Black Women and the Abolition of Slavery

â€Å"Rachel Weeping for Her Children†: Black Women and the Abolition of Slavery by Margaret Washington Photograph of Sojourner Truth, 1864. (Gilder Lehrman Collection) During the period leading up to the Civil War, black women all over the North comprised a stalwart but now largely forgotten abolitionist army. In myriad ways, these race-conscious women worked to bring immediate emancipation to the South. Anti-slavery Northern black women felt the sting of oppression personally.Like the slaves, they too were victims of color prejudice; some had been born in Northern bondage; others had family members still enslaved; and many interacted daily with self-emancipated people who constantly feared being returned south. Anti-slavery women such as Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman were only the most famous of the abolitionists. Before either of these heroines came on the scene and before anti-slavery was an organized movement, black women in local Northern communities had quietly tur ned to activism through their church work, literary societies, and benevolent organizations.These women found time for political activism in between managing households, raising children, and working. In the late 1820s, Zion’s African Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City, Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, and the African Meetinghouse in Boston were centers of female anti-slavery activity. Black women proclaimed that their cause was â€Å"let the oppressed go free. † They organized bazaars to promote the purchase of goods made from free labor, met in sewing circles to make clothing for those fleeing bondage, and raised money for Freedom’s Journal, the nation’s first black newspaper.In 1830, when Boston editor William Lloyd Garrison proposed his idea of publishing a newspaper devoted solely to immediate emancipation, a committee of black women began raising funds for it. The first copy of the Liberator appeared on January 1, 1831, wi th strong financial backing from black women. At their literary-society meetings, black women switched from reading European classics to discussing the Liberator and anti-slavery pamphlets, and inviting male speakers to expound on the evils of slavery.Throughout the 1830s, black women engaged heavily in activism. They vowed to â€Å"heed the enslaved mothers’ cry for children torn away† and designated their dwellings as â€Å"free homes† for those fleeing bondage. For example, Hester Lane of New York City, a successful black entrepreneur, used her home as an Underground Railroad station. Lane also traveled south to purchase enslaved children whom she freed and educated. Mary Marshall’s Colored Sailors’ Boarding Home was another busy sanctuary.Marshall kept a vigilant eye out for refugees from bondage, and was determined that â€Å"No one who had the courage to start should fail to reach the goal. † Other black women organized petition drives , wrote anti-slavery poetry, hosted traveling abolitionists, and organized fairs. By 1832, black women had formed the first female anti-slavery society in Salem, Massachusetts. They also held executive offices in biracial female anti-slavery societies in Philadelphia, Boston, and elsewhere.Anti-slavery black men insisted that black women work only behind the scenes, but women sometimes refused to do so. In New York City, a group of black women confronted white authorities in a courtroom where several self-emancipated women were about to be returned to bondage. Black men accused the female protesters of bringing â€Å"everlasting shame and remorse† upon the black community and upon themselves. In 1831, black women in Boston organized the African American Female Intelligence Society. This organization became a forum for Maria Stewart, the first woman to speak publicly against slavery.Stewart proclaimed that she was called by God to address the issues of black emancipation and t he rights of black women. â€Å"We claim our rights,† she asserted, â€Å"as women and men,† and â€Å"we are not afraid of them that kill the body. † Stewart also published a pamphlet in the Liberator on behalf of black women and the enslaved, but Boston’s black male community censored Stewart for her public expressions and forced her into silence. She soon left the city. Although she never again spoke publicly, she remained active through women’s organizations and conventions.She joined other black women who held office, served as delegates, and otherwise participated in the biracial women’s anti-slavery conventions in 1837, 1838, and 1839. The anti-slavery movement took a more progressive turn in the 1840s, when the American Anti-Slavery Society (Garrisonians) welcomed women as officeholders and speakers. Most black women continued their quiet anti-slavery work, but some were outspoken. The first black woman to take the public stage for t he American Anti-Slavery Society was Sojourner Truth.Born into slavery in 1797 among the Hudson Valley Dutch and emancipated in adulthood, Truth was already known as a preacher when she joined the Garrisonians in 1844. She made anti-slavery speeches throughout New England, and in 1845, gave her first address at the American Anti-Slavery Society’s annual convention. Sojourner Truth became known from Maine to Michigan as a popular and featured anti-slavery speaker. Truth published a Narrative of her life and used the proceeds to purchase a home and finance her abolitionist work. Another surge of radicalism occurred in 1850 with the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law.It decreed that any citizen could be enlisted in the service of a slaveholder to capture an enslaved person, and it nullified the individual civil rights that a state guaranteed its citizens, including those formerly enslaved. That same year, Harriet Tubman, a thirty-year-old self-emancipated Marylander, began defyin g the Fugitive Slave Law by leading enslaved men, women, and children out of the South. With slave catchers lurking everywhere and a price on her head, Tubman safely conducted her charges through the Northern states and on to Canada.Mary Ann Shadd (Cary) was a twenty-five-year-old freeborn schoolteacher when the Fugitive Slave Law was passed. Inspired by her father, whom she described as a â€Å"chief breakman† on the Delaware Underground Railroad, Shadd soon moved to Canada and established herself as a militant abolitionist, influential emigrationist, and the first black woman newspaper editor (of the Provincial Freeman). In 1854, twenty-eight-year-old Frances Ellen Watkins (Harper) joined Sojourner Truth on the Garrisonian lecture circuit. Born into a well-connected Baltimore family, Watkins was a poet and teacher.She was drawn into the abolitionist struggle by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which rescinded the restrictions on slavery in the remaining territories acquired under t he Louisiana Purchase. Watkins traveled throughout the Midwest, sometimes with Sojourner Truth. Watkins spoke eloquently of the wrongs inflicted upon her people; she sold her books of poetry at anti-slavery lectures and used the proceeds to support the Underground Railroad. In 1858, Watkins joined black male leaders in Detroit and led a large group of angry citizens in storming the jailhouse.The group attempted to remove from protective custody a black â€Å"traitor† to their cause, who had intended to expose the operations of the Underground Railroad. Despite the Fugitive Slave Law, the Underground Railroad remained the â€Å"heart’s blood† of black resistance. Black woman abolitionists played a vital role in this work. They were often the ones who intercepted refugees; who provided them with food, clothing, shelter, health care, and spiritual and psychological comfort; and who directed them to the next station. Women sometimes confronted slave catchers and kid nappers, who were often right on the heels of the â€Å"fugitives. Caroline Loguen, the wife of Syracuse, New York, abolitionist the Reverend Jermain Loguen, answered many a midnight knock during her husband’s frequent absences. Once she and her sister successfully fought off slave catchers attempting to enter her home in pursuit of â€Å"fugitives. † In 1858, Anna Murray Douglass, wife of black leader Frederick Douglass, hosted John Brown, the famous white abolitionist, for a month. Brown was in hiding after having been charged with murdering pro-slavery farmers in Missouri. In the Douglass home, Brown perfected his plans for the raid on Harpers Ferry.In an 1859 meeting with Brown in Maryland just before the assault on Harpers Ferry, Douglass gave him ten dollars from the wife of a Brooklyn couple, the J. N. Gloucesters, who like Douglass himself were close to Brown. Along with the money, Mrs. Gloucester â€Å"sent her best wishes. † When Brown was captured, t ried, and sentenced to death, black woman abolitionists sent money to his wife, Mary, and wrote letters expressing their deep regard for her husband. Frances Ellen Watkins also sent gifts as well as one of her poems, â€Å"Bury Me in a Free Land,† to Brown’s condemned men.During the antebellum era, black woman abolitionists moved, in keeping with the urgency of the times, from quiet activism to militancy. By 1858, even Sojourner Truth, the archpacifist, recognized that war with the South was inevitable if black people were to obtain their freedom. Black women furthered the goal of emancipation during the Civil War by continuing their abolition work. Harriet Tubman offered her services to the Union Army. Sojourner Truth lectured throughout the Midwest, where she confronted threatening pro-slavery (so-called â€Å"Copperhead†) mobs.Black women organized petition campaigns to Congress and the president; they sent food and clothing to the Union front lines for desti tute blacks; and they went into Union-occupied areas to provide education for black refugees. After the Emancipation Proclamation was signed on January 1, 1863, black women immediately began working on the next phase of their mission—the task of uplifting their race as a free people. Margaret Washington is a professor of history at Cornell University. Her publications include Sojourner Truth’s America (2009) and A Peculiar People: Slave Religion and Community-Culture among the Gullahs (1998)

