Poor Conditions At Military Hospitals Essay Example for Free

Poor Conditions At Military Hospitals Essay Soldiers are the real heroes of each country. They fought for the country and for there fellowmen. For the past years, soldiers have been able to provide the assistance that the people need and provided help through the years. The military and army helped in acquiring peace and prosperity amongst all. However, some were not given benefits that will help soldiers and those who are in militaries. One of the assistance that these heroes need is medical assistance. Soldiers in the same way that they help people should also have assistance especially on medical aspects. As they help other people, they are also in need of help.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The government promotes various programs or medical programs. There are medical assistance, housing or free service on hospitals and any other establishments. In United States, there are many government hospitals for soldiers, for there families and for those who have retired from the service. These hospitals provide help for the soldiers of our present and for the soldiers of the past. Such services are for healthcare and other forms of medical assistance. These hospitals provide whatever their patients need however; there are scarcity in providing good facilities and good services.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the military hospitals in the US is the Walter Reed Army Hospital or the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. According to their mission â€Å"they provide care to past, present, and future warriors and to all those entrusted to their care† however the WRAMC is in trouble now because of some scandals brought about by the soldiers who were neglected by the hospital and were disappointed by the service of the said services. According to an article by Dana Priest and Anne Hull of Washington Post Staff Writers, one of the soldiers who were evacuated to WRAMC from Iraq was neglected by the service of the hospital. As described in the article, â€Å"some part of the Room’s wall was torn and weighted down with black mole, the entire building smells like greasy carry-out, mouse and cockroaches are around, and cheap and stained carpets are also present.† These factors mentioned are the problems that a wounded army encountered during his stay in the hospital that supposed to help him recover from his wounds and provide good service from the hospital. The government promised to do some actions for the cases but still the victims are not yet satisfied from all the promises.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The WRAMC should provide what the patients need. In the same way that the government should support to help for the rehabilitation of the hospital and to also, provide the necessary facilities as to improve their service for the betterment and benefit of the soldiers. The people who are responsible for all these things should settle these issues and action should be done. The soldiers deserve to be treated well after risking their lives in wars and they deserve assistance coming from the government and from the local people who are in charge of them. They have done their jobs in sacrificing their own lives for the sake of their fellowmen and after the injuries that they got from the battle, they deserve to be treated well in a place where they can recover easily and rest as to manage to get back in shape for work.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Such problems like this should have appropriate solution because it is frustrating to see helpless soldiers are wounded and neglected by the people who are responsible for them. There are many problems that the country is facing but there should also be ample time to settle the problems such like the assistance that the soldiers needed. In this way, there will be a harmonious relationship between the soldiers and to the administration of the hospital and to the government as well. Works Cited Priest, Dana., Hull, Anne. â€Å"Soldiers Face Neglect Frustration at Armys Top Medical Facility.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Washingtonpost.com. 18 February 2007. The Washington Post. 12 December 2007   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.washingtonpost.com. â€Å"Army fires commander of Walter Reed hospital.† 1 March 2007. 12 December 2007   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.cnn.com/2007/. â€Å"Walter Reed Army Medical Center.† 13 September 2006. National Institutes of Health. 12 December 2007 http://www.nlm.nih.gov/.

