Police surveillance Essay

Police surveillance can be a good thing but it can also be a bad thing. There are morale and ethical implications concerned with police surveillance. This literature review will thoroughly examine police surveillance. The level of police surveillance and information gathering that exists continues to be discussed by scholars. There are many perspectives when discussing police surveillance in nation states, each discussing an individual aspect of surveillance, and its significance. In Frank Webster’s book Theories of the Information Society he discusses the growth of police surveillance and organization in modern times. Within his discussion, Webster makes reference to works of Anthony Giddens. Webster uses Gidden’s explanation of the nation state, to begin his discussion of surveillance. He contends that â€Å"from the outset in the nation state, conceived as a bounded area over which is exercised political power, information has an especial significance.† He argues that from their establishment, nation states are ‘information societies,’ and a requirement of a nation state is that the members of it, be known at least in a minimal sense. He further explains this requirement by stating, that a nation state must hold both ‘allocative resources’ and ‘authoritative resources.’ He believes that in order for these resources to be achieved, effective surveillance is a prerequisite. Giddens argues that the nation state had a particular interest in and reliance upon information gathering and storage. The gathering and storage of information is part of a â€Å"contract between the nation state and its members †¦ are a battery of citizenship rights and duties.† The first duty of any government is to protect its frontiers, due to this there is an insatiable hunger for information. This hunger is amplified by possible threats to a nation’s border, whether real or perceived. This growing need for information has caused for the creation of a massive â€Å"system of interlined technologies to routinely and continuously monitor and inspect events and activities – military and civilian – around the globe.† The contact between nation state and citizen, allows for each citizen to have many rights and duties. Rights that are commonly held include a right to education, to vote, to hold a passport, to a minimum level of income, to health treatment and so on. They also have duties, as citizens, to pay taxes which are levied, and in some cases fight and die for their country. The delivery of rights and benefits by the nation state, such as the delivery of welfare benefits and services is at the heart of the system of mass surveillance; because it is [there] that the processes of classification, information gathering and recording are constantly multiplying. Gidden’s believes that the ‘informatisation’ of society is in part due to the existence of police surveillance in the modern nation state. He contends that due to this surveillance, that rather than regarding a modern nation state as an ‘information society,’ it would be better to regard it as a ‘surveillance society.’ His arguments presented provide a solid understanding of how a nation state is formed, and the role of surveillance in a ‘surveillance society.’ Giddens also provides insight into how information gathering occurs, and how that gathering of information has an effect on daily life. Gidden’s discussion of a ‘social contract’ while not new, is a way to better understand how the government can justify the use of police surveillance as it is currently used. The argument that at the rate of which surveillance is expanding and advancing, that a nation could succumb to totalitarian rule, while creative, this seems to be more of a thought provoking statement, rather than actual probability. In Kevin Robins and Frank Webster’s Times of the Technoculture: From the Information Society to the Virtual Life, the authors describe what they term as ‘the Republic of Technology.’ In this republic, society is fixated by the idea of progress, growth and development without end. They make reference to Cornelius Castoriadis, who explains that society seeks a fantasy of control. This fantasy is of â€Å"total control, of our will or desire for mastering all objects and all circumstance.† It is argued that the culture of technology is in part the reason for the expansion of police surveillance. According to Christopher Lasch, â€Å"the delusion that we can make ourselves lords of the universe †¦ is the heart and soul of modern technology.† Robins and Webster argue that the clearest expression of compulsion to command and control is found by the police. The police in their view is central to the growth of surveillance and to the growing need for information. Robins and Webster believe as Anthony Giddens, that â€Å"upon generalized patterns of change has been so profound that it is little short of absurd to seek to interpret such patterns with out systematic reference to it †¦ That police developments are central, rather than marginal to the technological project.† Robins and Webster believe that the police plays a central role for the maintenance of current surveillance and for its future expansion. Robins and Webster argue that the police, as the central force for the expansion of surveillance, plays a large role in diverting necessary funds away from its citizens and has an overriding influence on the direction research and development that could be better used for other initiatives. They argue that the lobbies impose a large degree of influence which distorts and perverts economic and social priorities through procedures which are largely closed to public scrutiny. The role of the police and the use of surveillance can be seen as a means of social control. Social control, according to Robins and Webster, is accomplished by way of surveillance and control strategies, which are modeled on the police paradigm. They believe that even policing, is moving towards a more military style of operation. Robins and Webster argue that police imperatives have played a major role in the growth of the state and the systems of surveillance. Robins and Webster agree with Anthony Giddens’ contention that â€Å"surveillance as the mobilizing of administrative power – through the storage and control of information – is the primary means of concentration of authoritative resources.† In other words, the use of police surveillance and the gathering of information are central to the maintaining control and order. The authors emphasize that within the country, the police is central to the collection of information on both possible enemies and its own citizens. Furthermore, police technologies are well funded and continue to be used to experience the ‘dream of total control.’ They argue this dream has existed in the development of technologies, and that in the future seeking this dream will result in a â€Å"system that deliberately eliminates the whole human personality, ignores the historic process, overplays the role of the abstract intelligence, and makes control over physical nature, ultimately control over man himself, the chief purpose of existence.† Robins and Webster provide a different perspective of the root of police surveillance and information gathering, and how this is largely due to the ‘fantasy of total control.’ The ability to control all that is available is a fantasy that has lead to the remarkable growth of police technologies that are used in part on a nation’s own citizens. This growth of surveillance and police technologies leaves the authors to believe that humans will lose control over themselves, with the advancements of technology. This argument is frightening but such a statement is warranted with the advancement of technologies. In The Pay-Per Society: Computers and Communication in the Information Age: Essays in Critical Theory and Public Policy, Vincent Mosco discusses the role of the police in the development of computer and communications systems. He believes that this is necessary, because the â€Å"police over the years, has exerted the most substantial influence on the development of computer and communications.† Mosco argues (similar to Robins and Webster) that the police has increasingly shaped the development of technology in the United States, particularly the development of communication and information technologies. Mosco discusses the relationship between the police, the United States government and industry. He explains how the police has been a driving force in the creation of new technologies, using funds received from the United States government, along with relationships with leading technology corporations. Mosco states that the relationship between the Pentagon and the US computer industry has always been strong. During the 1940s and 1950s the US government, led by the Pentagon, provided most of the funding for computer research. Moreover, the relationship has continued to remain strong. This arrangement has allowed for the National Security Agency to have in their control a global computer/communications satellite system that routinely monitors international telex, telegraph, telephone, radio and other transmissions, emanating from or direct to the United States. The military has not limited its surveillance only over its own territories, but also foreign nations and space. Fijnaut (1995) discusses the expansion of police technologies, and the expansion of surveillance into space. He explains that police computers are integrated into systems of Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence. Moreover, that police computers have expanded the range, speed and accuracy of weapons systems. That intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance have been expanded by way of communication technologies. The police’s wish to have the most control and protection from disorder. Fijnaut (1995) argues that the limits on police technologies has yet to be reached, and will continue to expand. This expansion of information gathering and surveillance is in part, for the protection of a nation, against disorderly conduct. The protection of a nation’s citizens and the protection of their rights is of the utmost importance for any government, and due to this, the creation of new technologies is deemed necessary. In Surveillance Society: Monitoring Everyday Life, David Lyon discusses the need for information gathering and surveillance in modern nation states. He argues that modern government administrations depend on the collection and recording of personal data. Moreover, that modernity means reliance on information and knowledge in generating and maintaining power. Due to that the fact that much of that information is personal, he argues that â€Å"such focused attention to data on individuals spells surveillance.† He contends that the magnification of surveillance capacities is a fact of modernity, and that it is part of the world that has been created in an attempt to bring social, economic and political arrangements into rational regimes of organization and control. He argues that, the focused attention (surveillance) on individual lives is characteristic of modernity, and that it provides eligibility to benefits of citizenship, such as the right to vote, or state welfare, and also may ensure that workers are appropriately remunerated, or rewarded with promotions and recognition of retirement at the appropriate time. Lyon provides both the positive and negative aspects of police surveillance, and argues that while surveillance practices may be altering, or that they may be used in negative ways, does not alter the case that police surveillance is simply a fact of modern social life. Lyon provides examples of police surveillance and information gathering in social activities. One such example is in the Toronto area, the world’s first fully automated toll road. Highway 407 provides an alternative route through the busiest corridor in Canada, with tolls collected either via transponders in vehicles or by video cameras scanning registration plates. This technology was developed from what was used for smart bombers during the 1991 Gulf War. This technology identifies the ‘target’ vehicles for tolls based on the distance driven and the time of the day. This to many, is considered a luxury, and the automatic billing rather than toll booths provides convenience. While this is true, what is not realized by the driver is that this technology permits the creation of real-time simulations of road traffic time-space movement across cities. This is extremely valuable to planners, especially in densely traveled urban corridors. This example shows how military technologies are used in public sector. Lyon also discusses the impossibility for anyone to be shielded from the existent surveillance. Lyon argues that â€Å"surveillance operates in so many daily life spheres today that it is impossible to evade, should one wish to. We are indeed wrapped in media. Most of our social encounters and almost all our economic transactions are subject to electronic recording, checking and authorization.† In all aspects of our lives, we are unable to escape. Lyon also argues that there is not one single agency that is responsible for the focused attention on our daily lives. Lyon provides insight into both those for and against the current level of surveillance, he begins by saying, that those who are opposed to such surveillance do so, â€Å"because they feel that there is something wrong when big government and large corporations seem to extract, process, exchange and even trade personal data with apparent impunity.† Lyon’s argument can be seen as being that police surveillance is a focused attention to personal life details with a view to managing or influencing those who lives are monitored. He believes this to be the power of classification, of social sorting. In his book, Lyon offers an approach, a mode of engaging with the issues related to police surveillance and information gathering. He does so, by discussing how police surveillance and information gathering technologies are implemented in daily lives, and discusses the complaints made by those who are fearful of such focus being made on their lives. In What’s New About the â€Å"New Surveillance†? Classifying for Change and Continuity, Gary T. Marx discusses how much surveillance is applied categorically and beyond persons to places, spaces, networks and categories of person. And that the distinction between self and other surveillance can be blurred. He attempts to highlight the differences between the new and traditional surveillance and offer a way to capture information relevant to contemporary social, ethical and policy considerations. In this publication, Marx is attempting to determine whether or not the protection of personal information is decreasing or increasing. Marx argues that in the last half of the 20th century, that there has been a significant increase in the use of technology for the discovery of personal information. He provides examples such as, video and audio surveillance, biometric access devices, drug testing, DNA analysis, computer monitoring including email and web usage and the use of the computer techniques such as expert systems, matching and profiling, data mining, mapping, network analysis and simulation. He believes that control technologies have become what had only previously existed in the imaginations of science fiction writers. Marx argues that a new definition of surveillance is necessary to fully understand its implications. He finds previous definitions inadequate, and provides his own definition. He suggests that a better definition of the new surveillance â€Å"is the use of technical means to extract or create personal data. This may be taken from individuals or contexts. In this definition the use of â€Å"technical means† to extract and create the information implies the ability to go beyond what is offered to the unaided senses or voluntarily reported.† This definition he believes to be better suited for what is considered new surveillance technologies. Marx argues that surveillance technologies can provide many positive aspects to society, and outlines how openness would be beneficial. He argues that through offering â€Å"high quality documentary evidence and audit trails, the new surveillance may enhance due process, fairness and legitimacy. That it may contribute to the political pluralism central to democracy by making the tools of surveillance widely available so that citizens and competing groups can use them against each other, as well government, to enhance accountability.† He argues that in the United States, unlike in many societies, surveillance technology is widely available to the public, and due to this, surveillance may no longer be considered a one-way mirror, but instead a window. In Privacy is Not the Antidote to Surveillance, Felix Stalder discusses the existence of police surveillance and information gathering in democracies. His contention is that in democracies, extensive institutional mechanisms are in place to create and maintain accountability. Moreover, that there are mechanisms to punish those who abuse their power. Stalder believes that similar mechanisms must be developed for the handling of personal information. He believes that due to the current status of surveillance, that the public (US) have become nervous. Prior to the attacks on September 11th 2001, polls showed that the vast majority of respondents were â€Å"concerned† or â€Å"very concerned† about the misuse of personal data. As discussed by Webster and Robins, Lyon and others, access to large data-sets of personal information is a prerequisite for social control. Those who hold such data have a crucial tool, which allows them to influence the behaviour of those whose data is being held. This exists not only commercially, but also more importantly by governments who collect data about their citizens in order to increase accuracy of their planning, as well as combat fraud and tax evasion. With growing concerns, the usual response to these problems is the call for further protection of privacy. While the call for more protection might be the clear answer, doing so is not as easy as one might think. The definition of what privacy is, throughout the world varies. Europeans have developed one of the most stringent approaches where privacy is understood as ‘informational self-determinism.’ Stalder explains as being, â€Å"that an individual should be able to determine the extent to which data about her or him is being collected in any given context.† In this context, privacy is personal, and being personal, every single person will have a different notion about what privacy means. Data one person might allow to be collected bight be deeply personal for someone else. The likelihood of having a collectively accepted definition is slim. Stalder provides his own solution for this ever-growing problem. Each article provides insight into different areas concerning information gathering and police surveillance. In conjunction with one another, it is possible to understand how surveillance technologies have been created, and how these technologies continue to be funded by governmental agencies. The effect that this massive funding has on local economies would require even further research, but at the essence of this dilemma, is what can be done to better protect civilians from the collection and sharing of information gathered. Civilians feel helpless to protect themselves from their privacy being invaded. Moreover, these articles explain how the protection of civil, political, economic and human rights are secured are secured through the systematic surveillance and data-collection. Without this, governments would not be capable of such a task, and these rights would surely be infringed upon. They are confronted with a growing police presence in their daily lives, some not even knowing that it exists. They use their credit card, and do not realize that each purchase is tracked, recorded, entered into a database, so that companies can use the data received, for profitable gains. They do not know that their information is bought and sold, traded on the open market, along with all other commodities. In order for governments to provide services to their citizens, they require the collection of data. This data is used for purposes that are deemed legitimate, such as taxes and social security. What worries many is what else that information is being used for, and who is being given access to it. While accountability, by governments in this area has increased, the same can not be said for information gathered by commercial entities. The growth of information gathering and police surveillance in Canada and the United States especially, can be attributed to many factors. One such factor is the need for a nation state to protect itself from invasion, the protection of its borders and citizens is of the utmost importance. This being said, governments attempt to have complete control of their territory, this requires the use of police surveillance, for surrounding nations, and for those within their borders. Another fact that needs to be addressed is the undeniable connection between governments and their police, by which technologies are funded and created. This relationship has allowed for the astonishing growth of police technologies, which in many respects drains from social services and depletes national revenues, when more civilian based initiatives could be implemented. Due to the sophistication of information gathering, civilians are no longer capable of securing their own information. Their information is passed from corporation to corporation, without any sense of protection at their disposal. There is a lack of accountability, when dealing with corporations, and how a person’s personal information is acquired and kept. Moreover, in order for any change to occur, definitions must be more precise, rather than attempting to apply vague terms for new solutions. Works Consulted Lyon, David. Surveillance Society: Monitoring Everyday Life Open University Press: Philadelphia, 2001. Marx, Gary T. What’s New About the â€Å"New Surveillance†? Classifying for Change and Continuity in Surveillance and Society 1(1) University of New Castle: United Kingdom, Mosco, Vincent. The Pay-Per Society: Computers and Communication in the Information Age: Essays in Critical Theory and Public Policy in SOSC 2312 9.0A Course Kit 2004-2005 York University: Toronto, 2004. Robins, Kevin & Frank Webster, Times of the Technoculture: From the Information Society to the Virtual Life in SOSC 2312 9.0A Course Kit 2004-2005 York University: Toronto, Stalder, Felix. Privacy is Not the Antidote to Surveillance in Surveillance and Society 1(1) University of New Castle: United Kingdom, 2002. Webster, Frank. Theories of The Information Society, Routledge: London, 2000. Undercover: Police Surveillance in America (20th Century Fund) by Gary T. Marx – Dec 5, 1989 Se crets Of Surveillance: A Professionals Guide To Tailing Subjects By Vehicle, Foot, Airplane, And Public Transportation by ACM IV Security Services – Sep 1993 Women Police: Gender, Welfare and Surveillance in the Twentieth Century by Louise Jackson – Sep 17, 2006 The Surveillance Studies Reader by Sean Hier and Joshua Greenberg – Aug 1, 2007 Police Officer Exam by Donald J. Schroeder and Frank A. Lombardo – Jan 1, 2005 Policing, Surveillance and Social Control: Cctv and Police Monitoring of Suspects by Tim Newburn and Stephanie Hayman – Jun 2001 State Secrets Police Surveillance in America by Paul; Egleson, Nick; Hentoff; Nat Cowan – 1974 Undercover-Police Surveillance in Comparative Perspective by Cyrille Fijnaut – Oct 12, 1995 State secrets; police surveillance in America by Paul Cowan – 1974 Undercover: Police Surveillance in America by Gary Marx – 1990

