Why Is Credentialing Important Essay Example for Free

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

What Happened In The Tlatelolco Massacre History Essay

What Happened In The Tlatelolco Massacre History Essay The Plaza of the Three Cultures, known as the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Spanish, symbolizes Mexicos unique cultural heritage. La Plaza de las Tres Culturas was once the center of one of the most powerful Native American empires, the Aztecs, located in the ancient city of Tlatelolco. The square contains the remains of the Aztec temples and is flanked by the Colonial Cathedral of Santiago, and the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores (Department of Foreign of Affairs) building. Las Tres Culturas is in recognition of the three periods of Mexican history reflected by those buildings: pre-Columbian, Spanish colonial, and the independent mestizo nation. The plaza not only represents three cultures but is an important reminder of the Mexican spirit of determination. It is the site where the Aztecs made their final stand against the Spanish army in 1521 and the massacre of 1968. It has been called Mexicos Tiananmen Square, Mexicos Kent State. During the presidency of Gustavo Dà ­az Ordaz (1964-1970), there were several antecedents to the 1968 student confrontations with the Mexican government, but nothing comparable to the Tlatelolco Massacre that occurred on the night of October 2, 1968, in Mexico Citys Plaza de las Tres Culturas. Background The year1968 was a year of political turmoil around the world. The International Olympic Committeeheaded by Avery Brundage from the U.S.had chosen Mexico as the first Third World country ever to host the Olympic Games. This was aimed both to draw oppressed countries into imperialist-dominated world sport and to showcase Mexico as a model of U.S.-sponsored growth and relative stability. Mexico was supposed to provide a contrast to the national liberation struggles which were shaking most of Latin America, Asia, and Africa and sparking rebellions in the imperialist citadels from Detroit to Paris as well. To date, no other Latin America country has subsequently hosted the Olympic Games. The Mexican government invested a massive $150 million in preparations for the Olympics, an ostentatious amount considering the poverty that existed in Mexico. The Mexican president during the Olympics, Gustavo Dà ­az Ordaz ineptly strained tenuous conditions in Mexico in an attempt to preserve the peac e. During the Dà ­az Ordaz presidency, Mexicans endured the suppression of independent labor unions, peasant farmers, and the economy. From this general dissatisfaction with President Dà ­az Ordaz, the student movement was born. Initially their demands were limited to greater employment and respect for university autonomy; however, the struggles of the factory workers and rural peasants soon resonated with them. This movement of rebellious students was touched off on July 24 when a fight between gangs at two high schools connected with the longtime rivals, the Mexican National Autonomous University (UNAM) and National Politechnical Institute (IPN, or Poli), was viciously put down by antiriot police called granaderos. When outraged vocational students protested, granaderos attacked again, killing many. In response, students seized buses and put up barricades to defend their schools. Student strikes and takeovers hit high schools all over the capital. The high school students were supported by UNAM and IPN students. Students from 70 universities and preparatory schools in Mexico formed a grassroots National Strike Council (CNH) and put forward six strike demands: disband the granaderos; fire police chiefs; investigate and punish higher officials responsible for the repression; pay compensation for students killed and injured; repeal laws making social dissolutionbreaking down of societya crime (under these laws many independent unionists and communists had been jailed); and free political prisoners, including students arrested in the recent disturbances as well as those seized earlier for social dissolution. Within three days the government had to call in the army to take back several Mexico City prepas (preparatoriashigh schools connected to universities). There were clashes which led to many hundreds of arrests and injuries. Thirty-two students had been killed since the first confrontation, but this only fired up the youths resistance. The student strike spread to the UNAM, IPN, and universities throughout the country, supported by a majority of professors. By late August and September the students were calling marches of 300,000 to 600,000 people; important contingents of workers and peasants participated regularly. Over the coming months, the student movement gained support from students outside the capital and other segments of society that continued to build until that October, despite several instances of violence. CNH Tactics Student brigades strained their creativity and skills to foil police and get the word out. Engineering students designed balloons which would burst when they got to a certain height and rain leaflets on the heads of pedestrians. Acting students put on realistic street theater in which a student and a conservative woman in pearls and heels carried out loud debates in crowded markets. Hundreds of observers would be drawn in, the majority on the side of the youth, and the advanced would be quietly contacted by undercover students in the crowd. Some students found that they and the barrio or slum dwellers spoke what seemed to be two different languages. They had to throw out bookish talk and learn from the vivid calà ³ slang of the streets. After a full day of brigade work, they would spend the night in classrooms they had taken over, discussing the conditions and outrages the masses had exposed them to and figuring out how to use this new knowledge in