Advertising And Social Networking Sites Media Essay

Advertising And Social Networking Sites Media Essay Advertising is broadly defined as the non-personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.(Bovee, 1992) Upon dissection of this definition for clarity, it can be seen that the process and the industry of advertising is a one way flow of communication from a party that pays for the communication to the target audience, who are intended to be prompted by this mode of communication into becoming consumers. Social networking sites (SNS) are an emerging and almost increasingly indispensable trend in the present decade. The current trend of increasing use of cyber space has resulted in large number of people all over the world using e-mail SNS; this is not only because of the entertainment and connectivity that it allows, but also because of the ease of access and sharing of several types of data that is possible through these sites. The sharing might be updates regarding home, family, work, health, or of pictures, audio, and even links to other interesting websites on the Internet. The users of SNS are not restricted to youth alone; its popularity and advantages have resulted in several adult and older adult populations becoming as users of SNS as well. The popularity of SNS makes it an excellent and a natural choice as a platform for advertising to transcend to, simply because it has the attention of potential customer while they are relatively vulnerable to advertising methods. The users of SNS are there for entertainment and advertising in this arena is possibly not something they are expecting. It could be a boon and a bane for advertisers when the target audience are unaware of their presence being construed as potential customers for a product or service. The present study aims to demonstrate that social networking sites are increasingly being used as an advertising platform by users and advertisers, using a survey that analyzed the general populations opinions of the same. 1.2 Background information The form of online advertising that uses SNS as a platform has come to be known as social network advertising and the relationship between SNS as a platform for advertising and advertising as a concept have been investigated by few other researchers. These studies provide a comparative analysis of the success or failure of social network advertising to conventional media. There were studies that aimed at examining the relationship between the two variables of advertising and SNS, or establishing the validity of one over the other, or even analyzing the advantages of social network advertising for companies themselves. The relevance of this topic is vital as can be seen by the recently released B-to-B Marketing Leadership Study, which revealed that over two-thirds of B-to-B marketers intend to decrease spending on print advertising during the next two to three years. The study was conducted jointly by American Business Media, the Association of National Advertisers, and consulting firm Booz Co., The study also found that 67 percent of B-to-B marketers intend to increase spending on social media during the same period, and that 64 percent said that they planned to increase digital spending. The 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report on the use of social media to market the businesses revealed that companies with enough manpower for marketing or those that arent computer literate may not be interested in social media but many service providers like electrical contractors and electricians may find that an optimized website is adequate for marketing, while companies that are willing to spend time and advertising budget could benefit greatly from social media as it may offer a venue to address criticisms and correct misconceptions of customers regarding products or services. 1.3 Concept of Social Media Marketing Finding a universally accepted definition of social media marketing may not prove to be extremely hard, but the industry and the field have not progressed to such a degree that there is a popular accepted definition for social media marketing and advertising. However, several definitions for the same have been hazarded. It is simplistically the use of SNS in online advertising. There are three major classifications of SNS based advertising; however, these are not properly defined and broad: direct advertising that is based on your network of friends, direct advertising placed on your social networking site, and indirect advertising by creating groups or pages. There are no well-defined indicators to measure the success of social media marketing, but one factor has a lot of weight in deciding the fate of social media marketing and advertising: finance. With regard to finance, the concept of Return On Investment (ROI) is an indicator that is commonly used to measure the financial successes of social media marketing and advertising in terms of cost reduction and consequent increases in margin. Ryan Deutsch defines ROI as one of several commonly used tools to evaluate the the financial consequences of business investments, decisions, or actions. Most forms of ROI analysis compare investment returns and costs by constructing a ratio, or percentage. There are few case studies on the monetization through SNS, which precludes the presence of studies on advertising in SNS. To date, ROI is the most popular indicator along with Key Popular Indicators (KPI), and the Lead Generation Funnel. KPI has three components to track: expanded reach to new audiences, influencer sharing behaviour, and conversions and monetization. Nicole Kelly elaborates that exposure, influence, engagement, action/convert are the key items in the Lead Generation Funnel model. 1.4 The Relationship There is no doubt that social media and advertising are a power combo, combining entertainment with marketing, and convenience with advertising. This phenomenon extends to the larger picture of advertisement on the whole. SNS have gone the extra mile to monetize on their services through advertisers that they have sometimes compromised on the privacy of the users. These other negatives issues are being addressed but still in nascent stage Facebook Places was one such option in the SNS Facebook, which allowed organizations to track the whereabouts of users, therefore pitching the demographic- and ethnic-appropriate products and services. This is an example of a negative aspect of monetization of what was previously just entertainment. It is not correct to place blame entirely on the owners of SNS either, as their endeavours in providing an online socializing experience for users has to be monetarily sensible as well. These issues aside, the breaches in privacy and the consequent outcry only proves the magnitude of scope and potential available for monetization through SNS, and advertising is one of the primary paths to such a monetization. 