My Ascent Into 8th Grade Stardom :: essays research papers

My Ascent into 8th Grade StardomIt was very hard moving to a new town in the summer of 1994. This event meant having to attend a new middle school and reestablish myself in a new environment. Even though I had moved about every two years of my entire life, that did not make this time any easier. I still had to make new friends and ground myself all over again.Middle School, like most other middle schools, had an "in" crowd. At Crossroads, it was mainly the football players. After I started school at Crossroads, football tryouts were being staged. I saw this as a most significant event on my path through adolescence, a chance to get recognized by my new school, as well as a chance to make some friends and gain some glory along the way. Getting up at one Saturday morning and going up to the school, I was very nervous about whether I would make the team or not. I've always had athletic ability, but since this was a new town, I was unsure about how my skills would compare with the other kids. Football tryout was a grueling event. When tryouts started, it was explained to all of us that the coaches would run drills in order to gauge our skills, and then place us in specific position groups. After the drills, which I did exceptionally well in , Coach Jones placed me in the running back group. He told me that I was extremely strong and fast, and that I would make a good tailback. It felt so good, not only making the team, but being singled out by Coach Jones as possibly one of the better players on the squad.Throughout the next couple of weeks, the Crossroads Vikings held football practice every day after school from 2:45 until 5:00. We always started with some team stretching and then we moved onto our positional drills. We running backs always had drills such as running through ropes and practicing plays. It was fun. As the days and practices went by, I made many new friends. All the starters, me being the starting tailback, just began to hang out together, in and out of school. That is just the way it went. Chad, Rick, Bill, Derek, Ben, and I were hanging out together all the time. Eventually, they introduced to me to all the "cool" kids in school and the feeling of being the "new kid" went away.

UN Peacekeeping Essay -- International Politics, Conflicts

Even though, the UN charter does not mention the creation of a peacekeeping force, it has become a major instrument to deter violence and conflict since WWII. Particularly, after Cold War, international peacekeeping has climbed to the top of the agenda of the United Nations (UN) and many national governments (Druckman, et.al, 1997). As result, the UN peacekeeping currently operates in more than 60 disputed areas. Are these peacekeeping are effective in sustaining peace and stability? Or they are not? What are the scholars’ perspective on success and failure of peacekeeping? Did they agree or have divergent perspective? Peacekeeping operations can help to resolve conflict without bloodshed. But, scholars have competing perspective on the role of peacekeeping in resolve conflict. Scholars have also main differences in perspective of peacekeeping effectiveness. On the one hand, they see the contribution of peacekeeping to larger values such as world peace, justice, and the reduction of human suffering. On the other hand, they see limited or absence of contribution peacekeeping (Druckman, et.al 1997). Most observers see how peacekeeping has proven its value in stopping hostilities, maintaining cease-fires, restoring some degree of trust, and involvement of peacekeeping in sustaining peace significantly and substantially (Fisher, 1993; Doyle and Sambanis, 2000; Hartzell, Hoddie, and Rothchild,2001). The U.S. office of General Accounting (1999) also describes the success of the UN peacekeeping for the last fifty years. On the other hand opponents of peacekeeping point the dramatic failures of peacekeeping. Scholars such as (Fortan, 2005; Greig& Diehil, 2005) described little effect of the UN peacekeeping. Therefore, there is no ... ... of post Cold War. However, peacekeeping missions have become an increasingly well-used tool of international diplomacy and conflict resolution. ‘Globally, the deployment of military personnel in PKOs â€Å"surpassed record highs† in 2009, rising by about 9% over the year, with a total of more than 200,000 military, police and civilians in the field’ (CIC 2008, p.2). Again, the increasing choice to peacekeeping continued, with little understanding of its appropriate application and effectiveness. Scholars, however, disagree on the context of peacekeeping operation and how its impact should be evaluated (Druckman, et.al, 1997). In fact, it can be argued that the absence of what peacekeeping â€Å"missions can accomplish and determining the extent to which they have, in fact, achieved goals† (p.150) also created disparity among scholars about effectiveness of peacekeeping.

