors reflection of the existing social, political and economic conditions. A short film narrative is one which can easily be created by people from all walks of life, it has universal applicability. It enables directors functioning on a small budget to tell their stories to the world. The talent in creating a short film lies in communicating the message of the film to the audience in a very limited period of time. The transitions in a short film are of critical importance. What I find intriguing is how any person imbibes from their existing social conditions and produce work which is effectively communicable to most individuals. Another reason to dwell into this topic of research is that many youngsters and amateurs start by making short films and use it as a path to grow. AsDaniel Wiernicki states, â€Å"Short films are often popular as first steps into the film industry among young filmmakers. This is because they are cheaper and easier to make, and also their length makes shorts more likely to be watched by financial backers and others who want some demonstration of a filmmakers ability. Many things can be achieved by creating a short film so are an ideal opportunity to get recognized and get into the industry.† (Wiernicki) Through this dissertation, I aim to explore the world of short films in the context of movies which have won the CannesShort Film Palme dOr(French:Palme dOr du court mÃÆ' ©trage), which is the highest prize given to ashort film at theCannes Film Festival. These short films are a representation of different cultures, ideologies, people, religion, economic background, and political thoughts and history from across the world that come together on one platform and showcase their art. The cinema is not an art which films life: the cinema is something between art and life. Unlike painting and literature, the cinema both gives to life and takes from it, and I try to render this concept in my films. Literature and painting both exist as art from the very start; the cinema doesnt. Jean- Luc Godard LITERATURE REVIEW Throughout our history, humans have looked for different forms of expressing themselves. These expressions were in the form of poetry, literature, songs, plays, dancing, etc. films are one of the latest forms of expression that has been adopted by the people around the world to portray their views on their surroundings, any event, or moment that captivates them and they want to show it to the world. The beauty of the films nowadays is that you can detract from reality and present something beyond the human imagination at the same time one can present the harsh realities of life that some dont know about. Films as a medium of communications can be used to spread ones message or view across the world. History of Cinema(History of Film) The birth of the films happened in 1878, when Eadweard Muybridge recorded a horse running in fast motion using a series of 24 stereoscopic cameras. With the development of technology came of the ‘Silent era. Till the 1920s movies were silent, though at times they were accompanied by musicians, sound effects, or even commentary at times. 1940s to 60s- War and Post War Cinema The wartime saw immense change in the cinema as more focus was given to propaganda and patriotic films. Films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Citizen Cane were pieces of this period. The cold war era brought movies filled with paranoia such as Invading Armies of Evil Aliens and anti- communist movies such as the Manchurian Candidate. The onset of television in the post war era also threatened the cinematic industry as a medium of watching films. During this Period, Asian Cinema specifically saw a golden age. Some of the greatest masterpieces of the Asian cinema were produced during this period. These include works like: Yasujiro OzusTokyo Story(1953),Satyajit RaysThe Apu Trilogy(1955-1959) andThe Music Room(1958),Kenji MizoguchisUgetsu(1954) andSansho the Bailiff(1954),Raj KapoorsAwaara(1951),Mikio NarusesFloating Clouds(1955),Guru DuttsPyaasa(1957) andKaagaz Ke Phool(1959), and theAkira Kurosawa films Rashomon (1950), Ikiru(1952),Seven Samurai(1954) andThrone of Blood(1957). 1970s: Post-classical cinema This term is used to describe the period following the decline of thestudio systemduring the 1950s and 1960s and the end of theproduction code. During the 1970s, filmmakers increasingly depicted explicit sexual content and showed gunfight and battle scenes that included graphic images of bloody deaths. The 1980s were filled with movies releasing with sequels like Star Wars, Jaws, and Indiana Jones. The audience also started to watch movies on their VCR at home during this period. 1990s to present: Contemporary Cinema The 1990s saw the development of the independent cinema with commercial success. Special effects also ruled during this period as it was being heavily used by the successful movies of the period like: Terminator 2: Judgment Day(1991) andTitanic(1997). During the 2000s, documentary genre of film making also rose as can be seen with the success of movies such as March of the Penguins, and Fahrenheit 9/11. Increase in the problem of digital distribution due to infringement of copyrights, and piracy also has reached heights during this period. Cinema as a whole during this decade has become more global with foreign-language films gaining popularity in English-speaking markets. Films such as City of Gods (Portugese), Lagaan (Hindi), and the Passion of the Christ (Aramaic). â€Å"Some have described the prevailing style of the period aspostmodernbecause many contemporary films are apolitical, ahistorical, intertextual, and less tied to the conventions of a single genre or culture. The transnational circulation and genre hybridity of contemporary films is exemplified by the increasing global popularity of non- English speaking cinema.† (Film Studies, 2009) Major Genres of Films: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime Gangster films, Drama, Epic/ Historical films, Horror, Musical, Science fiction, War (anti- war), Western, and Eastern films. Theyare broad enough to accommodate practically any film ever made, although film categories can never be precise. By isolating the various elements in a film and categorizing them in genres, it is possible to easily evaluate a film within its genre and allow for meaningful comparisons and some judgments on greatness. Films werenotreally subjected to genre analysis by film historians until the 1970s. All films have at least one major genre, although there are a number of films that are considered crossbreeds or hybrids with three or four overlapping genre (orsub-genre) types that identify them. (Dirks) History of Short Films ‘Short subject a name initially given to Short Films came into existence in the 1910s when the majority of the feature movies were being made into loner run-time editions. The name ‘short subject is an American film industry term, which was assigned to any film within 20 minutes long or running two reels. Short subject films could be comedy, animated, or live action. One of the best known users of short subject was Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chaplin. In 1930s came the slowdown of the short subjects, basically produced by Warner Bros and Famous studios that owned their own theatres to showcase the films. By 1995s, the rise of television led to the strangulation of the live action- short and at the same time the fall cartoon short. Since the 1960s, majority of the directors of short films have been special studio projects or independent film makers. Since the 1980s, short film term was being used for short subject. Short film as a term describes the non- commercial film that is much shorter in time length than a feature film/ an analogy that can be drawn for short film to a feature film is that of a novella and a novel. The short filmmakers heavily depend on the short film festivals and art exhibitions to showcase their short films. At the same time, these film makers have more freedom to take up more difficult topics than normal feature films as the risks are lower. Short film making is now a growing as more and more amateurs, students, common man, and enthusiasts are taking this up because of the affordability of the technology to make such films. At the same time one can showcase his work to the world by uploading it on web portals and sharing it with others. It is an area where people are turning to as a hobby, as an art, to achieve their form expressions. (Wiernicki) Festival de Cannes The Festival is an apolitical no-mans-land, a microcosm of what the world would be like if people could contact each other directly and speak the same language. Jean Cocteau Being first large international cultural event after the World War II, the Festival de Cannes opened on 20th September, 1946. The Palme dOr was created in 1955. Palme dOr became the enduring symbol of the Cannes Film Festival, awarded each and every year since to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition. At present, Festival de Cannes invites film makers from around the world to present their work in one place and exchange cultural experiences. The selections for the awards are done from a nomination of films from all over the world, from different socio-economic backgrounds, different cultures, and different historical backgrounds. Cannes offers an opportunity to determine a particular countrys image of its cinema. Festival de Cannes is a melting pot of global cinema and filmmakers. This is the reason why I have undertaken the study of the award winning short films at festival de Cannes. (Festival History) KNOWLEDGE GAP Looking at the current literature review, we see that there is a knowledge gap regarding the study of Short Films in the contemporary cinema as a communication medium. This subject requires an in-depth analysis and more research to come up with some perspectives in this area. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES To take selected works of Short Films of contemporary cinema, last ten years winner of Cannes Palme dOr du court mÃÆ' ©trage (1999-2009), and analyse the context and form of Short films. Content of the winners of the Cannes Short Film awards (1999-2009) in context of political, sociological, economical, and historical backgrounds. To study the narrative codes in the films to arrive at a deeper understanding of the short films. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The Qualitative research methodology is used in this study. The method would involve content analysis (Roland Barthes), text/narrative analysis and semiotic analysis of the movies. The Sample: The Short Film award winners of Palme dOr du court mÃÆ' ©trage (Cannes Short Film Palme dOr) in Festival de Cannes in the last 10 years (1999-2009). The following Short Films have been selected for the study: Arena Megatron Ver Llover Sniffer Podorozhni Trafic Cracker Bag Eso Utan Bean Cake Anino Why the above Sample? The above following sample has been chosen for the reason being that theFestival de Cannes(le Festival de Cannes), founded in 1946, is one of the worlds oldest, finest and most prestigiousfilm festivals which has a very good representation of directors from across the world from different cultural, political, historical, religious, economical, and sociological backgrounds. This provides us with a variety of content for our study. The above movies are selected also on the basis of them being a part of contemporary cinema. How to Study Short Films Some of the salient points/ questions that will be used to do this study of short films are as follows: 1. Who is telling the story? Why is it being told? Does it appear to have a purpose? (media agencies, authorial voice, writers and auteurs, marketing, economics, ideology) 2. How is it experienced? Who consumes it, where and in what way? (readers and media audiences- private and public experience, narrative structures) 3. How is it made? (film technology, publishing and episodic publishing-the differences they make to the production process as well as to the finished product) 4. How does it construct meaning? (film language and written language-expectations of audiences and readers, codes and conventions, narrative structures) 5. How does it represent its subject- especially with reference to period? (representation, use of stereotypes, representation of the past) (FILM STUDY GUIDE FOR TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, 2003) 6. Three Ways of Thinking Talking About Films(Wilder, 1997) Literary Aspects Dramatic Aspects Cinematic Aspects Who are the characters in the film? Did the actors make you forget they were acting? How? What vivid visual images did you note? What did they make you feel or think about? What is the films setting? Were costumes, make-up, and set equally important to the success of the film? What sounds or music do you remember? What did they make you feel or think about? What are the main plot elements? In what scene was an actors voice (pitch, volume, expression) particularly effective? What scenes can you understand even without dialogue? Why? From whose point of view is the story told? Select a scene that must have been difficult to act. How did the actor make his or her body movements appropriate and convincing? What scene has very effective or unusual editing? What is the theme of the film? Describe a scene in which facial expression was important. What feelings were developed? Were words necessary? If the film uses special effects, do they add to or detract from your enjoyment of the film? What is the mood of the film? Did the actors establish their characters more through dialogue or through movement and facial expressions? What symbols did you notice? How is this film like or unlike other films by the director? Does this director have a recognizable style? Was there anything about the acting, set, or costumes that bothered you or interfered with your watching of the film? EXPECTED CONTRIBUTION Given that the art of making Short Films is on the upward trend it is necessary to analyze the current trends, narratives, and the context of the Short Films genre in our contemporary cinema. We have enough knowledge on feature length movies but we lack information on the Short Films of our age. The study of this medium is important as Short films are a highly effective medium of communication and will gain importance going forward. As more and more people are turning towards Short Film making due to accessibility to technology, it is one field that needs attention in our world of cinema. A study of its content will give us a better understanding of the Short Films and world around us through their camera scope is imperative.

Belonging and Difference in Imagined Communities Essay -- Media Commun

Belonging and Difference in Imagined Communities Much recent theory has been concerned with defining and examining 'new media': the forms of communication and mediation that have arisen through advances in electronics and digital technologies. These new media forms and the speed of their dissemination are paralleled by faster transportation and the movement and subsequent settlement of peoples across the globe in what has come to be called 'diaspora'. The situation is such that many of the old boundaries and barriers by which nations defined themselves have become less certain, challenged by the increasing power of people to move across them whether literally or figuratively. Diaspora has become a term in academic parlance that is associated with the experience of travel or the introduction of ambiguity into discourses of home and belonging. It is in some ways a reaction to liberal ideas of multiculturalism. Diasporic subjects often seem to be under the 'law of the hyphen' (Mishra, 421-237), they defy 'classical epistemologies' and 'jostle to find room in a space that has yet to be semanticized, the dash between two surrounding words'. Today, there are many more people whose bodies do not 'signify an unproblematic identity of selves with nations' (Mishra, 431). According to Vijay Mishra, this gives rise to the creation in plural/multicultural societies of an 'impure genre of the hyphenated subject' (Mishra, 433). This subject is in search of an ultimate national identity, with the meaning of such unwieldy nomenclatures as African-American, Asian-Australian and the like not coming to rest on either constitutive term, but being 'lost' somewhere in the hyphen. New media both exacerbate and alleviate this exilic consciousness... .... New York, Hampton Press, 1996, p 132. Mishra, Vijay. â€Å"The Diasporic Imaginary: Theorizing the Indian Diaspora.† Textual Practice 10:3: (1996): 421-237. Papastergiadis, Nikos. â€Å"Introduction: In Home in Modernity.† In Dialogues in the Diasporas, New York University Press, 1998. Shohat, Ella. â€Å"By the Bitstream of Babylon: Cyberfrontiers and Diasporic vistas.† Home, Exile, Homestead: Film, Media and the Politics of Place, ed Hamid Naficy, NY, Routledge, 1998, p 219. Sinfield, Alan. â€Å"Diaspora and Hybridity: Queer Identities and the Ethnicity Model.† Textual Practice 10:2, 1996, p 271-293. Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. â€Å"Diasporas old and new: women in the transnational world.† Textual Practice 10:2, 1996, p 245-269. Tepper, Michele. "Usenet Communities and the Cultural Politics of Information" in Internet Culture, ed. Porter, D. Routledge, London, 1997.