Biography of Annointed Gifts Essay

Annointed Gifts was established in September of 2006 by Rev. Dr. Johnnie E. Jordan Sr. Through Pastor Jordans’ vision he brought forth six anointed young men to spread the word of God through their musical talent of playing instruments, and their special talent of vocals. Minister Nelton Shorter Jr. (Jay-Jay) who is the minister of music at his home church Union Second Baptist been playing keyboard, singing gospel( songwriting) for over twenty years. Davell Davis (Ace) who is the minister of music at his home church Rising Star C.O.G.I.C. been playing keyboard and singing(songwriting) gospel for over fifteen years. Christopher Jordan has been playing drums, singing(songwriting ), for the lord under the leadership of his father and pastor of Greater Mt. Olive M.B.C. for over twentyfive years. Paul Washington plays lead guitar at Greater Mt. Olive M.B.C. and has been playing & singing(songwriting) Gospel for over thirty years. Clarence Trotter received his calling at an early age. He has been playing bass guitar & singing(songwriting) Gospel for over twenty years. Marvin Jordan began to get involved as an audio technician and sound check person at Greater Mt. Olive M.B.C. in 1986. He has over twenty years of experience in audio engineering In the short time that Annointed Gifts been together, they have been fortunate & blessed to perform with some of the big names of gospel quartet. They performed with The Williams Brothers, & The Mighty Clouds of Joy at The Detroit Opera House .They also performed out of state as well as all over the Michigan area with some of gospel greats such as Doc McKenzie & The Hi-Lites,The Pilgrim Jubilees,Keith Wonderboy Johnson, Dewayne Watkins former member of Canton Spirituals, Park Stewart former member of Commission, Darius Twyman , George Dean & The Gospel Four, Evelyne Turrtine’ Agee and even received great reviews from the Legendary Spanky. Annointed Gifts is truly a blessing from heaven abling them to pass on Gods’ message through song and praises.