Literary Merit Essay Hamlet

William Shakespeare’s plays have long been regarded as works of literary merit due to their complexity and thematic depth, as well as their universal appeal and ability to stand the test of time. One of Shakespeare’s most renowned plays, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, subsequently referred to as Hamlet, is an ideal example as it satisfies the requirements of literary works of merit. Complexity is a characteristic of literary merit found in Shakespeare’s works, and most evidently, in his characters. Hamlet, for example, is considered to be the epitome of complex characters, as he displays many layers throughout the play.It’s obvious that this tragic character is indecisive and unsure at times, including when he contemplates suicide, in his relationship with women, and when to kill his uncle, King Claudius. For example, in Act Two, Scene Two, Polonius, advisor to Claudius, reads aloud a love letter written by Hamlet to Ophelia, his supposed love i nterest. In this letter, Hamlet declares his love for Ophelia, and tells her never to doubt his love. However, when talking personally to Ophelia in the next act, Hamlet tells her that he never loved her.Yet, at Ophelia’s funeral in the final act of the play, Hamlet tells the attendees that he had more love for Ophelia than does forty thousand brothers for each other. This happens to be one of many examples of Hamlet’s complexity, mostly due to his â€Å"feigning† of madness throughout the vast majority of the play. This characteristic of complex characters is one reason why Shakespeare’s works are considered to be of literary merit. Another characteristic of literary merit that Shakespeare’s works display is thematic depth, especially in Hamlet. A major theme in this tragedy is that of revenge, which can be seen frequently throughout the play.There is the obvious plot of revenge in the play as Hamlet tries to avenge Claudius of King Hamlet’ s death. There exist two other plots as Laertes attempts to avenge Polonius’ and Ophelia’s deaths, as well as Prince Fortinbras avenging his father’s death. A thematic depth is composed as these three separate scenarios are woven together, calling the value and necessity of revenge into question. Another prominent theme in Hamlet is death. From the appearance of the dead King Hamlet’s ghost in the opening scene to the carnage of the final scene, the knowledge of life and the mystery of death are examined.Hamlet’s â€Å"to be or not to be† soliloquy is a perfect illustration as he ponders over the idea of suicide. Because Shakespeare is able to bring up discussion and call certain ideas into question with such themes, his works are thematically deeper, making them of literary merit. Despite having been composed over four hundred years ago, William Shakespeare’s plays have stood the test of time and have proven valuable in many academic fields, other than English. The cause of this is Shakespeare’s ability to provide insight into the human condition, as well as his ability to include universal themes in his plays, so as to gain more appeal.Shakespeare’s plays explore ideas that are prevalent in the human condition, such as vengeance, romance, and jealousy, which creates universal appeal and paves the way for the analysis of the human condition in the sub-fields of humanities: psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc. In the case of Sigmund Freud, the founding father of psychoanalysis, his The Interpretation of Dreams, explores the foundation of Hamlet on the Oedipus Tyrannus (Oedipus Rex). Freud explains that Hamlet’s hesitation at avenging his uncle is due to the repression of his subconscious desires.Another example of this cross-curricular analysis of Shakespeare’s works can be seen in Laura Bohannan’s essay, â€Å"Shakespeare in the Bush,† in which Bohannan attempts to tell the story of Hamlet to a group of Nigerian villagers. This essay, along with Hamlet is used by students of both anthropology and linguistics as a way of understanding the effects of perspective on one’s perception and expectations. Therefore, because Shakespeare’s works have stood the test of time, and continue to be valued in many academic fields, his works are of literary merit.Ultimately, William Shakespeare’s works, specifically Hamlet, have all demonstrated their literary merit because of their complexity and thematic depth, along with their value and ability to stand the test of time. Works Cited Bohannan, Laura. Shakespeare in the Bush. Print. Freud, Sigmund, A. A. Brill, Daniel T. O'Hara, and Gina Masucci MacKenzie. The Interpretation of Dreams. New York: Barnes ; Noble Classics, 2005. Print. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York, NY, USA: Washington Square, 1992. Print.