Contraception Defies Gods Will Essays -- Morals Birth Control Argumen

Contraception Defies God's Will   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The use of contraception was never as widely proclaimed and exhibited as it is now. The use of contraception has become so mainstream, that it is now â€Å"normal† for even teens to use these contraceptives. Schools promote the use of this once taboo practice of artificial birth control, and partake in the distribution of condoms amongst students. This is a clear example of how modern society and its practices can change the way people act morally and physically.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many Catholics who use contraceptives instead of family planning. This is not accepted by the Catholic Church, and is considered to be wrong. Catholics believe that sexual intercourse is a gift that was given to this earth by God, only to reproduce. This belief is clearly over looked by many people today, not only Catholics. Sex is used a tool for pleasure and to fulfill sexual desire. Outside of marriage, sexual intercourse should not be practiced. This is a blatant dishonoring of what God proclaimed to his followers, and is also considered a sin. The predominant reason why people use contraceptives is to avoid the risk of unwanted pregnancy and also to try to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. This is going against the will of God, and in the Catholic community it is unlawful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many activists who are against the use of contraceptives. Some of these people hold seminars and demonstrations that portray their opinions that are in the nature agai...

Evaluation of a set of three health-related websites

In this paper, we evaluate a set of three medical related websites namely www.nln.org for the National league of Nursing, www.nursingworld.org for the American Nursing Association, www.ama-assn.org for the American Medical Association and the https://www.ncsbn.org/ for the National Council for State boards in Nursing. We also evaluate an Archives resource site namely http://thomas.loc.gov or the Thomas, the website of the Library of Congress of the United States of America.Prior to presenting the evaluation we briefly describe each website: the purpose of these sites and their current set-up. We then go into the evaluation proper where we analyze the overall content, style and functionality of each site. In the overall content of the websites the quality of the information being presented and the comprehensiveness of the information is assessed. Moreover, how current the information located in the websites and where they were derived or from what authority this information was derive d is also assessed. Lastly, in evaluating the style and functionality of the sites we take into consideration the layout or the manner content is presented within the sites, ease in navigating the sites, its compatibility with respect to various browsers, information space with respect to advertising pages, and the speed upon which it is accessed through the internet.The first of the sites to be evaluated is www.nursingworld.org, the official website of the American Nursing Association (ANA). Briefly, ‘ANA is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.9 million registered nurses (RNs) (About the American Nurses association, http://www.nursingworld.org/about/)’ that advances nursing through imbibing high standards, promoting the economic welfare in their workplace and by proactively lobbying governmental agencies on issues affecting them.For the overall content, the website contains comprehensive and relevant information supportive of the purpose of ANA mentioned previously. The site has sections on information and services, newsroom and nursing issues/programs that sustain continuous support for promoting high standards in the nursing practice. It also has a section for showing their advocacies and initiatives for nurses’ general welfare, with sub-sections directing users to view publications relevant to nurses in the United States. As for the currency of the documents, the documents are up to date with uploaded documents as latest as January 11, 2007 (‘Press releases from the American Nurses Association†, http://www.nursingworld.org/pressrel/). As for the authority of the documents published, the documents that are published have their corresponding sources accompanying them. All these information are presented in a notably clear and concise fashion.For the style and functionality of the website, the overall layout is easily understandable. The site can be easily navigated and the information is clearly sorted out for easy access, even though the site carries a lot of information it is surprisingly accessible. On the other hand, the address of the site (www.nursingworld.org) is a bit misleading if you were to guess what would be the site of ANA and a name as www.ana.org or www.americannursingassociation.org may have been the better URL. The use of images instead of flash movies may have the decreased the site’s overall aesthetic impact to the user but without the use of flash movies, the site can then be easily accessible from any computer with varying internet speed with information prompting fast. Lastly for the evaluation of the www.nursingworld.org, the information relative to the advertisements, they are separated clearly in order to reduce the clutter and make browsing easier.The second site is www.ama-assn.org or the American Medical Association (AMA). AMA ‘helps doctors help patients by uniting physicians nationwide to work on the most important profes sional and public health issues’ (‘The AMA mission’, http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1815.html). Although it is similar to the initiatives and programs of ANA, AMA has a wider market as it focuses on the entire medical profession.For the overall content of the site, it has similarities as that of the ANA site, with additions of ‘professional resources section’ for medical practitioners and ‘med school & residency site‘ for medical students. Most of the information is up to date except for the annual report is only has the 2005 annual report. In addition, the site’s information is taken from credible sources, which are also accessible in the site.  As for the overall layout of the site, the vast information is batched together in a clear and easily understandable manner such that users can browse through the site easily. The site utilizes flash movies that make the site more appealing and further imbibes to the users the vision and mission of AMA. Apart from what was mentioned above, there are however no significant or innovative means of presenting data seen from the ANA and the AMA site.The third website is www.nln.org which is the site for the National League for Nursing (NLN). The purpose of NLN is similar to that of ANA but is slightly varied. According to its purpose (http://www.nln.org/aboutnln/ourmission.htm), the NLN ‘advances excellence in nursing education that prepares the nursing workforce to meet the needs of diverse populations in an ever-changing healthcare environment.’ This purpose is done through achieving the goals of Nursing education, Faculty development, Research in Nursing Education, Data collection, assessment and evaluation and Public Policy.For the overall content of the site, information pertinent to the goals mentioned above is clearly visible. Users who wish to participate in achieving one of the goals or for anyone who would just want to browse through the site can easily go to a specific heading and see its related sections. In terms of the currency of the documents, most of the documents are up to date however there are some documents such as the calendar of activities of NLN, which are still in need of updating (the calendar is still 2006).As for the overall layout, the site has a asymmetric design, departing from the modular and common website design that sets it apart from the rest of the websites being evaluated although the site uses only simple graphics to present its content. The site can easily be navigated, with information clearly divided and grouped together into concise headings that make it easier to browse through. Lastly, uploading time for the site is suitable for users with varying Internet bandwidths due to its low-memory web design, thus information no matter the manner of Internet access can easily acquire