their leaflets and agitation. The red and white buses of the IPN, always with some daring students and a loudspeaker perched on the roof, became famous for a kind of roving speak-in. Workers, market vendors, and even mariachi singers would climb up on the bus roof one after another to voice their support or disagreement with the students demands or tactics and to air their grievances. In some neighborhoods, just the appearance of an IPN bus was enough to immediately attract crowds of hundreds of people who would gather around. Students captured the spirit of the people in a way that the national government was never able to do. In fact, the national government was despised by its people. Mexican Government The turmoil of the 1960s in part reflected a widespread dissatisfaction among Mexicans with the rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The PRI was aptly described in 1968 as entrenched, stagnant, and primarily self-serving in the eyes of many Mexicans. The PRI controlled the nation with an iron fist for over 70 consecutive years. The party has been known to use violence, manipulation and corruption to win elections and hide information from the public, such as the details concerning the Tlatelolco massacre. President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz was known for an authoritarian manner of rule over his cabinet and country, despite Mexico being a democratic country. Luis Escheverria, Interior Secretary to Ordaz, was also known for a no nonsense attitude against student protesters. The Mexican governments planned response to the student rally on the evening of October 2 was called Operation Galeano. The most definitive account of this operation, culminating with the Tlatelolco Massacre, is found in a Mexican special prosecutors report released in November 2006. According to this report, early on October 2 elements of the militarys Estado Mayor Presidencial (the Presidential High Command) were placed in apartments on the upper floors of the Chihuahua apartment building and other apartment buildings surrounding Tlatelolcos Plaza de las Tres Culturas. Once the rally started, the Army, using from 5,000 to 10,000 soldiers (the accounts varying) and more than 300 tanks and other vehicles, would surround the plaza to prevent those attending the rally from fleeing, while armed military men in civilian clothes, members of a unit called the Batallà ³n Olimpia that had been organized to help protect the Olympic Games, would prevent anyone from entering or leaving the Chi huahua apartment building, in which the organizers of the rally were to be arrested. The planned response of the government ended in bloodshed by the order of Luis Escheverria. Tlatelolco Massacre: The Event On October 1, the CNH held two rallies at UNAM. Speakers urged the thousands of students present to attend an October 2 rally at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, in the Tlatelolco area of Mexico City, to be followed by a march to Casco de Santo Tomà ¡s to demand the withdrawal of authorities from the IPN campus. On October 2, 1968, approximately 10,000 people, most of them students carrying red carnations, arrived in the vast colonial plaza of Tlatelolco for a demonstration. At 6:04 p.m. green and red flares dropped from helicopters, soldiers burst into the square, tanks blocked the exits and an elite plainclothes battalion stormed the speakers platform on the third-floor balcony of an apartment building, where the National Strike Committee, the leadership body of the student movement, was stationed and opened fire. The gunfire lasted for sixty-two minutes, then started again and continued for hours. Late in the evening, when the shooting finally ceased, scores of demonstrators lay d ead and woundedchildren and the elderly among them. The official government explanation of the incident was that armed provocateurs among the demonstrators, stationed in buildings overlooking the crowd, had begun the firefight. Suddenly finding themselves sniper targets, the security forces had simply returned the shooting in self-defense. By the next morning, newspapers reported that 20 to 28 people had been killed, hundreds wounded, and hundreds more arrested. Most of the Mexican media reported that the students provoked the armys murderous response with sniper fire from the apartment buildings surrounding the plaza. El Dà ­as morning headline on October 3, 1968 read as followed: Criminal Provocation at the Tlatelolco Meeting Causes Terrible Bloodshed. The government-controlled media dutifully reported the Mexican governments side of the events that night, painting the students as trouble makers who needed to be brought to order by any and all means necessary. Olympic Games 1968 Controversy The death of hundreds did not even phase the International Olympic Committee. They did not consider to cancelling the games, due to their belief that the massacre was an isolated event involving a social minority. On October 16, 1968, an action by two African-American sprinters at the Mexico City Olympics shook the sporting world. Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the gold and bronze medalists in the mens 200-meter race, took their places on the podium for the medal ceremony barefooted and wearing civil rights badges, lowered their heads and each defiantly raised a black-gloved fist as the Star Spangled Banner was played to show their support for the student protesters and the Olympic Project for Human Rights. Some people (particularly IOC president Avery Brundage) felt that a political statement had no place in the international forum of the Olympic Games. In an immediate response to their actions, Smith and Carlos were suspended from the U.S. team by Brundage and banned from the Olympi c Village. Those who opposed the protest said the actions disgraced all Americans. Supporters, on the other hand, praised the men for their bravery. Tlatelolco Massacre: Response and Investigation Some argue that an understanding of the domestic political context within Mexico explains why the government reacted in such a harsh manner. Mexico stayed relatively isolated from other foreign powers which provided them more freedom in their ability to deal with their domestic problems. The strongest censure from abroad that Mexico received for the massacre was a mild finger wagging from the representatives of a few foreign governments. The worlds failure to confront and condemn the actions of the Mexican government fueled the killing rampage throughout Mexico in the years to follow. In 1998, President Ernesto Zedillo, on the 30th anniversary of the Tlatelolco massacre, authorized a congressional investigation into the events of October 2. However, the PRI government continued its recalcitrance (defiance of authority) and did not release official government documents pertaining to the incident. Eventually in 2001, President Vicente Fox, the historic president that ended the 70-year reign of the PRI, attempted to resolve the greatest of these unanswered questions: who had orchestrated the massacre? President Fox ordered the release of previously classified documents concerning the 1968 massacre. The documents revealed that the students did not open fire first and showed that the snipers were members of the Presidential Guard, who were instructed to fire on the military forces in order to provoke them. President Fox also appointed Ignacio Carrillo Prieto in 2002 to prosecute those responsible for ordering the massacre. In June 2006, an ailing, 84-year-old Luis Eche verrà ­a was charged with genocide in connection with the massacre. He was placed under house arrest pending trial. In early July of that year, he was cleared of genocide charges, as the judge found that Echeverrà ­a could not be put on trial because the statute of limitations had expired. However, in March 2009, after a convoluted appeal process, the genocide charges against Echeverria were completely dismissed. Despite the ruling, prosecutor Carrillo Prieto said he would continue his investigation and seek charges against Echeverria before the United Nations International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Human Rights Commission. In October 2003, the role of the U.S. government in the massacre was publicized when the National Security Archive at George Washington University published a series of records from theCIA, the Pentagon, the State Department, the FBI and the White House which were released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests. The LITEMPO documents detail: That in response to Mexican government concerns over the security of the Olympic Games the Pentagon sent military radios, weapons, ammunition and riot control training material to Mexico before and during the crisis. That the CIA station in Mexico City produced almost daily reports concerning developments within the university community and the Mexican government from July to October. Six days before the massacre at Tlatelolco, both Echeverrà ­a and head of Federal Security (DFS) Fernando Guiterrez Barrios told the CIA that the situation will be under complete control very shortly. That the Dà ­az Ordaz government arranged to have student leader Sà ³crates Campos Lemus accuse dissident PRI politicians such as Carlos Madrazo of funding and orchestrating the student movement. Still, some today believe the United States government was only concerned with security and safety during the Olympic Games 68 and was not involved in the Tlatelolco massacre in any form. Determining who is at fault however, will not change the events that occurred on October 2, 1968. The blood and tears shed that day are still fresh in the minds of those who witnessed the horrific event. Remembering Tlatelolco In 1993, a stele was erected to remember those who lost their lives. The former headquarters of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs is now a memorial museum called Memorial 68 to remember the Mexican student demonstrations and the Tlatelolco massacre victims and survivors. Each year the anniversary of the Tlatelolco massacre is marked with a march to the same plaza and a protest for the release of government records. On October 2, 2008, the 40th anniversary, two marches were held in Mexico City to commemorate the event. One traveled from Escuela Normal Superior de Maestros (Teachers College) to the Zocalo. The other went from the Instituto Politecnico Nacional to the massacre site of the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. According to the Comità © del 68 (68 Committee), one of the organizers of the event, 40,000 marchers were in attendance. Unfortunately, still too many are unfamiliar with the events that occurred since the massacre fails to appear in most history textbooks. When asked how this could be, high school Headmaster Samuel Gonzalez Montano, replied, You cant teach anything that didnt officially happen. As of now, the newest generation of Mexicans only have a general knowledge of the events surrounding the 68 Olympic Games, which are unavoidably intertwined. Gregory P. Groggel, a graduate of the University of Puget Sound, recounts: During a visit to the plaza, I encountered a group of boys playing soccer. When I inquired from one of them if he knew what happened in October of 1968 here in the plaza, he shrugged and looked around. I told him some 300 people died. He seemed lost and turned slowly to read the memorial he was sitting in front of and had lived near his whole life. The end of it reads: Who? Whom? No one. The next day, no one. The plaza awoke swept; The newspapers said for news the state of the weather. And on the television, on the radio, in the theaters, there was not a single change in the program, not a single announcement. Nor a moment of silence at the banquet (or following the banquet). The deaths of so many youths and protesters must not be forgotten. They deserve more than a simple moment of silence. Remember Tlatelolco. Fore, those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.(George Santayana)