English Essay Essay

The writer, Moniza Alvi, has picked the perfect setting in the poem ‘An Unknown Girl’ for the narrator to explore her thoughts and feelings about her Indian birth culture- an Indian bazaar. Probably like Moniza who has dealt with getting to know her Pakistani birth culture after being raised in the UK, the Indian narrator has grown up away from her birth culture. Thrown in the middle of the Indian bazaar where everything is unfamiliar and strange to her much like her cultural identity. The writer has the narrator confront her culture head on forcing her through the process of emersion to come to terms with her culture and eventually embrace it as being an essential part of her identity. By finding connections between her western culture in which she was probably raised and this foreign eastern culture, the narrator develops strong feelings of longing to get to know her birth culture more. From the start of the poem, it is clear that the writer is effectively communicating the narrator’s feelings of disconnection with her eastern heritage. The repetition of the word ‘unknown’ effectively summarises her contact with her culture; it is something foreign to her. Her first thought of disconnection is the main feeling in her mind. The fact that through-out the poem she keeps repeating ‘evening’, which is usually a time when people are asleep and dreaming of important things in their lives, further highlights that her culture has been hibernating within her waiting for someone to wake it up. Presently her culture only exists in her dreams; it is not a reality in her daily life. The title ‘unknown girl’ suggests that her own identity is a stranger to her; she does not fully know herself as she has cut off an essential part of anyone’s identity; her birth culture. At the same time, the repetition of ‘unknown girl’ through-out the poem creates a chorus-like effect that effectively draws the reader’s attention to the fact that it is the ‘unknown girl’ who is hennaing her hand that will wake up the eastern culture within the narrator. The unknown girl represents what her culture is to her: foreign. Unlike the narrator, this ‘unknown girl’ has embraced her culture which is shown by the fact that she is ‘hennaing [her] hand’ which is a traditional eastern art and is wearing traditional ‘satin’ clothes. As the narrator gazes at this girl during the  long process of hennaing her hand, she probably has begun to wonder why she has not embraced the eastern heritage like this girl has. She is perhaps feeling a little timid about getting to know her culture though this unknown girl as the unknown girl ‘steadies’ her hand. In the first steps towards getting to know her culture, the narrator begins to see some beauty within this eastern culture. The writer effectively shows that the narrator now sees a clear link between her eastern and her western culture and realises there is beauty in both. Through the use of a metaphor, she compares the beautiful art of henna flowing elegantly on her hand to that of the traditional western art of ‘icing’ a cake. Icing a cake is naturally beautiful and artistic as well. This girl helps her to recognise that the Eastern traditional art of hennaing her hand since it is like ‘icing’ a cake is also a beautiful art-craft that obviously takes skills as the unknown girl is doing it ‘deftly’ and is, therefore, an art to be admired. Yes, she does recognise her culture and the beauty in it, but at this point she only associates it as belonging to the unknown girl only. The repetition of the third person pronoun ‘she’ and ‘her’ highlights that her culture is currently outside of her and only belongs to the girl hennaing her hand. It hasn’t yet seeped into her yet; the remains of her culture that the unknown girl has begun to give her at this point only exists on the outside- on her hand. Later on, she realises that the gift that has been given to her is priceless. ‘For a few rupees’ the unknown girl gave her something that she would value for life. It conveys that a rich gift like her culture was handed to her without any price. Through the process of hennaing her hand, the culture that was once a distant imagination has now become a reality. At this point in the poem, the writer effectively specifies colour into the poem. The mention of ‘balloons’ creates and image of bright colour in the reader’s mind. Since we are all familiar with balloons in our childhood and the carefree times associated with them at parties, the writer has also created an idea of joy and happiness one can experience through embracing their cultural identity. The colour along with the use of sustained use of traditional Indian dialect such as ‘kameez’ suggests that at this point, the narrator’s culture is becoming more of a reality; she can no longer ignore it. As the ‘unknown girl’ continues to henna, the narrator notes more beautiful aspects of her culture. As the henna is placed on her hands, she  is struck by the beauty of the ‘peacock lines’ and she reflects the beauty of the henna with the form of the poem itself. A peacock is a bird that only reveals its beauty by fanning out its colourful feathers, similar to how the radiance in her culture is gradually becoming aware to her. The colours like the ‘neon lights’ are vibrant suggesting her culture is alive and shining in the dark evening. At this point, we are made aware that the narrator’s culture is becoming more of a part of her reality as the ‘peacock spreads across [her] palm,’ suggesting that her culture will soon not be restricted to just her hand. So, while the peacock can be argued to represent the beauty that is unearthing in her birth culture, it could also be argued that since the peacock is a national bird of India, it can also represent the national pride that surrounds her eastern culture identity which foreshadows that she too will also find pride through embracing her eastern heritage. Furthermore, the fact that a peacock doesn’t reveal its beauty until it opens its feathers, suggests that one must be open and willing in order to notice the beauty in a foreign culture otherwise they might just be blinded by the negative images and blaring ‘neon’ lights. Despite recognising the beauty that surrounds her culture, the writer then shows us that the narrator is beginning to feel conflicted about her cultural identities. The dummies ‘tilt and stare’ at her as if they are judging and questioning her. The dummies are an external symbol of her internal struggle. They wear traditional clothing and yet have western perms. Through the personification of the dummies through their ’tilt[s] and stare[s]’ the writer suggests that the narrator feels as if they are mocking her, asking why she is embracing this eastern culture when the western one she comes from is far from superior. It makes her self-conscious, and yet again, she is left confused. She’s just like them; it’s like she can’t seem to decide whether to embrace the eastern or western culture. Can they both exist together? What’s more, the people in the bazaar itself only compound her conflicting feelings. It seems that people within this ‘neon bazaar’ are also being pulled into two directions as they have embraced many aspects of the western culture. The banners of â€Å"Miss India† make her wonder why she should embrace her eastern culture when people in her own culture have abandoned it. The Miss India contest is originated from the west; it requires females to be less modest than the eastern culture permits. The streets are ‘furious’ with sounds  which implies chaos and I imagine that is how she feels at the moment. Yet, it could also be argues that the banners for ‘Miss India’ also reinforce the idea that there is beauty in her culture. Probably due to her upbringing in the west, the narrator most like felt like she was different from the norm, but back in the eastern culture she sees that people that look like her are also considered beautiful. This is probably the first time that she realised that someone with dark skin, hair and eyes could be used as an icon as in the west the standard for beauty is fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. This knowledge that she is beautiful is comforting that she feeling knowing that there is beauty in her culture. Before, she associated culture with the unknown girl hennaing her hand, but now, she sees it as an essential part of her. She was metaphorically asleep, in a dreamlike state, in this ‘evening bazaar’. But now she is waking up. The writer at this point shows that the narrator has acknowledged that her culture is an essential part of her. Through the use of a metaphor, the writer effectively communicates that the narrator has ‘new brown veins’. These represent her eastern culture seeping into her skin and going all the way to her heart like veins do, replacing (metaphorically) her previously ‘western’ blood with ‘eastern’ blood. It is as if a new life force, flowing powerfully through her. As we know, veins travel through-out our body and provide a blood supply to vital organs indicating that her culture is now a vital part of her being. This change towards embracing her culture was only done through the sense of safety. Here the writer’s use of free verse is seen as important suggesting that one should be free to explore their feelings and culture at their own free will when you are ready as being forced to might cause someone to develop negative feelings towards those trying to force the culture on them. The free verse suits the poem as it reflects that the narrator is exploring her thoughts freely and at her own pace, as everyone comes to important understandings at their own speed and should not feel rushed or forced to confirm. Because the writer essentially allowed the narrator to freely explore her thoughts, she is able to embrace the beautiful aspects of her culture. In addition, the writer effectively shows the narrator’s desperation to ‘cling’ onto her culture. She expertly conveys this through her use of the simile ‘like people who cling to the side of a train’. Like the people ‘cling[ing]’ onto the train, the narrator feels she must ‘cling’  onto her culture, grab it and never let go, because you don’t know when another ‘train’ will come again. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if she doesn’t catch this ‘train’ she may never get another chance. This may well be her last chance to connect with her culture, and she must grab it, otherwise, it might fade away. This feeling of desperation to cling onto her culture matches with the fact that her cultural reawakening is very faint to begin with. Like the henna that initially is ‘soft as a snail trail’ her reconnection with her culture is fragile and weak. If she doesn’t hard like ‘scrap[ing] the henna ‘off’ she might never unearth all the beautiful aspects of her culture like the ‘amber bird beneath’. She knows that if she doesn’t put effort to fully grasp and embrace her culture, it will disappear just like the henna that will ‘fade in a week’. Her once conflicting feelings are now calm; she has fully embraced her culture. The juxtaposition of contrasting sounds of the streets, signals the end of her internal conflict. The ‘furious’ streets at first represented her confusion and how out-of-place she felt, but once she has unearthed the beauty beneath the brown lines of henna, the ‘furious’ streets are now ‘hushed’, and this contrast shows how great her feelings towards her culture have changed. To conclude, she is grateful to this unknown girl but realises that if she doesn’t work hard to reconnect with her culture after this evening bazaar that she will lose connection and her reawakening will fade just like the henna of her hand will fade in a week’s time. So a girl who once found the scene strange and foreign now reaches across the table in thanks and in desperation to get to know this unknown girl. She now has new ‘brown veins’ as if the henna has seeped inside and her culture courses through her blood. On this night, a bond has been made between the two cultures. Instead of distancing herself from her eastern heritage, the narrator will now ‘lean across’ reaching out, yearning for the ‘unknown girl’ symbolising that she will not let the bond she has developed with her birth culture die.

