Spirituality through community

In â€Å"Cathedral,† Raymond Carver wrote the story of an unnamed male narrator who describes a visit from Robert, a blind male friend of his wife. Roberts’ arrival and stay in the narrator’s home causes the narrator to abandon his stereotypes about blind people and to understand himself better. Carver, through his story, claims that in order to be free we must detach ourselves from stereotypes and focus on self understanding. Carver uses â€Å"Cathedral† as the title for his story in order to emphasize that the process of completing a cathedral is more important than the end result, which could take approximately one hundred years. In the process of drawing a cathedral with the blind man, the narrator, putting himself in Robert’s shoes, is enlightened while a meaningful relationship develops between the two men. The narrator goes through a process of transformation. In the beginning of the story, the narrator is very much against Robert’s visit. Jealousy and hatred seem to overcome him. His wife’s fondness for Robert and their close friendship that has spanned thousand of miles and ten years bothers him. Furthermore, the stereotypical image that he has built in his mind about blind men hinders him from welcoming Robert into his home and into his life. However, things change as the narrator and Robert begin on a quest to draw a cathedral. The end result is not the cathedral drawn but the feeling that overcomes the narrator after having embarked on the process. The narrator’s new found consciousness would not have come about if not for the process. By drawing, the narrator is able to experience different feelings that have been alien to him before. Even with eyes closed, the narrator still succeeds in producing the cathedral. This demonstrates that the value is not in the final product but in the journey that one undergoes to reach it. It is not the end product that heightens spirituality in an individual; it is the journey that allows a person to reach further. It is not the end product but the journey that allows the person to experience. Without the process, there will be no experience. Looking at someone else’s work is far different from producing the work. One appreciates the end product more if he realizes the work that goes into producing it. The story of â€Å"Cathedral† clearly demonstrates such. The narrator had difficulty describing the cathedrals that were shown on television. This was because he had little understanding and experience in cathedrals. As the narrator said, â€Å"I can’t tell you what a cathedral looks like. It just isn’t in me to do it. I can’t do any more than I’ve done.† His difficulty stems not from his inability to see the cathedral; it comes from his lack of experience and understanding of what a cathedral is and what it stands for. The narrator sees no value in cathedrals. He said, â€Å"The truth is, cathedrals don’t mean anything special to me. Nothing. Cathedrals. They’re something to look at on late-night TV. That’s all they are.† However, having embarked on the process of drawing a cathedral, the narrator is able to experience. He is able to build a new perspective on things. This goes to show that it is not the end result but the journey to it that really matters.

Ipad

Everywhere you look, there's an iPad. Apple's on a roll and is moving really quickly to not only expand its dominance but also to blanket every retail and reseller channel to get its devices into people's hands. Apple's pushing the iPad into every channel that it can because there's a major shift starting now in computing, from the laptop form factor to tablets, which leverage smartphone operating systems,. Apple started out using exclusive distribution when starting to sell the iPad in April of 2010 only through its own website and U. S. -based Apple stores.The company currently has a total of about 200 stores worldwide. Apple eventually began to take part in selective distribution by expanded to selling through Best Buy. More recently, the iPad has been made available through Amazon and Target (1,740 U. S. stores), and now debuts in some Wal-Mart and Verizon stores . The iPad is available through more than 2,300 stores by now. Apple Ipad is already a very successful product for the computer giant, and it can only get bigger as the company allows its largest distributors to provide all six models of the must-have tablet to authorized resellers across the U.S. This move continues Apple’s careful expansion of iPad availability, and allows users to gain access to the device at various locations worldwide. Tech Data Corporation, a major distributor of Apple’s products, revealed today that the company has now been given permission by Apple to sell the iPad to its customers for the first time – those customers being IT solution providers in over 100 countries. This is a significant move by Apple, as they’ve been very protective of the iPad’s image and third-party availability since the device’s launch back in April.Many online resellers can still only offer the iPad over the phone, as Apple’s strict rules prevent them from selling online due to the approval of promotional graphics. The move is sure to increase sales. Apple has expanded its go-to-market strategy for its iPad tablet device, pushing it through retailers such as Wal-Mart, expanding carrier sales through a deal with Verizon, and also taking the device through IT distribution via a deal with Tech Data

Compare the difference in gender roles and socialization processes in relation to the Smith family