Fundamentals of Nursing Research: evaluation of the evidence for nursing practice Essay

1.How do nurses and doctors interact in acute settings? In this study, I would like to use ethnography. When compared to other qualitative methods like ;phenomenology or grounded theory,ethnography is a systematic approach,which includes observing,detailing,describing,and analyzing the patterns of culture(Leininger,1985).The key feature of ethnography as a qualitative research methodology is that, it involves long term study of a group by the researcher who becomes both the observer and participant in the group this is often termed as participant observation(Ellis 2010)They don’t always take a participant role,sometimes they are non-participant observers. Access to a group for study may involve the researcher in seeking the help of a gate keeper(Ellis 2010). In this study a gate keeper can be the HOD of acute care unit who allows to access the group of doctors and nurses and also to introduce them. However there are some ethical issues this approach like an informed concent of colleagues(Ellis 2010) Convenience sampling is apt for this study as the researcher cannot predict the situation.It might be very difficult to get enough number of sample at a stretch,observation during a period of one week with different staff at different shifts,would be great to get maximum number of sample of 40 . Data collection methods include observation and interview .There are mainly three broad types of information are usually saught by ethnographer ie;: the cultural behaviour(which means what members of the culture do) Cultural  artifacts : What members of the culture make or use Cultural speech(What people say) This implies that ethnographers rely on a wide variety of data sources including observations indepth interviews records charts and other type of physical evidence(Diary letter) (Polit and Beck 2010) Observation is not unique to research and can be considered as part of every day life(Benner and Fian,2008) . Adler and Adler (1994) noted ; â€Å"For as long as people have been interested in studying the social and natural world around them observation has served as bedrock of source of human knowledge†(P 377) Often the key objective of using observation is to check weather what people say that they do is the same as what they actually do. As Hammersley (1990) suggested to rely on what people say about what they belive and do, without also observing what they do, is to neglect the complex relationship between attitudes behaviour( p 597) There are many other reasons for using observation as the data collection method : †¢ It helps us to inform about the influence of the physical environment †¢ Captures sense of the context of the and whole social settings in which people function †¢ Helps to illustrate the whole picture (Benner and Fian,2008). Some phenomena lent themselves well to observation(Polit and Hangler 1995) including characteristic and conditions of individuals, verbal and no verbal communication behaviour, activities, skill attainment and performance and the characteristics of an environment.(Benner and Fian,2008) Observation can be considered as an approach ,in which the aspects of the phenomenon to be observed are operationally defined and decided in advance(Benner and Fian,2008) It’s actually a skill to interview in qualitative research and this can be acquired through practice. (Ellis 2010) ethnographic interviews are unstructured- here i would like to use descriptive questions to ask participants about there experiences in there own language and are the backbone of ethnographic interviews(Polit and Beck, 2008) however study participants will not share much information with interviewers if they do not trust them close rapport with respondence provides access to richer information and to personal or intimate details. And audio taping equipment batteries tapes notepads and pens are essentials. Tape recorded interviews should be listened to and checked for audibility and completeness soon after the interview is over. The analysis mainly based on the patterns in the behaviour and thoughts of the participants comparing one pattern against another and analyzing many patterns simultaneously(Felterman 1989) Spradly’s 1979) /In an ethnographic study,research sequence is often used for data analysis .(Polit and Beck, 2008).On the other hand Spradely believes that language is the primary means that relates cultural meaning in a culture. His sequence of 12 steps, which includes both data collection and data analysis, and the analysis part includes making a domain analysis which are units of cultural knowledge and making a taxonomic analysis asking contrast questions making componential analysis discovering cultural themes and the last step is writing the ethnography. (Polit and Beck 2008) On the contrary ,it is very challenging method when it compares to other quantitative methods for there are no universal rules for analyzing data( Polit and Beck 2008). 2 – Do weekly counseling sessions decrease stress levels of carers of people with Alzheimer’s disease? This study can better done by the experimental method, to be more specific a randomized controlled trial is apt for this particular study. The genuineness of true experiments give us greater confidence that they depict the causal relationships under controlled settings of study (Polit and Beck,2008) Randomized controlled trials are able to answer a very specific question or related questions,because it uses specific manner ( Ellis 2010). RCT use techniques to find out the relationships between to variables. Moreover it holds direct control over many other factors that may effect the validity and reliability of the findings( Ellis 2010). Here Independent variables is weekly counseling sessions and dependent variable is stress levels of carers of people with Alzheimer’s disease. RCT’s are characterized by the following properties âÅ"“ Manipulation – The experimenter does something to some subjects or some type of interventions. âÅ"“ Control – The experimenter introduces controls into the study, including devising good approximation of counter factual – usually a controlled group that does not receive the intervention. âÅ"“ Randomization – The experimenter assigns subjects to a controlled or experimental conditions on a random basis. (Polit and Beck 2010) It was pointed out earlier that the RCT involves the random allocation of participants(Carer of people with Alzheimer’s disease) between experimental groups, whose members receive the treatment (in this study weekly counseling sessions) and control group who is devoid of or receive no intervention (in this study intervention means counseling sessions) I think a continuous 8 weeks counseling sessions that includes psychological and physical retreat of carers of Alzheimer’s patient can decrease stress levels of participants. In this particular study ,we should make sure that all meet the demands of inclusion criteria( Ellis 2010). In this study inclusion criteria involves carers who suffer from stress related to their work experience with Alzheimer’s patient. After sampling ,the researcher divides the entire sample into two different groups so that each group portrays the similar characters and even in terms of variables. ( Ellis 2010). Researchers manipulate independent variable by administrating the intervention to some subjects while withholding it from others. To illustrate participants in the experimental groups are subjected to counseling sessions through out the period where as those in the controlled group gets the usual care and treatment . Firstly, researcher have to do a pretest that involves the observation of dependent variable before the counseling session. This design permits us to examine what changes in stress levels were caused by the 8 week counseling session because only some people were subjected to it, providing an important comparison (Polit and Beck 2010) There are mainly two methods for data collection namely clinical or non clinical. Here it is a non clinical method we can use questionnaires for the data collection.( Ellis 2010).A crucial part of good research design concerns making sure that the questionnaire design addresses the needs of the research.To put this another way; somehow we need to ensure that the questions asked are the right ones.(iss.leeds.ac.uk †º home †º resources †º tutorial documents †º surveys). Reliability and validity are the two important aspect about the tool.The consistency in measuring is reliability .If the device produces the same or similar results when it uses under same circumstances,it is reliable. Whereas validity defined as, whether a tool measures or examines what it claims to measure or examine./(www.holah.karoo.net/reliabilityandvalidity.htm)‎ Outcome data should be collected in the same way and with the same figures for all the study group to facilitate this where possible participants may remain unaware of the intervention being received(Gerrish and Lacey 2010).Here the researcher can use blinding in order to reduce the risk of biases.(http;//www.ajronline.org/doi/full)It means the participants in the trial doesn’t know which intervention is given to each individual. A comparison of both group after the counseling session can be done by a post test. Despite the benefits of experimental research this has some limitations, first of all there are often constrains that make an experimental approach impractical or impossible(Polit and Beck 2008) 3: What are the factors that influence women’s smoking behaviour during pregnancy? This study has got social relevance. The grounded theory tradition which has its roots in sociology, seeks to describe and understand the social psychological and structural processes that occur in a social setting.(Polit and Beck 2008).It’s procedures are not specific to a particular discipline or method of data collection.(Holloway and Wheeler,2002) Grounded Theory research is used to generate theories about practice and understanding from many different areas of health care(Ellis 2010) so in this study grounded theory is very apt because it deals with a practice or a habit and we can gain insights into how pregnant ladies changes there smoking behaviour during pregnancy Of the qualitative approaches to research grounded theory is perhaps the most systematic in its approach. Grounded theory systematically applies procedural steps to explore social phenomenon and derive a theory that explains people’s understanding of those phenomenon .According to Strauss & Corbin, grounded theory emerges inductively from the research study.It undergoes very systematic process, data collection and analysis of data are the two major aspects of the study,so that the theory or the phenomena derives from the reciprocal relationship with each other.(Strauss & Corbin,1990) The starting point for grounded theory is that to select a homogeneous sample ,which means a sample portrays same kind of experience and with same process . A broader sample enables the researcher to draw on the experience of people to come to some conclusion of their experience (Ellis 2010) Samples for qualitative studies are generally much smaller than those used in quantitative studies.(www.qualitative-research.net †º Home †º Vol 11, No 3 (2010))The sampling in this study is theoretical sampling. I would like to select the samples from antenatal clinics or GP’s. The sample needs to be broad enough to enable the researcher to draw on the experiences enough people to come to some conclusion (Ellis 2010).But usually Grounded research typically done with 20 to 30 people.(Polit and Beck,2008).The sample size is determined by the theory being generated from the qualitative data. The data analysis can be done in two ways.Firstly, grounded theory may be used as a technique for analyzing data, which includes the process of constant comparison. The theory suggests that categories and properties are concepts that are identified by the researcher and evolve from the constant comparing of the data. (epress.anu.edu.au/info_systems/mobile_devices/ch04s03.html) Constant comparative analysis can be explained as the continuous comparison of data obtained from different participants so that the researcher analyses the difference or similarity among them.(www.rangahau.co.nz/analysis/83/‎) Methods used in data collection include, interviews ,documentary evidence, case studies and participant observations. Here i would like to use interview as my data collection method.It would be so helpful when we can maintain the field notes throughout the process of data collection.Certain occurrences in the setting or ideas from participants that seem of vital interest are recorded either during or after data collection.They remind the researcher of the events and interactions and trigger thinking process.(Holloway and Wheeler,2004). As mentioned above the analysis of Grounded theory can be done by two major methods; Firstly, the Glaser and Strauss’s Grounded theory method, and the second one is Strauss and Corbin’s approach.(Polit and Beck,2008). In this study i would like to use Strauss and Corbin’s approach. Main three types of coding includes ; Open axial and selective coding the out come of the Strauss and Corbin’s approach is a full conceptual description that explains how a basic social problem that emerged from the data is processed in a social setting (Polit and Beck 2008)†¦. When compared to other ways of qualitative analysis, It provides researchers with a unique tool for theoretical development.On contrary to the conventional path Grounded Theory works inductive . A researcher affords the luxury of maintaining an open mind and allowing the data to inform the discovery of theory. Natural phenomena is best represented by the emergent findings avoiding preconceived ideas. (ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi) 4: What is the effect of hydrotherapy on the pain levels of people with osteo-arthritis? This study is Quantitive study. The true experimental designs are those in which the researcher has a great deal of control over the research situation.(Nieswiadomy,2008).There are three criteria for a true experimental design.Firstly, the researcher manipulates the experimental variable(s).Second one is at least one experimental and one comparison group are included in the study.Last criteria is that subjects are randomly assigned to either the experimental or the comparison group. (Nieswiadomy,2008). Using manipulation, researcher consciously vary the independent variable and observe its effect on dependent variable. Researcher manipulate the independent variable by administering an experimental treatment(intervention) to some subjects while withholding it from others. Here dependent variable is pain level an independent variable is hydrotherapy(Polit and Beck 2010) Randomization or random assignment to study groups involves distribution of subject to either the experimental or control group on purely random or chance basis(Schneider and et al 2003) Sampling is the process of selecting a portion of the population to represent the entire population. It is subset of population elements. Simple random sampling can be used for this study. The members of the population are numbered and a number of them are selected using random numbers without replacing them. With this method each population member has equal chance of selection (Bowling 2009) Factors affecting sample size includes homogeneity of the population effect size cooperation and sensitivity of the measures. Quantitative researchers need to pay careful attention to the number of participants needed to achieve statistical conclusion validity. A procedure known power analysis(Cohen 1988) can be used to estimate sample size needs (Polit and Beck 2008). The sample size, effect size and the alpha level are the three major factors which determine the power.It can be defined as the capability to figure-out the statistically significant difference when the null hypothesis is in fact false,which means, power is your ability to find a difference when a real difference exists(psych.wisc.edu/henriques/power.html) Large samples are no assurance of accuracy however. There can be practical constraints such as subject availability cooperation level of participants time and resources can limit the sample size so that many studies are based on relatively small samples (Polit and Beck 2008) Data collection in experimental study dependents on the exact questions being investigated. The data collected can include data about the independent variable and data on a phenomenon(Ellis 2010). Interviews,physical examination or biological samples are the main data collection methods, researcher can also collect data from existing records. (Ellis 2010).Here a personal interview using a structured questionnaire can be used for the data collection. In this study we should do a pre test and post test. Pre test should be conducted before the intervention and a post test to assess the effect of hydrotherapy A major strength experiments is that they are practical in the real world it may be difficult if not impossible to conduct true experiments. In current era of healthcare consumerism patients are not always willing to relinquish control over there treatment condition. Another drawback of experiments is that unwillingness of people.( Gross and Fogg 2001) REFERENCES Ellis P.(2010),Understanding research for nursing students,Exeter;Learning matters Polit D. F and Beck C.T(2010),Essentials of Nursing Research:Appraising Evidence for Nursing Practice,7th edn;Lippincott Williams & Wikins. Nieswiadomy RS(2008), Foundations of nursing research, 5TH edn; new jersey: Pearson Leininger(1985), Qualitative research methods in nursing; W.B Sanders Company. Inc Holloway I & Wheeler(2002), Qualitative research in nursing, 2nd Edition, oxford Blackwell Science LTD Gerrish K and Lacey A (2010), The research process in nursing 6th edn, UK, Wiley-Blackwell Bowling A 2009, Research methods in Health;investigating health and health services, 3rd Edn, England, open university press Polit D.F and Beck C T(2008); Nursing research;Generating and assessing evidence for nursing Practice 8th Edn; Lippioncott, Williams & Wilkins Watson R, Mckenna H, Cowman S & Keady J (2008); Nursing research; Designs and method; Churchill Livingstone: Elsevier Schneider Z,Elliot D,Lobiond o-Wood G & Haber J (2003); Nursing Research: Methods critical appraisal and utilisation 2nd edn, Australia: Elsevier Pty Ltd University of Leeds: (iss.leeds.ac.uk †º home †º resources †º tutorial documents †º surveys). (No date)(Accessed on 25thof June,2013) University of Wisconsin-Madison:(psych.wisc.edu/henriques/power.html) (no date)(Accessed on 25thof June,2013) 13.University of Wollongong:(ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi) (no date)(Accessed on 25thof June,2013) Dr Leonie Pihama, MÄ ori and Indigenous Analysis Ltd:(www.rangahau.co.nz/analysis/83/‎)(no date)(accessed on 25thJune). nformation Systems Foundations: Constructing and Criticising:(epress.anu.edu.au/info_systems/mobile_devices/ch04s03.html) (no date)(Accessed on 25thof June,2013) 16. M Mason -(www.qualitative-research.net †º Home †º Vol 11, No 3 (2010) (2010)(Accessed on 25thof June,2013)