Cantebury Tales

Cantebury Tales Essay Canterbury Tales In discussing Chaucers collection of stories called The Canterbury Tales, an interesting picture or illustration of the Medieval Christian Church is presented. However, while people demanded more voice in the affairs of government, the church became corrupt this corruption also led to a more crooked society. Nevertheless, there is no such thing as just church history; This is because the church can never be studied in isolation, simply because it has always related to the social, economic and political context of the day. In history then, there is a two way process where the church has an influence on the rest of society and of course, society influences the church. This is naturally because it is the people from a society who make up the church. and those same people became the personalities that created these tales of a pilgrimage to Canterbury. The Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England was to take place in a relatively short period of time, but this was not because of the success of the Augustinian effort. Indeed, the early years of this mission had an ambivalence which shows in the number of people who hedged their bets by practicing both Christian and Pagan rites at the same time, and in the number of people who promptly apostatized when a Christian king died. There is certainly no evidence for a large-scale conversion of the common people to Christianity at this time. Augustine was not the most diplomatic of men, and managed to antagonize many people of power and influence in Britain, not least among them the native British churchmen, who had never been particularly eager to save the souls of the Anglo-Saxons who had brought such bitter times to their people. In their isolation, the British Church had maintained older ways of celebrated the major festivals of Christianity, and Augustines effort to compel them to conform to modern Roman usage only angered them. When Augustine died (some time between 604 and 609 AD), then, Christianity had only a precarious hold on Anglo-Saxon England, a hold which was limited largely to a few in the aristocracy. Christianity was to become firmly established only as a result of Irish efforts, who from centers in Scotland and Northumbria made the common people Christian, and established on a firm basis the English Church. At all levels of society, belief in a god or gods was not a matter of choice, it was a matter of fact. Atheism was an alien concept (and one dating from the eighteenth century). Living in the middle ages, one would come into contact with the Church in a number of ways. First, there were the routine church services, held daily and attended at least once a week, and the special festivals of Christmas, Easter, baptisms, marriages, etc.. In that respect the medieval Church was no different to the modern one. Second, there were the tithes that the Church collected, usually once a year. Tithes were used to feed the parish priest, maintain the fabric of the church, and to help the poor. Third, the Church fulfilled the functions of a civil service and an education system. Schools did not exist (and were unnecessary to a largely peasant society), but the Church and the government needed men who could read and write in English and Latin. The Church trained its own men, and these went to help in the government: writing letters, keeping accounts and so on. The words cleric and clerk have the same origin, and every nobleman would have at least one priest to act as a secretary. The power of the Church is often over-emphasized. Certainly, the later medieval Church was rich and powerful, and that power was often misused especially in Europe. Bishops and archbishops were appointed without any training or clerical background, church offices changed hands for cash, and so on. The authority of the early medieval Church in England was no different to that of any other landowner. So, the question that haunted medieval man was that of his own salvation. The existence of God was never questioned and the heart-cry of medieval society was a desire to know God and achieve intimacy with the divine. Leading a life pleasing to God was the uppermost concern, and the wide diversity of medieval piety is simply because people answered the question, How can I best lead a holy life? in so many different ways. Beginning with The Pardoners Tale, the theme of salvation is truly paramount. Chaucer, being one of the most important medieval authors, uses this prologue and tale to make a statement about buying salvation. The character of the pardoner is one of the most despicable pilgrims, seemingly along for the ride to his next gig as the seller of relics. For myn entente is nat but for to winne,/ And no thing for correccion of sinne, admits the pardoner in his prologue. As a matter of fact, the pardoner is only in it for the money, as evident from this passage:I wol none of the Apostles countrefete: I wold have moneye, wolle, cheese, and whete, Al were it yiven of the pooreste page, Or of the pooreste widwe in a village Al sholde hir children sterve for famine. Nay, I drinke licour of the vine And have a joly wenche in every town. In his tale, the Pardoner slips into his role as the holiest of holies and speaks of the dire consequences of gluttony, gambling, and lechery. He cites Attila the Hun with, Looke Attila, the grete conquerour,/ Deide in his sleep with shame and dishonour,/ Bleeding at his nose in dronkenesse. The personification of the deadly sins, along with his story of the three greedy men that eventually perish at the hands of their sin is a distinct medieval device. The comic twist that Chaucer adds to the device, though, is that the Pardoner in himself is as the personification of sin, as is evident from the passages of his prologue. At the conclusion of his tale, the Pardoner asks, Allas, mankinde, how may it bitide/ That to thy Creatour which that thee wroughte,/ And with his precious herte blood boughte,/ Thou art so fals and unkinde, allas?. He then goes on to offer each pilgrim a place READ: Robotics Essayfor a price, of course. The Pardoners place in Chaucers idea of redemption becomes evident in the epilogue of the tale. After offering the host the first pardon (For he is most envoluped in sinne and, supposedly, the equivalent of Chaucer), the host berates the pardoner, saying, I wolde I hadde thy coilons in myn hond,/ In stede of relikes or of saintuarye./ Lat cutte him of. By this, the idea of the pardoner as the most important man on the pilgrimage is brought to fruition and Chaucer makes the main point of this tale: Salvation is not for sale. Another example of the medieval obsession with redemption. However, some did not accept this and questioned the church It was what they wanted other than a holy life with a Old-Testament God; That style of thinking evenually lead to a more gentle, mother-figure as a goddess The Cult of the Virgin. The eminent question then becomes, Why would people change from a long-lasting, Old-Testament God to a mother-like goddess ? The answer is simply because they thought their new found Goddess would never be as harsh on people as the often criticized male like aspect of God. In both current Catholicism and that of the medieval period, Mary is worshipped with more fervor than even God or Jesus. Church after church was (and still is) erected in her name. Her likeness graced statues and stained glass with as much frequency as Jesus bloody head. The worship of Mary is fervent, institutionalized, and approved of by the Christian church. Is she not a goddess? Mary simply took the place of the female aspects of the spirit that were once worshipped as Roman or Anglo-Saxon goddesses. The medieval period, stretching approximately from the late seventh century to the early sixteenth, was bound together under one constantRoman Catholic Christianity. But beneath this curtain of Christianity many legends were being formed and passed down, as old pagan traditions became assimilated into a newly Christian society. The two religious forms were becoming intertwined. They seemed at this time to be tolerant of each other, not entirely distinct. A peoples habits and thought processes are not easily changed, and being that the Anglo-Saxons of Britain were not Christians until the mid-600s, a period of transition can be expected . At least, a fascination with their pagan ancestors existed, at most, the practice of the old ways. Examples of a fascination with magic, worshipping more than one god-like figure, and a continuing love for worshipping goddesses, exist in many texts written in this period. Yet, this does not mean that every village had a sorceress in their midst, but literature usually reflects the society within which it emerges. At the time of The Canterbury Tales, many of a people who were Christians officially, politically, and in most cases at heart, saw that there were elements of paganism and sorcery which is tolerated and respected. The society in which Chaucer writes these stories is Christian as well, politically and spirituallycould it be that they tolerated and respected paganism and magic? Perhaps the separation of the two is not necessary and was not complete at this point in time. Not only was magic a pagan tradition that persisted throughout the Middle Ages. .another tradition, changing at the time, reflected the transition from worshipping the unseen forces in the world as many gods, to one, omnipotent God. Although the people were Christians, they took the separation of spiritual powers far beyond the creation the Trinity. The specific powers or emphasis given to each saint carries on even into todays Catholic tradition. The medieval period may have had some of this (although many of the saints were not even born yet) but in their literature, many immortal and powerful creatures are found. This form of Paganism existed in Britain of the Middle ages, full of spiritual beings, full of magic, alive with heavenly power existing on Earth. It has been the nature of the Christian men in power through the ages to, for fear, deny their people the knowledge of the un-Christian richness in their ancestry, and so the traditions that were not masked as Christian are lost to students of Christian history and literature. But it seems this period had not seen such extensive