The purpose of this assignment is to compare the difference in gender roles and socialization processes in relation to the Smith family. It will give a brief explanation of gender roles and socialization and will take into account the situation of Jane and David and it will also look at the thoughts of Jane's eighteen-year-old daughter Katherine. Gender roles are said to originate from birth with the classification of sex. As in all systems of ascription, even though most people believe that sex role behaviour flows naturally, from biological or inborn differences, societies do not leave that development to choice or possibility. Instead, from the earliest years, before they can understand a word, infants are told what their sexual identity is, and are praised for any behavioural evidence of appropriate activity. Adults will describe an infant as having ideal female traits, if told it's a girl (sweet, cute, charming) and as having ideal male traits if told it's a boy (strong, destructive, rebellious). What begins in infancy continues through the years. For generations girls have been praised for their maternal behaviour with dolls, and boys were told they were sissies if they showed the same behaviour. The family, second edition, page 75). According to Connell in introduction to sociology Talcott Parsons argues that the biological facts of sex and reproduction limit the sex gender roles available to males and females. In other words females social roles are mainly to produce and bring up children while males are to provide the main resources of survival. Connell disagrees and believes that sexuality as well as gender is formed by social influences and personal choice. (Introduction to sociology, page 187). Ann Oakley argues that gender roles are cultural rather than biological; humans learn the behaviour that is expected of males and females within their society. (Sociology themes and perspectives page 589) Gender behaviour is first learnt through primary or basic socialization within the family and is reinforced later in almost every area of social life for example, at school and at work. Socialization refers to the various ways in which a child learns to act in a way acceptable to a given society. Oakley argues that as a young baby grows, they are socialized into their different gender roles through their contact with different people and institutions. By the age of sixteen the majority of young men and women have been socialized into a belief of male dominance, even though the forces of disagreement to this attitude are stronger than they were and patterns of socialization based on gender equality occur more frequently. (Introduction to sociology page 184-194) Socialization is the process by which human behaviour is formed through experiences in social situations. Through socialization the individual learns the values, norms and thinking of a given society. Cooley (1864-1929) distinguished two types of socialization: primary and secondary. The two forms of socialization are defined partly in terms of the particular groups or agencies in which they take place. Primary groups are small they entail face-to-face relationship and allow the individual to express the whole self; the family, peer groups and close friends are all primary groups. Within these groups the individual learns, by personal experiences the primary values such as love, loyalty, justice, and sharing. Freud emphasised that the first few years of a person life, those commonly spent among primary groups are the most significant in forming the structure of his or her behaviour. Secondary groups are large, more important, more properly structured, and exist for particular purposes. Secondary socialization involves learning how to organise and conduct oneself in formal contexts and how to behave towards people who have different degrees of position or authority. (Introduction to sociology page 3) Thompson, N (2001) states that the pressure to match to sex-appropriate roles within the patriarchal family is both a major part of the socialisation process and a significant aspect of sexism. Patriarchal beliefs promote the traditional model of the family, with the male breadwinner being the main provider, head of the household and defender of his territory, the wife and mother as nurturer and carer and their dependent children whom they socialise into following in the footsteps of the appropriate role model, boys like daddy and girls like mummy. Anti discriminatory practice page 42) Jane feels that she is responsible for looking after her father. Pilcher (1995) cites Finch's evidence that women provide the great majority of personal care to relatives and that the parent to child relationship is the most important source of support after the spouse relationship. Children, mainly daughters, are a major source of support for elderly parents. (Age and Generation in Modern Britain page123). These feelings Jane is experiencing are possibly due to the behaviour she learned through her own socialisation within her family, For example, Jane believes that her mother would have expected her to look after her father, therefore she would live up to her mothers expectations if she takes on the responsibility of carer to her father and secondly, her experience of growing up as a female was that women were responsible for household and domestic tasks. Ann Oakley believes that males and females are exposed to different activities through out childhood for example; girls are mainly encouraged to become involved in domestic tasks. (Sociology themes and perspectives page 590) This would explain Jane's behaviour in her own house as she does most of the household chores, even though Jane and her husband equally work full time. David thinks that his father should go and live with him and his partner, he hasn't asked his partner yet how she feels about this. David may feel through his own socialization that it is his duty as the son in the family to take control of the situation. David is hoping that his wife will be willing to give up her part time job to look after his father, â€Å"Women in this society are generally the hands-on caregivers, (typically the eldest daughter or daughter-in-law) (AARP Magazine) David hasn't mentioned giving up his job, this could be Patriarchal gender through socialisation, David thinking he is the man of the house and the main bread winner and has authority over his wife's say. His wife works part time and she is probably on low pay, to David her job may not be important as it is a second wage, maybe financially it would be better for her to give up her job, but he isn't thinking how his wife would feel about doing this. (Anti discriminatory practice page 42-43). Jane's eighteen-year-old daughter Katherine has concerns about her mother. This could be down to changes and different expectation through generations. The fact that, Katherine is in higher education suggest that her prospects and opportunities are higher than that of her mothers. Women are beginning to change their attitudes in the direction of greater approval of more equal gender behaviour, and as a result a more equal sharing of housework. In addition, as a clear indication of the future, younger women, women with more education and wife's with better educated husbands were more likely to move towards independent gender attitudes. The family 133-135) In conclusion, the guilt Jane is experiencing and David's thoughts in deciding how to care for his farther is common and is a product of societies expectations. David and Jane haven't really giving any thought to the situation or consequences of their father. They are both acting on what they think would be expected of them by their mother and through their socialisation, that is to look after their father. Neither of them has taking the thoughts of their father into consideration, although Michael is getting very forgetful, he still has right to choice, maybe Michael wont want to live with them or wont want them to look after him, Michael if possible, might want to stay in his own home. Jane and David cant and shouldn't really try to make any decisions without firstly getting an assessment done on their father, this should happen once they get in contact with the social worker, and secondly they should also both speak to their family to find out how they feel about the situation, after all what decisions are made involves them as well.

Emerging Technology Case Studay Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Emerging Technology Studay - Case Study Example Today, the major challenge of security officers is what to do with hypothetical attacks? Basically, these security attacks differ from using modern and innovative ways and tools of using standard weapons to making use of extraordinary technologies such as lasers to launch attacks. In this scenario, it is the responsibility of security planners to derive organized and justifiable ways to make a decision which hypothetical or unusual threats to worry about and how to prioritize among them (Jackson & Frelinger, 2009). This paper discusses some of the major security risks associated with cloud computing. This paper will also suggest the ways to deal with these issues. Cloud Computing Risks and Solutions Without a doubt, cloud computing is not only changing but also modernizing the way information technology (IT) is used in organizations today. Additionally, the acceptance and implementation of cloud computing are absolutely accelerating and much of this is being directed by always increa sing requirements for organizations to be more flexible and reliable in addressing varying IT needs (Cervone, 2010; Alter, & Harris). Thus, the idea of our medical organization to move its IT support functions to cloud computing is feasible and effective but there are certain risks associated with this transfer. In this scenario, the major problem that our medical organization can face is that clouds are hosted and maintained globally, hence, the tools, applications and data need to comply with the laws and regulations of the host country. For instance, a number of Canadian states have acknowledged it against the law for applications in their state to be hosted in the USA for the reason that the data would then put through laws of the Patriot Act. In the same way, many tools and applications in the USA cannot be hosted out of the country due to limitations in the export of computer system technology (Cervone, 2010; Alter, & Harris). In addition, due to this, the concern in which cou ntry the cloud is located and maintained is significant to take into consideration in the perspective of concerns associated with conformity, auditability, and eDiscovery. In view of the fact that the cloud computing is a distinction in computer outsourcing, our medical organization will need to have a high degree of self-assurance in the security actions, measures and protocols of their cloud computing supplier. Additionally, our medical organization can face a wide variety of issues related to HIPPA, FERPA, PCI, GLBA however it depends on the nature of the applications and hosted location of the cloud. In this scenario, technologists have already identified and categorized a wide variety of data protection and privacy risks that organizations face while using cloud computing. For instance, in case of our medical organization it is possible that its data can be accessed by hackers, released accidentally, mixed with data from their cloud suppliers’ other customers. Moreover, our medical organization must make sure that its cloud supplier can deal with any requests for information associated with authoritarian or constitutional issues (Cervone, 2010; Alter, & Harris). In order to deal with cloud computing risks our medical organ

Data Analysis Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Data Analysis - Statistics Project Example Average GDP per capita (2013) of the European Union is computed from the World Bank data and is compared with data for individual countries as reported by the Central Intelligence Agency data (based on purchasing power parity). GDP per capita for the region can, therefore, be computed as follows (The World Bank, 2015). GDP per capita= 17.96 trillion/507 million= $ 35424.06 Hypothesis HO:  µCIA= 35424.06; No significant difference between the two sources, sources are reliable HA:  µCIA≠  35424.06; A significant difference exist, one of the sources is not reliable  µ represents mean The data are on a ratio scale and represents an average output of a country per person per year. Data was collected through observation from existing sources, the World Bank and the Central Intelligence Agency (US), and with European Union countries as the population. The data is with respect to the year 2013 and may not represent the countries’ and the region’s current GDP per capita. Distribution of the countries’ GDP per capita is skewed, positively, and has an outlier in GDP of Luxembourg that was $ 91900. The countries GDP per capita also differed widely as the high values of range ($ 75100) and standard deviation (15237) shows. High concentration of countries occurred in the second and fourth stems. Mean of the countries’ GDP per capita, based on CIA data (34084) is statistically the same as the regional value that the World Bank reported for the same year.