information.Another site evaluated is https://www.ncsbn.org/, the site for the National Council for State B oards for Nursing (NCSBN). The NCSBN is a United States-state wide organization aiming to promote and advance regulatory excellence in Nursing for public protection (‘Mission and Values,’ https://www.ncsbn.org/182.htm).For the overall content of the site, it has comprehensive content mostly pertaining to the nursing profession and for the regulatory nursing boards, each other that implies that their site presents specific, relevant and concise information that complement each other. The documents are well cited with authorities in the field clearly stated accompanying any research or paper they did for NCSBN. Overall the site is up to date, with sections for instance the calendar of activities that go as far presenting dates of activities for this year in advance, which is good for most people. However there are sections in the site that still need to be updated, sections such as the News releases and the annual report.As for the style and functionality, the site is mor e â€Å"cleaner† than the others in terms of the layout. The information is presented in such a way that even though there is a lot of information presented, the website is still able to present it in a simple manner that would not make the user â€Å"disoriented.† The site can be easily navigated with all the information easily accessible. The site however goes back to the symmetric design unlike the site of NLN. The site utilizes simple flash presentations in their homepage that gives an additional aesthetic impact to the user.Lastly, we evaluate http://thomas.loc.gov/, the site for the Library of Congress of the United States of America. According to the section describing the site (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/abt_thom.html), ‘THOMAS was launched in January of 1995, at the inception of the 104th Congress. The leadership of the 104th Congress directed the Library of Congress to make federal legislative information freely available to the public.’ Currentl y is being maintained by the Library of Congress.For the overall content of the site, its presents a multitude of information as concise as possible yet the site still appears to be heavily cluttered with information. However as compared to the other sites and the content they hold, Thomas is appreciably easy to understand-simple as it possibly can. In terms of the authority, the information presented by the Thomas is undoubtedly accurate and comes from directly from the source that is Congress. In addition, the documents stored in the site are the most current in the field, with daily updates coming directly from Congress. Links are also presented in the site that are relevant to users who wish to browse other relevant legislation.In terms of style and functionality, the Thomas has a simple layout and aesthetic appearance as compared to the other sites. The main page is a bit cluttered so there is a possibility that first time users might get lost with regards to the immense inform ation being presented and the one the user wishes to find. However the site boasts of a search engine for their database that is incredibly useful for users and researchers that would want to find the necessary information which adds up to the overall functionality of the website. Lastly, due to its simple web design, the site can be easily accessed with any Internet bandwidth at any location at any time.References:1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The American Nursing Association. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.nursingworld.org2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The American Medical Association. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.ama-assn.org3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Thomas, Library of Congress. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.thomas.loc.gov4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The National League for Nursing. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.nln.org5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The National Council of State boards of Nursing. Retrieved Jan 13, 2006 from www.ncsbn.org

Compare Reunion Two Kinds Essay

It often surprises me how different individuals from different cultures and backgrounds all come together in one country and share many experiences. Individuals like Amy Tan who was born among Chinese immigrants, John Cheever from Massachusetts and Louise Erdrich who comes from a Chippewa Indian and German background and was born in Minnesota. A vast variety of origins and they all come to have several good or bad things in common in their work. Hardships of immigration is stated or implied in these pieces as well as parent-child relationship. Nearly all of them carry a sense of determination of different levels and stories of this kind not unlike the ones examined in this piece have a blend, colorless and depressing tone. â€Å"â€Å"Pleading child† was shorter but slower, â€Å"Perfectly Contented† was longer but faster and after I played them both I realized they were two halves of the same song† (Tan, 105) Now I usually avoid long quotations but this one by Tan should be engraved on gold and kept in the museum of great metaphors. Growing into your long and fast adulthood through your short and slow childhood is indirectly implied throughout Cheever’s Reunion as well. Here is a confession: When I read that last paragraph of Tans two kinds I got goose bumps. The Last sentence is the strongest and most beautiful ending I have ever read. That moment of clarity was more audible than the construction workers who made it nearly impossible for me to focus on the story as I read it. The Red Convertible on the other hand is of a different style, and looks at the relationship between Henry and Lyman. Two brothers who are in excellent terms and Erdrich emphasizes on that point by mentioning the trust they have for one another. They buy a flashy car together and that is the proof to the argument. A wise man once told me that â€Å"War will burn your soul and from your ashes it shall raise a new person†. I sensed a close relation to that quote reading Erdrich’s story. As Henry is dramatically changed after witnessing what went down in Vietnam first hand. The most interesting story award by far goes to â€Å"Reunion† by Cheever. One of the most interesting points in that piece was the fact that the son never showed any disapproval toward his father’s behavior no matter how out of line he went. Which implies the conflict the son had inside although never mentioned in the story. The conflict between his pre-approved father as he thinks to himself â€Å"I wish someone saw us together† (cheever, 106) and his own sense of right and wrong. How could someone seem so proper and successful and act like a drunken fool simultaneously . A potion of confusion and amazement that will take him years or decades to digest. Not unlike the confusion that accompanied Jeng mei trough her childhood and teen age. While the undeniable respect for a parent is carved into her brain, she sees her mom as a rival. Preventing all of her be-myself teenage dreams to come true. The tone of a story is like the background music to a scene from a romantic movie. It could either make it or ruin it for the audience. â€Å"Two Kinds† will bring your eyebrows closer to each other while â€Å"Reunion† will raise them up to the top of your forehead. â€Å"Two kinds† takes place in china town –not the best part of New York City – . An immigrant mother with broken English who yells at Jeng Mei for every mistake she makes on top of that, is definitely not helping her cause. The story does not calm down until the very end and when it does it is superb. While on the nearly parallel line reunion never changed its tone. It goes from blend to blend. It is amusing all along but it definitely misses a good climax maybe not as exotic as Tan’s but â€Å"And that’s the last time I saw my father† and the format has ended way too many stories. I see â€Å"Reunion† by Cheever and Tan’s â€Å"Two Kinds† as a closer match up and â€Å"The red convertible† is just as distant to the rest as its title is. The story still shares the common conflicts but the other two get into much more details and as a reader who has come from a third world country and has seen poverty and prosperity living next door to each other I can very much relate to them.

