Stonehenge Essays (1488 words) - Stonehenge, Henges,

Stonehenge Man has always been interested in mystery. Stonehenge is one of the most mysterious places that man has been interested in. Construction began on Stonehenge at about 2200 B.C. (Abels 9). The origin and uses of Stonehenge are still a great mystery. Stonehenge is a ruin of a stone building. Stonehenge is the oldest pre-historic structure in western Europe. The name "Stonehenge" is Saxon in origin and means hanging stones. Stonehenge is visible from around one to two miles (Chippindale 12). It has a plain structure and at first glance Stonehenge appears to be a large pile of rocks. But when looked at more closely, it is a structure of great mystery. (Abels 5). Stonehenge contains close to one hundred and sixty-five stones. All of the stones are arranged in a plain and simple manner. Stonehenge is not very large. It is only about thirty five paces or eighty feet wide. Stonehenge is three hundred and thirty feet above sea level and is eighty miles west of London. Stonehenge is located in Wiltshire in south central England. The closest town to Stonehenge is Amesbury. It is in the center of Salisbury Plains (Chippindale 10). The pillars at Stonehenge are extraordinary. All of the stones appear gray in color, but their natural colors vary from mostly orange to brown or blue. Many lichens grow all over the stones. About one half of the original stone pillars are missing today. All of the joints that join the stone pillars together are dry stone joints. There was no wet sand or clay used to join the pillars together (Chippindale 12). At Stonehenge there are five different types of stone circles. The five types are: outer sarsen circle, outer bluestone circles, inner sarsen trilithons, inner blue horseshoe, and the altar stone. The outer sarsen circle is one hundred feet in diameter. Each stone is about thirteen and a half feet tall and seven feet wide. The space between each of the stones is approximately four feet apart (Chippindale 12). The outer bluestone circle is close to seventy-five feet in diameter. Most of the stones height are six and a half feet or taller. The stones width are between three and four feet. The stones color is blue. Only six of the original sixty stones still remain standing straight. The others either lean or lie on their side. The inner sarsen trilithons lie just inside of the bluestone circle. Some call the inner sarsen trilithon the sarsen horseshoe. The trilithon is arranged symmetrically in a horseshoe shape and is about forty-five feet across. Their overall height is about twenty- four feet high. Three of the original trilithons still stand in tact today. All of the original stones that make up the trilithons are still at Stonehenge today (Chippindale 14). Just inside the inner sarsen trilithon is the inner bluestone horseshoe. The stones start out at around six feet and increase in size moving south-west until they reach a maximum of eight feet. Six of the original nineteen stones that made the horseshoe are still in place (Chippindale 15). Towards the apex of the inner bluestone horseshoe is a single large slab of gray-green sandstone. This stone is called the altar stone. It is approximately sixteen feet long and lies on its side. It is broken into two pieces. The stone was believed to have once stood upright. The stone has been given nicknames like "Slaughter", "Heel", and "Station" (Chippindale 16). The uses for Stonehenge has always been a vast mystery. No one knows for sure what Stonehenge uses were. A few possible uses for Stonehenge are as a temple, a burial site, and as a sundial. Some scientists believe that Stonehenge was once used as a temple. The scientists came to this conclusion due to the circular shape and the towering stones. Many people consider Stonehenge a holy place. Over the last three hundred years druids have come to worship at Stonehenge. The druids consider Stonehenge their Religious Temple (Roop 38). From early digs at Stonehenge we know that Stonehenge was at least at one time used for burial ceremonies because of the human remains that were found at Stonehenge (Roop 30). Some scientists believe that Stonehenge was used

Katmai Volcano essays

Katmai Volcano essays The Katmai cluster is a 25-kilometer-long line of volcanoes along the Alaska Peninsula 450 kilometers southwest of Anchorage, including (from northeast to southwest) Snowy Mountain, Mount Griggs, Mount Katmai, Trident Volcano, Novarupta volcano, Mount Mageik, Mount Martin, and Alagogshak volcano. All but Alagogshak have erupted within the last 6,000 years, often explosively, to produce lava flows, domes, and widespread tephra deposits. No fewer than 15 eruptive episodes have originated from the Katmai cluster within the last 10,000 years, each lasting days to tens of years and all of which could have produced ash clouds. Novarupta, a new vent in 1912, produced the worlds largest eruption of the 20th century and sent ash around the globe. During that great eruption, nearby Mount Katmai collapsed, destroying its summit peaks and leaving behind a 2.5-kilometer-wide caldera, now filled with a 250-meter-deep lake. More recently, a new vent on Trident produced lava flows and ash plumes for at least 20 years, lasting from 1953 to 1974. Postglacial eruptions, vigorous fumaroles on Griggs, Trident, Mageik, and Martin, and continuing seismicity are good evidence of the potentially active state of the entire Katmai cluster. Any eruption of these volcanoes could affect air traffic, both overhead and on the ground, with severity of the ash-cloud hazard depending on the size of the eruption. An explosive eruption like that of Novarupta, 1912, could affect air traffic all over the North Pacific, Alaska, Canada, and the conterminous United States. Such an eruption might interrupt and inconvenience national an d international commerce, perhaps for months, but Alaskan commerce would be temporarily devastated. The volcanoes near Novarupta form a 25-km-long line of contiguous stratovolcanoes on the drain-age divide of the Alaska Peninsula, 450 km southwest of Anchorage (population 260,283 ), 250 km southwest of Homer (population 4,000 ...

Albert Bandura the founder of reciprocal determinism

Albert Bandura the founder of reciprocal determinism Albert Bandura, the founder of reciprocal determinism was born in Canada in 1925. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, where he developed the social learning theory. Bandura had certain strong beliefs on how psychological research should be done. He believed research should be conducted in laboratories where psychologists could control factors that determined behavior. Bandura has conducted many famous clinical studies which are the basis of the several books he has written. Bandura was also the creator of the reciprocal determinism theory which showed he believed that a person’s behavior both influences and is influenced by personal factors and the social environment. Personal factors are those that are based on a person’s morals, ethics ideas, and personality. The social environment consists of everything external to the self, which are other people, their beliefs, ideas and external items. Two brief examples of reciprocal determinism would be a person who is afraid of flying on airplanes will act nervous, scared, and out of the ordinary which would be the personal factor. This will cause the other people on the plane to become agitated and worried, making the nervous flier even more afraid. This shows how personal determinants, environmental determinants and behavioral determinants interact and influence each other. Another example would be of a man who cannot hold a job and therefore feels like a failure. His inability to hold a job is due to poor work habits and therefore influences employers to treat him bad until his behavior becomes terrible and is ultimately fired. Reciprocal determinism is affected by self-efficiency, which is a person’s belief about their ability to achieve a goal or an outcome. There are several ways to influence self-efficiency; performance accomplishments, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion and emotional arousal. Performance accomplishments are based on a person’s own experiences wh ich are past successes and failures. Vicarious experiences are based on the observations of others and their performance in executing a task. Verbal persuasion uses suggestions or self-instruction as a motivator. Lastly, emotional arousal is used by diminishing emotional arousals that are associated with decreased performance. http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/assets/images/learningsolutions/061410/061410_f1.png A helpful way to think of reciprocal determinism is in the form of a triangle. At the top would be behavioral  determinants  and the two corners would be personal determinants and environmental determinants. Arrows go back and forth between each word showing that they are influenced by each other. The basic idea is that personal factors (cognitive and affective events), the environment and behavior all influence each other. This triangle aids to understand that humans are shaped by their environment and also shape the environment.    Self- Efficacy A person’s belief about their ability to organize and carry out courses of action needed to accomplish a goal is known as self- efficacy. Those persons, who are confident in their capability to execute a behavior, have very strong efficacy beliefs. These beliefs are influencing our personal emotional reactions and choices, motivation, and patters, therefore they are considered to have a very significant impact on our goals and accomplishments in life. (Bandura. A. Psychological Review. 1977).