Exchange Rate Considerations- DB4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Exchange Rate Considerations- DB4 - Essay Example A stable money supply plays a crucial role in economic growth. Excessive circulation of currency results in inflation while an insufficient circulation of currency makes it more difficult for consumers and firms to obtain credit to finance large purchases and business expansions. Given that the United States, the European Union, and Japan are the world richest economies as at the time of the ranking, Ben Bernanke, Jean-Claude Trichet, and Masaaki Shirakawa have considerable influence on the stability and growth of the global economy. In the United States, the Federal Reserve System (Fed) controls the monetary policy through the Federal Open Market Committee with Mr. Ben S. Bernanke as the Chairman. As mentioned above, the ultimate goal of the monetary policy actions of the FRS is to promote sustainable economic growth and stability through control of the availability of currency and credit. Whatever affects the flow of currency ultimately affects the interest rates and the economic p erformance.

Why does Galen Strawson think free will is impossible Do you agree Why Essay

Why does Galen Strawson think free will is impossible Do you agree Why or why not - Essay Example Strawson defines freedom in terms of moral responsibility as the capability of being truly responsible for personal actions (Strawson, 16). Again, Strawson is of the persuasion that since feelings, beliefs, practices and attitudes affect man’s choices and actions, they inform the experience people have and being responsible. This affects the manner in which people make choices in light of rewards and punishment since rewards and punishment are forces and tokens of socialization and acculturization. In other words, rewards and punishment are ways by which a society expresses approval or disapproval on an act or a choice, or the consequences of the same. There are philosophers who have counter-argued Strawson’s standpoint on the dismissal and definition of freedom. These philosophers are categorical that Strawson fails to define the freedom that is in question and that Strawson fails to state whether the freedom is real, imagined or a property that almost all adult human persons [at least in the West] believe to possess. The crux of the matter herein is that to say that one does not understand what freedom really is, is to be bereft of the most basic understanding of the society that one belongs to and this claim is therefore untenable. Simply put, the charge is that freedom is something whose comprehension is easily grasped and that Strawson is therefore engaging in

The Life of Christ Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Life of Christ - Research Paper Example In the verse of evangelist we are not told that the angelic songs were heard by any other group except the shepherd that was grazing that night. The saviors’ ancestress, Ruth was in the same field where the same shepherds were guarding their flock from wild animals, she was sick at heart among the foreign corn (Farrar 1). David, the youngest son of a large family had followed the sheep and suddenly hears of the great news about the Christ Jesus being born amongst the irrelevance of a world lifeless of its liberation there was angel’s assembly of heavenly host praising God and saying Glory to God and there be peace on earth among men of good will. It might have been expected that Christian goodness could protect the rude grotto of shepherds in the minds of the church but instead the chapel of the herald angel is a â€Å"mere rude tomb† (Farrar 2). The poverty of chapel matches well with the humble toil of those whose happy vision is intended to remember. In the te mple, only four of our lords beginning are narrated by gospel, the circumcision, and the presentation in the temple, the visit of magicians and the flight into the Egypt. Fist two occurs in St. Mathew and no single particular can be pointed out in which the two narratives are necessary contradictory. Its only since in the dawn of Christian children are surrounded with romance. The exact order of the eighth day after the birth of (Luke i.59; 21) the purification was thirty-three days after the circumcision (Lev xii 4) The narrative of the visit of magician recorded in the second chapter of St. Mathew is of the deepest interest in the history of Christianity. The facts of the gospel are brought together with Jewish believes. This furnishes us with the new confirmation of our faith. After the wise had offered their gifts they would naturally have returned to Herod but being warned they returned to their own land another way. We don’t find further traces of their existence but th eir visit led to very memorable events (Farrar 5). Physical geographical of Palestine is perhaps more distinctly marked than that of any other country in the world the country character from north to south may be represented by four parallel bands, the Sea-board, the Hill country, the Jordan valley, and the Trans-Jordanian range. The country hill, which thus occupies the space between the low maritime plain and the deep Jordan valley, falls into two great masses, the continuity of the low mountain-range being broken by the plain of Jezreel (Farrar 6). Even as there is one hemisphere of the lunar surface on which, in its entirety, no human eye has ever gazed, while at the same time the moon's freedoms enable us the estimation of its general character and appearance. This is therefore is one large portion of our the Lord's life of which there is no full record; yet such suggestions are, as it were, given to us of its outer edge, and from this, we are able to understand the nature of t he whole. Again, when the moon is in arched, a few bright points are visible through the telescope upon its illuminated part; those bright points are mountain peaks, so lofty that they catch the sunlight. One such point of glory and majesty is revealed to us in the otherwise unknown region of Christ's youthful years, and it is sufficient to provide us with a real vision into that entire portion of His life. In modern language we should call it a story of the Savior's confirmation (Farrar