Time and Health Nursing

nur/405 University of Phoenix Material History of Community Nursing Matrix Complete the matrix with the following concepts, and relate the concepts to two different periods of time in history and the present time: †¢ Describe each period briefly. †¢ Clarify the differences during each period with public health nursing and community health nursing. †¢ Describe the key health issues. †¢ Identify community health partnerships used during this period of time. †¢ Describe how Watson’s Theory of Human Transpersonal Caring is related. |Historical time |Nursing role in |Major health issues |Partnerships used |Watson’s theory | | |period |community | | | | |Past period 1 |Florence Nightingale |Florence Nightingale |Infection with bacteria |Nightingale used rich and |Watson’s theory of | | |in 1860 |developed nursing |such as E. oli, |upstanding people in the |caring was based on | | | |programs for students as|Pseudomonas, Staph, |community to hel p her with |caring for the | | | |well as a form of |blood borne diseases, |her goal of creating more |patients and | | | |nursing where nurses |and airborne disease |schools and promoting |environment. | | |took care of sick people|from caregivers not |public health nursing. |Nightingale and | | | |within the home. Her |using universal |Most people noticed the |Watson’s vision was | | | |emphasis for this care |precautions with good |problem in the community |related in this way | | | |was on sanitation, |hand washing. and willing to help, such |because environment | | | |prevention of illnesses,|Sanitation and |as Rathbone Liverpool who |according to them | | | |and the actual education|cleanliness was another |helped create more schools |both is a part of | | | |of nurses caring for the|issue. Nightingale |to educate women in the |healing, and as | | | |sick. wanted to make sure |community about the |nurses we should pay | | | | |people were in a clean |importance of publi c health|attention to the | | | | |environment to promote |nursing and the need for |patient, families, | | | | |healing and sanitation |sanitation and promotion of|and the things around| | | | |was an important part of|wellness (Healthline, |them to promote | | | | |her program. |2008). |comfort and | | | | | | |relaxation which in | | | | | | |return helps them to | | | | | | |heal. |Past period 2 |Lillian Wald in the |Wald was known as the |The health issues were |When she began to extend |Watson and Wald were | | |late 1800s |pioneer of modern day |the same as far as |her work, it attracted the |similar because they | | | |public health nursing in|infection and |attention of philanthropist|both wanted to | | | |the United States |sanitation, nurses not |Jacob Schiff who then |promote education in | | | |(Healthline, 2008). She|practicing good hand |offered money and time |nurses to promote | | | |directed her focus of |washing, but Wald took |secretly because he was |health and wellbeing. | | | |nursing similar to |it a step further and |Jewish and this was the |Wald cared about the | | | |Nightingale’s.She |focused on people lives |large population of people |community and the | | | |started out in New York |outside of health also. |she was caring for |expansion of people’s| | | |training nurses and they|She taught people how to|(Healthline 2008). With |horizons and she | | | |lived in the |sew and cook along with |his help, she was able to |wanted them to live | | | |neighborhoods they |other recreational |expand her employees and |and work to their | | | |worked in. She not only|activities and |provide the most efficient |fullest potential. | | |focused on the care of |involvement in the |care with the best nurses |Watson is the same in| | | |the patient but other |community and her |available at that time. |that she developed | | | |areas of life such as |biggest accomplishment |She was even able to write |her model to give us | | | |empl oyment and education|was the labor movement. |two books which she |a guide in caring for| | | |as well as sanitation |She even worked with the|received great recognition |people and all things| | | |and wellbeing. She also|NAACP during the Civil |for. and situations that | | | |formed organizations |Rights’ movement for | |could affect their | | | |that focused on women’s |African Americans | |lives. In doing | | | |rights and equality, and|(Healthline, 2008). Her| |this, nurses build | | | |formed schools and |main projects were | |trust and there is a | | | |programs for the |focused around patient | |better working | | | |mentally ill. |care, education, and | |relationship. | | | | |equality. | | |Current period |Twentieth Century- |The Visiting Nursing |Environmental health, |Governmental agencies and |Watson’s caring | | |Visiting Nursing |Association, now known |social services needs, |American Red Cross as well |theory focused on | | |Association |as home health nursing |infection, immunizations|as healthcare departments |caring for patients | | | |has become a part of |and education are the |and clinics are the |and wellbeing. | | | |community nursing. |focus of home health and|partnerships that keep |Today, governmental | | | |Health departments and |health departments |these organizations going. |agencies and | | | |clinics have also been |today.Keeping up with |It is important to have |healthcare | | | |designed to help people |immunizations, well baby|these clinics for the |departments are very | | | |in their environment |treatments, and |younger generation who may |active in the | | | |versus them coming to |education about |not feel comfortable |promotion of wellness| | | |hospitals. This helps |STDs/AIDS and teenage |talking to their parents |and health, which is | | | |serve the poor by going |pregnancies are a main |about certain changes and |similar to Watson. | | | |to them to give good |focus of public health |aspects of life. Being a |Caring for people and| | | |care and also assess |nurses.This ensures |public health nurse, you |their environment was| | | |their situation to apply|that our community is |should remain positive and |the focus for Watson,| | | |any additional needs or |aware of resources and |open and very supportive |and we still hold | | | |assistance. |care available to them. |for teenagers and young |those same standards | | | | | |adults so they are able to |in our community | | | | | |understand possible dangers|today and will | | | | | |to them and others. continue to uphold | | | | | | |the values of life as| | | | | | |the people who fought| | | | | | |for us to have these | | | | | | |rights and | | | | | | |opportunities. |

Ansar Burney

Ansar Burney born 14 August 1956 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan is a leading Pakistani human rights and civil rights activist. He is a graduate of Masters and Law from Karachi University and honorary recipient of a PhD. in Philosophy. In 1980, Ansar Burney began the â€Å"Ansar Burney Welfare Trust†, â€Å"Prisoners Aid Society†, and â€Å"Bureau of Missing and Kidnapped Persons† in Karachi, Pakistan.Ansar Burney is accredited as being the first man to introduce the concept of human rights in Pakistan nearly 30 years ago. He and his organisation (the Ansar Burney Trust) are also accredited for securing the release of around 700,000 innocent prisoners from countries all around the world. One such famous case was that of Mr. Muhammad Akhtar, in which Akhtar's mother was raped before his birth in prison. After Akhtar's birth no one wanted to accept him and he spent 40 years in prison before his release.Because of his outstanding achievements in the field of human and c ivil rights, Ansar Burney was the first man to receive the Pakistani National Civil Award Sitara-i-Imtiaz on 23 March 2002. And due to his two decade long international campaign to end child slavery in the Middle East in the form of child camel jockeys, Ansar Burney was declared an ‘Anti-Human Trafficking Hero' in the 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report by the US State Department.On 16 November 2007, Ansar Burney was sworn in as Pakistan's caretaker Federal Minister for Human Rights. He will be the first man to head the newly established Human Rights ministry of Pakistan. On 27 March 2008, he was elected for a term of three years as one of the 18 members of the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee and due to â€Å"his recognized experience in the field of human rights and acknowledged competence and impartiality, Burney received wide support from all regional groups of the Council†. 