1.5 The Relationship: Indianised A look at the present scenario of the literature available about the relationship does not reveal much. A global perspective of the same has limited literature on it as it is an emerging field for study and a budding opportunity for the market. The scope of advertising through SNS in India is perhaps not as effective as it might be abroad as the number of Internet users in comparison to the countrys population as a whole is still not very significant, but never the less growing at a rapid pace. However, there is a potential for huge financial stake is involved, in terms of cost reduction, increase in demand for product service to vast majority of potential customers to be tapped at a quicker pace the addition revenue generation and earning opportunity for many, especially when the Indian-based ads cater to the global market. This study has obtained the opinions of Indians on the subject of advertising as a prospect for them; however, it need not necessarily reflect the choice of Indians as a whole, or even for the city of Bangalore. It is however, a window into the ideas and desires of the modern urban youth with regard to advertising in SNS. If the attitudes of the youth from a country regarding advertising and marketing through SNS, that is only just shedding its Third World status is favourable, the attitudes and beliefs of the youth from developed countries with higher cash flow through the Internet will be predictably phenomenal. The purpose is to look at global prospects in advertising and marketing through SNS, even while taking into account the possibility of the same in the Indian context and demographic. 1.5.1 Hypothesis The existing literature suggests the need for a study based in India. In this regard, the following hypothesis is developed, analyzing the opinions and attitudes of persons in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. . This could be supplemented by similar studies in other urban centres, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad Pune. The youth favour and endorse advertisements in social networking sites 1.5.2 Data Treatment Taking the case of 10 subjects from Bangalore, Karnataka, India, the opinions and attitudes toward advertising and marketing through SNS was analyzed. The data were administered through a Likert Scale type of survey, developed specifically for the present study. The study uses the tabulated and interpreted variant of this data to draw conclusions that support and disprove the aforementioned hypothesis. The scale measures four aspects of the respondents opinions: personal belief regarding marketing and advertising in SNS, use of SNS for another party/person, individual purchase as a result of ads in SNS, and belief in the impact of SNS. The data are separately and generally analyzed. 1.6 Justification for the study An indigenous and localised study is important to understand the nuances of a grass root level picture, even though in a cosmopolitan city like Bangalore, there could still be further sub groups in terms of ethnic back ground, culture, personal preferences. The data reveals the opinions of urban youth in Southern India. The field of social media marketing is burgeoning globally, though not at the same pace in the national context. It is therefore important to record the opinions and attitudes of Indians regarding the issue under consideration which might act as a window to the receptivity of the country to a globally popular concept Thus, it should be noted that components of study that are determined by various socio-cultural and economic and literacy patterns, determine the extent of development when they work in liaison. 1.7 Chapter Plan To explore and evaluate the beliefs and opinions of South Indians on the issue of advertising and marketing through SNS the study is divided in five chapters. Chapter one gives a brief insight about the study bringing forth the need for the study to be conducted while tracing evidences of background information. Chapter two elaborates on the previous studies and findings. Chapter three describes the methodology and the treatment given to the data collected and the statistical methods adopted for analysing the data collected. Chapter four gives a detailed account of the behaviour of the data by presenting the findings of the study and illustrates the relationship between the variables. The data, in this section, is treated with statistical analysis and the results are interpreted thereof. Chapter five summarises the key findings and draws theoretical and policy implications. This chapter also suggests avenues of further research in the area including privacy legal issues Patent, and intellectual property rights related issues. 1.8 Key Findings of the Study For the formulated hypothesis that the youth favour and endorse advertisements in SNS, the study findings and analysis of the data during the study validates the hypothesis with exceptions. 1.9 Conclusion The beliefs of youth and Internet users in general, with regard to the hypothesis that they encourage and believe in advertisements from SNS, as interpreted from this study that used the Likert Scale, with the sample size of 10, is valid.

Efficiency of Safety Belt Campaigns Analysis