Organizational culture Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Organizational culture - Assignment Example This has enhanced efficiency in operations and reduced time needed for different departments to consult each other in order to come up with the final conclusion (Casestudyinc.com, 2002) The company has maintained open offices leadership. Leaders in Wal-Mart have maintained a close relationship with subordinates by upholding a culture where all members of staff are free to consult the leaders in case of any issue that is of concern. This has acted as a motivation factor to the members of staff. It has opened up new ideas as employees play a major role in giving out ideas as they interact with the customers directly therefore they are able to note any changes in customer’s behavior (Casestudyinc.com, 2002) Wal-Mart has maintained a belief of being the top and only organization in the market. This assumption has enabled employees to work hard in order to maintain this glory. In addition, the company has been using the employees who have succeeded in the company as their role model. A culture of rewarding hardworking employees in the organization has seen a well maintained culture of hard work. This has seen the organization made immense profits as employees are willing to work harder in order to be rewarded (Casestudyinc.com, 2002). Wal-Mart has created a cheer that helps the employees identify themselves with the company and feel proud of the company. This has also helped in boosting the morale of the employees. It also encourage togetherness and hardworking by employees to continue dominating the market (Casestudyinc.com,

Four questions of Banking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Four questions of Banking - Essay Example A bank which cannot fulfil the obligations is said to be illiquid. If such a case arises then the bank is said to have defaulted which causes the shareholders and the depositors of the bank to incur heavy losses. Funding liquidity risk on the other hand is defined as the probability that the bank won’t be able to pay its obligation in a certain time period in future. So there exists a major difference between the two concepts of funding liquidity and funding liquidity risk. Funding liquidity has only two possible outcomes, i.e. either the bank would be able to pay its liabilities or the bank won’t be able to pay its liabilities at a particular time in future. Funding liquidity risk on the other hand can have infinite possible outcomes depending on the distribution of future incomes. It is spread over a time period not a particular time. As per the theoretical definition of funding liquidity a bank can be said to be liquid as long as the outflows is less that the inflows and the stock of money held. The market liquidity is a function of three different perspectives. The most popular and crudest measure is the bid-ask spread is called width. A low or narrow bid ask spread is said to be tight and reflects more liquidity in the market. Depth refers to the market’s ability to absorb sale of a position. Another feature of the market liquidity risk is the resilience which refers to the market’s ability to bounce back from temporarily incorrect prices. In period 2 banks can therefore not only trade in interbank market but also obtain liquidity either from depositors depositing money in the banks or by selling assets. Whereas deposits is considered as the natural hedge against liquidity risk which arises out of the giving out loans, but the problem is that it not always possible for the banks to fetch new deposits by attracting new depositors. So inflow and outflow can be considered to be

Review of A Worn Path by Eudora Welty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Review of A Worn Path by Eudora Welty - Essay Example Subsequent to that, she begins to consider it a ghost. Later, she concludes that it was a scare crow. After moving from there, she goes to the ravine and she drinks water. While meditating, a big black dog attacks her. Interestingly, that big black dog does not further chase Phoenix as soon as she throws a cane at the dog. Subsequently, a white man appears with a chained dog. He talks to her. And, at some point of time, she becomes so courageous to face the threat of a pointed gun raised by the white man. In the later part of story, she comes to meet her grandson. This entire story does not depict a reality. Had she wanted to meet her grandson, what caused her to go to hill, go to the field of dead corn, and the ravine? At some point, she becomes so bold to push away an attacking dog! Works cited Welty, Eudora, â€Å"A Worn Path†, New York Times, 1941, Available at: http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/41feb/wornpath.htm [accessed on 20 July, 2011]

The Smartphone Industry Analysis 2012 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Smartphone Industry Analysis 2012 - Essay Example (Cromar, 2010) The smartphone market is characterized by perpetual innovation and constant new product development. No one company has considerable market share so all the companies are constantly evolving technology in order to remain competitive and not to be driven out. (Brownlow, 2012) Smartphones and tablets have very short product life-cycle due to constant improvement in technology, aggressive pricing and rapid imitation. The barriers to entry in this industry are very high due to patents, high start-up cost, regulations and economies of scale. In the smartphone industry there are many drivers which deliver success and in order to stay in business and maximize value for the company it is important to know what factors guide the company towards excellence. The smartphone industry is very fleeting, therefore companies need to be on their feet and constant research and development is needed to come up with the most innovative features that would appeal to consumers. This should b e in line with the market demand, but innovation is a key competitive force in the smart phone industry. Secondly, the product needs to be reliable and should deliver on its promises. Having a reasonable battery life is important along with good reception. This would make the consumer brand loyal if their expectations are met. Also, good customer support service is mandatory to be competitive. Thirdly, the product created needs to expandable such that it allows third party applications to run and is not very restrictive in nature. Timely software updates also reinforce a brand’s image. Another competitive force would be that the product should be user friendly, and the interface should be designed in order to facilitate consumers and should not be time consuming. Lastly for a company to remain competitive they should have great financial capability in order to respond to the fleeting market demand and have the finance for product development shifts, marketing and acquisitions as well. (Gartner, 2010) One of the best ways of evaluating the attractiveness of an industry and gauging its performance is through the Michael Porter's five force model. This model ensures that a holistic analysis is performed which considers all the possible threats and provides a true picture of the external environment of an industry. The industry according to this model is quite profitable as only two threats are strong and can be removed via good coordination. The smartphone industry is marked with the threat of rival sellers. All the major competitors have pretty much the same strategy and use innovation to excel and make promising products. Also, these companies are financially strong and stable and have immense budgets for promotional campaigns and intense research and development. Another common feature of this industry is the greater ability for acquisitions which dirty dig the share quickly off the android. Because the industry is progressing at a fast rate, some shift ing in market share without long term results can exist. (Analysys Mason, 2012) The threat of new entrants is moderate because the barriers to entry are many. The global distribution of technology is limited to the leading technology companies and they have patented their hall of fame products. The only

Question 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Question 5 - Essay Example The production chose to use macaroni, gemelli, shells and other simple stuffs to use as plasters for the interior decorations. They have been very resourceful in doing so since the effect that these little things did to the whole setting gives intricacy and creates depth that is most fitting for a royal family background. The props that are delicately hand-made by the crew include high vaulted ceilings, gallant Baroque columns, and other expensive looking interior finish. As the count groom and his bride had their scenes as the newly married couple, their elegant setting has supplemented greatly to effect giving the ambiance of a well-to-do French royal family. The splendor and the stunning combination of the tidbits of crafted props have indeed attributed to the over-all effect of the play. Plus, the comedic idea of having these unexpected nitty-gritties to be used for decorations is a mirror of the humor that the play has intended to convey to the audience. Anyone would be convince d of the authenticity of the materials used when seen from a distance. But when inspected on a closer look, they would be in awe and would have laughed at the thought of the detailed interiors to be designed as such. Over-all the set-up was equipped, the play has gone successfully and effectively, and I bet, the budget