Arthropod Ectoparasites in Cats

Arthropod Ectoparasites in Cats CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1Â  Origin of cat domestication The domestic cat Felis catus was originated from the wild cat species, Felis silveteris which distributed from Europe, Middle East, parts of Asia and throughout the Africa continent (Garman, 2000). Cats were first taming in Egypt around 3 600 years ago (Serpell, 1988; Coleman et al., 1997) but the recent finding suggests that the domestication took place earlier in the Fertile, Crescent around 10 000 years ago. Cats can be categorized into three groups according to where and how they live. The groups are; domestic pet cats, free roaming stray cats and feral cats. Domestic pet cats are those owned by human and their resources are provided by the owners, stray cats are not owned and they freely move however, they are still depending on resources supply by human, meanwhile the feral are those that live and reproduce in the wild and hunting for their resources and needs. In Malaysia, most household owned at least one cat as a pet and the cat population’s number increases each year (Bedi, 2011). Average animals received monthly are between 600 – 700 animals as reported by The Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Malaysia. 2.2Â  The host (Stray cats) Stray cats are free ranging cats and can be found in and around the cities, towns, rural properties and they are homeless. They are not owned however, they return to human habitation (Ogan and Jurek, 1997) since they are depending on resources that supply by human. Stray cats could also define as those that escaped home and unable to return or an abandoned cat that seeks its shelter. According to Holton (2007) if a stray cat born in the wild, it can be considered as feral which the free ranging offspring of the domestic cat. Domestic cat’s lifespan as pets are between 15 to 17 years. However for stray cats, estimated time of living is only between 4 to 5 years (Ogan and Jurek, 1997). Stray cats are usually found in contact with human kind and easily seen foraging for food around the areas where food is abundant such as markets, food courts, on the streets and around the cities. These cats are exposed to numerous types of communicable pathogens such as; rabies, toxoplasmosis and toxocariasis. Stray cats are also good vectors to parasitic organism that are transmittable which can be potentially bringing harm to human’s health. Some ectoparasites can cause skin lesions that are accompanied by pruritus, erythema, excoriation, papules and crusts (Wall, 2007) after fed on animals and as well as on human. 2.3Â  Arthropod Ectoparasites The phylum arthropoda contains over 85 per cent of all known species of animal. Most common arthropod ectoparasites that associated with cats are from class Insecta and class Arachnid. Arthropoda is a Geek word arthros which means a joint and podos means foot. Three basic characteristics of the Arthropods jointed appendages, segmented body and external skeleton. The entire body is covered with a tough skin called cuticle which in parts is chemically hardened to form a protective exoskeleton. The very simple heart is dorsal, whereas the ganglionated nerve cord is ventral but in the head region it connects to a dorsal large ganglion, often called the brain. The body cavity called coelom, which is the space between the alimentary canal and body wall, is often called a haemocoele because it contains the arthropod’s blood (Macmillan, 1980) Arthropod ectoparasites have a major impact on husbandry, productivity and welfare of domestic animals (Colebrook and Wall, 2004). Arthropod ectoparasites have strong association with their hosts, they are blood-sucking organisms which live and feed on nutrient-rich fluids that are offered by vertebrates and also may become opportunistic feeder on human. 2.4Â  Physiology and pathogenicity of ectoparasitic arthropods The small, complex, mobile arthropods usually have a short life, but their populations are maintained at a high level because of the large number of offspring and a short developmental period, usually a few days to a few weeks, although some species require a year or more. The great adaptability of arthropods is evidenced by the evolutionary changes which work to their advantage. Their jointed appendages enhance their capability for dispersal. The body covering of the terrestrial forms provides resistance to desiccation. The injuries produced by ectoparasitic arthropods are caused directly by the ectoparasite or indirectly by the transmission of disease organisms. Arthropods may cause injury or discomfort through annoyance, blood loss, dermatitis, myiasis, envonomization, and allergy. Direct lesions result from the biting, sucking, stinging, or burrowing of the adult and larval parasites. 2.5 Classification of Arthropod Ectoparasites Phylum arthropoda (figure 2.5) classified to two classes, which are class Insecta and class Arachnida. Class Insecta that associated with this study is consist of two orders which are order Phthitraptera known as louse or lice and order Siphonoptera known as fleas. Meanwhile from class Arachnida, only subclass Acari that associated with this study. Subclass Acari consist of four orders which are order Prostigmata known as chiggers, order Astigmata known as fur mites, order Mesostigmata known as mites and lastly order Metastigmata which is known as ticks. 2.5.1 Class Insecta Comstock (1949) stated that there are twenty-six orders categorized under class Insecta. Of these, eight are known to be including parasitic species, while other orders may include incidental and accidental parasites. Members often characterized as tri-segmented bodies, into head, thorax and abdomen. All members have three pairs of legs and usually pairs of wings. Some insects such as fleas and lice are lack of wings. 