Efficiency of Safety Belt Campaigns Analysis The numbers of deaths have increased immensely in previous years; therefore road safety is a major concern. The RSA constantly try to amplify awareness of road safety as many drivers ignore new rules of the road. Persuasive communication is used throughout for all types of advertising and lately is becoming a main method in highlighting the dangers of the road. Persuasive communication is considered to be a ‘‘communication such as a speech or television advertisement that advocates a particular side of an issue’’ (Aronson, Wilson and Akert, 2014) and persuasive advertisements aspire to persuade individuals to change their outlook on certain issues, such as road safety. Social media websites play a huge role in society today and many of these websites such as Facebook are displaying persuasive advertisements to spread word about issues more rapidly. The focus of this study is about the impact persuasive communication has on road safety and whether putting roa d safety advertisements on social media websites is a worthwhile cause. In this report four experiments on persuasive communication are discussed followed by why the RSA should use social media websites to portray road safety messages. Brijs, Daniels, Brijs and Wets (2011) conducted three sets of studies in order to assess the efficiency of safety belt campaigns by inspecting whether being exposed to the campaign would/would not affect variables identified by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as key elements of behaviour, and to find out â€Å"whether the way in which participants would be exposed to the campaign stimulus would affect the campaign stimulus’ effectiveness† (Brijs et al., 2011). It was also done to confirm which of the dissimilar hypothetical concepts on the use of safety belts would receive most support, i.e., automaticity approach (out of habit or as past/repeated behaviour) or planned behaviour approach. Three studies where made up of different groups of students, aged 18-25, whom were recruited at Hasselt University, two being experimental groups and one a control group. The two experimental groups were exposed to the seat belt advertisement in which â€Å"two exposure conditio ns were distinguished from each other, i.e., explicit and subliminal exposure† (Brijs et al., 2011). Explicit exposure signifies that participants are completely aware of being exposed to a campaign stimulus, i.e., information is processed consciously. For this, the group were asked to view the billboard which was projected in the lecture room. Subliminal exposure entails participants being unaware of exposure to the stimulus with information being processed pre-attentively (subconscious mode). This group were exposed to the campaign by billboards in their main hall of university. The control group, however, had no viewing of the campaign. All three groups then asked filled out a two part survey; one part representing respondent-related background information and the other TPB variables. â€Å"The results signified that the campaign stimulus used influenced participants’ evaluation of a series of important determinants of behaviour as well as self-reported behaviour it self† (Brijs, et al., 2011). â€Å"The results also showed the recorded campaign effect was in the expected direction with higher mean values for the different variables questioned for participants being exposed to the campaign verses members of the control group† (Birjs et al., 2011). A similar study in regards to seat belt wearing was conducted by Tay (2011) in which a sample of drivers supplied their views and awareness of two seatbelt wearing advertisements with dissimilar emotional appeals. This study consisted of 212 drivers, recruited from two separate locations: one being a university to represent the younger population and the second a taxi rink as a large percentage of taxi drivers would not wear seatbelts regularly. In the study a questionnaire was first conducted and then two advertisements were shown to the participants and their opinions were recorded and evaluated. â€Å"The two videos were shown in random order to different participants to reduce any potential order effects; one advertisement had a more negative emotional appeal (fear) while the other had more a positive emotional appeal (humour)† (Tay, 2011). The first advertisement showed a young female driving in the evening on a deserted road; the driver sneezed, a ghost in the backseat g ave her a tissue; causing the driver to brake and the ghost go through the front window. This advertisement utilised mostly humour as an emotional appeal although there might be some fear incorporated as well. More importantly, this video was selected as a humour-based advertisement. The second video showed four young adults in a vehicle that was involved in a collision. In this the unbelted passenger hurled around in the vehicle, killing all occupants and seriously injuring themselves. â€Å"This advertisement focused on fear as an appeal and the advertisement continued with an emergency worker saying, ‘the one without the seatbelt did the damage’ and then ended with ‘No Seatbelt, No Excuse’† (Tay, 2011). To confirm the hypothesis on the dissimilar emotional appeals, participants were asked if they agreed/disagreed that the advertisements they seen were frightening and/or humorous with the use of a 5-point Likert scale. A ten part questionnaire was then done by the participants and several t-tests were then conducted to check this hypothesis. â€Å"These measured the perceived severity and likelihood of threat, the perceived message efficacy, self-efficacy, the perceived cost of threat and benefits of adopting the coping strategy, realism and credibility of the message and adaptive intentions† (Tay, 2011). Results exposed that both advertisements were triumphant in increasing participant’s intent to wear a safety belt and comply with the safety belt law. â€Å"In addition results attested to the importance of using established theoretical models when developing a road safety message† (Tay, 2011). Carey and Sarma (2001) conducted a study that â€Å"explored the effects of viewing death-related facts and graphic, static images of road traffic accidents on participants’ self-reported intentions to take driving risks† (Carey and Sarma, 2001). It also observed the degree to which personality variables may additionally clarify variations in intentional risk taking. â€Å"The dependent variable was the self-reported intention to take driving risks† (Carey and Sarma, 2001). Within this study participants were exposed to mortality salient or neutral facts. The aim of this was to examine threat based advertisements or ‘fear appeals’ to stimulate prevention of dangerous driving on young male drivers. This study consisted of eighty males, between 17 and 24 whom all possessed full licences. Forty of whom were randomly allocated to mortality salient condition and the other forty to the control. Participants were asked to complete two self-report scales, an experiment, two word based activities and an IVE questionnaire. After the first self-report scale participants in the experimental condition (mortality salient) were asked to â€Å"read five facts about driving which were accompanied by three images of road traffic accidents supplied by the RSA, relating