PDR and Gnatt chart for the data access project Research Paper

PDR and Gnatt chart for the data access project - Research Paper Example For this project a student and faculty web-portal design will be created to give both students and faculty members separate access towards their past performance records, quizzes, assignments and other data track record and access. Executive summary To resolve the problem we recommend implementing a web portal for students so that they can access their records off the normal process of using the university website. We reviewed other alternatives but the proposed solution is selected because it will save the institution extra cost and also will save the university the trouble of maintaining two different websites, for students and for visitors. The technology for the solution meets our long term goals of faster internet access and reliability in accessing records for students. The solution dovetails with our current operating environment where we have implemented strategic systems that help students in their studies. The project is expected to cost $306640 and require 2 months to comp lete. Specific benefits this project provides are faster access to student records, assured security of the data and reliability in accessing details for students. ... This problem can also be solved by making proper networking in the college networking department. This networking will help to differentiate the portal of faculty and students so that their treatment and privacy can be individually managed without intervening in each other’s portal or access point. Alternatives We reviewed other alternatives like if we could create a different website that would be used by students and teachers alone. We thought this alternative would not make sense because the website would be congested after some time and implementing security and authentication in a normal website would also be tedious. By implementing a web portal, we would still use the same domain name that we already have. Stakeholders The stakeholders of the project include students and members of staff. They will benefit from the project directly. With regard to the above-mentioned networking and portal services solutions, the students and faculty will be directly affected. They will gain a number of benefits out of these services in different forms including fast service, rapid access to their accounts, and an increase in student and faculty productivity as well. This Project will also help new and potential students who visit the college website to retrieve information (i.e. admission and course schedules) in an efficient manner. Scope/SOW The project will entail developing a web portal that will address the data access issues for faculty members and students. This does not however mean that the project will come up with a separate website to be used by these groups. It is developing a different system that will be integrated with the website which will help students and faculty members to access various records. The web portal that is being developed in

Methods Of Educational Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Methods Of Educational Research - Essay Example Questionnaire Questionnaires are defined as formulated questions that are structured for collecting primary data. These questions are written down for the respondent to provide answers. Questionnaires are also defined as techniques in which different people are supposed to answer the same questions (Beiske, 2007). Researchers should be extremely careful before creating questioners. This is because, questionnaires can be written in understandable English but they are not sufficient for providing the needed data. When a questionnaire is well premeditated, it induces the respondents to give correct and accurate information. Questioners are used for inducting the respondent, thus they come up with new theories. Questionnaires use open-ended questions that explore substantive areas. Some researchers use questionnaires as methods of obtaining reliable information. This is accomplished through deductive approach for testing other theories. Questionnaires help researchers to use deductive or inductive approach or even a combination of the two approaches. Three types of questions are available to the researcher when using questionnaires (Boyce, & Neale, 2006). There are the open-ended questions, which have a wide scope of response and they help to capture the interests of peoples answer. This type of questions does not influence the outcome of questions by deciding the possible responses. The other type of questions is the close-ended type, which are used for questions that require two different answers. The responses required are ‘yes’ or ‘no’ with the intention of making the questionnaire process easy. Strengths of Questionnaires Questionnaires allow a researcher to contact many people easily and quickly. The researcher has a chance to post questions to the group he has targeted. They are easy to create and interpret especially if close-ended questions are used (Boyce, & Neale, 2006). The respondent is left with the time consuming part of ans wering the questions but the researcher does not have this burden. Questionnaires are easily standardized because all respondents are asked the same questions. As every respondent answers the same questions, this makes the questionnaire process extremely reliable. Researchers are able to tackle embarrassing areas like sex and criminal matters more than any other method. The questionnaires can be completed in privacy, and they are anonymous. Respondents are able to answer questions honestly without being intimidated by the researcher’s presence. Limitations of Questionnaires It is difficult for the researcher to identify complex issues because of the questionnaire’s design. Even if, the researcher uses open-ended questions, the respondent will not answer the questions extensively like in other research methods (Ross, 2005). This usually limits a researcher to get detailed information. When a researcher sends postal questions, he is not sure whether the respondent will f ill in the questionnaire. For instance, when a researcher wants to gather information on women opinions, the questionnaire is not useful if answered by men. It is extremely difficult to determine whether the respondent has understood the questions when the researcher is not around. A researcher has to hope that the questions he has presented to the respondents mean the same to all respondents as they mean to him. The numbers