discrimination. The two ways of the world were not quite so separate then, and matters of the occult were not yet labeled as evil. This again implies that perhaps the two forms of religious thought do not have to be completely separate. There are strong similarities for them to coincide and complement each other, and for an entire people trying to make the Christian transition, maybe this complementing was necessary. However, the age of forceful patriarchy and witch-burning would not come about for several hundred years. Each new way of leading a holy life was thought to be progressively more acceptable to God by its proponents than the ones that had gone before. Such new ways were normally inspired by a desire to break away from the corruption and worldliness which was perceived in the older or more established forms of Godly living. These new ways often became corrupt themselves and over time breakaways from them were hailed as a newer and more perfect way of following God. This roller-coaster ride of corruption and reform is basically the story of popular medieval religion as man battled to define and discover what it really meant to be a Christian. In an effort to escape persecution, but to also flee the evil, prevalent in the world and to seek God free from many worldly distractions, monks began to assemble as communities of Christians . These communities, although they had little organization, were regarded as possessing the best Christian life by having a solitary, ascetic, celibate existence where the world had been totally renounced and had been entirely replaced with heavenly contemplation. These new martyrs were usually just called monks: theirs was a life of daily martyrdom as they constantly died to self and lived totally for God. The monks paid particular veneration to the physical remains of the martyrs (relics) and were therefore connected to the martyrs who they replaced. The rise of ascetic monasticism and relic worship however was quite controversial Both the worship of relics and ascetic monasticism however became mainstays of this Medieval religion, and the idea that monks were a new form of martyr persisted over time. READ: Moral and Ethical Dilemmas Essay Both monks as well as martyrs were looked upon as holy men. In relating this solitary world to readers, there is also a monk in Chaucers work He is someone who combined godliness and worldliness into a profitable and comfortable living. He was the outrider or the person in charge of the outlying property.. ..which lead him to enjoy hunting, fine foods, and owning several horses. Monks renounced all their worldly belongings and by taking vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, joined a community of monks. Their lives were spent in communal worship, devotional reading, prayer and manual labor all under the authority of the abbot of the monastic house. Particular monks often had particular jobs- the cellarer or the infirmarer for example, and these like every aspect of monastic life were laid down in the Rule. Monks were nearly always of noble extraction (one had to have wealth in order to give it up) but could also be given to the monastery as children (called oblates) to be brought up as monks. Hindsight has blurred our vision of the Medieval monk and the result is that the modern Christian mindset has condemned him for his selfish escapism from the world and for his apparent neglect of those who needed Christ outside of the cloister. The Medieval mindset was very different. The monastery was an integral part of the local community it probably owned most of the farming land in the area- and the fortunes of the people in any area were bound up with the spirituality of its monastic house. The monks were on the front line of the spiritual battle-it was they who did battle in prayer for their community, who warded off devils and demons and who prayed tirelessly for the salvation of the souls of those in their community. Rather than being the cowards of Christianity unable to take the strain of living a Christian life in the real world, the monks were like spiritual stormtroopers interceding for an area against its supernatural enemies in mudh the same way as a local lord in his castle protected an area against its physical enemies. The people gave gifts to both lord and abbot in return for a service. The Pardoner also represents the tradition of faith in respect to the church of his time. The Pardoner is representative of the seamy side of the corrupt church and a broken or twisted (if you will) faith. The faith of a bureaucracy, which is what the church had become. The Pardoner was a church official who had the authority to forgive those who had sinned by selling pardons and indulgences to them. Although, the Pardoner was a church official, he was clearly in the church business for economic reasons. The Pardoner, a devious and somewhat dubious individual had one goal: Get the most money for pardons by almost any means of coercion necessary. A twisted and ironic mind, has basically defined himself through his work for a similarly corrupt church. In contrast, the Plowman has nothing but a seemingly uncomplicated and untwisted faith. The Plowman has the faith of a poor farmer, uncomplicated by the bureaucracy of the church. The Pardoner is probably on this journey because he is being required to go by the church or he sees some sort of economic gain from this voyage, most likely from selling forgiveness to the other pilgrims. The Plowman on the other hand is probably on this voyage because of his sincerity and faith in its purpose. While this was the story of religion at grass-roots level, at the organizational and hierarchical level, the church developed along a different line. It became more organized, more bureaucratic, more legal, more centralized and basically more powerful on a European scale. This process was spearheaded by the papacy and reached its pinnacle under Pope Innocent III in the early 13th Century. He embodied what became known as the papal monarchy a situation where the popes literally were kings in their own world. The relative importance of spiritual and secular power in the world was a constant question in the middle ages with both secular emperors and kings, and the popes asserting their claims to rule by divine authority with Gods commands for Gods people proceeding out of their mouths. The power of the church is hard to exaggerate: its economic and political influence was huge, as its wealth, movements like the crusades, and even the number of churches that exist from this period truly show its greatness. By the early 10th century, a strange malaise seems to have entered the English church. There are comments from this time of a decline in learning among churchmen and an increase in a love for things of this earthly world. Even more of these lax standards had begun a decline in the power structure of the church which included a decrease in acceptable behavior amongst churchmen and a growing use of church institutions by lay people as a means of evading taxes. Christianity affected all men in Europe at every level and in every way. Such distances however, led to much diversity and the shaping of Medieval religion into a land of contrasts. One can also see how mans feelings of extreme sinfulness and desire for God are quite evident in these tales. Still, we are told that history repeats itself because nobody listens to it, but more realistically history repeats itself because man is essentially the same from one generation to the next. He has the same aspirations, fears and flaws; yet the way that these are expressed differs from age to age. This is why each period of history is different. The fact that man is the same yet different is what makes the study of the people who formed the medieval church directly applicable to Christians lives and experiences today. Book Reports

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Compare or constrast the differences in Asian and European traditions Essay

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Men representation in mass media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Negotiating for Jobs, Salaries and Everything Else (Guide) Research Paper

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Road Safety Essay Example for Free

Road Safety Essay Road incidents are a major problem in every society. Many lives are taken due to careless driving or misuse of public roads. Road incidents, also known as traffic collision, traffic accidents, motor vehicle collision, road traffic collision, wreck (USA) and car crash (Australia), can be defined as an unexpected and undesirable event , that occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian and other stationary obstruction. Road incidents are not only a rising concern in Fiji but also in every country in the whole world. Increase in the number of road incidents is a matter of concern in Fiji and also other countries in the world. Usually road incidents have very high impact on the people, that is, on the life, mind and family. People who are the victim of accidents normally regret for the rest of their lives because of the suffering they endure due to their carelessness in not following the simple road safety rules. Approximately hundred to two hundred people die each year due to road incidents. An escalation in the number of road incidents is not only a problem in Fiji but in every country in the whole world. Developed and leading countries like Australia and the United States of America also face the problem of road incidents and its impact on the people. In the recent years, the number has increased rapidly and many people are affected due to road incidents in one way or another. Many people lost their lives, family members or loved ones, suffer physical damage and damage to their properties due to not following the simple and easy road safety rules. Due to carelessness of people and failing to follow the road safety rules, this is turning out to be a great concern for Fiji Government and its time that action is taken. Many people are dying everyday. The Government and concerned authorities such as the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and police, are showing their concern by organizing operations to monitor the drivers activities and holding awareness programs to educate people.