to mortality-related risks of driving, which were followed by the warning ‘dangerous driving kills’ and participants in the control condition were asked to read five neutral facts about driving unrelated to risks, crashes or deaths† (Carey and Sarma, 2001). Then participants took part in the word-based activities; one of which was a word search which had neutral words unrelated to death and the other consisted of twenty-two words, eight of which could either be related/unrelated to death and was done to assess death-thought accessibility. An IVE questionnaire was then filled out by participants; this was used to measure certain variables. A second self-report sc ale was carried out to measure â€Å"participant’s risky driving interventions; in which they were asked to read ten scenarios, each had a situation where one may take a particular driving risk† (Carey and Sarma, 2001). Participants were asked to give a percentage answer on how likely they would be to take the risk in each scenario. Results of this study publicized that â€Å"participants in the mortality salient condition completed more word fragments to make death-related words than those in the control condition and also revealed that impulsiveness correlated significantly with intention to take driving risks† (Carey and Sarma, 2001). A Sibley and Harrà © (2009) experiment investigated the impact that various road safety adverts had on young drivers’ explicit and implicit self-enhancement biases in driving ability and caution. Self-enhancement is the belief by drivers themselves that they are superior to other drivers in relation to ability and caution. ‘‘Self-enhancement biases in both of these domains predict crash risk optimism’’ (Harrà ©, Foster, O’Neill, 2005; Harrà © Sibley, 2007). This study consisted of three conditions; one with negatively framed advertisements, another with positively framed advertisements and the last being a control, each involving fifty randomly assigned participants (one hundred and fifty in total). These groups â€Å"were unaware there were different conditions and were told they would be participating in two tasks, which were presented to them as unrelated studies† (Sibley Harrà ©, 2009). Firstly the groups were shown a series o f advertisements and were then told to rate them according to certain variables. This was â€Å"primarily to convince participants that viewing the advertisements was unrelated to the self-enhancement task that followed† (Sibley Harrà ©, 2009). Participants viewed three adverts that showed people that were seriously injured/killed during drink driving accidents in the negative framing condition. In the positive framing condition, participants watched three adverts that showed people choosing to take precautions when it came to drink driving, such as assigning a designated drink driver; who wouldn’t drink and drive home or opt to getting a taxi. The controlled group watched advertisements that were entirely unrelated to drink driving; which involved advertisements on mental illnesses. â€Å"All groups then took part in what they believed was an unrelated task, in which they completed a series of computerized reaction-time based tasks known as IATs in order to assess implicit driving self-concept; with each IAT consisted of seven blocks† (Sibley Harrà ©, 2009). Results indicated that those who took part in the positive framed condition displayed a weaker explicit self-enhancement in comparison to those in the negative framed and controlled groups. â€Å"Although exposure to positively framed advertisements significantly reduced self-enhancement biases in driving ability, it is important to note that participants in this condition still considered themselves better-than-average drivers, just notas far aboveaverage as drivers exposed to the control and negative framing condition† (Sibley Harrà ©, 2009). However, this study does not indicate if a change in self-enhancement biases would result in a change in behaviour. In experiments it is vital to recognize strengths, weaknesses or limitations. Having a control, for instance, would be a major strength to have as it keeps balance and gives the experimenter something to compare results against thus leading to a more wide variety of methods. In the experiments above there have also been limitations, such as in the first experiment, in terms of â€Å"effect size, values obtained suggested that differences between exposed and unexposed participants were small and in several cases not even statistically significant† (Brijs et al., 2011). Also in the last experiment by Sibley and Harrà © (2009) it was found that men and women were both equally influenced by exposure to different types of driving advertisement. It is clear from the experiments above that persuasive communication plays a vital role in road safety advertisements and is very effective. However, in order to increase this effectiveness the RSA should consider displaying advertisements on social media sites. â€Å"Social media has emerged from the internet’s development which allows for sharing, linking, collaborating, and inclusion of production and distribution of particular content† (Banks, Tay Mason, 2011). Social media has the possibility to control the power of viral marketing and is also more cost effective than traditional media in attaining audiences. Rajagopalan and Subramani (2003) found that â€Å"viral marketing is a powerful means for both marketers and recipients to benefit from the innate helpfulness of individuals in social networks and such technologies are being harnessed by social marketers using the internet for promotional activities and engaging users in creative processes† (Rajagopala n Subramani, 2003). According to Nielson (2012) â€Å"there is a digital community of 20.4 million users; 93% of them accessing the internet daily† (Nielsen, 2012), â€Å"thus it is no wonder that social marketers have addressed the need for social media in their marketing campaigns† (Banks, Tay and Mason, 2011). Murray and Lewis (2011) showed how social media helped public health and injury prevention increase dramatically due to the use of social media sites and therefore suggest that social media could play an important role in road safety advertising and may be an important mode of delivering road safety communications to high risk road users, especially that of a younger age (Murray Lewis, 2011). Thus the use of social media sites could be an effective tool in the next generation of road safety advertisements campaigns.