Teacher and Confucius Essay Example for Free

Teacher and Confucius Essay What kind of person was Confucius in everyday life? Focus on the following: his clothing and diet, his possessions, his pastimes, the company he kept, and anything else that is relevant. In everyday life Confucius was a relaxed and cheerful man who was constantly in search of new knowledge. He studied the Chinese Classics mainly focusing on the Books of Odes, History and Rites. In his spare time, however, he liked to relax in his manor. He was very picky with the people he chose to keep around. They had to love strategy and the possible success you could get from it. He taught culture, conduct, conscientiousness and good faith and was also picky about who he let in to his school. They had to be modest and willing to listen because he didn’t repeat lessons. He loved music. He would sing in the company of those who were singing. When passing through Ch’I he heard their music and said, â€Å"I did not imagine that music had reached such perfection. † (Confucius 35). This having been said he also traveled with his students and neglected his family duty. Once when his son saw him in passing and Confucius asked him if he had â€Å"Studied the Odes? † (Confucius 102) His son said no so Confucius told him that he would have nothing to use in conversation. So his son left determined to study the book of Odes. On a different day his son saw him again and a similar thing happened only this time Confucius asked about the Rules of Ceremony. The result was exactly the same as the first time. This goes to prove that those who can teach don’t always put their own teachings in to practice. Why is Volume One, Book Two entitled â€Å"Concerning Government† but barely mentions government? Hint: the contents of Book Seven may assist you in answering this question. You can’t teach someone how to run a government but you can teach them how to be a better person in hope that they will be able to better govern the country. One must correct themselves before they try to correct others. This is exactly why Volume One, Book Two says little about government and a lot on how to be a better person. Confucius said â€Å"If a man put himself aright, what difficulty will he have in the public service; but if he cannot put himself aright, how is he going to put others right? † (Confucius 75) This saying is basically saying one must correct themself first and others later, but if one can’t correct themself then they have no right to attempt at correcting others. In some senses Confucius was a very straight forward man and in others he was just plain confusing. This was one of the areas that he was straight forward with his teaching. It was very important to him that one knew how to act. Despite his reputation as a charismatic teacher, Confucius makes no claim to originality—in fact, it is hard to discern exactly what his teachings are. Why is this the case? He himself did not claim to be a teacher at all. It was his disciples who made him so. He had people who followed him and listened to what he said and this was enough to make him a teacher, whether what he was saying was original or not made no difference. What mattered was that he had a group of students who were willing to listen to what he said and put it into practice. His teachings, however, were hard to understand. This was because he didn’t want just anyone to be able to follow and understand what he was saying. They had to be smart and make an effort to understand. This was also because sometimes he just spoke in riddles and didn’t give a simple answer. When he did this it would seem that what he was saying was completely unrelated to the question asked, but in some roundabout way it was actually the answer to the question all along. His students just had to think it over a lot before they understood. Confucius himself had no desire to be a teacher but because so many people liked his teachings, it just sort of happened that way. What contrasts does Confucius present with the religious figures of ancient Egypt, India, Mesopotamia, China, etc.? Does he strike you as a particularly â€Å"religious† figure? Why or why not? In contrast to the religions of the ancient world Confucianism is more about teaching someone how to live justly. Confucius teaches his students to respect their family and honor their ancestors not about the gods and the afterlife; this is probably the biggest difference. He teaches about what it means to live in this life and how one should go about doing so. In the religions of ancient Egypt, India and Mesopotamia there has always been a priest like figure who would perform religious and sacrificial ceremonies. This figure also had the task of letting everyone know about their religion and how to follow it properly. Sometimes these religious leaders were the head of their country/city/empire and if they weren’t, the leaders had almost always practiced the same or a very similar religion. Confucius was neither the king nor a particularly important person in society (or at least that’s what I gathered from the Confucius Analects). He was just an ordinary man who just so happened to know what he was talking about and how to teach others how to properly live their lives. One could do this by honoring their ancestors and by living a virtuous life. In these other religions, however, there has always been some form of afterlife, be it cheerful or gloomy, and most of these ancient civilizations buried their dead (especially those who were important) with luxury items for them to take to the afterlife. Confucius never taught about the afterlife though. Once a student of his asked about death and Confucius replied, â€Å"Not yet understanding life, how can you understand death? ’ (Confucius 61). Confucius does not seem like a religious figure at all. In fact, there is some debate about whether or not Confucianism can actually be considered a religion. What Confucius taught was how to live a moral life as a human being. He taught that one should study the Chinese Classics and follow a few basic rules of life. This is why he does not seem like a religious figure or to have been a religious man.

Bio Technology :: essays research papers

Tinkering With Mother Nature Imagine thirty or forty years form now. Biotechnology has really advanced. Scientist can now clone people and also change their DNA strands making them better or perfect all around. Do you think that it is safe to tinker with Mother Nature? Is it wise to try and control Mother Nature? Better yet can she ever be controlled? Whether or not she can be controlled is a big of deal. If we can control Mother Nature she will end up controlling us sooner or later. It is not a smart idea to tinker with such a great power that the world has depended on for many years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scientist can study and try to do many things but one thing they can never do is control Mother Nature. I believe biotechnology is not really necessary in this day in age. What is the point in trying to clone a person and make them better? This technology can be very harmful to us as well as the earth. Biotechnology will change many things and can ruin the balance of nature. In the short story by Jeremy Rifkin, he states â€Å"Initial fears focused on the nightmare scenario of newly engineered microorganisms escaping from the lab and causing uncontrollable damage to the other organisms in the environment.†(The Ultimate Therapy: Commercial Eugenics on the Eve of the Biotech Century p.542-543) If the balance of nature is interrupted it can cause a lot of destruction. For example if a scientist were to take a species of any type from its original habitat and introduce it to a new environment it will cause the environment to change as well as its balance. The s pecies may eliminate other species causing the food chain to change.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Biotechnology is a great danger to the human species. Imagine people walking around looking like twins but one is better in every way then the other. There is already enough racism in this world why do we need to set new standard of a persons well being in his or her society. If scientist were to clone people they could improve the clone, putting the natural human specie at a lower level of life. There would no longer be natural people all the clones would survive caused by Darwin’s theory â€Å"Survival of the fittest.† These new breeds of human could be programmed from birth to be any thing like ruthless soldier for wars.