The Popularity of Mixed Martial Arts Essay Example for Free

The Popularity of Mixed Martial Arts Essay For many fight fans, the allure of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has surpassed a traditional boxing match in terms of action and excitement even though Mixed Martial Arts is nothing new. In a sense, all martial arts styles have guided us to the creation of what we now refer to as MMA. Along with this and for quite some time, possibly before history was ever documented, fighters of all levels and styles have been practicing and testing their skills. But with change in time, so did the sport in many aspects. Through the many years of evolution, Mixed Martial Arts is currently the most popular and the fastest growing sport in the world. Having started around 648 B. C. in Greece, the most primitive contact sports or martial arts with few rules or a â€Å"no-holds-barred† concept was called pankration, placing itself amongst the other sports in the Olympic games. (Rousseau) It was an aggressive sport, a combination of boxing and wrestling techniques. In the 1800s, â€Å"no-holds-barred† events occurred when wrestlers who represented various martial styles competed throughout Europe. â€Å"Merikan† fighting in the early 1900s, which featured boxing versus Jiu Jitsu masters. Bruce Lee was significant having influencing MMA as he conquered in boxing, karate, judo, and other styles and combined them to develop a form of fighting greater than any other. His contributions have not gone unnoticed, as Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White has gone so far to call Lee, â€Å"the father of mixed martial arts. † (â€Å"Mixed Martial Arts Timeline†, 2007) With a new legion of fighters who train in various styles, the sport of MMA has greatly come together, to include the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993, which quickly became an overnight success. Mixed Martial Arts has â€Å"achieved a high level of popularity around the globe in recent years† thanks to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, especially being supported in Japan and the United States. With stars such as Chuck Liddell, Rampage Jackson, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Rashad Evans, and Wanderlei Silva leading the way, the sport was venerable to a break through and achieved mainstream popularity. Regular coverage on ESPN and promotion in the pages of such popular publications has shown mixed martial arts continuing its spectacular rise having â€Å"surpassed boxing in popularity and poised for bigger and better things†. Megamass). Besides being a real show of entertainment, MMA is a sport of high-performance. As was the case with most martial arts at the time, fighters were typically skilled in just one discipline and had little practice when facing opponents with different skills. When the Ultimate Fighting Championship first started, there were few rules, no division of weight classes, time-sensitivity, or security equipment. For example, Keith â€Å"The Giant Killer† Hackney, with a 9† height difference and 400-pound weight difference, faced Emmanuel Yarborough at UFC 3. â€Å"UFC History†) Many martial artists held that having the skill could overcome such advantages, that a â€Å"skilled fighter could use an opponent’s size and strength against him. † (â€Å"UFC History†). It was quickly proved with the many defeats by 170-pound Royce Gracie that the outcome is not always determined by the size of a person. The UFC hit success on Pay-Per-View and home video almost instantaneously due to the originality, realism, and wide press coverage, even though not all of it was positive. The blood and brutality of the sport generated a loud and powerful backlash. The disposition of the rapidly increasing sport hastily brought attention to the authorities. UFC events were then banned in a number of States. In order to subsist, the UFC improved its cooperation and collaborated with the state athletic commissions and deliberated its rules to eliminate the less acceptable elements of fights, while preserving the core elements of striking and grappling. Weight classes were established, and gloves became mandatory. Then there was the introduction of restrictions on permissible striking areas, barring head butts, groin strikes, strikes to the back of the neck and head, kicks to an opponent who was down, small joint manipulation, pressure point strikes, and hair pulling. When the time limit of five-minute rounds was introduced, the UFC had become acknowledged as a sport rather than an act or spectacle. By 2001, the UFC â€Å"brand† had completely restructured Mixed Martial Arts into a highly systematic and controlled combat sport. With Mixed Martial Arts booming with popularity, training centers and dojos are filling up with new students everyday. Many of the professional fighters have opened gyms where they train the next generation of fighters to become the next champion. Amateur fight nights are organized all the time in order for the more novice fighters to work their way on getting recognized for a chance to go professional. Shows like Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV is an example of up and coming professional fighters training and fighting to win a chance at a professional contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. If not for the next championship title, many people fight for the fun nature of the sport. Combat sports, even now with the rules and regulations, is still and always will be a popular blood sport. The fans are intrigued to see strength and skills prevail in fights. Adrenaline runs through the roaring crowds as they cheer on their best contenders. From the days of the Coliseum to â€Å"the Octagon† at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the quick rise in gym openings and more live-aired Pay-Per-View events, Mixed Martial Arts has become a prominent commonplace in both the martial arts world and the entertainment industry.

Slave Ship Essay Example for Free

Slave Ship Essay Rediker’s concern for the individual lived experiences of the participants in the trade is aided immensely by his command of the history of what life at sea is like. While scholars have been using the narrative of Olaudah Equiano to illuminate the experiences of enslavement for decades (Burnside and Robotham 1997), chapter 8 of The Slave Ship titled â€Å"The Sailor’s Vast Machine† contains a learned and astute description of work and suffering at sea. What sticks out is violence, and the shocking degree to which physical and emotional terror was used as a tool for control and psychosexual masochism. Rediker rightly points out that both captives and crew were being exploited by the captain, officers, and sponsors of slave ship voyages, without going so far as to suggest that the sailors somehow had it worse than the slaves. Far from it; Rediker makes clear the degree to which the nascent concept of â€Å"race† was lived out onboard, and relates truly debauched tales of rape, torture, concubinage, and murder of essentially helpless children. Anthropologically inclined readers will find much of interest in chapter 9 of Rediker’s book, titled â€Å"From Captives to Shipmates. The argument is of course not new; Mintz and Price raised it in the 1970’s as have others. In this chapter Rediker discusses favored anthropology themes such as resistance, revolt, music, dance, and other dimensions of the ethnogenesis of African-American culture. On page 305 he observes Slowly, in ways surviving documents do not allow us to see in detail, the idiom of kinship broadened, from immediate family to messes, to workmates, to friends, to countrymen and –women, to the whole of the lower deck. And in so observing, Rediker has given underwater archaeologists of the slave trade and the slave ship a research agenda. It’s an agenda with which I happen to agree and that I have discussed in greater detail elsewhere (McGhee 2007). Rediker ends his book with a discussion of the fight to end the slave trade and with the moving testimony of cast-off and dying sailors being cared for by enslaved people in Caribbean ports. He writes, â€Å"Theirs was the most generous and inclusive conception of humanity I discovered in the course of my research for this book. † I wonder what conceptions of humanity continue to motivate certain anti-treasure hunting nautical archaeologists. The Henrietta Marie and Fredensborg remain the two most representative archaeological examples of slave ships in existence. The former, first located in the water by Moe Molinar a Panamanian of African descent in the employ of treasure hunter Mel Fisher, is particularly important. Yet it took an African-American recreational SCUBA diving club, the National Association of Black SCUBA Divers, to denote and demonstrate that shipwreck’s importance and to bring its significance to wide attention. Properly trained nautical archaeologists still won’t publicly touch that wreck with a ten-foot pole.