Life Among the Fish Essay examples -- Personal Narrative Writing

Life Among the Fish I dropped my air tank on the deck of the boat, creating a deep hollow sound throughout the air. The tank lay on the rough floor teetering from side to side until finally resting against the waistband. I gazed at it for a moment lost in its sleek wetness while water poured down my back. â€Å"What are you looking at? Help me with my tank!† my sister Tawnya yelled from the stern of the boat. She was half way up the ladder with her tank slowly slipping off her back. My dad was the last one up the ladder. Dropping his tank, he let out the noise he always makes when he gets through something of a feat, a loud noise that sounds as though a train were going through the center of the boat. That day in the ocean took away any fear that I might have had in the future for doing anything adventurous. We got on the boat around nine that morning. The sun was sending out its warm rays that tickled your skin when you stepped into it from the shade. A white boat dubbed the â€Å"Naughty Nymph,† was our vehicle for the day to take us on endless adventures. Dad was getting the food on the boat as Tawnya and I ran around looking for secret hiding spots and the better place to put our towels. The bow of the boat seemed to be the best spot so that is where we settled. Dad yelled if we were ready to take off, and off we went. The waters were crystal blue. The coral on the sea floor was popping out at me as the water worked as magnifying glass. The water looked only three feet deep, a depth that would make anyone feel uneasy about driving over in a boat. There were islands all around us, chess pieces of the sea, which shot out of the ocean without warning. The wind was tickling my... ...ted to stay at the altitude of negative twenty for the rest of my life. I was not afraid down there, with the fish and the dead silence between breaths. I was not afraid of anything at that point. I would think of something that had frightened me before and would be completely calm at the thought. I was no longer afraid to do anything alone or something I would not normally do. I went back to living my life with the fish, doing flips and shaking hands with the seaweed until I felt someone take my hand. I looked up and saw Tawnya; it was time to head back to the surface. She pulled me along to where dad was waiting for us. I looked back at the great wall and smiled. Watching my world being swallowed up by the sea, I said good-bye to my friends and thanked them for being there to take away my fears for anything that came my way in the future.

Intelligence and Happiness in Flowers for Algernon :: Flowers for Algernon Essays

In the story "Flowers for Algernon", the main character, Charlie Gordon is a mentally retarded 37 year-old man with an IQ of sixty-eight. Although he might not have been smart, I believe that Charlie was the definition of happiness. He worked happily as a janitor, was motivated to learn, and had a great time with his so called ?friends.? After Charlie undergoes an experiment that triples his IQ, his life changes for the worse. With intelligence does not come happiness. For Charlie, Ignorance is bliss. He realizes that his so called ?friends? were just using him to entertain their perverse humor. Also, he was also fired from the job that he loved so much because his new intelligence made those around him feel inferior and scared. This sends Charlie into a short depression. His life was better before the experiment because he had a job he looked forward to and ?friends?. "Now I'm more alone than ever before," Charlie says on April 30th. He had nobody to relate to because at this point of the story, Charlie?s intelligence has already exceeded that of his teacher and the doctors. Before Charlie became smart, even the simplest things in life were good enough for him. As a genius, none of those things mattered to him. His mind was more complex, he needed more and he wanted more. As a result, he felt alone and buried himself in his work. Charlie?s experiment was temporary, and overtime his IQ regressed. Algernon, a mouse that went through the same surgery as Charlie, died. If Charlie?s hypothesis proves correct, then he will die as well. Charlie?s life was better before the experiment because he was not exposed to the risks and consequences of the surgery. Without the experiment, Charlie would still be living his ignorant but happy life. In conclusion, I believe that Charlie?s life was better before the surgery. Although ?