DSS Development Means Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DSS Development Means Evaluation - Essay Example These phases have to be cyclical so that they are able to return to the other phases. This can be identified as a type of model that is in the design of a waterfall. This design involves the plan project, rules followed in activating the project, different business developments, the detail design, implementation and the end project. The above stated phases can be alienated and characterized in a variety of groups so that they are easily understood. They follow in a certain order that involves viability study, scheme analysis, structure design, accomplishment, incorporation and trials, exploitation, and preservation. In the process of designing, evaluations involving the DSS systems are more often than not used. It is important to ensure that the ROMC design approach is input and build in the correct manner. In addition, it is essential to understand that the technology used for operational processing frequently differing from the technology required to support other

Roles of Emotional Appeals in Decision-making Essay

Roles of Emotional Appeals in Decision-making - Essay Example While some individuals argue that we make decisions through critical thinking, most of our decisions are made depending on our emotions (Fill, 2009, p. 19). Our moods and feeling towards particular ideas or items critically shape the decisions we make concerning that idea. For instance, a business manager coming to work loaded with stress from family issues is likely to spend the whole day making poor and inaccurate decisions at work. In addition, the same manager is likely to change the way he or she is treating people on that particular day. Therefore, emotions also determine how we relate with other people in our daily lives. Emotional appeals have the same effect in the business environment. They influence the way in which both business and customers make their decisions. Therefore, emotions have a significant impact on the effect of marketing on the customers (Fill, 2009, p. 20). While the business may market its products effectively, it may not succeed in attracting the attenti on of the customers. A business should take into consideration the emotions of its customers when advertising its products. This is because marketing triggers different emotions in the customers. Customers tend to develop different emotions and feelings towards a product or a service depending on the way it has been advertised (O'Shaughnessy & O'Shaughnessy, 2003, p. 10). ... different factors that might trigger emotional responses in customers, thus manipulating the way in which customers make their decisions (Albers-Miller & Stafford,  1999, p. 42). Colour Colour is a very significant factor that greatly affects the way in which customers perceive different products and services. Individuals have different attitudes and notions towards different colours. Other individuals also associate different colours with different types of issues. For instance, most people in the society associate black colour with evil. On the other hand, white colour is associated with purity and peace. Therefore, individuals will develop different feelings when they see black colour being used in a certain advertisement. For instance, a consumer that associates black with evil will perceive products being advertised using the colour as having a certain vice. Therefore, such a consumer will not even spend time to think of purchasing such a product. The decision of whether to bu y the product will entirely depend on the colour that has been used (Albers-Miller & Stafford,  1999, p. 43). On the other hand, the same customer may be triggered to purchase a product that has been advertised using the white colour just because he or she associates white with peace and purity. Therefore, although the products advertised in black colour might be better than the one advertised in the white ones, the emotional appeals of the customer will force him or her to purchase the bad product. Therefore, basing on colour, organisations should assess their target market to check if it is conservative. This is because most interpretations of colour come mainly from conservative people. However, some people, especially women, also have an attitude towards colour. For instance, most women

Responsible Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Responsible Business - Essay Example Moreover, the discussion of this report will also evaluate the nature of ethical business and its importance as well as impact on business behaviour in society. In addition, the report intends to focus upon evaluating the role of government as an influencer or enabler in relation to practice business ethics within an organisation. The Aspects Constitutes Responsible Business ’Responsible Business’ can be stated as a perception where an organisation involves accountability in imposing significant impact in its different operational functions. It has been apparently observed that the organisations of different sizes employ as well as implement strategies with the intention of attaining their business objectives efficiently. In this similar context, an effective ethical consideration within the business environment assists the entrepreneurs to develop their business performances along with meeting the overall expectations of their stakeholders by a considerable level. A re sponsible business fundamentally aims to meet expected outcomes that generates from certain major programmes such as escalating awareness regarding any ethical issues, developing decision-making processes and lessening misconducts that prevail while performing different operational functions. Furthermore, a responsible business considerably focuses upon continuously developing the business performances by taking into concern its internal as well as external business environment. The organisations in the present day context are highly focused to conduct different environmental initiatives in order to improve their business performance that ultimately supports them to perform responsible business at large (International Trade Administration, n.d.). Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) In relation to identify the aspects that constitutes responsible business, it can be stated that the approach of ethical business and CSR are frequently implemented interchangeably. In this regard, the concept of ethical business constitutes code of moral standards and values that governs the behaviour of a person or group with regard to identify their different activities. Moreover, the perception of ethical business significantly emphasises upon balancing the business performances and the needs as well as the desires of the society where it performs its operational functions. It comprises certain moral guidelines along with principles that ensure to guide business operations as well as behavioural aspects of the organisational members in an efficient manner (Crane & Matten, 2004). In the context of CSR, it can be identified that the approach i.e. ethical business significantly involves different aspects of responsibility that include legal, economic, ethical as well as voluntary philanthropic activities both for the organisation and its operating societies. Contextually, it can be stated that the legal responsibilities of an ethical business are basically the laws and regulations that are followed while performing operational funct

Decision making software Essay Example for Free

Decision making software Essay QUESTION 1 Life Orientation is an umbrella term which encompasses all the work that teachers should be doing with learners and include school guidance, counselling and life skills. QUESTION 2 Acceptance is concerned with all aspects of learning. QUESTION 3 Three (3) different types of thought developments can be differentiated. QUESTION 4 An intensive, extended career education programme helps learners to gain knowledge of who they are. QUESTION 5 Lindhard and Oosthuizen differentiate between the following principles of decision making, namely: aims and value; information; solution and decision making. QUESTION 6 A facilitative process is where the individual looks at his/her own interests. QUESTION 7 Assessment should only focus on the learner’s intellectual abilities. QUESTION 8 Observation is an exploratory technique that should be part of every educator’s role. QUESTION 9 The implication of the structured interview is that the interviewer and the learner encounter each other as equal partners. QUESTION 10 Individual counselling is predominantly used as a mode of counselling in school settings. QUESTION 11 In the teaching of Life Skills education the learner is the centre. ETH203Q/101 13 QUESTION 12 In educational support the content should be presented in such a way that the learners themselves achieve personalization. QUESTION 13 Study methods and reading skills are categorized as personal skills. QUESTION 14 Compiling a budget and writing a CV are categorized as survival skills. QUESTION 15 Imagining are dependent upon the senses and is a precondition for learning. QUESTION 16 The learner is able to transcend reality and enter a world of â€Å"nonreality† through the process of personalization. QUESTION 17 The composite interview method is made up of the best elements from the direct and indirect interviews. QUESTION 18 The three main considerations governing a career choice are job description, working conditions and job opportunities. QUESTION 19 In the decision making process the delaying decider is the â€Å"whatever will be, will be† type. QUESTION 20 During observation the learner is always the object. (20)