The Concept Of Public Health Health And Social Care Essay

The challenges outlined in this definition are the chief duty of wellness attention professionals, particularly public wellness specializers who receive developing from Schools of Public Health ( SOPH ) . SOPH is a term used to depict a section in an establishment of higher acquisition concerned chiefly with proviso of postgraduate Public Health tutoring, chiefly in the signifier of a Masters grade in Public Health ( MPH ) . ( 3 )1.1 Backgrounds:Globally, there have been important alterations in public wellness, with monolithic betterments in developed states, while stagnancy and even diminution has been observed in the wellness position of developing and under-developed states. In states like the United Kingdom, the class of wellness attention during the 19th and 20th centuries focused on proviso of drinkable H2O and bettering sanitation, and clean air. These purposes have mostly been achieved to a sensible criterion, but unhappily, the state of affairs is far from what is desired i n most underdeveloped states. ( 4 ) The current tendency is typified by the â€Å" reverse attention jurisprudence † , where comparatively few schools of public wellness exist in parts with the greatest public wellness challenges and an extra figure exist in the developed universe, where focal point has shifted to face new epidemics of sick wellness ensuing from, for case drug maltreatment, fleshiness and smoke. The key to turn toing these wellness issues, both in development and developed states, lies with the preparation of competent public wellness specializer ; this undertaking lies chiefly with SOPH. ( 3 ) With the apparent importance of public wellness, the preparation of public wellness professionals plays an indispensable function in undertaking these jobs, as it lays the foundation for the hereafter of this sector. Selection is an built-in portion of any preparation programme and its importance can non be overemphasized. It can be described as the first one of the most of import stairss in the bringing of effectual population based wellness attention in this context. The class constructions of most MPH programmes were traditionally centred on capable countries such as ; epidemiology, wellness policy, wellness publicity, wellness direction, environmental wellness, human biological science and wellness economic sciences. ( 5-7 ) Presently nevertheless, the range has been expanded to include topics affecting statistical analysis and the usage of computing machine programmes ; the ability to entree, manage and work with information ; the ability to show and circulate information in an effectual mode ; interview and communicating accomplishments ; sensitiveness to wellness inequalities and societal accomplishments. ( 7 ) Most SOPH in the United Kingdom are organized around the subjects of capacity edifice, multidisciplinary, balanced instruction and research. Information is dissipated in traditional category room scene, either as full-time 12 month programmes, or as portion clip 24-60 months programmes. ( 8 ) Certain SOPH have adopted more advanced agencies of instruction bringing, choosing for electronic agencies for proviso of distance acquisition.1.2 SCHOOLS OF PUBLIC HEALTH: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVESInstitutions of larning concerned with educating pupils in the rules of public wellness started emerging in the early portion of the 20th century. The first of its sort was formed in 1916, when the Rockefeller foundation funded the gift of John Hopkins University in the United States. This establishment differed in its proficient attack to public wellness contrasting with the more societal and environmental attack adopted by Charles Edward Winslow at Yale University. ( 3 ) In line with the Rockefeller foundation ‘s aims of developing the scientific discipline of public wellness, it went in front to fund the constitution of legion SOPH within the United States and internationally. Its first international legacy was in the UK, where in 1922, it sponsored the formation of the public wellness section in the London school of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM ) . However, shortly after the Second World War, the Rockefeller foundation shifted its focal point to other precedences. Despite this, there was still an addition in the figure of SOPH, with the World Health Organization join forcesing with National authoritiess specifically to develop and educate public wellness professionals from 1948. These attempts have seen the constitution of about 357 SOPH in 54 states as at 2006. ( 3 )1.3 SCHOOLS OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE UNITED KINGDOM:An cyberspace based hunt of the universities in the UK offering different signifiers of public wellness at station alu mnus degree revealed about 70 eight of such establishments. However, there are differences in the quality and focal point of public wellness research offered by these establishments. These differences were highlighted after the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise ( RAE ) , which identified the figure of research active staff and conducted a peer appraisal of the quality of research within different universities. ( 9 ) Another important difference in UK SOPH is the appellation between programmes offering a Masters in public Health ( MPH ) and an MSc in public wellness as differentiated by establishments established before and after 1992. Evans ( 2009 ) identified ‘pre-1992 ‘ universities as establishments that offer intensive classs and are staffed by internationally recognized research workers and have programmes normally labelled as ‘Masters in Public wellness ‘ ( MPH ) . The ‘post-1992 ‘ universities are largely former engineering schools that run largely parttime classs and frequently have less internationally celebrated staff labelling their programme as ‘MSc in Public Health ‘ . MPH programme are by and large considered superior to most MSc Public wellness programmes for these grounds. However the full clip MSc public wellness programme the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medical specialty ( LSTHM ) is internationally celebrated and stands as an exclusion to the facts stated above. ( 3 ) Over the last two decennaries, there have been important additions in the figure of postgraduate public wellness classs, particularly in new universities. These classs normally have a wider focal point reflecting the more societal facets of public wellness coupled with an admittance of pupils with multidisciplinary backgrounds. It was n't until 1992 that the LSTHM opened its public wellness grade to pupils with first grades other than medical specialty. It took a twosome of more old ages until the Faculty of Public wellness admitted non-medical alumnuss into its preparation programme in the twelvemonth 2000. ( 10 ) One major challenge of SOPH in the UK has been the issue of equilibrating research with learning. Schools that have really low RAE ranking will more likely lose support. Besides, the focal point on research is driven by the desire for equal reviewed publications as a step of the grade of academic success. This tendency has resulted in the prioritization of research over learning for most establishments of public wellness. However, there has been a nexus between the National Health Service and some SOPH, where the MPH class forms the first twelvemonth of public wellness specializer preparation programme which runs for 5 old ages. This agreement it has been argued will likely assist equilibrate research and instruction. ( 3,6 )1.4 THE PROCESS OF SELECTION:The United Kingdom is home to some of the most reputable acquisition establishments in the universe and as such attracts a diverse group of persons every twelvemonth, who come in hunt of quality cognition. The standards used for pupil choice into a Masters Degree programme in Public Health in has important deduction on future quality of the public wellness sector in the UK, and so the universe sing the big inflow of foreign pupils seeking quality instruction in public wellness. ( 11 ) Student choice is normally based chiefly on academic background/achievements. However, in recent old ages, the standard has been widened to include other factors like single attitudes, involvements, and personal features desired ends and work experience. Selection policies based on the traditional academic ability are fast melting out for a figure of grounds. One ground is the deficiency of grounds demoing a correlativity between old academic public presentation and subsequent success in wellness professional courses/practice. ( 12 ) The purpose of any choice procedure is to choose persons who best tantrum certain defined standards. Therefore an indispensable portion of this procedure is the definition of one or more standard by which appliers can be judged. This measure is highly of import, as SOPH are expected to take and develop future public wellness practicians who will be equipped with the needed accomplishments expected to turn to the challenges of this demanding profession. ( 11 ) Until late in the United Kingdom, developing under the Faculty of Public wellness was unfastened to merely medical practician and as a consequence, handiness of infinites on medically oriented public wellness programmes for non-medical appliers were limited. However, in 2000, the module rank was opened to