Reporting Practices and Ethics Essay Example for Free

Reporting Practices and Ethics Essay The four elements of financial management are planning, controlling, organizing and directing, and decision making. These four elements will be defined and explained in this paper. Also emphasized will be the accepted accounting principles and the general financial ethical standards. Examples of ethical standards of conduct and financial reporting practices will be explored and notated in this paper as well. All of these points are important in the accounting practice of health care management to help the organizations run smoothly and to be financially stable. Four Elements of Financial Management Planning lets a health care organization set goals and guidelines to make sure their office is a success and that all accomplishments are met. Controlling is ensuring that all areas within the healthcare organization are following goals and guidelines set and gives the organization the opportunity to prepare for any issues that may arise. Organizing and directing ensures that the health care organization is working to its potential and allows them to work on a day to day basis and fix any issues that may be looming. Lastly, decision making works off all of the other elements (planning, controlling, organizing and directing) by collecting information and making the final decisions on how the financial management will work. General Accepted Accounting Principles â€Å"The common set of accounting principles, standards and procedures that companies use to compile their financial statements. GAAP are a combination of authoritative standards (set by policy boards) and simply the commonly accepted ways of recording and reporting accounting information† (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles , n.d.). Even with GAAP being a set of  standards, there are still companies that will finagle numbers on their financial statements, so their financial statements will have to be scrutinized tremendously. General Financial Ethical Standards â€Å"Ethical standards are determined largely by professional accounting and finance organizations and the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Small-business owners who plan to perform their own accounting services or hire accountants should be aware of accounting principles and general financial ethical standards so they can maintain a positive reputation for their businesses† (Morley, n.d.). Competence is one of the ethical standards that is key for a financial officer to uphold in an organization. Financial managers should follow the GAAP and stay up to date with its guidelines. They should also uphold honesty and integrity. Examples of Ethical Standards of Conduct Ethical standards of conduct is a set of standards that each company sets for themselves. There is no consistent standards of conduct for a business, but they must include, promoting values, trust, good behavior, fairness, and kindness. They are not easily enforceable and are always open to interpretation. For example, men and women should be treated equally or treat the patient with respect. Nightingale Home Healthcare code of ethics are direct and descriptive. Some of their ethical standards of conduct are listed as: â€Å"all business conduct should be well above the minimum standards required by the law, each employee is responsible for the consequences of his or her actions, each employee must be the guardian of Nightingale’s ethics, leaders at Nightingale have extra responsibility of setting an example by their personal performance and an attitude that conveys Nightingales ethical values, our first responsibility is to the patient and patient’s families that we p rovide our services† (Corporate Social Responsibility-Code of Ethics , n.d.). There are numerous points of their code of ethics but they serve a purpose and that purpose to make sure their company is ran efficiently and respectfully. Financial Reporting Practices â€Å"A distinguishing characteristic of high performance organizations is a strong internal control structure-controls that ensure patient care,  compliance with regulations, internal efficiencies, and financial reporting. It is controls on financial reporting that are receiving a great deal of attention under a new law, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Public companies are now required by law to document controls over financial reporting, in order to fully address exposures and the effectiveness of current controls. Though many healthcare organizations are not directly affected by the law, regulatory agencies could follow suit and require similar compliance. In fact, several states have introduced bills that require nonprofit organizations to adhere to portions of the act. This article provides a guide for organizations desiring to stay ahead of the curve† (Godwin Mueller, 2005). Significance The significance of these examples are that there are ethics that need to be followed within any organization but in a healthcare organization it is extremely important because you handle patients and to ensure the comfort of these patients, a code of ethics need to be enforced for the organization. It is also important to ensure that financial reporting is done, so all finances stay up to date on a legal manner. It helps to show revenue, liability, and expenses and helps control the business effectively. References Corporate Social Responsibility-Code of Ethics . (n.d.). Retrieved from Nightingale Home Healthcare : http://www.homecareforyou.com/about/code.html Generally Accepted Accounting Principles . (n.d.). Retrieved from Investopedia : http://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gaap.asp Godwin, N., Mueller, J. (2005). Fiancial Reporting Practices: A Comprehensive Evaluation. School of Accountancy, Auburn University. Morley, M. (n.d.). Accounting Principles and General Financial Ethical Standards . Retrieved from Small Business Chronicle: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/accounting-principles- general-financial-ethical-standards-36283.html