Aim Of Molecular Gastronomy Media Essay

Aim Of Molecular Gastronomy Media Essay The art of cooking is as old as humanity and cooking is such an important part of our world which obviously needs scientific attention. Although science has contributed to food safety, hygiene and nutritional aspects, little has been done towards innovation and invention of new dishes. The ancient Greek words, gastro means stomach and nomos means law, collectively termed as gastronomy, which in contemporary hospitality industry means food and culture. It generally refers to the study of relationship between food and culture with interdisciplinary approaches. This literature attempts to explain molecular gastronomy, its origin and evolution, along with its relevance and contributions to the contemporary hospitality industry. Cooking and gastronomy Even though molecular gastronomy has attracted media attention for quite a while, still there is confusion about the true meaning of the term. To explain this, cooking and gastronomy has to be distinguished first. Cooking is the preparation of raw food into edible, whereas gastronomy is the knowledge of whatever concerns mans nourishment. Gastronomy is about chemical and physical transformation behind the preparation of any food, for example, the reason behind egg white puffs up when whipped or mayonnaise becomes firm. (This, 2006). According to HerveThis, the science of food is not new but dates back to second century BC, when preparation of meat stock-the aqueous solution obtained by thermal processing of animal tissues in water-has been of great interest. Since then, scientists have been interested in food and cooking which gave way to molecular gastronomy. If culinary history is scrutinised, it will be clear that, initially food experts studied the culinary science to steer clear of blind assumptions and unscientific ways of cooking. But today, the science of food has reached its extreme in the form of molecular gastronomy, which chemically examines the food and cooking in its molecular level to give a new face for cooking and change the total concept of commercial cooking in near future. Molecular gastronomy The scientific discipline dedicated to culinary industry and to gastronomical phenomena in general has been called molecular gastronomy the late Nicholas Kurti and HerveThis (This, 2005). Molecular gastronomy can also be defined as a field that attempts to improve the culinary techniques through understanding the composition and chemical transformations occurring in food during the process of cooking (Ankeny, Year Unknown). Gastronomy or molecular gastronomy is the science just like any other science in the world, which studies the cause and effect of anything that happens during cooking including the structural difference in same cooking ingredients of different quality, which have an effect on the final product. If we can answer the question, we can correct a mistake, use this knowledge to improve the cooking process or even invent new dishes or ways to prepare food. For example, if we know that when an egg is cooked, water evaporates, the proteins denature and polymerize to enclos e water, we can even use substitute methods to cook it, like adding alcohol to it, which denature the egg proteins and gives the same result. Molecular gastronomy also deals with the study of human senses and perception of taste, aroma, texture and temperature, in short, the sensory science known as chemesthesis (berham et. al, 2010). It studies the perception of senses in molecular level in order to understand how different dishes are perceived as awful, average, good or delicious, when they are made of similar ingredients. Although chemesthesis of human beings are the same, people of different genre appreciates different types of food. For example westerners cooking style is entirely different from Asians, and while Asians appreciate spicy food, most westerners do not. At a glance, molecular gastronomy can be described as applying the techniques of food scientists to fine dining drying, liquefying, gassing, freezing and generally transforming ingredients into surprising new forms and textures while maintaining the flavours. Early converts include French two-star chef Pierre Gagnaire, who added scallops with liquorice milk to his menu in 1991 (Hill. B, 2009). Aim of molecular gastronomy Being the science of cooking, molecular gastronomy has a few aims in the field of domestic and commercial cooking. It endeavours to remodel and scrutinise existing recipes, introduce new tools, products and methods, invent new dishes from the acquiring knowledge and use the appeal of food to promote food science (This, 2006). Before analysing the aims, a significant question is that, who is actually interested in molecular gastronomy? Is it the chefs who are interested in chemical and physical science of food or scientists who are interested in food and cooking? Answer could go both the ways. Chefs are always interested in innovation in culinary art, which obviously needed scientific help to explain the reasons for transformation that occur in the cooking process. For remodelling a recipe or innovating a new dish they had to understand what actually happens to any food when it undergoes different forms of cooking. For this reason they needed scientific help to explain the reasons behind any cooking process or transformation. But at the same time, scientists are interested in the scientific aspects of food rather than innovation and remodelling recipes. Hence, molecular gastronomy can be said to be teamwork of food science and cooking or in other words, chefs and scientists. However, chefs made use of scie ntific explanation of cooking processes which resulted in innovation in food industry or more apparently molecular gastronomy. But today, with worldwide recognition of molecular gastronomy, it has evolved as a collaboration of chefs, scientists, companies in food industry and culinary schools. In addition, efforts are being made to incorporate the new science into culinary schools to impart knowledge of molecular gastronomy into upcoming industry professionals to provide a new visage to the food and beverage industry. Continuing with the aims of molecular gastronomy, remodelling and scrutinising the existing recipes is one of the primary attempts, initially by educating the professionals about the chances of scientific approach to cooking art. Complex disperse systems formalism (This, 2006) was introduced to describe the microscopic structure of preparations with different phases, to help in this attempt. Consequently, many of the existing recipes has been modernized or modified to correct the mistakes, attain a better product and to better favour the palate of the customer. Educational efforts are equally important to standardise these remodelled recipes to achieve consistency. For this reason, several programmes were introduced in culinary schools internationally. In 2001, the experimental workshop on flavour was created in French schools. Universities in various countries, such as the Netherlands, Denmark and Argentina have set up professorships in this discipline. Since then, Canada and France have introduced new syllabus for culinary schools to include knowledge obtained from molecular gastronomy. In 2005, the Institute for Advanced Studies on Flavour, Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts was created in Reims, France, to promote gastronomy knowledge, including molecular gastronomy. New or remodelled recipes to a great extent involve new cooking techniques which need new systems and tools. So, quite obviously, molecular gastronomy is introducing or giving way to new cooking tools and techniques, taking the art of cooking into another level. In terms of new products, with the help of molecular gastronomy, it is now possible to customise the food to the need of different people with different diet requirements, without restricting the taste and palatability of their meals. For example, now a day, caviar can be artificially made (in fact something looks and tastes like caviar) from fruits and chemicals. Similarly, using the secret of food chemistry, different ingredients can be used to make several dishes which look, smells and tastes like original dishes, which have no ingredients of the original dish. Even though the dishes tastes and feel like original, the ingredients can be different, thus giving us an opportunity to try different dishes with in the diet restr ictions or in other words, altering an unhealthy food into healthy one without altering the original taste of the same. Health programmes that promote a balanced diet cannot succeed if people are unable to make intelligent choices about food. Traditional cooking is not a guarantee either for healthy food or for a rational preparation of food. This is where the scientific programme of molecular gastronomy can be useful. Science is the basis for new technology and innovation and it is not different in gastronomy. The achievements of science in the field of gastronomy have won a definite recognition worldwide. However, for chefs, and hopefully scientists as well, the main aim is to surprise and delight their guests with exciting, tasty and healthy food. Molecular gastronomy in contemporary hospitality industry With the development of tourism industry, the science of domestic and commercial cooking has moved from the hands of a few key players to the dominion of serious scientific venture. In the context of serious competition, every element in the food service industry is striving to adopt innovation and novelty using technology, to which molecular gastronomy has given a new face of distinctiveness. The cooking chemistry or molecular cuisine has helped the modern restaurants to a great extend to enhance cooking speed, service speed and very obviously the food quality along with the ability to keep the food fresh. A few techniques in molecular gastronomy Colloids Colloid is a chemical substance dispersed in molecular level evenly throughout one another. The particles of the dispersed substance are only suspended in the blend, unlike in a solution in which they are totally dissolved. This takes place because the elements in a colloid are larger than in a liquid. The colloidal system is used for making different types of foam, solid gel, emulsion and solid emulsion. Lecithin (Lecite) Lecithin is phospholipids extracted from soybean, partially water-soluble, and an emulsifier that helps fat and water stay together. For that reason, it is often added to chocolate, cheese, margarine, and salad dressing. It has health benefits, such as reducing cholesterol intensity. It is often added to flavoured liquids and then mixed to generate foams that are topped onto dishes to offer added appearance and texture. Maltodextrin powder Maltodextrin is a complex carbohydrate consisting of dextrose (glucose), maltose, maltotriose and higher polysaccharides. Maltodextrin is used in a wide variety of products, extending from bodybuilders, animal trainers (horses and greyhounds) to pharmaceutical manufacturers. Tapioca maltrodextrin is a popular product used to make powdered oil and fat products such as white truffle powder, and olive oil powder. Guar Gum Guar is a white free flowing powder, completely soluble in hot or cold water to form a tasteless, odourless, non-toxic solution. Guar gum powder has five to eight times the coagulating power of starch. It is mainly used as a binding agent, mixtures, thickener, and emulsifier in food products, such as cheese spreads, ice cream and other frozen desserts. Methylcellulose This forms a gel when heated, and melts into liquid when it cools. This is similar to gelatine. This quality can improve a food if it undergoes heating in its preparation and requires stability at cooking temperature (for example: preventing a sauce from thinning out). It is used as a binding agent for foods that need to keep their parts collectively. Products such as pasta, vegetable burgers, onion rings, and potato products are improved by its combining strength. This is due to its cohesive nature at low temperatures and the structural integrity at higher temperatures. Implementation and provision of MG in hospitality industry Molecular gastronomy principles, practices and provisions items have captured the intellect of both the chefs and their customers worldwide. Although initially intended to cater for the high purpose of the gourmet market, molecular gastronomy has been welcomed in assorted areas of