6] In 2008 he was listed in a poll by The Financial Daily as a favorite personality. Ansar Burney also played an instrumental role in getting the crew of MV Suez free from the captivity of Somali pirates in 2011. Anti-corruption movement On Aug 22, 2011, Ansar Buney announced that following the Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations at the end of Ramadan, he would initiate an anti-corruption movement in Pakistan based on the popular movement of Anna Hazare in India. It takes grit, commitment and perseverance to be a man of integrity. To be uman and to act human, to be a person who is able to contribute his share for the cause of humanity and human dignity in letter and spirit, to be a kind soul who feels the pain and unbearably enough to lose control, to be able to help others without any need of worldly glory, to be a person like Ansar Burney. Everything in this universe is for others: the trees, the rivers and all other beauties of seasons and nature. The trees do not eat up their own fruit, the rivers do not drink their own water; and in the same way ‘selfl ess people’ like Ansar Burney live for others.Be it the grave issue of ‘underage child camel jockeys’, the ordeal of ‘Zafran Bibi’ who was involved in a case of rape and sentenced to death by stoning, Murder of Pakistanis in Macedonia — in the name of war against terror, human trafficking of young girls for prostitution, slavery or the illegal confinements at Guantanamo Bay; Ansar Burney has always stood as an icon of human rights. International Ambassador for Peace and Human Rights, Mr Ansar Burney, born on August 14th in Karachi, he is son of late Syed Mukhtar Ahmed Burney, and he was the first man to introduce true human rights in Pakistan a couple of decades ago.A graduate of Masters and Law from Karachi University and honorary recipient of a PhD in Philosophy from Sri Lanka, Mr Ansar Burney, Advocate started his noble mission in 1980 by setting up the â€Å"Ansar Burney Trust†, â€Å"Prisoners Aid Society† and â€Å"Bureau of Missing and Kidnapped Children/Persons† in Karachi, Pakistan. During his education he was a very prominent student leader, and as such, always raised his voice for justice, human dignity and civil rights.This landed him in a lot of trouble on several occasions with the military government of the time. In 1977, Ansar Burney, then aged 20, was arrested on charges of delivering speeches against martial law and favour of democracy and sentenced for 8 months rigorous imprisonment by the Martial Law Court. Upon release in 1978, the Martial Law Authorities once again arrested him and sent him to Karachi Prison for 2 more months’ detention. In 1979 he was again arrested for the third time and detained for a month.During these periods of detention in different Pakistani prisons, Mr Ansar Burney witnessed the miserable conditions of prisons and their prisoners. He met many people who were locked up for years and years without ever having committed a crime; forced into detentio n with false criminal charges. That was the time that he decided to help those in need and in 1980-81 after completing his law degree, Mr Ansar Burney, Advocate, started working on human rights issues such as to bring reforms in prisons and get the release of innocent and illegally confined prisoners.He also started working against slavery and against human trafficking. The Ansar Burney Trust International was set up as a non-governmental, non-political and non-profitable human and civil rights organisation. Its main objective was to struggle for the release of innocent persons who were kept in prisons or in mental asylums illegally or without any justification, and for justice, peace, anti-human trafficking and to create awareness against human trafficking and HIV.As a result of his continued and selfless efforts for the past so many years, Mr Ansar Burney has so far been able to secure release of more than 900,000 (Nine hundred thousand) innocent prisoners who were illegally impri soned in Pakistan and abroad; some released after as much as 50 to 55 years of illegal confinement. Some were even born in prisons and mental asylums where they grew up and lived as prisoners or patients for 35 to 40 long years of their lives; only released and rehabilitated with their families and society because of the hectic efforts of Mr Ansar Burney and the Ansar Burney Trust.Mr Ansar Burney also met AIDS affected prisoners and noticed homosexuality that was very common in prisons and Mental Assylums for that reason he also started creating awareness against HIV positive (AIDS). He started visiting prisons, Madrasas (Muslims Religious Schools) and prostitutes and started giving them education/lectures and also started working practically to create awareness and also providing them safety/protection against HIV. The Ansar Burney Trust also providing medical help to AIDS prisoners and HIV positive people in Pakistan.Mr Ansar Burney is also working against female circumcision in A frican, some Arab and Asian countries and raising his voice to create awareness against female circumcision as its a worst kind of human rights violation against female. The â€Å"Ansar Burney Trust† has also arranged release of around almost 20,000 (twenty thousand) persons from mental asylums and mental wards of prisons. These were not mental cases but were kept in these asylums in inhumane conditions by influential persons due to their own vested interests.Mr Burney has also been successful in tracing out around 300,000 (Three hundred thousand) children through his Bureau of Missing Persons who were safely delivered to their families. These include children who were set free from bounded labour camps, underage child camel jockeys and young girls who had been sold away or trafficked for prostitution. Once established, the Mr Ansar Burney Trust also started their struggle to fight against the inhumane and degrading treatment of women in Pakistan and abroad.With a purpose to bring those who abused women to justice, Ansar Burney has fought several cases for the cause of women’s rights and one of the success stories has been the closure of several women â€Å"mandis† (like animal markets for the sale of girls) in Pakistan. The Ansar Burney Trust’s continued efforts became fruitful when Ansar Burney once again succeeded in getting the release of thousands of slaved underage children from ‘Modern day Slavery’. These children were from the ages of 3 years to 10 years old only.These underage children as ‘Child Camel Jockeys’ were on slavery in the Middle Eastern countries almost 16 to 17 hours a day and were living in private prisons. During their slavery these underage children were getting just two biscuits a day as food so that they should not gain weight. After the release of these children Mr Ansar Burney sent them back to their respective countries for their rehabilitation. In 2005 The State Department of t he United States of America declared and awarded an award of ‘International Human Rights Hero’ to Mr Ansar Burney that was presented to Mr Ansar Burney by the Secretary of State.Ansar Burney Trust also able to get released trafficked young girls from prostitution in Middle Eastern and European countries. Mr Burney has also sent/taken humanitarian aid to different parts of Pakistan as well abroad. During the drought in Pakistan, Mr Burney personally visited several affected areas and supervised the humanitarian aid operation to the region by the ABT. Mr Ansar Burney stumbled upon the use of Hindu â€Å"Haris† (Bonded Labourers) as slaves in the interior Sindh Province of Pakistan.After some hectic efforts and persistence, the Trust was successful in freeing around 7,000 â€Å"Haris†; a 160 of who in danger of being attacked by their previous owners were taken in by the Trust and relocated to a more secure location. Currently, Mr Ansar Burney and the Ansar B urney Trust have been working round the clock to put a stop to the smuggling and trafficking of children and young girls and their use as camel jockeys and prostitution in the Middle East, to date, a 1100 children some as young as 3 years to 12 years of age have been released from camps in the UAE alone.In 1984, the Chief Martial Law Administrator of Pakistan, General Mohammad Ziaul Haque, twice offered Mr Burney the position of Federal Minister of Pakistan; an offer Mr Burney refused in order to stay impartial and unaffiliated and to continue his human