Themes in The Sand Fish

Themes in The Sand Fish The Sand Fish Themes As a matter of fact, Maha Gargash succeeds in discussing a lot of issues from the beginning of the novel till its end. One of the main themes she managed to talk about is marriage and polygamy. Noora has to struggle through her life as she is forced to marry someone she does not love in order to live a rich life. Her brother decides to sell her as a slave instead of listening to her and instead of letting her taking in rule of her life. While she thought her life as a wife would be amazing, he also had to suffer in order to deal with her fellow wives. She also feels that she is always ordered to do things she does not want. However, at the end she feels satisfied after delivering her baby because such baby gives her a new hope. Moreover, Maha indicates the preparations done to each girl before getting married in the Arab communities as well as the rules of choosing a good wife according to the point of view of people there. Another theme discussed is the Arab customs and traditions represented in greetings like Assalamu Alaykom, clothes dressed by the main characters and customs of marriage along with respecting old people and serving them. The author explains how Noora walks with Jassem in the village while poor people get close to her and stare at her. She also talks about how Noora deals with Lateefa and Moza since they are older than her and how she listens to them carefully. Furthermore, Maha talks about how Noora serves his father and helps him with the house works. On the other side, Maha discusses betrayal due to hidden feelings. Because Noora could not allowed to do what she felt and what she needed to do according to her will, she did everything illegitimate and illicit. She let a stranger touch h er and she also betrayed her husband by being pregnant from someone else. While some readers could believe that what Noora did was adultery, others feel sorry for her because she was in love and she needed someone to take care of her. Maha also mentions the relationship between brothers and sisters represented in the one between Noora and Sager. Although they quarrel, they still care for each other. Another discussed theme is death as Noora starts to have memories about her mother Fatma giving her advices and recommendations regarding how to act nicely and how to become like a lady. One of the most important themes is metaphysics or superstitions spread between ignorant and illiterate people as they believe witches have forces and they can take control of everything as well as changing peoples destiny through deceiving them. Despite the fact that the witch told Jassem he would have a baby, it turned out not to be his. In addition, Islamic laws are perfectly mentioned in the story as Maha shows what is Haram and Halal, what is legal and what is illegal. When Noora makes love with Rashid and Hamad, she feels guilty as she violated the rules of her society and religion. Maha depicts perfectly pure love which arouse between Noora and Rashid before her marriage and how she feels secured and safe when he touched her. She also mentions the feeling of relief resulted from the love making between her and Hamad. Besides, Maha indicates in her story the technique of self-monologue as Noora keeps thinking and talking with herself most of the novel in order to share her thoughts with the reader and truly express how she feels as well as reacting according to such feelings. On the other hand, poverty is well explained in the novel of Sand Fish as Noora has to deal with this issue and not being able to do what she has the desire to do because she is poor. Thats why her brother feels responsible towards her and thats why he tells her he cannot afford her things. Therefore, he sends her as a bride to be married in a new house where she can find a bed to sleep and good food to eat instead of living a harsh life of men between mountains. Though Noora gets married, she does not feel happy. However, she manages to survive and adapt at the end. Characters There are a lot of characters mentioned in the novel of Sand Fish. Here they are as follows: Noora-Al-Salmi: the main character of the story. She is stubborn and childish at the beginning. Nevertheless, she takes good care of her house before and after marriage. She also learns how to become a lady. Although she did a lot of illicit things, she manages at the end to protect herself and her baby. Sager-Al-Salmi: Nooras friend. Though he is young, he does not want to show his tenderness and feelings towards his sister because he wants to act like a man. Thats why he sent her to get married to a rich merchant in order to live a good life away from poverty and famine. Rashid: a young teenager who falls in love with Noora. Though she finds him attractive and though he touches her, he turns to abandon her at the end in order to achieve his mothers desire by getting married to his cousin, Aisha. Ibrahim-Al-Salmi: Noora and Sagers father. Maha describes him as a mad man who lost his mind. However, he is very friendly and he loves his daughter so much. Jassem Saeed Bin-Mattar: Nooras husband. He is also married to two other wives named Lateefa and Shamsa. Though he seems stern at the beginning, he turns to become soft and tender once he speaks with Noora and shows her his inner feelings. He also becomes very happy when he knows that she is pregnant. Hamad: Jassems servant. He falls in love with Noora and makes love with her. Thats why she becomes pregnant with his son. However, when Noora refuses to escape with him, he travels to India. He also steals Jassems pearls to have money but Noora takes them from him in order to put them back in the cupboard. Zobaida Bint-Sheer: the witch who lives with her son Dur-Mamad. She is thought to have the ability to speak with Jinn and control peoples destiny. She also prepares potions and other stuff. She succeeds in deceiving people to take money from them by depending on sorcery. Thats why Jassem goes to her and pays her a lot of money in order to find him a solution so that he could have a baby. Plot The story talks about a young girl who is seventeen years old. Her name is Noora and she lives with her brother Sager and her insane father Ibrahim. She belongs to Al-Salmi tribe. Throughout the story, Noora finds herself forced to do things she does not want to do including being unable to marry the person she loves named Rashid, not having the ability to choose her destiny and refuse to marry someone she does not know and finally being helpless because of not being capable of escaping with the person she loved after her marriage. She also finds herself responsible for things she believes that she is so young to do such as taking care of the house work and looking after her father and brother. After going through many ups and downs and after facing a lot of issues, Noora decides at the end to stay with her husband Jassem and takes care of her baby. Setting The events of the story take place in the middle of the nineties at the Gulf countries. The characters move also from one place to another through the entire story as Maha Gragash mentions a lot of venues such as Wadeema, Leema and Nassayem. Furthermore, she talks about the life in desert and between mountains as well as the life of tribes and how they manage to survive in this harsh life. She describes the usage of wells and the dependence on dates along with exports from other countries like India and England so that they could be able to have a normal life. Some of these exports are spices and fruits such as turmeric, pomegranate and mangoes. Eventually, Maha talks about the activity of pearl diving and how Arabs used to rely on this trade in order to earn money. Narrative voice Maha depends on the self-monologue as mentioned before. In addition, she explains her story using the technique of the third person. Such technique is used in order to explain how Maha knows the deep secrets of every single character and how she predicts and expects their reactions. Furthermore, she successfully shows their emotions including their fear just as when she describes Nooras fear that someone might reveal her secret of betraying her husband. On the other side, Maha depends on the technique of flashback as she tells the events of her story and suddenly, she talks about old memories and events in order to attract the attention of readers as well as providing them with information she thinks it is necessary so that they could be able to know more about their favorite characters. Language Maha Gargash manipulates words perfectly as her choice of language and her well explanation of characters shows how perfect she is in using English though she is an Arab writer. Her excellence in language can also be represented in the implementation of many verbs in order to describe voices, scenes and reactions of faces as well as gestures. Finally, many readers could find some words difficult for them especially Arab ones but Maha manages to attract their attention and make the story appealing to their tastes. Summary The author Maha Gargash chooses a very unique name in order to call its story. Such name symbolizes the actions done by the main character is the story Noora Al- Salmi. As a matter of fact, Noora is a young girl whose mother is dead and she lives with her brother Sager. In addition, her father is an insane man that does not show any kind of commitment towards his children. Because Noora and Sager live a poor life, Sager, just like any other man in an Arab family, wants to let go of his sister by getting her married in order not to hold the responsibility of becoming the breadwinner of the family. Thats why he brings two sisters named Gulsom and Sakina to the hut where they live in order to find a rich husband for Noora so that she could enjoy a wealthy life away from poverty. In other words, Gulsom and Sakina work as matchmakers. After they arrive to Nooras house, they start to give her advices and recommendations about how to become a good wife as well as checking every single detail and aspect in her body from head to toe in order to make sure that she would be perfect for the awaited bridegroom. Therefore, they start to hold her cheeks and touch her skin as well as looking at her teeth. They also find out that she has a scar on her chin because she fell when she was playing between rocks. So, they become sad. However, they say that it is not a big deal and that they would find a solution for all the imperfections in her body through depending on the usage of a mixture of cardamom and milk. In addition, they begin to talk about their experience in making young daughters rea dy to become good brides and they tell Noora that she is lucky because they are here to help her. They also say to her something very important; she must abandon her pride and dignity in order to live a good life. This is because of the fact that if she decides to speak or talk, her husband would kick her out of home and she will find no place to go or to live. Thats why she must be silent. Noora is very scared and she hopes that Sakina and Gulsom would find something wrong in her body which would not qualify her to get married. However, her hopes are in vain when she discovers that both sisters are happy. Thats when Noora starts to feel like the sand fish after becoming sad and alone in the hut. In the next chapter, Noora is wandering between the mountains of the Arabian Desert in which the desert is very hot when she hears and sees a strange lizard. Because she is scared, she starts to call her brother Sager to come and help her. Then, they discover that this lizard is a sand fish and it begins to move quickly. Thats why it hurts itself and starts to bleed. Noora asks Sager to hold the sand fish in order to help it; however the lizard tries to escape. Then, suddenly it jumps into the air and lies on the ground. Noora and Sager think that it is dead but it survives. At the same time, Sager tells Noora that he wastes his time with her as he has a lot of responsibilities. When Noora hears this word, she thinks that her brother says her in order to feel important and in order not to allow her to reply. Then, when Sager and Noora carry buckets of water to bring them back home, Noora rolls up her dress so that she could be able to walk. Thats when Sager becomes angry and asks her to cover her legs. Noora tells him that she does not do anything wrong and she has the right to act whatever she likes. Then, Sager replies by saying that she is now a woman and she cannot do actions of little girls. She is now a grownup lady. Noora becomes upset and starts to remember the advices her mother Fatma used to give her such as combing her hair and putting kohl in order to look neat and clean. Noora also notices that Sager is starting to abandon his boyhood and act like a man. However, she is sad because he does not show his feelings towards her and begins to push her away. When she returns to the hut, she finds her father Ibrahim preparing food. Ibrahim does not exactly separate between the roles of men and women as he believes these roles have to be interchangeable. He also starts to talk to her about their tribe Al-Salmis and how the leader of this tribe named Ahmed contributes in the destruction of the tribe because he was selfish. Ahmed, in fact, violated the rules which state that tribes must not touch or drink from wells that do not belong to them. However, Ahmed drank from the well of the Hararees tribe and they killed him. Thats why no one from the tribe of Al-Salmi is left except Nooras family. After that, Ibrahim starts to hear the voices no else hears and begins to talk to Noora as if she is someone else as well as spitting at her face. Then, Noora takes him inside the hut to relax. Sager tells his sister that he could ask someone to help their father get better. This person is Zobaida Bint-Sheer and she is a witch. She is able to talk to Jinn; the spirits mentioned in the Holy Koran and made of fire. Although Noora disagrees at the beginning, her brother manages to convince her. While they are going to Zobaida, they pass by Mazoolah, a small village where their relatives from their mothers side live. After discussing the issue of their father with their aunt Moza and their friends Saif, Abdullah and Muhammed, Sager and Noora tell them that they are going to give Zobaida money to cure their father. However, the friends say to them that Zobaida is busy with a new rich client who comes from a far distance. Then, Moza suggests that Noora and Sager must give Zobaida honey instead of coins in order to be able to meet and talk to her. Fortunately, they manage to find some bees after leaving the village and catch them. When Noora asks Sager about his behavior towards her and who the rich man he and his friends are talking about is, he tells her that he is sad because he is not able to feed her well and he is angry of their father because he does not allow her to get married. He also adds that he cannot hold the responsibility of both of them and thats why she must m arry a wealthy man in order to have a good life. Finally, Noora and Sager reach Nassayem where Zobaida, the witch, lives. However, boys who were playing there from which was Faraj Al-Mugami, the youngest son of Sheikh Khaled the leader of the tribe, attack the two protagonists leaving them without any wood or honey. Now, they will not be able to go to Zobaida. In fact, those boys tell them that Zobaida has a son and she had turned him into a dog. They call him Dur-Mamad and they start to attack him. Later, Dur-Mamad, the young boy, come to Sager and Noora and kisses their donkey as a sign to follow him. After they meet Zobaida, she tells them that they did something special as they defended her own son. She also tells them that she can help Ibrahim by preparing a potion that would make him a