the hospitality industry. Useful dining restaurants, cafà ©s and bistros, avail venues, specialist bars, prestigious and mainstream hotels; and all the more establishments that specialise in pastry and desserts are incorporating this style of cuisine to assorted degrees into their operations. As any other fields, molecular gastronomy also attracted much criticism from food writers and chefs around the world. Many established chefs did not accept molecular gastronomy as scientific gastronomic phenomena but labelled it as temporary style of cuisine (Hill, 2009). But in the context of Australian hospitality industry, hampering of successful insertion of molecular gastronomy was a lack of firsthand experience and training, which was recognized both by industry as well as the government. Another barrier facing the Australian industry is the inadequate supply and high prices for specialist food chemicals and equipments to incorporate various techniques of molecular gastronomy. The distribution of these chemicals and equipments are limited to a few suppliers and shops. Even though this is the case, Hill had identified a few restaurants in Victoria such as Fenix, Interlude and Vue de monde that offer limited molecular gastronomic techniques throughout their menus. Competition There is no doubt that hospitality industry is facing increasing competition than ever before. To withstand this pressure of competition, chefs should be able to remain innovative and attract new as well as existing customers by satisfying their demandingly increasing sophisticated expectations. In fact people are always looking for new and unique experiences. As a result of this, in recent years there has been a great emphasis on innovation, creativity and importance of innovation competency. In response, many chefs has accepted the concept of molecular gastronomy and working on it to achieve greater innovative competency and occupational competency. In his model of innovative culinary competency, Lei Hu (2010) has positioned molecular gastronomy among new technologies that helps innovation, where other factors being creativity, culture, aesthetics, product, service and management. This underpins the fact that molecular gastronomy is a scientific gastronomic phenomenon as mentioned earlier in this literature, than a temporary style of cooking. In the age of technology dominating every aspect of human life, molecular gastronomy is the new cooking technique dominating mans nourishment. Culinary tourism Culinary tourism is a relatively new industry came into being in 2003. It can be described as a subset of tourism, where tourists also consider the enjoyment of interesting and traditional or novel and innovative food and drink, while people travel. This subset of tourism promotes every gastronomic experience, with every tourist pursuit for unique and memorable eating and drinking experience. Tourists always tend to consider the local cuisine of destination or at least consider the available cuisines, as dining out is one of the top most tourist activities and nearly 100% of tourists eat out when they travel. This trend gives a huge opportunity to restaurants use molecular gastronomy to innovate and attract their patrons. Molecular gastronomy in many parts of the world has revolutionized restaurant dining experience and at the same time, led to new enjoyment and appreciation of food. A few examples include EI Bulli in Spain and the Fat Duck in the United Kingdom (Barham et. al. 2010) , two restaurants that since adopting a new scientific approach to cooking have become widely regarded as among the best restaurants in the world. This is noticeable evidence of people accepting or influenced by the new cooking science or molecular gastronomy. When we look into the tourists trends, the opportunity for success of molecular gastronomy is apparently huge. 27 million leisure travellers have participated in culinary related travel in the last 3 years in the US, while spending $12 Billion directly on culinary related activities (Schmantowsky, year unknown). The actual market segment includes more affluent people, who are highly motivated to experience unique and memorable dining experience. Studies prove that on an average, one third of total travel budget goes towards food related activities. The top six culinary tourist destinations include California (14%), Florida (10%), New York (7%), Texas (6%), North Carolina (4%) and Georgia (4%) (Schmantowsky, year unknown). Molecular gastronomy could be a catalyst to culinary tourism which has a great potential to increase tourism generated revenue and the strategic partnership of culinary schools, hospitality organisations, chefs and scientists is the key to success of it. SWOT analysis Strengths Demand: From the time restaurants started utilizing molecular gastronomy for developing new dishes, public has widely accepted the uniqueness and newness of the experience. From the chefs point of view, MG is a tool for innovation in the field to attract their customers and stay in business. Without thinking about any downsides of the technique, thus the public as well as the industry has widely accepted molecular gastronomy, while expecting and demanding more from it. This increasing demand has made or will make molecular gastronomy much popular worldwide. Hospitality industrys enthusiasm to change: from the very early time, hospitality industry is changing every now and then, because of changing trends and tastes of customers, increasing competition, technology adoptation, and varying needs of customers. In fact this is the ever dynamic industry when compared to any other industries. This enthusiasm or eagerness of hospitality industry in general provides a great opportunity to make use of molecular gastronomy in its operations and a catalyst for further changes. Thus the science of food has got great support from the hospitality industry. As technology is easily imitated now days, due to globalisation, molecular gastronomy techniques could be easily learned by enthusiast chefs around the world. Supply of raw materials: due to the increasing demand for molecular gastronomy, the demand for the ingredients also has raised especially various thickeners, stabilizers and emulsifiers. Since the success of restaurants like EI Bulli and the fat duck, in 2005-06, this demand has further elevated. The supply of these ingredients is only available in large quantities to the food industry, restricting the use of these chemicals by untrained or unprofessional people, which is on a safer side (lersch, 2007). In Australia Suppliers has positive prospects to add value and expand their product range and services to the industry. Ingredients for molecular gastronomy Weaknesses Molecular gastronomy is still gaining popularity, and the knowledge and experience of it are limited in most parts of the world within the industry and culinary training providers. It will take fair amount of time to spread throughout the industry and will take further long period for standardisation of new recipes. Also there is limited accessibility to special ingredients and equipments such as smoking machine, blow torch and gastro vac which are much needed for cooking techniques, which is a constraint for this field at the moment. Due to the scarcity and limited accessibility, most countries working on molecular gastronomy are relying on imported goods and equipments which resulted in increased costs for the same. As most countries are relying on French and Spanish resources, where molecular gastronomy originated from, there is a limitation in independent research and experiment in the field. This situation is also made worst by the language barriers between these countries. In a ddition, the existing workload in the hospitality industry provides less time to chefs for research and experiment in molecular gastronomy. Also there are limited technical books published in English language making things much more difficult. Opportunities Hill recognizes a few opportunities for molecular gastronomy in the Australian hospitality industry, which is more or less similar to many other countries. Countries with limited access to the resources could gain knowledge and skills from internationally recognised expert chefs and broaden their set of skills by integrating molecular gastronomy into the existing culinary programmes. Apart from this professional networks should be promoted with increasing research and experiments in the field. Acquiring knowledge should be transferred to culinary students and the industry professionals to develop a culture with strong gastronomic foundation. Threats When focusing on threats to molecular gastronomy, the major barriers hindering the growth are once again the increased costs of commodities and equipments due to increased demand and supply issues. Another threat is the changing trends and demand of todays customers which may lead to decreasing popularity and in turn lead to less interest among chefs and decreased need for training in this area. It is contradictory to say that customers has widely accepted and are demanding for molecular gastronomy but at the same time changing customer behaviour can hinder the growth of molecular gastronomy. This is because the popular trend created by new dishes evolved from molecular gastronomy has been widely accepted by the public due to its newness and unique nature. But once it is popular and widely available everywhere, it is not any more new or unique. Moreover, people who have tried the molecular style of cuisine may not go for it every time, but stick back to their favourite recipes, unless molecular gastronomy can create captivating recipes every now and then. However, these reasons are not at all a barrier for the growth of this particular discipline till it gains its popularity around the world. There is another aspect of molecular gastronomy which is not emphasised in any of the studies: that is about the health. Most of the chemicals which are directly harmless to human body often have side effects. So, the intense use of chemicals in the cooking process should be of great concern. For example, most of the allopathic medicines which cures disease, mostly have foreseen negative side effects causing ill health. Just like that extreme use of various chemicals in molecular gastronomy to alter the physical form of foods should be studied in detail before it is commercially popular. More over the technique to change the texture, consistency and taste of food in molecular level could be maltreated in future just like invention of atomic reactions meant for energy are later used to make atom bombs, which is now a threat for human existence. Conclusion Molecular gastronomy is a pathway to innovation in culinary industry for chefs and a wonderful new enjoyment for the customers. Even though this field of science has proved its scientific nature and uniqueness, still there is a second opinion among the chefs in the industry. This may be due to the fact that major role in this respect is limited to the French and Spanish with limited resources available to the rest of the world. Better translation of the resources and international co-operation among the professionals may help to educate everyone working in the industry, thus creating a holistic awareness about this discipline. But at the same time, while molecular gastronomy gives way to unbelievable innovations, there is a need for preserving the old traditional recipes which remain successful without any alterations for years. Molecular gastronomy is a milestone in the culinary industry, taking it into another level, while correcting the old recipes scientifically and inventing new trendy ones. Hospitality being an ever dynamic industry, and with the evolution of culinary tourism, it became essential for entrepreneurs to exhibit innovation and new trends in customer service, which is enhanced by molecular gastronomy to a great extend. Although this is the case, due to limited awareness and popularity among the public, certain areas of molecular gastronomy is still in distrust. Intense use of chemicals to change the physical and chemical properties of food is giving room for scepticism. This calls for a controlling body in each country and globally for close monitoring the work in molecular gastronomy, as there are organisations to control food hygiene and nutrition. This will provide certain norms for experiments and new recipes using the molecular gastronomic technology, before it reaches the public.