2.5.2 Class Arachnida Generally, members are characterized as segmented body into two parts which are the cephalothorax and the abdomen. There are no antennae or wings. Most adults have eight legs except a few species of mites that only have one up to three pairs of legs (Roberts and Janovy, 2005) .Only subclass Acari that associated with domestic animal, which consists of Mites and Ticks. Acari divided into seven orders. Of these, four orders are known in parasitic species which are Prostigamata (Chiggers), Astigmata (Fur mites), Mesostigmata (Mites) and Metastigmata (Ticks). Mites have smaller size that enables them to occupy a very wide range of habitats. Most species are free living but there are also parasitic species living on plants or animals included invertebrates and vertebrates (Fain, 1994).Ticks are obligate blood-feeding parasites for cold and warm blooded vertebrates with a worldwide distribution (Cacho et al., 1994). 2.6Â  Common ectoparasites infesting cats and its distribution Stray cats get infested with ectoparasites when they wander outdoors searching for food and most often exposed to accidental ingestion of parasites. Common ectoparasites that associated with cats include fleas, lice, mites and ticks. Previous studies in Malaysia reported parasites infecting the stray cat population from Peninsular Malaysia have given considerable data on the diversity and levels of infection (Lee et al., 1993) 2.6.1 Fleas (Order: Siphonaptera) Fleas have a segmented body divided into head, thorax and abdomen. For adult fleas, the thorax consists of six legs. Fleas are small approximately 1 – 8 mm long and yellowish brown to black wingless insects. Adult fleas are laterally flattened; usually brown in colour and readily to jump (Gullan and Cranston, 2005). The most common and important cat flea is Ctenocephalides felis (figure 2.6.1). It is a cosmopolitan species and a pest in the urban environment. This species are ubiquitous throughout the world wherever suitable host reside. It is laterally compressed, wingless, about 2mm long and reddish brown to black colour. It has sloping forehead, hind tibia which lacks an outer apical tooth and coombs which differentiate it with other species. The male Ctenocephalides felis is slightly smaller than the female and has complex, snail – shaped genitalia. Fleas undergo a complete lifecycle which consists of egg, larva, pupa and adult. Immature stages of flea do not resemble the adult and occupy very different ecological niches. On average an adult flea lives for 6 to 12 months and has been postulated to live for 2 years. A female adult flea can mature eggs and may lay 300 to 1000 eggs over its lifetimes in average 3 to 25 eggs per day, if it has access to its primary host. According to Rust and Dryden (1997), about 15 eggs fall into the soil or the carpet. The eggs then hatch and produce larvae that crawl in the environment to feed. Flea larvae are elongate, have no legs and are sparsely covered with long setae. They have small head with simple antennae but lack eyes. They feed on organic debris found in the nest or house of the host. The larva undergoes two moults before becoming the third – stage larva before developing into a silken cocoon. It remains in the pupa for 1 to 2 weeks before the adult flea emerges spontaneously f rom the pupal case when they sense the presence of an appropriate host.

Old Man And The Sea - One Finds In Life Exactly What One Contributes :: essays research papers

Life is a dramatic subject that many writers choose as a topic. Life is not only an ocean of melancholy but also offers real joy. Earnest Hemingway successfully won a Nobel Prize on this theme by writing The Old Man and the Sea. The old man, Santiago, was the main character of the story. During his lonely journey out at sea, he learned that life offered him an undeniable joy, plus frustration. Honor, heroism, and struggle were obstacles Santiago encountered which provided him courage and faith. For instance, Santiago’s life was filled with honor. The past and the present were memories for which the old man was most proud. The old man endured tremendous physical pain and leading him to almost give up. To encourage himself, the old man remembered the time when he was El Campeon, which mean The Champion in Spanish. â€Å"For a long time after that everyone had called him The Champion† (pg. 70). The memory of being a victor revived Santiago’s stamina, encouraging him to seek another goal. His next goal, the Marlin, ultimately challenged him. â€Å"Fish†¦I’ll stay with you until I am dead.† (pg. 52). At the moment when Santiago harpooned the Marlin through the heart, he knew that he was victorious. This act realistically sobered Santiago; he gained more honor and self-confidence. As a result, Santiago’s life was filled with a feeling of nobility. Furthermore, Santiago often talked about his hero. It was Joe DiMaggio, a famous and eminent baseball player. Joe DiMaggio directly and indirectly affected the old man. His actions and his attitudes contributed to the old man’s life. â€Å"But I must have the confidence and I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio.† (Pg. 68). Thinking about DiMaggio showed the old man the way to victory. His worship of DiMaggio woke the courage that was within the old man’s heart. As Santiago thought the ultimate challenge was over, the worse was yet to come. The shark had sensed the Marlin’s blood and moved after it. It approached and ate the Marlin. The old man had to fight back with them. â€Å"Fight them. I’ll fight them until I die.† (Pg. 115). Santiago used all of his supplies to fight with the shark: harpoon, tiller, etc. By the time Santiago came back to Havana, the Marlin now was just a carcass bone. The sharks played an important role in the story.