rights work without any political reservations or activities. Since then he has on several occasions been offered ministerial and political positions but he has refused, re-emphasising the Trust’s nature as a truly independent and non-political organisation.However, he took charge as Federal Minister for Human Rights in the non-political interim set-up in 2007. On November 16, 2007, Ansar Burney was sworn in as Pakistani Feder al Minister for Human Rights — to head the newly established Human Rights Ministry of Pakistan, first such ministry in the history of Pakistan. He managed the Human Rights Ministry with a sense of duty and great passion. However, positive attention is not all Mr Burney has received. His work has resulted in the making of many enemies.He has been attacked several times and continually receives death threats. His name is on the â€Å"Terrorist Hit List† which was leaked into newspapers from Pakistani Intelligence Agencies. Ansar Burney Trust offices have been attacked and employees killed. Members of the Burney family have also been attacked and severely injured. Ambulances of the Trust have been fired upon, burnt and stoned by persons against whom Mr Burney has fought human rights cases. The attacks continue to this day.In relation to his human and civil rights work, Mr Ansar Burney, has attended hundreds of National and International conferences, groups and forums. In recognition of his great human and civil rights work, he has received well over 200 awards and medals from home as well as from abroad. On 23rd March 2002, he was conferred with Pakistan’s National Civil Award â€Å"Sitar-i-Imtiaz†, the first national award in the history of Pakistan in the field of human rights. Mr Ansar Burney was declared an ‘Anti-Human Trafficking Hero’ in 2005 â€Å" by the United States, State Department.Ansar Burney, in March 2008, elected as Expert Adviser on Human Rights in the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee at Geneva, one out of 18 elected from throughout the world. Whenever a natural calamity such as earthquake or flood hits Pakistan, ‘Ansar Burney Trust’ is there to lend a helping hand. Mr Ansar Burney and his wife Shaheen Burney take pride in helping others. They derive pleasure by sharing smiles and restoring honour and dignity to downtrodden people. Mr Ansar Burney, Advocate got married with Shaheen on May 28, 1981 and they have three children Fahad Burney, Raheel Burney and daughter Sana Burney.Trust: Established in 1980 by Ansar Burney, Advocate in the Pakistani port city of Karachi; the Ansar Burney Trust was the first organization to introduce true human rights in Pakistan. With a mission to work as a non-political, non-governmental and non-profitable organization, we started our fight against all forms of injustices, cruel inhuman and degrading treatment, child abuse, cruelty to women and other more subtle forms of human and civil rights violations without any discrimination or affiliation. The Ansar Burney Trust headed by Mr.Ansar Burney is a network of human rights organisations working for the deliverance of justice, better treatment of human beings and for the rights and freedoms of civil liberties. Our work is to raise awareness, provide free legal advice and services and humanitarian assistance where needed. Our mission began with the establishment of th e â€Å"Prisoners Aid Society† in 1980. Since then we have been involved in bringing reforms in Police Stations, Prisons and Mental Institutions; and work for the aid, advice, release, rehabilitation and welfare of the illegally and unlawfully detained prisoners and mental patients.We also work for the rehabilitation and welfare of the families of these unfortunate human beings purely on humanitarian grounds in the greater interest of justice and humanity without any affiliation or consideration for any political party, group or activities. Since its inception in 1980, the Ansar Burney Trust has shown a marked and steady progress in achieving the vowed objectives and has started a number of centers for various projects in Pakistan and abroad.The Trust also publishes newsletters and human rights reports with the purpose of spreading awareness of issues and to try and get more and more people involved. Campaigns: Prisoners released: The Ansar Burney Trust has been working for t he cause of justice for the past 25 years and in this time has been successful in getting the release of around 700,000 confined persons from various sites around the world. These have included persons locked up for up to 37 years on fake charges or those confined in mental institutions to rot their entire lives away even though they are perfectly sane.Our work started in 1980 with this cause of persons confined in prison and mental institutions in Pakistan – a country which since independence in 1947 has yet to have a legal system where justice is delivered to the common man. The courts and police are used as a tool by the influential individuals to remove and put away opponents Torture in custody is extremely common and innocent persons are forced to admit to crimes they never committed. Persons arrested on suspicion of crimes are forgotten in police lock-ups or sent to prison without charge or court hearings for entire lifetimes.Innocent people are arrested and locked away by the police in order to fulfill their orders of connecting a crime to an individual; in some cases without their families even being informed of their arrest or imprisonment. No legal advice or service is ever provided. Prisons are filthy and hugely over populated. Prisoners are beaten and tortured regularly. There are never enough courts, resulting in waiting times for a hearing taking upwards of several years. Justice in Pakistan is a privilege for the rich.The situation is even more horrific in Mental Institutions – where just as in prisons – many sane innocent persons are confined and declared insane to keep them quite or lock them away due to enmity with powerful individuals. Mental Patients have never been thought of as human beings by either the government or the people in charge of the institutions. They were often beaten and made to sleep on the ground under the open sky without any clothes or blankets. They were tied to trees or posts so they are unable to run away. They were barely fed, sometimes being forced to feed and live in their own feces.Women patients were raped on a regular bases, many times giving birth inside the institution to children who were then also raised their; growing up to be mentally instable themselves. Other times – mental patients were tied to poles, trees or posts near religious shrines in the hope they would heal themselves. If they had no where to go, they were stoned to death by mobs unable to understand their condition. There has never been any justice for these people from the courts, which have always worked under the influence and pressure of the governments and the police.Human Rights were totally unheard of, until 1980, when Ansar Burney founded the Ansar Burney Trust. Having been locked away in prison himself, Ansar Burney witnessed the miserable conditions in which prisoners were living and set about immediately to help them. He began by visiting the many prisons and mental institutions in Pakistan to find persons confined on fake charges, locked away without charge or persons who had been framed. He also began to raise his voice for reforms in Prisons and Mental Institutions. In the past 25 years, the Ansar Burney Trust has made great achievements for this cause.Through surprise inspections and representatives in prisons and mental institutions, ABT monitors that no prisoner or patient is abused. We have successfully lobbied for better living conditions and food, separate prisons for men and women, education and training for prisoners, put a stop of tying of mental patients and children in chains and have successfully managed to remove place of birth as prison for children born in prisons. Entertainment and a better atmosphere is created at various sites around the country when ABT arranges parties and entertainment for prisoners and patients.Due to our lobbying and donations, better medical equipment and staff are now working in prisons and institutions – of fering better medical service to prisoners and especially patients. Mental patients locked in prison due of lack of space in hospital were sent back for better care. Women prisoners and patients who would before have given birth in confinement