Knowledge and Peace :: essays research papers

Knowledge is one of the most important factors in maintaining a peaceful and free society. Knowledge allows a society to plan for the future, while learning from past mistakes. Many great nations have fallen into war and chaos because they did not utilize the wisdom gained from the past. Many societies’ problems were preventable, if people had used the lessons at their disposal and placed emphasis on solving their problems through the use of their intellects, rather than their weapons. A great example of this is the Roman Empire, which allowed many of its problems to grow and fester, before attempting to check them. The Roman Empire was a powerful, seemingly invincible, civilization. Rome thrived in glory for many years, a model civilization admired by all, until it started to fall apart. Many historians argue the factual reasons for Rome’s downfall. Some say it was crime; others say crooked government was the cause. Still others say it was the focus on entertainment and luxuries. All of these problems could have been avoided and peace would have been maintained. Yet, the Romans did not believe that their empire could fall and chose to ignore their problems, believing they would go away on their own. Obviously, that did not happen and, as a result, the Roman Empire fell. In America today we have all of these problems. Are we going to be next to fall? Or, have we gained knowledge and wisdom enough by studying the errors of other nations’ past history to maintain peace in our own time? In Rome, crime made it unsafe to travel, to sell goods, or to go to the market. The Romans ran the risk of being robbed, traveling from place to place. Today, in America, we run the risk of being mugged just going to the store. In some cities it's not safe to go out at night. Stores are always being robbed, vandalized, or destroyed. There is even a murder committed approximately every twenty seconds. Crime is just as much, if not more, of a problem now in America then back during the fall of Rome. We have the knowledge of Rome’s past failures, yet we continue on the same path. If the United States of America does not use Rome’s failure as a guide of what to avoid, the results could be disastrous. Toward the end of Rome, the government was, for the most part, in chaos. Every time the current Emperor died, there was a civil war to decide who would be the next ruler of Rome. The politicians no longer cared about Rome. They became self-centered, and used all their power to better their own lives. Luckily, things in America are not yet that bad.

Alice Walker :: essays research papers

On February 9, 1944, Willie Lee and Minnie Tallulah (Lou) Grant Walker gave birth to their precious daughter Alice Malsenior Walker. Who later became one of the most talented African American women in America through her short stories, poems and novels. Chris Danielle, the author of Living by Grace: The Life and Times of Alice Walker has covered some interesting points on Alice. Chris Danielle may not have any relation to Alice Walker, but has gotten deep enough in her life to give you the readers detailed insight on her struggle to success. Even though Alice has been through so much as a child to a grown woman. Alice still strived to become the best. Chris concentrated on many parts of Alice’s life. From her childhood times, to a young adult, to an aspiring writer, and to a role model for all women in America. I figured Chris gave so much insight on her life because he wanted us to see that anything is possible. To show us that no matter what obstacles try to stand in our way, we can always find our way around them. He referred to Alice as a â€Å"tomboy† when she was a little girl. Alice always wanted to hang around her older brothers and do the things they did. She was really outgoing and had a high level of self-confidence. Even at this young age Alice believed that she was very beautiful. As time went on Chris stated that Alice began to describe herself as self-sufficient and independent because of a sewing machine her mother gave her. She also felt the need to be able to travel the world and experience new things. By the information that was given, becoming one with Alice Walker was not a hard thing to do. She has graced us with many novels and poems that have paved the way for many African Americans. You understand her better as a person through her strives to success. But you understand her better as a writer through her commitment and dedication. Chris explains her life in order from childhood days to becoming the successful person she is today. What captures my attention about Alice is that I admire her struggle to become the best. I say this because she went through her depressing stages and still managed to put a smile on her face. The challenges from abortion, to her divorce, the death of her father and so much more.