Constructions of Gender and the Treatment of PTSD within the U.S. Milit

Constructions of Gender and the Treatment of PTSD within the U.S. Military The U.S. military shows a surprising sensitivity and openness to the emotional difficulties of being stationed abroad, especially in a conflict zone, and it is making great efforts towards preventing/easing depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among its members (although it varies by branch). Group therapy is made available at Veteran's Administration hospitals and the Department of Veteran Affairs is connected to the National Center for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, which provides many helpful resources including literature that speaks openly about "private," "domestic," and "relational" issues. This is in shocking contrast with the predominant military culture which is hyper-masculine and hierarchical. The question of whether or not you have "been in" is not asked to determine your understanding of military lingo and procedure; what is being asked is: Are you one of us? Romantic, and even realistic, accounts of combat almost always include stories about the particular love and selfless dedication that develops between soldiers and their buddies. Servicemembers frequently describe their units as families. "Basically, this was their family for the last thirteen months," said First Sergeant Dana Morgan, describing the 140 th Quartermaster company just returned from Iraq. He was attending their welcome home ceremony at Fort Totten in New York. The 128 reservists of the 140 th spent thirteen months (March 2003 - April 2004) in Iraq providing laundry and bath services to other troops. Pacifists often drudge up the dirty details in order to de-mystify, and thus de-glorify, war. It is difficult to deny, howeve... ...sonal interview: April 4, 2004, Fort Totten, New York. Katz, Lori S., Sexual Trauma Education and Assessment for the Primary Care Provider , Veterans' Association Healthcare System. Morgan, Dana. First Sergeant, U.S. Army. Personal interview: April 4, 2004, Fort Totten, New York. Newland, Miriam. Women Veterans Coordinator, Military Order of the Purple Heart. Personal interview: March 24, 2004, New York Harbor Veterans' Administration, New York City. Ignatieff, Michael. The Warriors Honor: Ethnic War and the Modern Conscience , Henry Holt and Company, New York: 1997 Sadler, Anne, et al. "Factors Associated with Women's Risk of Rape in the Military Environment," American Journal of Industrial Medicine , 2003. Scotti, Mike. Former First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps. Personal interview: April 13 and April 26, 2004, New York City.

The Host Chapter 10: Turned

The electric bell rang, announcing another visitor to the convenience store. I started guiltily and ducked my head behind the shelf of goods we were examining. Stop acting like a criminal, Melanie advised. I'm not acting, I replied tersely. The palms of my hands felt cold under a thin sheen of sweat, though the small room was quite hot. The wide windows let in too much sun for the loud and laboring air-conditioning unit to keep up. Which one? I demanded. The bigger one, she told me. I grabbed the larger pack of the two available, a canvas sling that looked well able to hold more than I could carry. Then I walked around the corner to where the bottled water was shelved. We can carry three gallons, she decided. That gives us three days to find them. I took a deep breath, trying to tell myself that I wasn't going along with this. I was simply trying to get more coordinates from her, that was all. When I had the whole story, I would find someone-a different Seeker, maybe, one less repulsive than the one assigned to me-and pass the information along. I was just being thorough, I promised myself. My awkward attempt to lie to myself was so pathetic that Melanie didn't pay any attention to it, felt no worry at all. It must be too late for me, as the Seeker had warned. Maybe I should have taken the shuttle. Too late? I wish! Melanie grumbled. I can't make you do anything you don't want to do. I can't even raise my hand! Her thought was a moan of frustration. I looked down at my hand, resting against my thigh rather than reaching for the water as she wanted to do so badly. I could feel her impatience, her almost desperate desire to be on the move. On the run again, just as if my existence were no more than a short interruption, a wasted season now behind her. She gave the mental equivalent of a snort at that, and then she was back to business. C'mon, she urged me. Let's get going! It will be dark soon. With a sigh, I pulled the largest shrink-wrapped flat of water bottles from the shelf. It nearly hit the floor before I caught it against a lower shelf edge. My arms felt as though they'd popped halfway out of their sockets. â€Å"You're kidding me!† I exclaimed aloud. Shut up! â€Å"Excuse me?† a short, stooped man, the other customer, asked from the end of the aisle. â€Å"Uh-nothing,† I mumbled, not meeting his gaze. â€Å"This is heavier than I expected.† â€Å"Would you like some help?† he offered. â€Å"No, no,† I answered hastily. â€Å"I'll just take a smaller one.† He turned back to the selection of potato chips. No, you will not, Melanie assured me. I've carried heavier loads than this. You've let us get all soft, Wanderer, she added in irritation. Sorry, I responded absently, bemused by the fact that she had used my name for the first time. Lift with your legs. I struggled with the flat of water, wondering how far I could possibly be expected to carry it. I managed to get it to the front register, at least. With great relief, I edged its weight onto the counter. I put the bag on top of the water, and then added a box of granola bars, a roll of doughnuts, and a bag of chips from the closest display. Water is way more important than food in the desert, and we can only carry so much – I'm hungry, I interrupted. And these are light. It's your back, I guess, she said grudgingly, and then she ordered, Get a map. I placed the one she wanted, a topographical map of the county, on the counter with the rest. It was no more than a prop in her charade. The cashier, a white-haired man with a ready smile, scanned the bar codes. â€Å"Doing some hiking?