Sterilization by Saturated Steam | Experiment

Sterilization by Saturated Steam | Experiment Introduction Many microorganisms are non-pathogenic and can live in harmony with humans as they do not cause disease. However pathogenic microorganisms can be deadly and therefore need to be eliminated from certain environments. These environments can be hospitals; individuals are already unwell and their immune systems are compromised making them susceptible to infection, water treatment, food and pharmaceutical production; supply available to communities making everyone susceptible, and laboratories; contamination of microorganisms can cause conflicting results. In order to eliminate microorganisms, sterilization of equipment, hospital supplies and production sites are necessary. Sterilization process may involve different methods using heat sterilization, radiation sterilization, filtration, and chemical sterilization. Radiation involves sterilising using gamma waves or ultraviolet light. Chemical sterilization involves using toxic chemicals such as ethylene oxide to sterilise equipment. Filtration sterilises by filtering out microorganism residues from gases and liquids that are sensitive to heat, making them unsuitable for heat sterilization (Goering et al., 2007). Heat sterilization is classified under dry heat and moist heat. Dry heat involves using heat to sterilize by causing denaturation of proteins and oxidative stress onto the cell (Goering et al., 2007).. Moist heat involves using heat and liquid to destroy microorganisms. The most common sterilization method is the use of moist heat in steam sterilization. Steam is considered an easy and effective sterilant, as it is economical, fast working and is harmless to users. Steam is non toxic and economical as it is simply pressurised water in gas phase. Steam sterilization is a fast working process as steam production does not consume a lot of time and high pressure allows exposure to the entire compartment quickly. Steam sterilization is an effective process as it can destroy living microorganisms and at high temperatures it can prevent regermination by destroying endospores as well. Steam sterilization acts by denaturing proteins within cells thereby killing the microorganism. Water vapour releases large amount of heat during condensation, this heat allows penetration of endospores to occur thereby killing endospores. The steam steriliser works using gravity and is therefore often called a gravity sterilizer. The steam sterilizer can have steam be generated from external source or can be produced from a water reservoir internally. Initially the water from a water reservoir or steam from external source enter the steriliser and is heated using a heating element. The steam being produced rises to the top of the chamber leaving cooler air at the bottom. There are drains at the bottom of the autoclave so the cool air can exit the compartment. As the steam fills the steriliser the thermostatic steam trap located at the bottom of the compartment closes. This allows the pressure of the system to build up causing high pressured steam. The timer begins at this point measuring the time set for sterilisation. To maintain the temperature and pressure at set point the heating element turns on and off. After the set time has finished the steam can be removed either to the water reservoir to cool and allow water to condense and be collector before venting to the room, or can be vented straight into the room or a designated safe zone (Dondelinger, 2008). Problems may occur in steam sterilization where it may not work. This can be due to a variety of technical problems such as leaks in the steam line. To monitor the function of steam sterilisers a Sterikon ® plus Bioindicator vial is added to every batch. Sterikon ® plus Bioindicator is made of essential nutrients needed for bacterial growth including sugar, Bacillus stearothermophilus spores and a pH indicator. In a working steriliser these pores should be destroyed in steam at temperature of 121 °C and pressure of 1 bar (VWR, 2002). When all the pores have been killed the vial should stay a pink/red colour. However if the sterilization did not work, in the next 24 hours the B. stearothermophilus spores within the incubated vial will get the opportunity to regerminate. The growth of B. stearothermophilus is facilitated by sugar fermentation producing acid. This acid causes the pH indicator to change colour to yellow and due to the microbe growth the vial will become turbid. (VW R, 2002). This provides an understanding if the steam steriliser is working to safe conditions and helps keep everything sterile. Another method to monitor steam sterilization is the use of Thermalog strips. Thermalog strips are made of two different outer layers, one side is made of foil and the other made of paper, this paper side allows steam to enter. Within these outer layers there is a chemical enclosed with a paper indicator. This chemical liquefies when steam and heat reaches it allowing it to flow along the paper indicator. The length this chemical moves is dependent on the time of exposure to steam, the temperature of steam and the volume of steam (3M, 2010). On the paper side there are two boxes labelled unsafe and safe. If the steam sterilisation occurs properly the chemical will move into the safe window of the strip. However if it does not there must have not been enough steam produced, not high enough temperature or not enough time within steriliser. This experimental report addresses the necessities needed for complete steam sterilization and producing safe equipment. In order to understand the requirements needed for steam sterilization, the experiment is conducted using different methods and conditions for B. stearothermophilus spore strips. The experiment is important as steam sterilization has important applications in preventing spread of disease within the community by sterilising medical equipment and giving reliable results by sterilising laboratory equipment. Hypothesis: Moist heat may be more effective than dry heat in sterilization process as moist heat plays a substantial role in sterilising spores. Steam sterilization is the most used method of sterilization yet its affectivity may be dependent on specific operation conditions. Steam sterilization needs to be monitored as problems may arise with its function, determine these methods of monitoring steam sterilization process. Materials and Methods: Refer to: BMS2052 Microbes in Health and Diseases Practical Class Notes (2010), Department of Microbiology, Monash University. Pages 35 -37. Results: Results 1.1 Thermalog strips were placed in Schott bottles, one with water and loose cap and the other tightly capped with no water added. After 15 minute sterilization at 121 °C the Thermalog strips read either safe or unsafe in relation to microbial presence. Results 1.2 Two bioindicators, initially pink, were separated one underwent steam sterilization and the other had no sterilization. After incubation for 3 days at 56 °C the bioindicators colours were recorded. Results 1.3 All four screw-capped bottles had one strip of B. stearothermophilus spores inside. These four bottles underwent different conditions, e.g. underwent steam sterilization or had liquids added. All these bottles underwent incubation for 3 days at 56 °C. Discussion Steam sterilization experiment shows the affectivity of steam sterilization, the operation conditions and monitoring the process using Thermalog strips and Sterikon plus Bioindicator vials. In order to determine the requirements needed for steam sterilization Thermalog strips are used to measure affectivity of steam sterilization. In the experiment the Schott bottle with water that was loosely capped had a reading on Thermalog as safe. This is due to steam having direct contact to Thermalog strip as water inside the Schott bottle vaporises when inside steriliser and the loose cap on the bottle allows steam to enter during sterilization. However the other Schott bottle that has no water and is tightly capped has a reading on Thermalog strip as unsafe. The Thermalog strip remains in the unsafe window as it has not had enough contact with steam as the cap was tight thereby not allowing steam from the steriliser into the bottle and there was no water within the bottle so steam could not be produced within the bottle either. Thereby this shows for complete sterilization to occur there needs to be direct contact between equipment being sterilised and steam, a high enough temp erature and enough time in the steriliser, all these properties are monitored by Thermalog strips. Thermalog strips are affective at monitoring temperatures and time exposure to steam yet it does not prove that say heat resistance pores will be destroyed at the specific conditions. Therefore Thermalog strips should be used but in combination with other monitoring items. Steam sterilization monitoring can also be done with Sterikon ® plus Bioindicator vials. This experiment shows how the Bioindicator vials work and how effective they are at monitoring the process. Bioindicator vials have B. stearothermophilus spores in a nutrient broth with a pH indicator. Initially both these vials appear to be clear and pink in colour. The Bioindicator vial that is placed in the steriliser stays pink and clear whereas the vial that was not sterilised became cloudy and yellow. This means that the Bioindicator vial sterilised has no bacterial growth, as regermination has not occurred while the vial not steam sterilised did have regermination. Regermination of spores allows formation of bacteria. These bacteria facilitate their growth by fermenting sugar. This fermnattion process generally procuces acidic end products, family of Bacillus do mainly produce lactic acid as an end product. As these products are acidic the pH indicator will change colour in respose to th e formation of these products. The pH indicator changes colour from pink to yellow. The bacterial growth will also cause the vial to look cloudy due to turbidity within. The results showed the Bioindicator vials work consistent with what was expected showing that they are an asset in monitoring steam steriliser function as they show Monitoring the needs to facilitate complete steam sterilisation occurs in the third part of the experiment. Bottle 1 is used as the control showing that the B. stearothermophilus spores have the ability to regerminate from the initial spore strip. If bottle 1 had not shown microbe growth the results obtained would not prove steam sterilization has occurred as the spores may not have had the potential to regerminate at all. Bottle 2 shows that steam sterilization can occur when water is added to the bottle. As the heat within the steam steriliser increases the water within the bottle will vaporise forming steam. This steam will have direct contact with the spores allowing the spores to be completely eradicated. Bottle 3 was tightly capped and had no liquid added to it making it impossible for steam to have direct contact with the spore strip. As the spores were still alive during incubation the spores regerminated and formed bacterial growths within bottle 3, viewed as cloudy. Bottle 3 as it had no contact with steam had only dry heat sterilization working within which is not effective in killing of spores and thereby is less effective than steam sterilization method in bottle 2. Bottle 4/5 was tightly capped and had paraffin oil added to it. It would be expected that this bottle would have bacterial growth as there is no steam in direct contact with the spore strips. The oil could even act as a barrier for any steam, entering through the tight cap, to get in contact with the spores. However the results obtained in the experiment showed that there was no bacterial growth in bottle 4/5. This is most likely due to experimental errors where the spore strip was not completely submerged in paraffin oil and the cap of bottle 4/5 was not tight enough. This would allow steam to enter the bottle and have direct contact with the spore strip as the oil was not covering the whole strip. This experiment showed that for effective steam sterilisation to occur the equipment and instruments must have direct exposure to steam. Steam sterilization experiment has showed that for steam sterilization to occur direct contact with steam is needed; this can be from direct steam from steriliser or water within vaporising. Steam sterilization experiment could have included a few more alternative conditions such as a loosely capped bottle with no water and a loosely capped bottle with oil. This would have showed steam can enter a bottle and cause sterilization. Also a loosely capped bottle with oil would have been able to tell the effect of oil on direct steam sterilization. Steam sterilization is a more effective and time efficient process than dry heat sterilization techniques. Steam sterilization can manage to kill heat resistance bacterial spores whereas most dry heat sterilization cannot. There is a dry heat sterilization method that is effective in killing bacteria regerminating from spores called Tyndallization. Tyndallization involves heating equipment and instruments for a certain time ranging from a few minutes to an hour depending on temperature of heating for three to four days. Initially this will kill all existing bacteria and other microorganisms. On the second day the spores would have regerminated allowing the second row of bacteria to also be killed. The third day will allows time for the late germinating spores to regerminate and heating allows them to be killed (Aminot and Kerouel, 1997). This procedure despite its affectivity this procedure still takes several days to complete therefore steam sterilization is the better option. Sterilization is an important process in hospitals, water treatment facilities, food and pharmaceutical production and laboratories. In hospitals sterilization can prevent the spread of diseases caused by opportunistic pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia (Goering et al., 2007). Steam sterilization is therefore an ideal form of sterilization in hospitals to prevent spread of disease with the aid of Bioindicator vials to monitor function in every batch and occasional use of Thermalog strips. Conclusion Steam sterilization can only occur if the equipment being sterilised has direct contact with steam from steam provided in steriliser or from heat causing water within to vaporise into steam. Without steam contact the equipment is having only sterilization by heat which is an ineffective sterilization method on spores. Oils, fats and other hydrophobic substances should cause barriers for steam penetration making sterilisation less likely. It is important to monitor steam sterilisers as many mechanical interruptions could prevent complete sterilisation. Sterikon plus Bioindicator vials are an effective way to monitor steam sterilisers as they produce consistent results showing whether sterilisation has occurred or not. Thermalog strips can also be used to monitor if steam sterilising machines are reaching conditions that allow safe sterilisation to occur, for example the right amount of steam, temperature and pressure.