How Does Barack Obama Engage His Audience

Barack Obama engages his audience through means of promoting inclusivity, an informal friendly stance and a family appeal. The non-verbal communication and rhetorical devices Obama uses adds up to a very engaging speech. I will be comparing Obama’s race speech in Philadelphia with the David Letterman interview. The structure of Obama’s Speech is very important. The words are made to flow from beginning to end, without break. The speech starts by Obama placing himself in history with the 1787 US Constitution – this factual evidence establishes Obama’s authenticity. The main body of the speech has a recurring theme of a ‘perfect’ America that ‘could be and should be’ perfected over time. He claims that America ‘may never be perfect’ but it can ‘always be perfected’. This encourages hope for the future generations within the audience. This repetition is memorable and has emphasis on the future generation, gaining the support of the families. Another key feature of the structure is the rule of three. Obama uses many words repeatedly, for example, ‘constitution’. A union between the government and its people is also a repetitive theme, as it tightens the bondage with all the people, ‘black or white’. The end of the speech is simple but blunt to the point – ‘but this is where we start’. This again places him in history, and gives the speech a circular form. Establishing rapport with the audience is a key in any speech. Obama’s main method is using non-verbal communication (NVC’s). A simple ‘chop’ gesture is often used throughout Obama’s interview and sometimes speeches. It separates selected points to emphasise them to the audience, and is a subtle gesture to show Obama’s organisation. Eye contact is also essential, as it will engage individual crowd members, making them feel enlightened or special. Stories are used to engage the audience on a more personal level, especially if they are about children. This was the case about the end of Obama’s speech, where he speaks about Ashley, a young girl who brought together black and white people. The single phrase’ I’m here because of Ashley’ indicates a pause where Obama consolidates and the audience take in the whole story. Just because this story was a bout a child the supporters are engages on so much of a more personal level, and the moment of recognition between the ‘young white girl and the old black man’ is magnified in its glory. Then Obama slowly flows into the end paragraph – ‘this is where we start’. The whole speech is very serious, unlike Obama’s interview with David letterman, where humour was the main method to win support of the audience. Small things like Obama’s clothes, posture or background made a huge difference in both the speech and the interview. For example, Obama is very relaxed and moves his hands a lot during the letterman interview. On the other hand, Obama is very static during the speech, the background is also important, as in the race speech the background is embellished with lots of huge American flags. This shows Obama’s authenticity and patriotism. In the interview, there was a more relaxed cosmopolitan New York background. Obama uses many forms of non-verbal communication (NVC’s) to establish a strong rapport with his audience. Firstly, Obama begins with his hands pointing at the crowd, signalling the start. He uses this o calm down the crowd and to attract their attention. During the speech he often holds his hands out in a ‘welcoming embrace’. This is more personal and shows that he is an open, friendly person. He also holds his hands out straight out to emphasise a point or idea – this catches the audience’s attention, making them remember the point. Obama went on the David Letterman show to reveal his more relaxed side to America. It was his opportunity to reach a different type of audience. Very like his speeches he kept to a strict timing, where he has pauses for the audience –except that he left time for letterman to reply. For example, after being asked a question, Obama would pause and let the question sink in. While telling a joke on the show, he would never laugh at it and would keep a ‘dead pan’ face. This is because he then counts on the audience to laugh for him. He also used many filler words, such as ‘basicly’ to space out questions and awnsers evenly. Similarly to the race speech, Obama placed himself in history, mentioning JFK, FDR; similar to when he mentioned the 1787 Philadelphia conference. However, unlike the race speech; Obama was excellent at making good eye contact with the audience. This was because the audience at the race speech was much larger than the one at the David Letterman show. He also showed good willingness to joke – which engaged the audience into his conversation with Letterman. This is how the speech was similar with the interview; in both Obama was keen to establish a strong rapport with the audience. Unlike the race speech, Obama uses many slang or friendly words during the interview. He describes people as ‘folks’ and his family as ‘goofs’; showing the audience that underneath the fancy tie and suit he is just a normal guy. Obama uses many rhetorical devices to engage his audience during his race speech. The first three words in Obama’s speech are: ‘four years ago’. This is the start of a story (anecdotes) and is also used as an icebreaker. It calms the audience down –they might not hear it, but it signifies the start of the speech. The personal story gets the audience interested and focused. Then the collective pronoun, ‘you’ is used: ‘I stood before you and†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This addresses the crowd as one and is used so every body feels included – it is inclusive. Phrases such as ‘our children and grandchildren’ promotes the feeling of inclusivity and again wins the support of families – it makes everyone feel that they are in on the ‘Obama deal’. Along with the collective pronouns Obama strings together emotive language, such as ‘victims of racial abuse’ instead of just people. This makes the speech feel very personal. One of the most important rhetorical devices he used was the rule of 3. This is the repeating of 3 certain phrases or words so they catch the audience’s attention and make it memorable. In the 5th paragraph he uses the rule of 3 to emphasise a ‘more caring, more equal and more prosperous America’. This slogan stays in the heads of the supporters. Another example of the rule of three is where Obama says ‘ordinary men and women, students and soldiers, farmers and teachers’. As well as the three pairs, he starts with ordinary men and women. This is used so he can relate with the audience, creating a better rapport. Also in that sentence was alliteration: ‘students and soldiers’. This also is easily remembered. Obama also has a repeating theme of the ‘American promise’. This repeating theme is used so it will stick in the audience’s head. Timing is essential within a speech. There is strong modulation within the context of the speech, as Obama will pause to evaluate after a lengthy paragraph or strong point. This separates certain points and gives the audience time to take in the speech. The tone of voice also sets a background atmosphere to his speech – for example, during a theoretical or metaphorical sentence; Obama would get louder in a crescendo before almost shouting at the end of the sentence. This is always followed by a huge applause and long pause. Obama pauses after his icebreaker: ‘Four years ago’ – this gives his audience time to calm and let them know that is his turn to speak. In conclusion, Obama uses many unconventional and interesting techniques as well as hand gestures to engage his audience, to appear either more friendly or serious. In comparison between the race speech and the Letterman interview, in the speech Obama is much more static and serious, while in the interview he is more relaxed and friendly.