gentle man. However, he will still be mad. Before they leave, Noora and Sager are very surprised as Zobaida says that they have another problem needed to be solved. She tells Sager that he is worry about his sister because she is old now and he becomes the man of the family. Therefore, she tells the protagonists that the only solution is to find her a husband in order to get married. Noora, of course, becomes angry and waits outside the hut till Zobaida and Sager finish their conversation. Then, Noora goes to stay with her aunt Moza and finds out that she has a chest where she keeps a lot of amazing fabrics. Then, Noora decides to sew some clothes for her instead of storing them without any purpose. Moza is very happy because she finally finds out that these fabrics will be useless. At the same time Noora thinks why her brother did not come to get her as she believe two men at the same house will not be able to survive without a woman. While staying with the old woman, Noora hears the footsteps of someone but she does not have the ability to see him or her due to the snore of Moza. However, she finally discovers that he is a man, but she keeps asking herself why he sneaks at night and why he does not show himself. Eventually, she manages to see him and talk to him. He tells Noora that he knows everything about her and that he feels sorry for what happened to her and her family. In spite of the fact that he refuses to tell Noora his name at the beginning, he finally agrees and says that his name his Rashid. Noora believes that Rashid looks familiar to her and then he tells her to meet him at the far well tomorrow. He also says to her that she does not have to stay with the old woman the whole day because no one will notice her absence and she can say that she will go for a walk. Then Rashid fades away in the shadows. In the following day, Noora starts to think whether to go or not to go. She begins to talk with herself regarding the reactions towards her if she decides to meet Rashid at night and if people of the village manage to catch her. She wonders if they will send her home to her brother or beat her or lock her up. This is because women always take the whole responsibility for everything. She thinks that nothing will happen to Rashid because he is a man while she will have to suffer and bear the consequences of her actions. Finally, Noora takes the risk and goes to meet Rashid. She is excited and scared at the same time because she figures out that Rashid is one of her brothers friends who had joined others for breakfast outside the hut of Moza. She is happy because this is the first time for her to sit with someone alone; someone who is a man not a boy and who is very concerned with her wellbeing. After that, Rashid encourages her to go to a place which he believes Noora will like and he tells her that his intentions towards her are noble. He is right because he shows Noora a very beautiful cave provided with a pool of water that could fit ten adults. Noora becomes very happy and starts to stretch her legs into t he water. Rashid, in turn, begins to compliment her eyes, tells her that they are so beautiful and that she must not hide them. Noora starts to think that Rashid truly cares about her. Then, he tells the protagonist that they must go home before it is too late in order not to let anyone know that she was outside the hut. Rashid and Noora used to meet at the cave every single night without anyone noticing and when Moza asks Noora about her absence, Noora tells her that she walks for a long distance. One day a woman named Hessa Bint-Ali came to visit Moza along with her niece Aisha and Aishas mother named Khadeeja. Aisha is promised to marry the son of Hessa. Then, Hessa starts to talk to Moza about how Aisha was sick and how she had lost a lot of weight. On the other side, Noora shows her skills in embroidery and her aunt Moza spreads the news between the women of the village. Nevertheless, no one is interested in the talent of sewing clothes but they do not mind take advantage of such talent to achieve their benefits. In spite of the fact that Noora begins to feel guilty because she hides a secret from her aunt that breaks the rules of the Arab tribal society in which she lives, she neglects her thoughts when she starts thinking of Rashid and his kind lovely gestures. After that, Hessa gives Noora some fabrics and asks her to sew the bridal gown and some clothes for her daughter-in-law in order to prepare her for marriage. Hessa also tells Noora that she is scared because she b elieves that a strange girl will steal her son away from her and his awaited bride. When Noora meets Rashid at night, she tells him about her meeting with Hessa. She says that she feels as if Hessa blames her for something though she complimented her skin color. On the contrary, Rashid says to Noora that he is not interested in this speech and that he wants to talk about him and Noora. He tells her that he cannot eat or sleep or do anything because he keeps thinking of her all day. Despite the fact that Noora feels weak because of his speech and that she feels vulnerable, she becomes helpless. Thats why she starts to change subject and tells Rashid that he can use this pool as a system of falaj in order to irrigate crops. Suddenly, Rashid becomes angry and asks her to stop talking about this topic because this is his place and he has all the right to show it to whoever he likes. In addition, he tells her that he has the desire to talk about both of them. Suddenly, he asks Noora that he wants to marry her. In the following day, she keeps thinking of what Rashid has told her while she is busy sewing clothes for Aishas wedding. When Moza sees her, she finds out that her face is glowing and asks her if she is happy because of being with her. Noora replies with yes but she wants to tell her the real reason. Nevertheless, she remains silent as Rashid tells her not to talk to anyone unless he asks for her hand formally from her brother Sager. After such proposal presented by Rashid, Noora starts to feel that her meetings with him begin not to become illegitimate or illicit. At the same day when Noora meets her lover, she asks him how he is going to talk to Sager in order to marry her. Noora tells him that her brother might not agree because he sometimes listens to others points of view, Rashid says that he has the ability to talk to Sager and convince him. Then both of them begin to converse about their life in the future together. However, when Noora asks Rashid about the name of his family, he becomes impatient and tells her that she does not need to know because he will be her family. Then, he tells her that she is treated like a savage and she is always alone. Suddenly, Noora starts to cry and both of them begin to quarrel and push each other. Finally, she fell into water and her clothes become wet. She feels exposed and she tries to cover her body with her hands in order not to make Rashid notice its outline. Then he comes close to her and asks her to forgive him for what he did. When she tries to pull him away because she feels she has to, she could not resist as she becomes attracted towards him. Her heart starts beating while Rashid grabs her towards his embrace. He keeps telling her that he wants both of them to melt into each other and that he loves her so much. Then, he starts kissing her eyes when Noora begins to believe that they have to stop. Suddenly, she tells him in a tone full of authority tha t she has to go now. She is happy but guilty because she feels that she has done something sinful. However, God is good to her as the sky was raining and now she has an excuse to explain why her clothes were wet. She has a mixture of feelings: happy, sad, guilty and excited. She also is sad because she had missed the downpour in order to be with Rashid. When she reaches the village, she promises herself not to let Rashid touch her again till they become married. On the other side, Noora finds out that Hessa had a fight with her son because he does not want to marry Aisha and then he disappears. Noora becomes perplexed because she does not know what the purpose of the wedding clothes would be. Hessa is angry and sad at the same time because she thinks her son is stupid as he refuses to marry his cousin. She also begins to hint in her speech while talking with Noora that someone evil might have convinced her son to refuse such marriage. Then she asks Noora why she did not walk as always and why she did not go back to her home. Noora replies that she is tired and that she will return home very soon. Suddenly, Noora becomes stunned when Hessa hopes the coming back of her son Rashid. The protagonist begins to wonder if Hessas son was her beloved Rashid or another one. Then Rashid comes to see her and tell her that it is useless for both of them to get married because he has to comply with the wishes of his mother to marry his cousin. Noora is ast onished and asks him about his promise to her. Then she decides to get back home. After that, she finds out that her father, just as Rashid, was gone and she was devastated. Sager calms her with his nice words and gives her lot of gifts from which is a ring made of gold. Noora becomes suspicious and asks him how he managed to get all of this money. He tells her that he received help from Zobaida and a merchant client who was visiting her. Then Noora asks her brother what Zobaida and this merchant would have in return for saving the witchs son Dur-Mamad. Sager tells her that she must marry this rich merchant in order to live a wealthy life away from poverty. Then, he begins to provide her with information about this groom. His name is Jassem Saeed Bin-Mattar. He is already married to two wives and has a big house. However, Sager tells her sister that she does not need to worry since those two wives will be like her sisters. Noora becomes angry and blames Sager for listening to this old witch and for taking decisions regarding her life instead of her. Then, she tells him that she will not be such bride for this merchant. Nevertheless, her brother forces her to marry this man and thats why Sakina and Gulsom start to prepare her as a bride by showering her with gifts and clothes. Then, Sheikh Kahled, Farajs father, along with her brother, two witnesses and the groom come to do the marriage. Later, Jassem becomes angry because Noora acts nervously and does not want to go with him. At the end, he takes her to a new place called Wadeema. When she arrives to her new home, Noora finds out that she will live with Latifa, the first wife of Jassem and the oldest one along with Shamsa his second wife. Noora begins to live her marital life while sailing with the boat of her husband. She also meets Juma Bin-Humaid, Shamsas father and she feels that he has something to say. Noora was true because Juma says to Jassem that he is sad for his daughter because she is still not ready to accept a second fellow wife. Jassem becomes angry to know that his wife went to see her father without his permission. When finally Noora reaches the marital house, Yaqoota, a maid there, begins to show her everything. The, Noora asks her about what her duties are as a wife. Yaqoota replies that she must have a baby as the other two wives did not and thats why the house is childless. Therefore, Noora starts to think that such baby would give her the chance to keep Jassem from coming to her every single night and would fill her empty hours. Thats why she gets happy when she knows that she will be left alone as Jassem is going to India. On the contrary, Jassem begins to get upset as he loses hope of having a baby, according to what was mentioned by the witch. Thats when he blames Noora for not doing her job as a wife and instead of making love with her, he begins to talk. Noora finds this nice and starts to respond to his talks with a smile. Besides, he informs her about his work which is collecting pearls from seas. He also teaches her how to do calculations and becomes friendly with her. However, Noora notices that whenever sun rises, Jassem gets his stern face back. Maha Gargash, the author, goes to explain another side of Nooras life which how her fellow wives treat her. While Lateefa acts as a mother, Shamsa cannot stand her and tells her that Jassem might throw her out when he gets bored of her. Noora starts to worry and think though she knows that she shares certain intimacy with him. Nevertheless, one night he tells her that he is upset with the magic in her eyes and that she cannot deceive him anymore. Noora did not what to do and she is scared that would she become useless and be kicked out of the house. Furthermore, Yaqoota tells Noora that Hamad, who works for her husband on his boat, wants to see her. This was very strange for her as being asked by unmarried man to meet her is not usual. However, all he wanted from Noora was stitching his fathers clothes so that he can use them at wo rk. One day, Jassem tells his wives that he is not going to India as there are no more pearls in the sea. Noora starts to think of poor divers who will not be able to support their families. Jassem also tells his wives that he will go to Leema while they will go to Om Al-Sanam. In addition, Lateefa wants her mirror and thats why she decides to send Noora and Hamad to look for it. Before the journey begins, Hamad talked with Noora about his dreams and how he wanted to be a diver but he failed. Noora starts to feel close to him and thats why she keeps telling herself that he is like a brother to her. As a result, she begins calling him brother Hamad. Furthermore, Noora keeps asking herself why Lateefa wants that mirror so bad but she does not find an answer. After they reached Wadeema, Noora falls and hits her head while searching for the mirror. Therefore, Hamad comes close to her and starts kissing her bruise. Since then, they stopped calling each other brother and sister. Though Noora f eels that what she did was wrong, she felt that it was right. When Noora goes back to Lateefa, Lateefa keeps asking her questions and touches her bruise. She asks her what the reason for the bruise was. Noora says that she knocked her head onto the door. At that moment, Lateefa stops asking questions while Noora becomes very worried by her silence. When Hamad and Noora are collecting Henna for Lateefa as she asked them, she tells Hamad that she is concerned Hamad again comes close to Noora and asks her to divorce Jassem because he wants to be with her. When she asks him what she would do with her husband and that he would not agree, Hamad tells her that they will figure something out. He informs her that he will dive and find a big pearl so that they could be able to get married. Noora tells him that he cannot because he has an ache in his ears because of diving before, but Hamad says that he will handle this issue. After they go back to Wadeema to get what Lateefa wanted, Noora and Hamad make love together. However, when Jassem comes back from India, Noora is not satisfied to see her husband as she wants to become happy again with Hamad. Hamad tells her to steal the pearls of Jassem and he would not notice, Noora of course becomes a ngry. Surprisingly, she is shocked when she finds out that she is pregnant and she keeps thinking about what will happen to her when they find out about her betrayal. Noora of course knows that the baby in her belly is Hamads. So, he comes her one night and shows her the pearl he stole from Jassem. He asks her to pack everything because they will leave. When Noora refuses because she cannot go, Hamad never shows himself again. Before disappearing, he tells her that Lateefa arranged for all of their relationship in order to make her pregnant so that she can get a baby for Jassem. Later, Noora knows from Lateefa that he has left in order to find another job in India. Noora becomes relieved