Gender Inequalities Essay

Gender Inequality is the differences in the status, power and prestige women and men have in groups, collectivities and societies. Gender inequality usually affects women more than men due to the status in society. Many women are affected in the workforce due to gender inequalities, in many countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan women are held at a lower position to men. In countries such as those, women are thought of as property other than human beings. Why does gender inequality happen? The answer to this question is not as simple as it may seem. The most enforcing cause of gender inequality would be stereotypes. Typically women are thought of as housewives, to stay home, cook and clean, and take care of children. Men are suppose to be the breadwinners, they are suppose to work and support the family. In modern society the thought of the typical â€Å"housewife† has changed. Ever since the Rosie the Riveter revolution during World War II, more and more women are working in the workforce instead of staying at home. Even though during this time women were encouraged to take the place of their men and work in the workforce, a glass ceiling was still created keeping women unable to be promoted and gain higher positions. see more:gender equality essay for kids Interesting enough, almost 40% of women today make more than their husbands, and women today make up almost 60% of U.S. college students and earn the majority of doctorates and master’s degrees. So why does gender inequality still exists? Its a long interval of gender differences, including roles of biology, gender socialization, and findings from other cultures. Also the different forms of gender inequalities suchs as women in the workplace, inequalities at work, and the gender pay gap take a huge toll on gender inequalities. As the differences between girls and boys are explored, the differences between men and women are also explored. Many scientist say that nature vs. nurture has a huge involvement with the biological makeup differences of men and women. A quote from Intro to Sociology states that â€Å"Scholars disagree about the degree to which biological characteristics affect gender identities as â€Å"feminine† or â€Å"masculine† and the social roles b ased on those identities. The debates is really about how much social behavior is learned versus innate (or â€Å"inborn†)†. (Intro to Soc 295). I agree with this statement because the  biological characteristics do not makeup a gender identities. Only because a woman is not built like a man does not mean she is more weak. Only because men were not exposed to more cooking and cleaning as much as a woman or young girl is, does not mean that woman or man is incapable of doing it. When thinking of the differences concerning men and women its hard to compare the behavioral differences to an overall audience. Depending on the different cultures, women and men have different morals and behaviors. For example women in Iraq are held as property to their husband, also in some Muslim countries, some women are stoned to death for wrongdoings. These example show complete inequality differences between men and women. For examples, as humans we are trained to think that woman can not perform strenuous work, its up to men to perform difficult task. These stereotypes are the ones that create gender inequalities and make it unfair for women to gain equal rights. Most sociologist argue that a mans aggressiveness varies between cultures and that women are still are as aggressive but display their aggression in a more discreet manner such as using strategies and â€Å"bad mouthing† rather than physical fights. I agree with this statement, usually men are more confrontational because men always look to be the Alpha male. When women are in a confrontation, more women will be more sneaky and rather talk than just fight physically. When it comes to the different forms of gender inequality, there are many different forms and disadvantages mainly pertaining to women. The first most common is women in the workplace, women in the workplace have more disadvantages than men. Another disadvantage would be the gender gap and pay. Men tend to receive a way higher pay than women. Each of these are examples of gender inequality, in the workplace it can be found most typical due to the stereotypical judgements of women working. The gender gap payment has a great affect on gender inequalities, since men are paid more this creates a glass ceiling for women trying to advance in the career path. In a quote by the feminist majority foundation, â€Å"In the Wall Street Journal/Gallup survey, women managers were asked what they consider to be the most serious obstacle in their business careers. Only 3% cited â€Å"family responsibilities,† but half named reasons related to their gender, including: â€Å"male chauvinism, attitudes toward a female boss, slow  advancement for women, and the simple fact of being a woman.† (FF 1) This quote shows that the main thing holding back women in the working society is stereotypes. Many women stereotypes claim that its family issues holding back our women from reaching higher levels. Many assume that if a women is a single mother, divorced, or divorcing this may take an effect on her work ability. In society when it comes to gender and family, each gender is expected to have a certain type of role. When it comes to family there are many different types and levels. Usually in a family women are expected to take care of the children and men are expected to work and provide. In this modern day society women usually do both, work and take care of their family. Since the beginning of humankind women were suppose to bare the children and men were suppose to provide for the family. Since this though was considered since the begnning of mankind its hard to earse this thought. Still til this day, women mainly do the cooking while men provide. Since women are mainly thought of being in the kitchen, its hard for men to picture women in the workfield. Since the beginning o f time women have been thought of as the housekeepers. When World War II came around things changed and women had to step up to the plate. Ads such as Rosie the Riveter promoted women to get jobs and work outside the household. Before this time the life for a woman was boring and just an endless cycle of the same tasks. Many books were written explaining the average life of the housewife such as â€Å"captive wife† by Gavron in 1966. During the 1970s and 1980s a spring of debates and research formed on family from feminist viewing this topic. Before feminist began to look t the value of family, the researched typically focused on the kinship and family ties and how society affects them. Feminist began to focus on inside the family to examine a woman’s experience in the domestic atmosphere. Many feminist argued that there was an unequal power instilled in the families and that more family benefitted more than the other. There are three spectrums that feminist found important when examining the importance of family. One is the domestic of labor, which is the way tasks are allocated among household members. Feminist tend to disagree about the historical upcoming if this division. Some view it as a effect of the industrial capitalism. Another theme would be unequal power relationships, whi ch equals domestic violence. Many feminist argue that violent and abusive sides of families have been ignored  in both academic contexts and legal and policy circles. feminist feel that the family serves as a gender oppression. The last theme would be caring activities, this theme extends from looking after a person who is ill to looking after an elder. Not only do women complete household chores and child care they also have significant emotional labor in maintaining personal relationships (Duncome and Marsden 1993). Caring activities are grounded by in love, deep emotion, they also require an ability to listen, perceive, negotiate, and act creatively (Intro Soc 500). Women play a huge role when it comes to family and society. Women provide a nurturing environment for society because of their loving nature. Without a mothers nurturing nature, children wouldn’t have the ability to grow properly. A woman is the foundation to any family, without a woman a family wouldn’t be able to function properly. When it comes to a family women aren’t just housewives, they are the emotional base and protectors of the family. In conclusion I feel that men and women should have equal power, especially w hen it comes to the work force. Many women have to deal with stereotypical comments in the workforce and sexual harassment. Harassment is also a big difficulty for women to proceed in the workforce, a quote from a Huff Post article â€Å"The HuffPost poll found that one in five women said they’d been harassed by a boss, and one in four said they had been harassed by another co worker. And although women were more likely than men to say that they had been victims of one or both types of sexual harassment, men also reported being sexually harassed — 6 percent said they were harassed by a boss and 14 percent by a coworker.† (Huff Post 1) This proves that women not only have to deal with stereotypes but also have to deal with sexual harassment which is even more difficult. Women should just have an equal position in status compared to men because, women can do anything a man can do. In some cultures such as Muslim cultures, women have little to no rights and sometimes even die for committing the sm allest thing against their husbands. Women typically have it more difficult than men because women are seen as a piece of property rather than being their own person. Its concerns me how much we seem to belittle our women in society even though they are the foundation to any family and the rock to any man.