Truth of Mining Toxins :: essays research papers

The Truth of the Mining Toxins In this novel Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver is based on two sisters figuring out where they belong in life. They grow up in a small Native Latino American city named Grace, Arizona. In this small town there is a river that runs through the town. Codi, the older sister, is a teacher at the local school. She decided to take her students to the river to look at the water under a microscope and discovered that the water is contaminated. She ended up discussing this problem with a small group called the Stich Bitch Club. This group is only women and they discuss things about the town and many problems that occur in their everyday life. While the men of the town couldn’t get involved, the women solved things from the environment to help the town by being powerful feminists.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After Cody was brought into the group she known she would have to tell this information to the woman about the Black Mountain mining. The mining has been running sulfuric acid in the water through the town of Grace that is causing trees to die, including microscopic animals in the river. This sulfuric acid can also be used to kill rats and pond algae and many other small things in the river, but not the fish.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mining toxins are something that is released into the environment by the businesses throughout the United States. In my research I discovered that the mining industry toxins that were most released was in the year 1998. Some things were, â€Å"metal mining:3.5 billion pounds, Gold mining:1.23 billion pounds, Air: 2 million pounds, coal mining: 13.3 million pounds.† (Drillbits, 1) For example, â€Å"Toxin gas released from a Union Carbide chemical plant in Bhopal that killed 2,500 people in India, in 1984.† (Drillbits, 1) All these different toxins are causing damage in the water, but most of all it is killing innocent people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the book it shows that Codi did discuss this problem with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and they also discovered the sulfuric acid in the river. According to the Stich and Bitch Club they know they had to stop the company from building a dam and polluting the river. A certain woman from the Stich and Bitch Club suggested that, â€Å"My husband used to be a crane operator when the mine was running; he would know how to fix up the bulldozers from hell to breakfast.

Mathematical Contributions of Blaise Pascal :: Biography Biographies Essays

Mathematical Contributions of Blaise Pascal Introduction Blaise Pascal was born on June 19, 1623 in Clermont Ferrand. His nationality was french. He died in 1662. He was credited for his imaginative and subtle work in geometry and other branches of mathematics. His work influenced later generations of theologians and philosophers, helping make mathematics what it is today. Blaise Pascal is considered part of the foundation of the very heart of mathematics. History At age 12 he mastered Euclid's Elements. In 1645, he invented and sold the first adding machine. His study of hydrostatics led to the invention of the syringe and hydraulic press. At age 16, he formulated the basic theorems of projective geometry. These theorems became known as Pascal's theorem. He proved that the level of mercury column in a barometer is determined by the increase or decrease in the surrounding atmospheric pressure. This discovery verified the hypothesis of the Italian physicist Evangelista Torricelli, concerning the effect of atmospheric pressure on the equilibrium of liquids. After publishing Essay pour les coniques (Essay on conic sections), Pascal temporarily abandoned the study of mathematics due to poor health. He lived in Paris for a while in a frivolous manner as a break. His interest in probability theory of the odds in gambling games lead him to discover the Theory of probability in conjunction with Pierre de Fermat. This theory dealt with the actuarial, mathematical, social statistics, and calculations used in today's modern theoretical physics. At the end of 1654, after several months of depression, Pascal had a life altering religious experience. He entered the Jansenist monastery in Port Royal. Here, he never published his own name again in his mathematical studies. He wrote a pseudonym to help in the struggle against the Jesuits for the defense of the Jansenist, Antoine Arnauld. In 1658, he broke with the Jansenists, and left the monastery. Pascal died on August 19, 1662 from cancer, at age 39. In his life, his most famous work was perhaps Pensees (thoughts). This was a set of deeply personal meditations in a somewhat fragmented form on human suffering and faith in God. Another famous work of his was called "Pascal's Wager." This expressed the conviction that belief in God is rational: If God does not exist, one stands to lose

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder :: Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD

Journal According to Sigmund Freud, events and emotions that are particularly disturbing are repressed into the unconscious. Often times this theory is true, but for people suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, they only wish that it were true. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. People with PTSD have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal and feel emotionally numb, especially with people they were once close to. They may experience sleep problems, feel detached or numb, or be easily startled. PTSD was first brought to public attention in relation to war veterans, but it can result from a variety of traumatic incidents, such as mugging, rape, torture, being kidnapped or held captive, child abuse, car accidents, train wrecks, plane crashes, bombings, or natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes. People with PTSD may startle easily, become emotionally numb (especially in relation to people with whom they used to be close), lose interest in things they used to enjoy, have trouble feeling affectionate, be irritable, become more aggressive, or even become violent. They avoid situations that remind them of the original incident, and anniversaries of the incident are often very difficult. PTSD symptoms seem to be worse if the event that triggered them was deliberately initiated by another person, as in a mugging or a kidnapping. Most people with PTSD repeatedly relive the trauma in their thoughts during the day and in nightmares when they sleep. These are called flashbacks. Flashbacks may consist of images, sounds, smells, or feelings, and are often triggered by ordinary occurrences, such as a door slamming or a car backfiring on the street. A person having a flashback may lose touch with reality and believe that the traumatic incident is happening all over again. PTSD affects about 7.7 million American adults,but it can occur at any age, including childhood. Women are more likely to develop PTSD than men, and there is some evidence that susceptibility to the disorder may run in families. PTSD is often accompanied by depression, substance abuse, or one or more of the other anxiety disorders. Many people with anxiety disorders benefit from joining a self-help or support group and sharing their problems and achievements with others. Internet chat rooms can also be useful in this regard, but any advice received over the Internet should be used with caution, as Internet acquaintances have usually never seen each other and false identities are common.