non-medical alumnuss. Despite this alteration, there has been a diminution in module rank. However, these happenings has prompted inquiries about the accomplishments required to be competent public wellness practicians and if it was necessary to hold a medical grade before analyzing public wellness. ( 13 )1.5 Rationale:The thought for this undertaking was conceived by Dr Tom Marshall ( 14 ) after it was observed that admittances into the University of Birmingham ‘s MPH classs had increased significantly following the debut of an on-line choice test, as a pre-requisite for entry in March 2009. ( 15 ) Additionally, inquiries generated following a meeting of 12 MPH/MSc programme managers in September 2009 to discourse affairs of common involvement, besides inspired this undertaking.2. LITERATURE REVIEW:This literature reappraisal seeks to place similar work done on the choice standards for pupils meaning to analyze for a Masters grade in Public Health. It will try to place what the current cognition on pupil choice in the UK is, place countries that have already been researched and highlight what aspects may necessitate farther research.2.1 SEARCH STRATEGY:The writer conducted a hunt for articles written in English linguistic communication on the pupil choice standards for postgraduate public wellness instruction. Databases included in the hunt included MEDLINE, ERIC and ISI WEB OF SCIENCE. The electronic footings used entirely or in combination for the hunt included â€Å" Masterss, † â€Å" PUBLIC HEALTH, † â€Å" MPH, † â€Å" MSc, † â€Å" POSTGRADUATE, † â€Å" SELECTION, † and â€Å" CRITERIA † . Search footings combinations were modified utilizing AND/OR and database specific wildcards ( e.g. $ or? ) . The initial hunt provided really limited relevant informations on the topic being researched. Therefore, the undermentioned hunt footings were included ; â€Å" Undergraduate, † and â€Å" MEDICAL SCHOOL. †2.2 MPH AND UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL Training:The Rockefeller Foundation ‘s 1916 one-year study noted that the first SOPH was established to supply a sound footing of scientific cognition for the systematic publicity of populace and personal hygiene and besides set up a well defined calling as an attractive force for trefoils interested in the field of public wellness instead than the clinical pattern of medical specialty. These original aims still play a important function in finding who gets selected to analyze for an MPH. The educational course of study of sections of preventative medical specialty of most medical schools is really similar to that of many SOPH ( 16,17 ) and as a consequence the MPH programme was antecedently unfastened merely to alumnuss of medical schools as it was deemed indispensable to posses a medical grade before analyzing postgraduate public wellness. The turning demand for more health care professionals has seen the incorporation of the MPH course of study into the undergraduate medical preparation strategy. In the United States, a few of such programmes exist including classs at Yale, Tulane and John Hopkins. These medical schools run coincident programmes with next schools of public wellness, such that on graduation, pupils possess both an MD and an MPH. Undoubtedly, there is a strong convergence in the choice of undergraduate medical pupils and postgraduate pupils of the MPH programme. Due to the deficiency of literature on the choice standards for graduate student MPH, the writer decided to reexamine the literature on undergraduate medical pupil choice standards in the United Kingdom.2.3 SELECTION CRITERIA FOR UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS IN THE UK:The standards used for choice of undergraduate medical pupils are mostly vague being more of an administrative exercising to fit the figure of appliers to the available infinites on the class utilizing a movable Markss threshold. The consequences are that the greater the figure of appliers that twelvemonth, the higher the threshold grade used for admittance. ( 18 ) However, most medical schools strive to guarantee that the few available places available for medical pupil admittance are unfastened to pupils who will do the best physicians. With the current consciousness that non-academic personal qualities are basically as of import in the pattern of medical specialty as academic ability, many medical schools require appliers to set about entry trials that step other qualities and features in add-on to academic ability. ( 12,19 ) One of such trial is the personal qualities assessment trial ( PQA ) , which is designed to measure verbal, numerical, and spacial logical thinking. It contains a personality stock list and besides has an ethical logical thinking paper. The PQA has added value alongside the A – degrees leting for an nonsubjective appraisal of non-cognitive features of draw a bead oning medical pupils. ( 19 ) Many surveies have been done to measure the qualities of medical pupil which will do them good physicians in the hereafter. ( 19-21 ) A 20 twelvemonth prospective cohort survey was carried out to find whether A- degree classs and intelligence abilities of medical pupils could be used to foretell physician ‘s callings. The survey was carried out on 511 medical pupils who entered West-minister medical school between 1975 and 1982 with follow up to 2002. The result steps assessed were the clip taken to make different calling classs, postgraduate makings obtained, figure of research publications, and steps of emphasis and burnout related to A- degree classs and intelligence at entry to clinical school. The consequences of the survey showed that an A-level class which has peculiar widespread application in UK pupil choice has long-run prognostic value for undergraduate and postgraduate callings. ( 21 ) Parry J et al carried out a reappraisal of the admittance procedure of five medical classs in UK universities. The aims of the survey were to depict the current methods used by medical schools to place prospective medical pupils for admittance to the five twelvemonth grade class. The reappraisal was carried out on a sum of 20 two universities utilizing documental analysis and interviews with admittance coachs. Their findings revealed that there was a common standard for medical pupil admittance, based on academic ability, coupled with a suited personality consisting motive for medical specialty, leading accomplishments, teamwork abilities and extracurricular involvement. The reappraisal concluded that despite the common implicit in standards for medical pupil admittances, universities differed in their application of their demands for pupil choice. ( 22 )Brown and Lilford in their paper titled â€Å" choosing medical pupils † noted that it cost about ?200,000 lbs to develop ea ch medical pupil in the United Kingdom. However, the deductions, fiscal and otherwise of taking the incorrect pupil to develop in the first case are far greater. Three wide attributes that a suited pupil should hold include ; appropriate cognitive ability, diligence and humanity. However, the current choice tools can merely test suitably for cognitive ability. Most medical schools have introduced aptitude trial based largely on cognitive undertakings. There is grounds to demo that the trial correlative well with presymptomatic scrutiny consequences, but have non been a dependable forecaster of clinical public presentation. They besides questioned the truth of psychological as a forecaster of diligence observing the trouble in finding the appropriate mixture of traits that is most prognostic of persevering service and personal patterned advance. They besides noted that although short medical pupil interviews were effectual enlisting tools, they had low prognostic value. ( 23 ) Anothe r survey noted that while most medical schools may wish to choose future physicians with both cognitive and non-cognitive trial, using the usage of interviews was noted to be labour intensive and clip consuming. ( 19 ) Trial of cognitive ability seemed to be the most valid method with the highest predictive.A recent article proposed a comprehensive theoretical account for the choice of medical pupils based on informed ego choice, academic accomplishment, general cognitive ability ( GCA ) and facets of personality and interpersonal accomplishments. They used informations ( n=1000 ) from existent choice processs to show how their proposed theoretical account can be applied to increase the opportunities of doing accurate and defendable pupil choice. ( 24 )2.4 SELECTION PROCESS FOR MPH ADMISSION IN OTHER COUNTRIESThe choice of pupils into the MPH programme in the United States follows a different format than what applies in the UK. In the US, all SOPH and public wellness plans are accre dited by the nationally recognized Council on Education for Public Health ( CEPH ) . Students meaning to use for a graduate student grade in public wellness direct their application through the Schools of Public Health Application Service ( SOPHAS ) . SOPHAS so completes the application to different schools, on behalf of single pupils. Before pupils can subject their application to SOPHAS, they must sit for an entryway scrutiny. Most schools accept the Graduate Record Exam ( GRE ) , although demands may change for some schools. ( 25 ) It is clear from a reappraisal of the literature that the implicit in rules of pupil choice procedure is geared towards placing