Factors Contributing the Unplanned Pregnancy Among College Students Essay

Being a mother is the most important and challenging role for a woman. A woman should be financially and emotionally ready to get pregnant, give birth, and raise her child. However, at present there are many risks of unwanted pregnancy among young female university students, as the majority of today’s university students have prematurely engaged in sexual intercourse. Consequently, without preparation, some of them face with unwanted pregnancy while studying. Unwanted pregnancy among university students can cause many serious problems which can affect the body, mind, and social status of female university students who are not yet ready to be a mother. Unwanted pregnancy sometimes forces university female students to face a tragic or dead end in their lives. They are nervous as they can’t solve the problem and their parents may not accept this. Some female students may finally seek illegal abortion which can cause their lives. Even though they do not terminate their pregnancy, some of them are too young to give birth and they may have problems of miscarriages or great pains and difficulties when giving birth. These can affect the health of both the mothers and their children. Pregnant university students in some way are directly or indirectly forced to quite their studies to stay at home until they give birth. These unprepared young mothers often inevitably encounter financial problems. Stress and worries can harm their mentality. Many of them lack knowledge to deal with the problem and don’t know how to take care of their children. The problem can be two-folded. Typically, young people aged 10-20 years are not ready to become parents. Both financial stability and emotional maturity are the problem for parenting or caring responsibilities. Getting back into the education system is very difficult. University female students have to worry about losing the educational opportunities. They have to quit university to escape the pressures of society while university male students can still go to university regularly. Therefore, women are responsible for the problem unilaterally and live in society difficulty. Unwanted pregnancy among university students is caused by sexual intercourse which is they will be pregnant while they are not ready in all aspects. So, they should realize that unwanted pregnancy can cause many serious problems. Despite modern methods of family planning, and idespread information about how to use it, unplanned pregnancy is one of the most common medical problems faced by sexually active women under 45. Abortion, the most usual solution to the problem of unplanned pregnancy, is the most common operation among women in the fertile age range. It is impossible to calculate precisely just how many pregnancies each year are accidental. When medical sociologist, Anne Fleissig, asked a number of women who had given birth six weeks previously about whether their pregnancy was planned, she found that 31 percent of them were not. She concluded in a paper subsequently published in the British Medical Journal that almost a third of births could be the consequence of accidental pregnancies. If this were the case it would mean 310 000 accidental pregnancies in Britain every year. In fact, this is likely to be a conservative estimate. Because Anne Fleissig conducted her research into the circumstances in which women’s new babies were conceived, her sample did not include women who had conceived but ended the pregnancy by an abortion. When these unplanned pregnancies are considered as well, it suggests the real extent of accidental pregnancy is even higher than, perhaps as high as 50 per cent of all conceptions. According to the Olaitan Olukunmi Lanre, 2011, Research Journal of Medical Sciences, 5: 336-339, the findings were that unprotected sexual intercourse and poor parental care are the causes of unwanted pregnancy while termination of educational programme and medical complications for both the mothers and children are the effects of unwanted pregnancy. Abstinence and adequate teaching of sex education have been seen as measures to prevent unwanted pregnancy among the adolescents. It was recommended among others that sex education should taught as a subject at the secondary level and government should enact laws to compel parents to take proper care of their children to avoid all forms of immorality among the adolescents.