with only each other to help are now under the supervision of women nurses – after Ansar Burney presented this matter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan.Staff of the Ansar Burney Trust visited and met female prisoners and patients to investigate charges of sexual abuse – drastically leading to a reduction of rapes in prisons. We successfully lobbied to ban female prisoners being dealt with by male staff. Non Muslim prisoners unable to perform their religious duties are now provided what they need in order to perform their religious commitments. In the month of Ramadan, non-Muslim prisoners are now arranged food for by ABT so they were not forced to fast.The Ansar Burney Trust has appointed 84 people in various jails and mental asy lums to take care of mental patients and prisoners. One of our achievements over the years has been the collection of data we have gathered on Pakistani prisoners confined in different Jails around the world due to various misunderstandings. The Trust provides legal advice and services to many such persons and arranges for their repatriation when released. Similarly the Trust has also been able to get release of a number of foreign nationals from Pakistani Jails and sent them to their respective home countries on Trust's expenses.Since we began our mission in 1980, the Ansar Burney Trust has been involved in bringing reforms in Police Stations, Prisons and Mental Institutions; and work for the aid, advice, release, rehabilitation and welfare of the illegally and unlawfully detained prisoners and mental patients. We have also worked for the rehabilitation and welfare of the families of these unfortunate human beings purely on humanitarian grounds in the greater interest of justice an d humanity without any affiliation or consideration for any political party, group or activities. For hose with no where left to go or those not yet ready, the Trust has established a center where they receive accommodation, food, medical attention and freedom. Children Rights: When a people lack commitment, drive and zeal to better the condition of our fellow human beings, the over riding emotion is that of apathy particularly towards the under privileged. But our ever-enterprising statesmen have found a way: down the line they express â€Å"profound grief† and â€Å"deep sorrow† alongside heartfelt platitudes for the grieved family. No matter what the tragedy the attitude is that of indifference; even if the subjects are innocent children.Looking at the statistics, Pakistan has one of the largest populations of the young in the world – with nearly 45 percent of its one hundred and fifty million people being under the age of 15. But it has no policy for childre n. Hundreds of thousands of infants under four years of age die each year mostly from readily preventative diseases. Amongst the fortunate few who are spared the tragedy, many waste their lives in the throes of extreme poverty. Still worse, an increasing number of children get lost or are abducted; and then there are those whose ntire future is blighted because they are imprisoned, or born in jails and mental asylums and have to spend a considerable time of their lives there. Many a times, this is not due to any fault of their own but because their mothers are patients, are serving a sentence or awaiting trial. Thousands are lost or kidnapped each year, with many finding themselves bought, abused and used in bonded labor camps all over the country. Hundreds are trafficked to foreign destinations for the purposes of drugs smuggling and to be used as camel jockeys.Many more are forced into beggary, trained and used in criminal activities and some are even killed – for their bod y organs fetch a high price in Pakistan and abroad. Hundreds of young girls are also abducted, bought and sold all over Pakistan. They are locked away in private prisons, forced into prostitution and trafficked abroad for use in drugs smuggling and for the thriving sex trade (particularly in the Middle East). The Ansar Burney Trust has been working for the protection of these children for over 25 years under our â€Å"Bureau of Missing and Kidnapped Children†.In this time, we have managed to locate and rehabilitate around 100,000 children. These included children who were set free from labor camps, those released from prisons, children who had been lost, child camel jockeys and young girls who had been sold away for prostitution. We have brought reforms in prisons, prosecuted those who abused children and recently – the Ansar Burney Trust has also successfully been able to convince the governments of the UAE and Qatar to ban the use of children as camel jockeys. Human trafficking: Human Trafficking is a horrendous crime that has destroyed the lives of millions of people around the world.It has involved the abduction, cruel and inhumane treatment, humiliation, serious injury and even death of innocent men, women and children. It is a big â€Å"business† in many parts of the world, especially South Asia, from where thousands of people are either smuggled or trafficked each year – for purposes of drugs smuggling, to be used for slave labor and young girls and women forced into prostitution. Many are lured with the false promises of a better life, a better future – never expecting what they will actually be put through.Those unwilling are abducted, young children bought from their parents and young girls bought and sold in markets. The Ansar Burney Trust began its struggle for the release and welfare of many such victims 16 years ago; starting with the plight of women and children used for the purpose of drugs smuggling. Drug Smu ggling: Every year, hundreds of women and children are forcibly used for the purpose of drugs smuggling to various destinations around the world. In many of the instances, they are forced to carry the drugs in capsules inside of their bodies.Abducted or bought from open markets, these women and children are threatened, beaten, starved and even warned with the death of family members if they hesitate in any way. In some instances, young children of the women involved are kept behind with the smugglers to insure full cooperation. The women, along with the kids, are then given new identity cards where they are shown as a family and given bags full of drugs to be transported to various sites across the country. At other times, the women are paired with men and shown in new passports as a married couple and the children are shown as their kids.They are then forced to swallow and place capsules full of drugs inside their bodies for transportation to foreign countries; where even after ful l cooperation and delivery of drugs, they are likely to be sold for prostitution and slave labor. Or if caught, they then face prison and even the death sentence. On several occasions, the Ansar Burney Trust has fought for the welfare of such persons; some of whom were released from Middle Eastern countries where they had been sentenced to death for crimes they were forced to commit.One such case involved children as young as five years old, who were arrested along with some women carrying capsules filled with drugs inside their bodies – all were sentenced to death – finally released after an investigation by the Ansar Burney Trust and appeals to the Saudi leadership. In this regard, members and volunteers of the Ansar Burney Trust visit various prisons and review case details of many South Asian prisoners in Middle Eastern Countries.In Pakistan, we work to locate and prosecute the men responsible Humanitarian aid and relief activities: Relief Activity Earth Quake in N . Pakistan: During the recent earth quake disaster in Northern Pakistan, the Ansar Burney Trust provided aid worth over $1 million (USD) to the effected people, in the form of warm tents, warm clothes and blankets, food rations and clean drinking water, tools used for digging, medicines, crockery, gas and oil cookers, cash and products for women's personal hygiene.The Trust is currently working on the construction of homes, mosques and schools for villagers on high mountains Free legal advice: The Ansar Burney Trust since 1980 has been offering free legal advice and services to all those who need it. We have a team of lawyers, including women, who are available 7 days a week to help those in need. It is through our legal team, that the Trust has been able to secure the release of hundreds of thousands of people around the world and to fight for justice for men, women and children