persons who are most suited to the entry demands which are designed to choose campaigners that are most likely to win in the class. It besides aims to forestall the credence of campaigners that will most likely constitute a hazard to the profession.2.5 AIMS AND OBJECTIVESThis undertaking aims to measure how pupils are selected for admittance into a Master ‘s programme by assorted schools of public wellness the United Kingdom. Specific aims will include: To measure the differences in MPH pupil choice procedure used by different Universities. To find the coveted qualities of a suited MPH pupil. To determine if entry demands differ for first twelvemonth public wellness trainees when compared to other pupils To determine if entry demands differ for campaigners with or without medical preparation To analyze the differences in entry demand for place and international pupils To increase our apprehension of why pupils chose certain MPH courses/universities3. Methodology:3.1 STUDY DESIGN:This is an exploratory survey which will affect a qualitative appraisal of MPH class manager ‘s sentiments, followed by a cross-sectional survey of MPH pupil ‘s sentiments.3.1 STUDY Setting:The survey will be carried out in different universities in the United Kingdom which offer a postgraduate public wellness grade class.3.2 STUDY POPULATION:UK universities MPH class managers Miles per hour pupils3.3 STUDY TOOLS:A information extraction signifier used to study university web sitesA semi structured telephone recorded interview with MPH class managers.A structured questionnaire for MPH pupils3.4 Sampling:This will get down with an initial study of web sites of all UK universities offering public wellness at postgraduate degree. Universities offering full clip or portion clip MPH/MSc Public Health and/or wellness publicity and classs under alternate names like Global Health will be selected for inclusion in the survey. Exclusion from the survey will be made on Public wellness classs offered at PHD or MPhil degree and Public wellness classs with rubrics such as Public Health Nutrition, Public Health Practice and Public Health policy. Based on the information collated from the website study, universities will be stratified into groups based on the undermentioned features: SOPH affiliated with medical schools SOPH affiliated with schools of nursing/other allied schools of wellness. Sophomore with long distance preparation programmes SOPH with Health Promotion as a strong component SOPH Involved with Public wellness trainees Subsequently, a graded random trying technique will be used to choose participant universities from each group. If an establishment has more than one of the features used for stratification, it will be included in a group with the least figure of universities. The current mark is aimed at choosing 20 universities for the telephone interview stage of the undertaking.3.4.1 UNIVERSITY SELECTION PROCESS:After informations extraction is complete, each university will be assigned a alone designation ( ID ) figure in the Microsoft Access database. Based on the features outlined above, universities will be stratified into different groups. Each group will so be exported into a separate Microsoft Excel dispersed sheet, with the alone ID figure arranged in columns. Subsequently, each column will be indiscriminately sorted utilizing the random generator tool for Excel. ( 26 ) The university at the top of the list from each group will be chosen for the interview procedure. The selected universit y will be excluded from the list, and the procedure repeated ( choosing and excepting the university at the top of the randomly sorted list each clip ) , until the coveted figure of participants has been reached. If there if any trouble contacting or obtaining consent from a chosen university, the procedure will be repeated to choose a replacing.3.4.2 INTERVIEW OF COURSE DIRECTORS:After stratification and random choice of universities, class managers from chosen SOPH will be contacted via electronic mail, and their consent sought for engagement in a semi-structured telephone recorded interview. Questions asked during the interviews will be structured to run into the declared aims of the undertaking. All interviews will be audio recorded with the consent of the respondents. Each telephone interview is anticipated to last between 30 to 45 proceedingss. Notes will be taken during the interview to supplement the sound taped conversations.3.4.3 MPH STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRES:Structured quest ionnaires with be distributed to MPH pupils from two universities affiliated with medical schools, in add-on to the University of Birmingham SOPH, to measure the pupils sentiments on their pick of MPH programmes. The universities will be chosen from those already selected for interview of the class manager. Questionnaires will be distributed via electronic mail to pupils in selected universities.3.5 JUSTIFICATION OF APPROACHThe survey will be executed by blending method, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative attacks. Qualitative methods are suited to for this undertaking as it provides the model for understanding the contexts of societal experience and enhances our capacity for societal account and generalisation. ( 27 ) It besides allows for the incorporation of professional positions, in this survey, those of different MPH class managers. Furthermore, this research method centres strongly on inductive logical thinking when construing informations and normally consequences in findings that were wholly unexpected. ( 28 ) Telephone interviews have been mostly neglected as a qualitative tool by many research workers who prefer face to confront interview. They argue that the deficiency of ocular cues, loss of non verbal informations and trouble set uping rapport brand s telephone interviews less attractive as a information aggregation method. However, it is easier for sensitive information to be disclosed as respondents feel more relaxed. There is besides no grounds demoing that telephone interviews produce lower quality informations than face to confront interviews. ( 29 ) This method is besides rather utile for this undertaking as it is easier to schedule and cheaper, sing the geographical distribution of participant SOPH. Quantitative methods will be used to supplement qualitative methods in this survey, since it has been argued that the logic of qualitative thought can be extended with qualitative methods. ( 27 )3.6 Analytic Method:This will be done utilizing a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques. Data analyses will get down instantly after informations extraction from surveyed university websites. This will be done utilizing basic descriptive statistics and comparative analyses where necessary. The semi-structured telephone interviews will be reviewed and reported in a structured format foregrounding repeating subjects which will be coded and analysed utilizing a thematic model. Structured pupil questionnaires will be analysed utilizing basic descriptive statistics, rank correlativity and thematic analysis. Statistical bundles which will help in informations managing and analysis include Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel and NVivo.3.7 Anticipated Problem:The most hard facet of this undertaking is the country of informations aggregation. The study of university web sites has been really disputing so far with tonss of trouble originating from screening out of import information from different university web sites. The writer anticipates that another major jobs associated with informations aggregation will be acquiring consent from MPH class managers for telephone interviews, sing their highly busy agenda. There is besides the issue of holding adequate clip to roll up, collate and adequately analyse informations generated for this undertaking. The job with the usage of pupil questionnaires is the issue of non-responders ( response rate possibly every bit low as 20 % ) . This could be addressed by utilizing on-line study tools e.g. study monkey and directing reminders to non-responders. Data analysis will necessitate some expertness in operating package bundles like Access, Excel an Nvivo. The writer has registered for and attended classs on these package bundles organized by the University of Birmingham IT-services section.3.8 ESTIMATED PROJECT TIMETABLE:The university web site study has reached an advanced phase and will be completed before the terminal of March 2010. Stratification of universities based on the standards outlined above has commenced and will be complete at about the same clip website informations extraction is completed. Subsequent choice of participant universities will be done in April 2010. It is expected that consent from take parting class managers will be received before the terminal of the April, and telephone interviews can be scheduled for May 2010. Data analysis will get down at the same time with the interviews and is expected to run through the month of June 2010. Design of pupil ‘s questionnaires is about complete. Its construction will be refined in April 2010 and distributed by the terminal of the month. Responses should be received during the moth of May 2010. Analysis of pupil questionnaires should get down in June 2010. Compilation of consequences and treatments will be done in July 2010 in readying for concluding entry in August 2010.