Trends in Sustainable Travel and Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Trends in Sustainable Travel and Tourism - Essay Example The major directions in the development of sustainable tourism are discussed here in detail. It was the widespread realization of the need for preserving natural resources and natural assets that led to sustainable tourism. People are now keener to use eco-friendly products and processes eliminating the least chance of harming the nature. As Mullis (2012) points out, fifty percent of the American youngsters in a survey were of the opinion that they would only use an airline if and only if the authorities take initiatives to make up for carbon emissions. The same opinion was predominant among tourists travelling across tourist spots. They only use things that can be recycled and reprocessed. It eliminates the careless throw out of plastic, carry bags and other non-biodegradable things. According to Mullis (2012), tourism industry is paying more attention to introducing carbon offset facilities to tackle greenhouse gas emissions; and tour operators are now offering carbon offsets to th eir customers as they are well aware of it. Sustainable tourism does not require too much initial capital investment. So, the small-scale industries in the tourist sites are adopting various means of protecting the environment in order to satisfy their customers. As stated in the United Nations’ Managing sustainable tourism development (2001) principles, in order to nourish tourism in a particular locality; beaches, mountains, rivers, and all the flora and fauna are to be protected and preserved with fondness: and in the light of these observations made by the policy makers, various laws have been made to protect the indigenous characteristics of the tourist sites and for the protection of the environment. With the enactment of local laws pertaining to resource exploitation, consumption and waste dumping, issues relating to tourism could be tackled to a large extend. Another notable feature in the area of sustainable tourism is the developments made by the Thai people in the area of mass tourism with the help of their affluent historical, cultural and natural assets. They made small-scale tourism projects which are community based and implemented sustainable tourism in their ethnic village of Karen. The reason for such an allocation was that the indigenous people knew the terrain and the pulse of the environment better than the outsiders. The aims of this program were to improve the all round quality of the village population, preserve the unique culture of Karen village, allow the indigenous population to make decisions about their way of life and to contribute to the preservation and protection of the natural resources and assets of the region (Managing sustainable tourism development, 2001). They implemented this idea with the help of Nongovernmental Organizations. Thus, Thailand was one of the pioneers to teach the world the new trend of dividing sites between native people and giving them complete freedom to promote it to the fullest.