American Time Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Essays

American Time If I had to point to the one thing that reveals the most about American culture, I would have to say it is our obsession with time. We seem to have this constant fear of â€Å"wasting† time. Our lives are saturated with ways to â€Å"save† time. We see it in our fast food restaurants, ATMs, and even our sayings (â€Å"Time is money†). Why are we like this? What drives us to be eternally searching for ways to speed up our daily routines? Finding these answers means understanding the most basic values of American culture. It is amazing to look at the number of ways that American ingenuity has made almost every aspect of our lives move just a little faster. The most obvious way is our fast food restaurants. With the invention of these we no longer have to wait for a meal. We simply place an order, our food gets pulled out from underneath the heat lamp, and we are on our way. If we’re really in a rush, we can just zip through the drive-through and have our order without ever taking the extra time required to step out of the car and walk into the restaurant. Many drive-through windows even have a little timer on them so you can know just how much time you have saved. Is the food any good? Did you even get the extra sour cream you ordered on that burrito? It doesn’t matter. When was the last time you ate at McDonald’s and thought to yourself, â€Å"Man, this is the best burger I have ever eaten!† Probably never, but I bet you were impressed if you got it extra fast. Banking has also become faster and faster. With the invention of the bank drive-through window and the ATM, we don’t even have to go inside the bank anymore. We just slide in our cards, type in the numbers, and get our money. This is wonderful. I l... ...nother of our cultural values: hard work and productivity. Maybe we need to change this. Perhaps we should learn to value leisure time as well, and stop accusing those who already value leisure time of being lazy. Time for Americans has gotten way out of hand. Of course, it is difficult to change the basic instinct of a culture, but we need to learn to stop obsessing about every minute that we might possibly save or lose. It is entirely too self-destructive—a cultural trait that affects the culture itself in some very negative ways. If it does relate to the â€Å"more factor† then perhaps we should look for something else to find â€Å"more† of. If not, then we should at least learn to be a little less productive and a lot happier in the extra time that we create for ourselves. That should not be too difficult because inventiveness is a part of our culture as well.

Where the Red Fern Grows :: Essays Papers

Where the Red Fern Grows Billy is coming home from work one day when suddenly he hears some dogs up the street fighting. He goes to check it out and finds them picking on a redbone hound. He saves the dog and cares for it through the night. It reminds him of his childhood. When Billy was ten years old he lived on a farm in the Ozark Mountains of northeastern Oklahoma. He wanted two good coonhounds very badly, he called it â€Å"puppy love†, but his papa could not afford to buy him the dogs. For many months, Billy tries to content himself with some rodent traps his papa gives him, but he still wants a dog. Then one day he finds a sportsman’s catalog in an abandoned campsite. In it he sees an ad for good hounds, at $25 each. He decides he wants to save $50 and order himself two hounds. Billy works hard, selling fruit and bait to fishermen, and gathering fruit that he sells to his grandfather at his store. Finally, he saves enough money and gives it to his grandfather to order the dogs for him and asks him to keep it s secret. When a notice comes that they have arrived at the mail depot in the nearby town of Tahlequah, they decide to go into town the next week. That night Billy decides he can not wait any longer. He packs himself a little food, and heads of for town following the river through the woods. He walks all night, and finally reaches town in the morning. The people in town laugh and stare at the young hillbilly, but it does not bother Billy he is there on a mission to get his dogs. He finally collects his dogs and walks back out of town with their small heads sticking out of his bag. Some schoolchildren mob around him and knock him down, but the town sheriff rescues him. The sheriff is impressed with Billy’s determination, and says he has grit. That, night Billy camped in a cave with his two puppies. They wake up in the middle of the night to hear the call of a mountain lion. Billy builds a fire to keep them safe, while the bigger of the two dogs, the male, barks into the night air. The next morning he stops at the campsite where he found the catalog.

The Effectiveness of Composting in Protecting the Environment Essay

As of recently, there has been an ever-growing buzz regarding the environment and being sustainable, and we need to embrace this movement. As the population grows, our demands on Earth’s resources grow, and this current rate is not sustainable. Barring any change, we will not have enough freshwater and natural resources to support our society in the near future. Each day, we incur more and more damage through the demands of consumerism, and this must come to an end. We must, as a society, take it upon ourselves to make individual changes which will potentially be the start of a global shift to a sustainable lifestyle. Our conscious decisions and actions will determine the future health of our planet. Right now is the time we can make a difference for the future. One conscious decision that we can make to save the environment for future generations is to compost. Composting is a process that converts organic waste into a useful product that can be used as a soil fertilizer. Compost is actually one of nature’s best mulches and soil amendments, and it can be used as a substitute for artificial fertilizers (â€Å"Evanston†¦Ã¢â‚¬  2). Compost is created by first collecting organic scraps that would normally be thrown away, such as yard trimmings and food scraps. These materials are then left in a controlled environment that is ideal for natural decomposition. This environment can be created in a special composting bin or even in a pile in your backyard. After allowing your pile to decompose for a few months, your compost is ready to be used as a fertilizer in your garden. Figure 1: Man holding a pile of compost Figure 2: Inputs and outputs of the composting process Source: â€Å"Composting† Source: Starbuck – â€Å"Making and ... ...Are Plastic Grocery Bags Sacking the Environment?." . National Geographic, 02 Sep 2003. Web. 25 Jan 2012. . Starbuck, Christopher, ed. "Making and Using Compost." . University of Missouri, Apr 2010. Web. 26 Jan 2012. . Stewart, Kate. "Re: Composting Questions." Message to Edward Pang. 23 Jan 2012. E-mail. United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Analysis of Composting As an Environmental Remediation Technology. 1998. Web. . United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2010. 2011. Web. . The Effectiveness of Composting in Protecting the Environment Essay As of recently, there has been an ever-growing buzz regarding the environment and being sustainable, and we need to embrace this movement. As the population grows, our demands on Earth’s resources grow, and this current rate is not sustainable. Barring any change, we will not have enough freshwater and natural resources to support our society in the near future. Each day, we incur more and more damage through the demands of consumerism, and this must come to an end. We must, as a society, take it upon ourselves to make individual changes which will potentially be the start of a global shift to a sustainable lifestyle. Our conscious decisions and actions will determine the future health of our planet. Right now is the time we can make a difference for the future. One conscious decision that we can make to save the environment for future generations is to compost. Composting is a process that converts organic waste into a useful product that can be used as a soil fertilizer. Compost is actually one of nature’s best mulches and soil amendments, and it can be used as a substitute for artificial fertilizers (â€Å"Evanston†¦Ã¢â‚¬  2). Compost is created by first collecting organic scraps that would normally be thrown away, such as yard trimmings and food scraps. These materials are then left in a controlled environment that is ideal for natural decomposition. This environment can be created in a special composting bin or even in a pile in your backyard. After allowing your pile to decompose for a few months, your compost is ready to be used as a fertilizer in your garden. Figure 1: Man holding a pile of compost Figure 2: Inputs and outputs of the composting process Source: â€Å"Composting† Source: Starbuck – â€Å"Making and ... ...Are Plastic Grocery Bags Sacking the Environment?." . National Geographic, 02 Sep 2003. Web. 25 Jan 2012. . Starbuck, Christopher, ed. "Making and Using Compost." . University of Missouri, Apr 2010. Web. 26 Jan 2012. . Stewart, Kate. "Re: Composting Questions." Message to Edward Pang. 23 Jan 2012. E-mail. United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Analysis of Composting As an Environmental Remediation Technology. 1998. Web. . United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2010. 2011. Web. .