Acupuncture: An Alternative Essay

To support the life of an ailing individual and to relieve pain, the application of formal and conventional medical practice is not alone that can help. The application of complementary and alternative medicine may also relieve the patient of such sufferings. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), National Institutes of Health has defined complementary and alternative medicine as â€Å"a group of diverse health care and medical systems, practices and products that are not presently considered to be part of the conventional medicine† (House Select, 2006 p.10). There is a distinction between the complementary medicine alone and alternative medicine alone. Complementary medicine is applied jointly with the conventional medicine such as the use of aromatherapy in reducing the patient’s pain after undergoing a surgery while alternative medicine is applied as a substitute for conventional medicine such as the use of special diet to treat cancer instead of following the physician’s recommendation to undergo surgery or chemotherapy. The NCCAM classifies complementary and alternative medicine into five major categories. They areà § 1.Alternative Medical Systems that are built upon absolute systems of theory and practice that have often developed before and apart from the conventional medicine of the U.S.A. Some of these are homeopathy, hydropathy and naturopathy as well as the Chinese traditional medicine and Ayurveda. 2. Mind-Body Interventions that use a variety of procedures intended to enhance the mind’s capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms such as meditating, praying, mental healing, and therapies that use creative outlets like art, music, or dance. 3.Biologically Based Therapies that use substances found in nature like herbs, foods, and vitamins. These kinds of therapies include dietary supplements, herbal products, and the use of other so-called natural but non-scientifically proven methods like the use of shark cartilage to treat cancer. 4.Manipulative and Body-Based Methods which is based upon manipulation and/or movement of one or more parts of the body like massage and chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation. 5.Energy Therapies that include the use of energy fields. It is divided into two subcategories, the biofield therapies and the bioelectromagnetic-based therapies.   Biofield therapies are intended to affect energy fields that purportedly surround and penetrate the human body such as the application of pressure and/or manipulation of the body by placing the hands in, or through   these fields, i.e., qi gong, reiki, and therapeutic touch. On the other hand the bioelectromagnetic-based therapies entail the unconventional use of electromagnetic fields, such as pulsed fields, magnetic fields, or alternating-current or direct-current fields. According to NCCAM, Acupuncture is an â€Å"energy medicine involving putative energy fields†, or the biofields. (Energy Medicine, 2004) II. What is Acupuncture, Its Philosophies, Purpose, and Treatment Principles? â€Å"Acupuncture can alleviate prolonged pain, discomfort, and anxiety, and end severe dependence on a medical system so huge and impersonal that each patient feels like a forgotten cog in a machine.†Ã‚  (Cargill, 1994, p. 3) That is what Acupuncture can do according to Cargill. But what is it? NCCAM defines Acupuncture as â€Å"a family of procedures involving the stimulation of anatomical points on the body using a variety of techniques, the most common of which is the penetration in the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are either manipulated by the hands or by some electrical stimulation†. (An Introduction) The philosophical basis behind Acupuncture for traditional practitioners is the â€Å"qi† (Birch & Felt, 1999, p. 88) or the so called vital energy. Qi flows through the twelve major energy pathways called meridians, each of these is connected to specific internal organs of the body or organ systems and â€Å"three hundred sixty-five to two thousand acupoints† (Freeman & Lawlis, 2001, p. 311). This qi is blocked when there is imbalance of yin and yang, â€Å"two opposing and inseparable forces†(An Introduction), in the body thereby causing illnesses. Acupuncture can relieve the ailment by unblocking the qi through the insertion of needles at specific anatomic points in the body. Simply stated, the purpose of Acupuncture is to heal or therapeutic. Some healing results of acupuncture, according to research, include alleviation of low back pain, headache, pain from osteoarthritis, neck pain, musculoskeletal and myofascial pain, organic pain, and pain before and after surgery. It has also been used for the treatment of postoperative and chemotherapy-induced nausea, neurologic dysfunction, gynecologic and obstetric conditions, asthma, and substance abuse. With Acupuncture, illness or sickness is prevented while better health is restored. III. Brief Summary and Evolution of Acupuncture Acupuncture evolved from the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Earliest evidence regarding this practice can be found in the text, â€Å"The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic (Huang Di Nei Jing), a collection of 81 treatises compiled between 206 BC and 220 AD†Ã‚  (Freeman ; Lawlis, 2001, p. 316) However, Freeman and Lawlis further noted that â€Å"the oldest surviving classical text dedicated entirely to acupuncture was written sometime in 282 AD by Huang-Fu Mi† entitled, The Comprehensive Manual of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing). This book contains the â€Å"combined classical concepts concerning the theories and teachings of acupuncture points, channels, and the cause of illness, diagnosis, and therapeutic needling†Ã‚  (Freeman ; Lawlis, 2001, p. 316) It was in 618 AD when the practice reached its peak in China with the foundation of the Imperial Medical College. During this period, the practice was spreading its influence over other Asian nations such as Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia. Acupuncture attained maximum refinements at the end of the sixteenth century. Although it was in 1971 when Acupuncture became popularly recognized in the United States of America (USA), awareness about this therapeutic practice has been introduced in the country long before this period. The first records and studies of the practice became known to the Americans in 1825 in the publication of Morand’s Memoir on Acupuncturation, a document translated from French by Franklin Bache. However, it was in 1971 when the New York Times correspondent James Reston note down his experience about Acupuncture describing how medical professionals in China utilized needles to alleviate his pain after he have undergone surgery. Currently, the NCCAM reported that in the USA Acupuncture is being â€Å"widely† practiced by thousands of   related medical practitioners such as physicians, dentists, acupuncturists, and other practitioners mainly for alleviation and avoidance of pain and for other health purposes. In fact it was reported that in 2002, the survey showed that 8.2 million of the American adults have made use of Acupuncture. IV. Hazards of the Practice and Its Licensing and Regulatory Requirements The NCCAM provides in its website that the use of Acupuncture has a relatively lower account in terms of health problems and complication despite the huge number of treated individuals in America. Generally the negative complications resulted from the use of inadequately sterilized needles causing serious undesirable effects, including infections and punctured organs. Moreover improper needle placement, patient movements, or a defective needle may cause to tenderness, discomfort, soreness and pain during treatment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates acupuncture needles. These needles should be used by licensed practitioners only and need to be manufactured and labeled according to the required standards on   sterilization, nontoxic quality, and must be labeled for single use by qualified practitioners only. Public hearings held   on April 25, 2006 in Asheville, and on September 27, 2006 in New Bern in North Carolina have acknowledged issues regarding the following safety measures in alternative medical practice: a.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Practitioners Training, Qualifications and Credentials of Acupuncturists b.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Consumer Protection of patients c.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Insurance Coverage of patients for possible health problems and side effects d.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An Oversight- Regulatory Board to regulate and control the practice ensuring public safety. Finally, for public awareness the NCCAM Clearinghouse provides information on CAM and NCCAM, as well as publications and searches of Federal databases of medical and scientific texts in service to the American nation regarding alternative medicines. References An Introduction to Acupuncture. (2007). NCCAM Publication No.  D404, NCCAM, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 15 May 2008 from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/ Birch, S. J., & Felt, R. L. (1999).  Understanding Acupuncture. New York: Churchill Livingstone. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=100223449 Cargill, M. (1994).  Acupuncture: A Viable Medical Alternative. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=81902256 Energy Medicine: An Overview. (2004). NCCAM Publication No.  D235, NCCAM, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 15 May 2008 from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/backgrounds/energymed.htm Freeman, L. W., & Lawlis, G. F. (2001).  Mosby’s Complementary Alternative Medicine: A Research-Based Approach. St. Louis, MO: Mosby. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o;d=100735773 House Select Study on Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Final Report to the House of Representatives 2007 North Carolina General Assembly. (2006). Retrieved 15 May 2008, from http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/documentsites/legislativepublications/Study%20Reports%20to%20the%202007%20NCGA/Complementary%20and%20Alternative%20Medicine.pdf