Nuclear Power Industry Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nuclear Power Industry - Coursework Example This reduction in total electricity contribution by the nuclear plants is largely due to the fact that many power plants have been shut down over the past. As constructing more nuclear stations is not considered economically viable, so any such plans are largely abandoned. The supplies of standard quality carbon-free electricity have also increased as a result of fuel reprocessing from nuclear stations in UK. Advantages of using nuclear power to generate electricity: One of the greatest all time advantages of nuclear power is that only a small portion of it can be generated into large amounts of electricity to boost a nation’s economy. Another worth mentioning benefit is that nuclear fuel doe not result into polluting the environment by releasing a lot of poisonous greenhouse gases. Technology provides ready means to reprocess nuclear fuel for generating carbon-free electricity. Recycling used fuel is a great achievement and many â€Å"commercial reprocessing plants operate i n France, UK, and Russia with a capacity of some 5000 tones per year† (World Nuclear Association, 2011). Another advantage of nuclear electricity source is that fuel is inexpensive and waste produced is markedly compact. The acid rain effects are also marginal compared to other electricity sources (Nuclear Tourist, 2009). ... The environmental impact of uranium mines is also less disastrous compared to other fossil fuels. Nuclear power stations also do not emit carbon dioxide and sulphur among other toxicants and sulphur emissions are principally responsible for acid rains. Disadvantages of using nuclear power to generate electricity: Meeting costs for emergency purposes and radioactive waste forms one of the biggest disadvantages of nuclear source of electricity. A large capital cost is required to meet such ends. Waste storage issue is another big problem and large capital is also required for that to be invested in storage systems. The waste produced by using nuclear fuel is highly radioactive. The nuclear wastes are radioactive and capable of posing a health threat owing to emission of radiations unlike the coal wastes which can pose threat to humanity only on grounds of chemical activity (Cohen, 2011). The more nuclear stations there are, the more there is the risk for nuclear attacks and sabotages a lso. Despite the reality-based claims that nuclear power generated wastes can be highly toxic and lethal for the world at large, still handling the radioactive waste is not that much of a big issue and the net amount of nuclear waste produced from nuclear operation based on one year â€Å"would occupy a volume of half a cubic yard, which means that it would fit under an ordinary card table with room to spare† (Cohen, 2011). This means that the quantity of waste produced by nuclear plants is so small unlike the massive wastes produced by coal-burning sources that it can be taken care of very sophisticatedly. The probability of acid rains also increases with millions of tons of waste generated by the

History of the Stanford-Binet intelligence scales Essay

History of the Stanford-Binet intelligence scales - Essay Example The Fifth Edition of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (SB5) is a relatively new revised method, but has a unique history (figure 1). In 1905, Binet and Simon developed the first formal intelligence test, and Louis Terman created the Stanford-Binet Scale in 1916; this final scale was revised in 1937, 1960, 1986, and 2003. The first versions used items to address functional abilities, and were arranged by levels. The Fifth Edition is a standardized intelligence battery that can be administered to people from ages 2 to 85 years. According to Strauss (2006) the main purpose of the revision was â€Å"to expand the range of the test, to allow assessment of very low and very high levels of cognitive ability†, and to increase its clinical applications (see table 1).The SB5 is based on the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive functioning, which is considered â€Å"one of the well-validated, comprehensive models of cognitive functioning† (Fiorello and Primerano, 2 005). Johnson (2007) describes the Stanford-Binet as â€Å"a comprehensive, norm-referenced individually administered test of intelligence and cognitive abilities†. The test is consists of five factors, which include Fluid Reasoning, Knowledge, Quantitative Reasoning, Visual-Spatial Processing, and Working Memory; each factor is further divided in verbal and non-verbal subtests (table 2). The Abbreviated Battery IQ scale consists of two routing subtests: one nonverbal (Object Series/Matrices) and one verbal (Vocabulary) (Coolican, J. et al, 2008).