† he asked pleasantly. â€Å"The mountain is very beautiful.† â€Å"The trailhead is just up that -† he said, starting to gesture. â€Å"I'll find it,† I promised quickly, pulling the heavy, badly balanced load back off the counter. â€Å"Head down before it gets dark, sweetie. You don't want to get lost.† â€Å"I will.† Melanie was thinking sulfurous thoughts about the kind old man. He was being nice. He's sincerely concerned about my welfare, I reminded her. You're all very creepy, she told me acidly. Didn't anyone ever tell you not to talk to strangers? I felt a deep tug of guilt as I answered. There are no strangers among my kind. I can't get used to not paying for things, she said, changing the subject. What's the point of scanning them? Inventory, of course. Is he supposed to remember everything we took when he needs to order more? Besides, what's the point of money when everyone is perfectly honest? I paused, feeling the guilt again so strongly that it was an actual pain. Everyone but me, of course. Melanie shied away from my feelings, worried by the depth of them, worried that I might change my mind. Instead she focused on her raging desire to be away from here, to be moving toward her objective. Her anxiety leaked through to me, and I walked faster. I carried the stack to the car and set it on the ground beside the passenger door. â€Å"Let me help you with that.† I jerked up to see the other man from the store, a plastic bag in his hand, standing beside me. â€Å"Ah†¦ thank you,† I finally managed, my pulse thudding behind my ears. We waited, Melanie tensed as if to run, while he lifted our acquisitions into the car. There's nothing to fear. He's being kind, too. She continued to watch him distrustfully. â€Å"Thank you,† I said again as he shut the door. â€Å"My pleasure.† He walked off to his own vehicle without a backward glance at us. I climbed into my seat and grabbed the bag of potato chips. Look at the map, she said. Wait till he's out of sight. No one is watching us, I promised her. But, with a sigh, I unfolded the map and ate with one hand. It was probably a good idea to have some sense of where we were headed. Where are we headed? I asked her. We've found the starting point, so what now? Look around, she commanded. If we can't see it here, we'll try the south side of the peak. See what? She placed the memorized image before me: a ragged zigzagging line, four tight switchbacks, the fifth point strangely blunt, like it was broken. Now I saw it as I should, a jagged range of four pointed mountain peaks with the broken-looking fifth†¦ I scanned the skyline, east to west across the northern horizon. It was so easy it felt false, as though I'd made the image up only after seeing the mountain silhouette that created the northeast line of the horizon. That's it, Melanie almost sang in her excitement. Let's go! She wanted me to be out of the car, on my feet, moving. I shook my head, bending over the map again. The mountain ridge was so far in the distance I couldn't guess at the miles between us and it. There was no way I was walking out of this parking lot and into the empty desert unless I had no other option. Let's be rational, I suggested, tracing my finger along a thin ribbon on the map, an unnamed road that connected to the freeway a few miles east and then continued in the general direction of the range. Sure, she agreed complacently. The faster the better. We found the unpaved road easily. It was just a pale scar of flat dirt through the sparse shrubbery, barely wide enough for one vehicle. I had a feeling that the road would be overgrown with lack of use in a different region-some place with more vital vegetation, unlike the desert plants that needed decades to recover from such a violation. There was a rusted chain stretched across the entrance, screwed into a wooden post on one end, looped loosely around another post at the other. I moved quickly, pulling the chain free and piling it at the base of the first post, hurrying back to my running car, hoping no one would pass and stop to offer me help. The highway stayed clear as I drove onto the dirt and then rushed back to refasten the chain. We both relaxed when the pavement disappeared behind us. I was glad that there was apparently no one left I would have to lie to, whether with words or silence. Alone, I felt less of a renegade. Melanie was perfectly at home here in the middle of nothing. She knew the names of all the spiny plants around us. She hummed their names to herself, greeting them like old friends. Creosote, ocotillo, cholla, prickly pear, mesquite†¦ Away from the highway, the trappings of civilization, the desert seemed to take on a new life for Melanie. Though she appreciated the speed of the jolting car-our vehicle didn't have the ground clearance necessary for this off-road trip, as the shocks reminded me with every pit in the dirt-she itched to be on her feet, loping through the safety of the baking desert. We would probably have to walk, and all too soon for my taste, but when that time came, I doubted it would satisfy her. I could feel the real desire beneath the surface. Freedom. To move her body to the familiar rhythm of her long stride with only her will for guidance. For a moment, I allowed myself to see the prison that was life without a body. To be carried inside but unable to influence the shape around you. To be trapped. To have no choices. I shuddered and refocused on the rough road, trying to stave off the mingled pity and horror. No other host had made me feel such guilt for what I was. Of course, none of the others had stuck around to complain about the situation. The sun was close to the tips of the western hills when we had our first disagreement. The long shadows created strange patterns across the road, making it hard to avoid the rocks and craters. There it is! Melanie crowed as we caught sight of another formation farther east: a smooth wave of rock, interrupted by a sudden spur that swung a thin, long finger out against the sky. She was all for turning immediately into the brush, no matter what that did to the car. Maybe we're supposed to go all the way to the first landmark, I pointed out. The little dirt road continued