Airport Noise and Pollution Can Effect Your Health

Airport Noise and Pollution Can Effect Your Health Researchers have known for years that exposure to excessively loud noise can cause changes in blood pressure as well as changes in sleep and digestive patterns, all signs of stress on the human body. The very word â€Å"noise† itself derives from the Latin word â€Å"noxia,† which means injury or hurt. Airport Noise and Pollution Increase Risk for Illness On a 1997 questionnaire distributed to two groups (one living near a major airport, and the other in a quiet neighborhood), two-thirds of those living near the airport indicated they were bothered by aircraft noise, and most said that it interfered with their daily activities. The same two-thirds complained more than the other group of sleep difficulties, and also perceived themselves as being in poorer health. Perhaps even more alarming, the European Commission, which governs the European Union (E.U.), considers living near an airport to be a risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke, as increased blood pressure from noise pollution can trigger these more serious maladies. The E.U. estimates that 20% of Europe’s population (about 80 million people) are exposed to airport noise levels it considers unhealthy and unacceptable. Airport Noise Affects Children Airport noise can also have negative effects on children’s health and development. A 1980 study examining the impact of airport noise on children’s health found higher blood pressure in kids living near Los Angeles’ LAX airport than in those living farther away. A 1995 German study found a link between chronic noise exposure at Munich’s International Airport and elevated nervous system activity and cardiovascular levels in children living nearby. A 2005 study published in the prestigious British medical journal, The Lancet, found that kids living near airports in Britain, Holland, and Spain lagged behind their classmates in reading by two months for every five-decibel increase above average noise levels in their surroundings. The study also associated aircraft noise with lowered reading comprehension, even after socio-economic differences were considered. Citizen Groups Concerned About Effects of Airport Noise and Pollution Living near an airport also means facing significant exposure to air pollution. Jack Saporito of the U.S. Citizens Aviation Watch Association (CAW), a coalition of concerned municipalities and advocacy groups, cites several studies linking pollutants common around airports (such as diesel exhaust, carbon monoxide and leaked chemicals) to cancer, asthma, liver damage, lung disease, lymphoma, myeloid leukemia, and even depression. A recent study pinpointed ground taxiing by planes at busy airports as the source of large amounts of carbon monoxide, which in turn appears to increase the prevalence of asthma within 10 kilometers of the airport. CAW is lobbying for the clean up of jet engine exhaust as well as the scrapping or modification of airport expansion plans across the country. Another group working on this issue is Chicago’s Alliance of Residents Concerning O’Hare, which lobbies and conducts extensive public education campaigns in an effort to cut noise and pollution and rein in expansion plans at the world’s busiest airport. According to the group, five million area residents may be suffering adverse health effects as a result of O’Hare, only one of four major airports in the region.

College Rights versus Gun Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

College Rights versus Gun Rights - Essay Example In my opinion, colleges should not be able to ban arms since this flawed decision may result in a probability of increased rate of rapes and murders at the campuses. Banning arms at the educational setup is simply a government’s guarantee to the trouble maker students that they are allowed to pursue their criminal activities and create pandemonium since the law-abiding innocent students would not have any weapon with them for their defense. Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (2009) present a valid report regarding the peace situation at the campuses which did not ban the right to carry guns. According to the report, eleven US universities allowed concealed carry and following this decision, no disturbing incidents like gun theft and gun violence have been reported by the college administrations. Proponents of gun rights argue for banning weapons from the campuses because in their opinion, carrying guns strengthens the bravado of emotional students who may shoot their profe ssors dead over trivial matters. Schulte (2009) says that nearly all states, except Utah, agree that carrying weapons on campus is a really bad idea. â€Å"Increased incidence of high-risk behaviors on college campuses, such as binge drinking and drug use, are commonly cited by anti-gun advocates as reasons to keep weapons off campus† (Smeck, 2011). ... he law with criminal intentions will get green signal for hitting the vulnerable targets and easily get away with their horrendous actions without being hit in reaction. Nowadays, the situation has worsened so much that violent crimes like rapes are happening on college campuses every single day. How are the innocent students supposed to react in a situation where they are forced to face serious danger by their enemies? They do not have any option but cowering silently after being cornered by the criminal student gangs. Proponents of gun rights seriously overlook the number of disadvantages brought on by banning gun rights by fervently sticking to the single factor that guns on campus policy is potentially conducive fore mass shooting breakouts, which can shatter the quality of educational atmosphere that is the hallmark of any good institution. In their report, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (2009) claim that gun-control policies have visibly failed at many prestigious Ameri can institutions like University of Memphis, Delaware State University, University of Washington since the year 2000, causing many students injuries and death as a result of being virtually unprotected. Unfortunately, within two years of the horrific incident in which a Virginia Tech student deliberately shot 32 students and professors dead, a debate has initiated between the gun-rights advocates and the supporters of gun-carry laws (Roth & Haman, 2009). The gun-rights advocates have failed to convince the state authorities to pass a bill for allowing carrying guns at the campuses. Following the ruthless murders performed together by the Virginia Tech student, government’s decision to ban gun rights and not pass a bill that allows the students the right of concealed carry on campuses is

Who are you Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Who are you - Essay Example He will point out that soul is a non material substance that was hardly be transplanted with the help of a part of brain as the latter does not contain it in the strict meaning of this verb (Elkaisy-Friemuth and Dillon 2). One of the most important assumptions that are made by this kind of thinking is that if a body does, the soul is released free and there is no way to return it. It is understandable that Plato is not able to present any factual evidence to support his claims. That is why it would be logical to treat his position from the point of view of speculation as well as personal interpretation of the facts as Plato primarily refers to different consideration and logical models in order to convince the audience. The second friend who will express his opinion about the situation in question is Aristotle. His main argument will be focused on the idea that soul is closely connected to the body. Therefore, it is possible to influence the former with the help of the latter (Johansen 119). The most important assumption in this case is that if one locates the part of the body where the soul is, it is possible to remove it and place into a different body. Speaking of the factual evidence, Aristotle might suggest that unhealthy body is not able to produce a sound soul. While this evidence is factual, it may be rather difficult to verify as a lot of different abstract notions are taken into consideration. That is why, one would make no mistake while pointing out that the claims that are presented by Aristotle are also may be regarded as speculations. It is quite understandable that it is safe to accept the premises which are expressed by Plato regarding the impossibility of transplanting a soul with the help of a brain as the argument that he makes features sound logic. Of course, some might question several aspects of it such as What if the soul decided to choose a different