Compulsory Education in Saudi Arabia

Education is very important as it greatly influences people’s behavior, interpersonal relationships, leadership and the general economy. When people are educated, they become more open minded to new ideas and it is this change in attitudes that enhances innovation and intelligence in society to make people skilled in certain areas such that they positively impact on the society (World Education Forum, 2000). Saudi Arabia is one of the countries in the Middle East whose economy is growing rapidly. The country therefore needs skilled people to work in the industries who will continue propelling the economy to greater heights. For this reasons, education in Saudi Arabia is something that the government considers as a necessity and that is why it is has dedicated itself to improve the literacy levels especially among people in the rural areas. Saudi Arabia being an Islamic state it is ensuring that the citizens follow the culture and traditions as stated in the holy Quran. To enhance this, the school curriculum follows the Islamic principles and belief system. This research will look at the various ways in which education in Saudi Arabia is enhanced in several ways so as to ensure that the children of Saudi Arabia have access to good education. Compulsory Education Compulsory education generally means that children are allowed to go to school without being asked to pay any fees. This is because the government will cater for the expenses that the public schools will incur which are mainly related to school tuition. Compulsory education in Saudi Arabia was initiated during the reign of the two Kings; Faisal and Khalid (1964- 1982). It was then that the education system was changed from the former Egyptian model and a five year plan was formulated so as to enhance human capital development via education and training. Initially, 50% of the best children after finishing primary education went to secondary and the rest were enrolled in the training institutions. Nowadays, compulsory education in Saudi Arabia generally includes primary and secondary education and partly higher education which is funded by the government. Compulsory education has been beneficial to the government as well as the people because the poor and marginalized children can now go to school, more people are becoming educated and skilled and the government now has leant to budget it s money well so that all sectors of the economy get enough funding. This initiative has helped in reducing the cases of unequal distribution of resources (OECD Staff, 230). For easy monitoring of academic progress, the kingdom is divided into school districts (Saudi Arabia, 2009). The Ministry of Education is responsible for formulating educational policies that are used by all schools in the different districts. We will now look at how compulsory education works in the different levels of education. Primary Education. Primary education was made free by the government so that everyone in the country could be educated such that when they become of age and are left on their own , they have high chances of finding a job so that they an meet their daily needs. â€Å"Since Saudi Arabia follows the Sharia Law even in the school system, boys and girls are separated and that is why there are separate schools for both genders but all follow the same education system as the exams set are the same (State University, 2009). † The system therefore includes traditional education for boys, general education for the boys and girls education system. Primary education constitutes the elementary school where upon successfully completing this stage, a child is awarded the general elementary schools certificate and the intermediate schools where after finishing at around the age of 15, one is awarded the intermediate schools certificate. The subjects that are learnt at the primary level are those that are meant to create a strong foundation so that the children can develop an interest on the areas that they would like to specialize (Sedgwick, 2001). The subjects studied include, mathematics, Arabic, English, science, art, history and religious studies. The boys on top of this, they study physical education. o Secondary Education Secondary education is supposed to shape the growing children’s behavior and build on the areas where they can specialize so that by the time they finish high school and get the general secondary education certificate, technical secondary school or the religious Institute Secondary Education certificate, they can choose either to further their studies if they have passed or to engage in other economic activities if they do not join training institutions. Under the secondary education, there is the general secondary education and the religious secondary school which mainly focuses on the social sciences and religious studies (Rothbard, 2006). † Subjects taught in the general secondary education may be optional but there are those that everyone has to learn which include scientific and literary subjects. The technical secondary school offers vocational, commercial and agricultural training progra ms as specified by the general Organization for Technical Education. This system is good as it makes people define at an early age the areas they would like to specialize on. After completion, there is further vocational and training that seeks to emphasize on the skills acquired. o Higher Education There are 7 public universities, teacher training colleges and colleges for women. The universities follow two systems, the modern system that is influenced by the western ways of doing things and the traditional Islamic system which mainly teaches students on Islamic laws and social studies. When students pass their secondary education specifically the Tawjihi or the General Secondary Education Certificate examinations, they will be admitted to the universities (Sedgwick, 2001). † University education is supposed to take four years but there are exceptions in disciplines like medicine, engineering and Pharmacy which can last for up to eight years. The women colleges mostly offer bachelor and masters degrees but there is also a doctorate in education following the provisions made by the General Presidency for Girls Education. The government has also established higher technical institutions and those that deal in financial and commercial sciences. The courses take about two to three years and after completion, certificates and diplomas are awarded. These non-university higher education institutions are governed by the General organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training (GOTEVT). The students who are admitted to these schools have to have undergone secondary education and specialized in the science subjects or gone to the vocational and commercial schools. Teacher training. The government of Saudi Arabia in wanting to offer the best teachers for the schools they have funded and built, they have invested in teacher training colleges. There are about 18 teacher training colleges and the Ministry of Education ensures that the colleges are well supported so that they produce competent and skilled teachers who will be recruited by the government after the completion of their studies to each in the public schools around the country. The teachers are trained for all the levels which include primary, secondary and higher education. King Abdul Aziz University usually trains the teachers who will concentrate in higher education (Sedgwick, 2001). o Special Education Specialized education include taking care of the disable in society, adult education, offering public administration services and educating and training the military personnel in various fields. ? Physically challenged educational initiatives The Saudi government in its quest of equitable distribution of resources has not forgotten the physically challenged people and children in society. Schools have been established within the kingdom to cater for disabilities like blindness, mental cases and the deafness. These schools generally create a safe haven for the pupils who would otherwise been shun away by society by ensuring that there are facilities that will cater for the physical therapy sessions they sometimes undergo through and proper training sessions. King Saud University teaches teachers so that they can take care of special children. The College of Applied Medicine also teaches educators on how they can deal with deaf children. Adult education Research has shown that the illiteracy levels are more in women than they are in men. That that is why adult education programs have been developed to deal with such cases. The ministry of education in conjunction with the General Presidency of Girls Education has opened up institutions that help the elderly in society to read and write. In addition to this, they undergo various vocational training classes so that they can gain skills which ah they can use to earn income. For example the women are taught about weaving and Pottery. Public Administration To enhance the skills that people gain in school, the government offers special training to people who work in hospitals so that they can offer the best health care to patients, people in the banking sector so that they can manage people finances well and also the governments resources as they will be more observant on the changes in the domestic, regional and global market trends. Special training is also given to the people who handle electronic data and secretaries. The goal of building on the skills of the public administrators is to ensure that they serve the public well, manage the country’s resources and perform their duties without any form of biasness (Abir, 1988). ? Military Training and Education The government in its commitment to protecting people’s lives and safeguarding their lives and property from any form of internal and external danger, it has set up military training camps for all the different divisions within the military. Where upon completion of the course, A military science degree is awarded. Health training centers are also in place which train doctors in various fields, nurses, laboratory assistants, pharmacists and intuitionalists who can therefore offer better health treatment to people all over the country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also working with other institutions in conducting research on various things so that they can continue enhancing various sectors of the economy. Funding. The Provision of quality education is something that the government is working on and that is why the government allocates funds to schools in order to buy things like stationery, reading and writing books and also building of classrooms. In building schools, the Ministry of Education emphasizes on the rural development fast because a lot of people are now living in the cities and man people are migrating to the urban areas leaving them underdeveloped. â€Å"That is why they need to make sure that there are good schools in the regions and better facilities so that people stay and develop the areas (UNESCO, 2007). The ministry also offers scholarships to the children who have performed well and they would like to further their education in oversees countries. The ministry thus relies on the budget allocation set aside for educational purposes and several charities got from donors. â€Å"The state is developing ways that will make the private sector more involved in the prov ision of extra funding for educational programs (Raheed, 2008). † The ministry of Education ha therefore come up with ways that aim at increasing the support of the community for this initiative. Since some private institutions fund schools, they are being given a duty of monitoring and evaluating the activities that occur in such schools so that they can perform better and continue giving the funds. Challenges and Solutions Though the compulsory educational system is meant to make the citizens more knowledgeable, it is faced wit various setbacks that need to be addressed if the Ministry of Education objectives are to be fulfilled. One of the challenges is that the number of the children going to school is increasing and this has made the public schools especially the primary schools become congested. This situation is straining the learning process as the teachers have to cope with the large number of children and therefore they cannot address the individual needs of the children. Moreover, performance of the pupils in such schools is diminishing. That is why the private schools are starting to gain popularity because they are offering quality services hence their better performance. If policies are poorly designed, parents will keep their children at home and neither party will gain in the process (Field et al, 2007). For the state to be able to cope with this problem, they have to redefine their policies so that they can build more schools or hire more teachers. Another challenge is that the teachers or educators salaries have not been increased therefore they are not motivated enough to teach students. The ministry needs to adjust the teachers pay packages because if the problem persists, the people who are largely going to suffer will be the students as they will be caught in a tag of war between the teachers and the state. Women education is largely governed by Islamic principles and that is why it is difficult for the women to further their education. â€Å"The women especially those who want to pursue higher education in other countries are not easily allowed to travel to other countries and this restricts then from finding pleasure in careers they want to do (Arabic News, 2003). † On top of this, priority is always given to the boys therefore women have a limited chance again of enhancing their careers. The state as much as it is Islamic, it can allow exceptions and even provide guidelines that will help the women who would like to further their studies. Funding is a major issue and this can be attributed to mismanagement of some of the funds allocated to educational ventures and the leaders both of schools and the state not being accountable for the funds. There are cases where schools do not have records of the money they have spent and this makes it difficult to properly allocate funds (Ghonemy, 1998). The leaders therefore need to guide the people in proper ways and ensure that they positively then to follow in their footsteps. Moreover, they need to properly plan and budget for their activities. In conclusion, compulsory education has helped the state increase its human resource capabilities by supporting education and training programs in almost all sectors of the economy. If they implement the solutions to the various problems mentioned and continually monitor and evaluate the progress of schools, then they have a high chance of improving the education sector and likewise the lives of the people of Saudi Arabia.