to wind in more or less the right direction, and I was terrified to leave it. How else would I find my way back to civilization? Wasn't I going back? I imagined the Seeker right at this moment, as the sun touched the dark, zigzagging line of the western horizon. What would she think when I didn't arrive in Tucson? A spasm of glee made me laugh out loud. Melanie also enjoyed the picture of the Seeker's furious irritation. How long would it take her to go back to San Diego to see if this had all been a ploy to get rid of her? And then what steps would she take when I wasn't there? When I wasn't anywhere? I just couldn't picture very clearly where I would be at that point. Look, a dry wash. It's wide enough for the car-let's follow it, Melanie insisted. I'm not sure we're supposed to go that way yet. It will be dark soon and we'll have to stop. You're wasting time! She was silently shouting in her frustration. Or saving time, if I'm right. Besides, it's my time, isn't it? She didn't answer in words. She seemed to stretch inside my mind, reaching back toward the convenient wash. I'm the one doing this, so I'm doing it my way. Melanie fumed wordlessly in response. Why don't you show me the rest of the lines? I suggested. We could see if anything is visible before night falls. No, she snapped. I'll do that part my way. You're being childish. Again she refused to answer. I continued toward the four sharp peaks, and she sulked. When the sun disappeared behind the hills, night washed across the landscape abruptly; one minute the desert was sunset orange, and then it was black. I slowed, my hand fumbling around the dashboard, searching for the switch for the headlights. Have you lost your mind? Melanie hissed. Do you have any idea how visible headlights would be out here? Someone is sure to see us. So what do we do now? Hope the seat reclines. I let the engine idle as I tried to think of options besides sleeping in the car, surrounded by the black emptiness of the desert night. Melanie waited patiently, knowing I would find none. This is crazy, you know, I told her, throwing the car into park and twisting the keys out of the ignition. The whole thing. There can't really be anyone out here. We won't find anything. And we're going to get hopelessly lost trying. I had an abstract sense of the physical danger in what we were planning-wandering out into the heat with no backup plan, no way to return. I knew Melanie understood the danger far more clearly, but she held the specifics back. She didn't respond to my accusations. None of these problems bothered her. I could see that she'd rather wander alone in the desert for the rest of her life than go back to the life I'd had before. Even without the threat of the Seeker, this was preferable to her. I leaned the seat back as far as it would go. It wasn't close to far enough for comfort. I doubted that I would be able to sleep, but there were so many things I wasn't allowing myself to think about that my mind was vacant and uninteresting. Melanie was silent, too. I closed my eyes, finding little difference between my lids and the moonless night, and drifted into unconsciousness with unexpected ease.

Being Organized

ing Natacha Petit-frere Professor Donigan December 1, 2011 Being Organized Many of us are incompatible of being organized. Organization is a skill that must be learned and practice by an individual. It’s a rare person among us who doesn’t feel the need to get more organized. I consider myself fairly organized I show my organization skills by coordinating my clothes by style, color coding sections for my college courses, having a sheet of paper, a calendar and a white board.A lot of us always just throw our clothes in the closet and its always out of order. Especially when pants, shirts and dresses are anywhere. On the other hand, we don’t know exactly where they can be found. This can be terrible when we know what we want to put on but can’t find it. In my closet I have my clothing in coordinating order. I put jackets in the front and pants in the back. The type of color style I use is darks in front and lights in back. Having this type of organization in my closet is very helpful.I’m a visual person, and I find that color-coding sections for my college courses minimizes the time I have to spend looking for them. This works especially well while I’m in class. I dumped every class syllabus into a green folder called class syllabus, and then color-coded every class period blue for paper due, yellow for quiz, red for test, etc. It took awhile to set up, sure, but for the rest of the semester I only had to glance at class syllabus to get a very clear idea of what kind of week I was going to have.Thinking if I didn’t have this type of organization for school I would be kind of stress out. When I’m not in school I’ll be using color-coding for work assignments also. I’ve found that the easiest way to organize days, myself and so forth is a good paper calendar, a sheet of paper that I divide into four sections and a medium sized white board. For my paper the top left section is my actual running to d o list for today. The top right section is my running grocery list, or list of things I must purchase.The bottom left is for notes such as calls I made, individuals I spoke to, and appointment dates. The bottom right is whatever I need to move to another day. If I’m told to call back on Monday, then I note that on the calendar. As for the white board, my family can make notes. Can I borrow some money on Friday? , Grandma called, and I also jot down things that I feel are important to them. My calendar, and the white board are in the same location, so I can transfer short notes if need be.I carry my paper task list with me everywhere, so I can make notes at any given moment. Finally, Whatever electronics or paper you use, make them work for you not the other way around. Does coordinating our clothes really have to stay in color coding order or using a sheet of paper every 5 minutes? Maybe, but I bet you’ll get a whole lot more done if you check it a few times per day. T hat goes for the Blackberry too! After all, there are so many tools, and one to fit everyone and that’s why I’m happy with the organizational system I use.