Superconductivity Essay -- essays research papers

Superconductivity INTRODUCTION We've all heard about superconductivity. But, do we all know what it is? How it works and what are its uses? To start talking about superconductivity, we must try to understand the how "normal" conductivity works. This will make it much easier to understand how the "super" part functions. In the following paragraphs, I will explain how superconductivity works, some of the current problems and some examples of its uses. CONDUCTIVITY Conductivity is the ability of a substance to carry electricity. Some substances like copper, aluminium, silver and gold do it very well. They are called conductors. Others conduct electricity partially and they are called semi-conductors. The concept of electric transmission is very simple to understand. The wire that conducts the electric current is made of atoms which have equal numbers of protons and electrons making the atoms electrically neutral. If this balance is disturbed by gain or loss of electrons, the atoms will become electrically charged and are called ions. Electrons occupy energy states. Each level requires a certain amount of energy. For an electron to move to a higher level, it will require the right amount of energy. Electrons can move between different levels and between different materials but to do that, they require the right amount of energy and an "empty" slot in the band they enter. The metallic conductors have a lot of these slots and this is where the free electrons will head when voltage (energy) is applied. A simpler way to look at this is to think of atoms aligned in a straight line (wire). if we add an electron to the first atom of the line, that atom would have an excess of electrons so it releases an other electron which will go to the second atom and the process repeats again and again until an electron pops out from the end of the wire. We can then say that conduction of an electrical current is simply electrons moving from one empty slot to another in the atoms' outer shells. The problem with these conductors is the fact that they do not let all the current get through. Whenever an electric current flows, it encounters some resistance, which changes the electrical energy into heat. This is what causes the wires to heat. The conductors become themselves like a resistance but an unwanted one. This explains why only 95% of the power... ...vious afterwards. It's as if the train was "surfing" on waves of voltage. THE MAGSHIP Another interesting application is what is referred to as the magship. This ship has no engine, no propellers and no rudder. It has a unique power source which is electromagnetism. The generator on the boat creates a current which travels from one electrode to another which go underwater on each side of the ship. This makes the water electrically charged. This only works in salt water because pure water would not conduct the current. The magnets which are located on the bottom of the ship would produce a magnetic field which will push the water away making the ship move forward. There are a lot of problems related with that. The magnetic field could attract metallic objects and even other ships causing many accidents. CONCLUSION As time goes by, transition temperature, critical field (maximum magnetic field intensity that a superconductor can support before failing), current capacity and all other problems are improving slowly. But, at least they show that we are moving in the right direction. A lot of people are getting interested in that field since it promises a lot for the future.

Communicable Disease Essay

Communicable diseases, also known as infectious diseases or transmissible diseases, are illnesses that result from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic (capable of causing disease) biologic agents in an individual human or other animal host. Infections may range in severity from asymptomatic (without symptoms) to severe and fatal. The term infection does not have the same meaning as infectious disease because some infections do not cause illness in a host. Disease causing biologic agents include viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multi-cellular parasites, and aberrant proteins known as prions. Transmission of these biologic agents can occur in a variety of ways, including direct physical contact with an infectious person, consuming contaminated foods or beverages, contact with contaminated body fluids, contact with contaminated inanimate objects, airborne (inhalation), or being bitten by an infected insect or tick. Some disease agents can be transmitted from animals to h umans, and some of these agents can be transmitted in more than one way. Non-Communicable Disease: A non-communicable disease, or NCD, is a medical condition or disease, which by definition is non-infectious and non-transmissible among people. Tuberculosis: Signs and Symptoms: A bad cough that lasts 3 weeks or longer. Pain in the chest. Coughing up blood or sputum (phlegm from deep inside the lungs) Weakness or fatigue. Weight loss. No appetite. Chills. Fever. Causes: Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that spread from person to person through microscopic droplets released into the air. This can happen when someone  with the untreated, active form of tuberculosis coughs, speaks, sneezes, spits, laughs or sings. Although tuberculosis is contagious, it’s not easy to catch. You’re much more likely to get tuberculosis from someone you live with or work with than from a stranger. Most people with active TB who’ve had appropriate drug treatment for at least two weeks are no longer contagious. Prevention: If you test positive for latent TB infection, your doctor may advise you to take medications to reduce your risk of developing active tuberculosis. The only type of tuberculosis that is contagious is the active variety, when it affects the lungs. So if you can prevent your latent tuberculosis from becoming active, you won’t transmit tuberculosis to anyone else. Measles Signs and Symptoms: A high temperature, sore eyes (conjunctivitis), and a runny nose usually occur first. Small white spots usually develop inside the mouth a day or so later. †¦ A harsh dry cough is usual. Going off food, tiredness, and aches and pains are usual. Causes: Measles is caused by a virus. It is spread when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or shares food or drinks. The measles virus can travel through the air. This means that you can get measles if you are near someone who has the virus even if that person doesn’t cough or sneeze directly on you Prevention: Measles vaccination has markedly reduced the incidence of measles throughout the developed world. However, measles cases still occur in low-incidence countries via importation by travelers. Therefore, maintenance of immunity is important even in countries with a low incidence of measles, since a single imported case can result in large measles outbreaks in the setting of waning immunity. Chicken Pox Signs and Symptoms: Fever (temperature), aches and headache often start a day or so before a rash appears. Rash. Spots appear in crops. They develop into small blisters and are itchy. They can be anywhere on the body. Several crops may develop over several days. †¦ Dry cough and sore throat are common. Causes: Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus. You catch it by coming into contact with someone who is infected with the virus. It’s a very contagious infection. About 90% of people who have not previously had chickenpox will become infected when they come into contact with the virus. Prevention: The chickenpox (varicella) vaccine is the best way to prevent chickenpox. Typhoid Fever Signs and Symptoms: fever that can reach as high as 104 °F (40 °C) feeling achy, tired, or weak. constipation. diarrhea. headache. stomach pain and loss of appetite. sore throat. Causes: Typhoid fever is an acute illness associated with fever caused by the Salmonella typhi bacteria. It can also be caused by Salmonella paratyphi, a related bacterium that usually causes a less severe illness. The bacteria are deposited in water or food by a human carrier and are then spread to other people in the area. Prevention: Preventing typhoid fever is to get vaccinated against the illness. Two  vaccines are available: a shot that contains killed Salmonella typhi bacteria and a vaccine taken by mouth containing a live but weakened strain of the bacteria. Avoiding risky foods and beverages (especially when traveling in the developing world) is another way to reduce your risk. MUMPS Signs and Symptoms: Fever. Headache. Muscle aches. Tiredness. Loss of appetite. Swollen and tender salivary glands under the ears on one or both sides (parotitis) Causes: The mumps are caused by a virus called the paramyxovirus. It’s spread from one child to another through direct contact with discharge from the nose and throat. Infected droplets in the air from a sneeze or close conversation can be inhaled and may cause infection. Prevention: Use of mumps vaccine (usually administered in measles-mumps-rubella [MMR] or measles-mumps-rubella-varicella [MMRV] vaccines) is the best way to prevent mumps. Children should be given the first dose of mumpsvaccine soon after their first birthday (12 to 15 months of age). Hepatitis Signs and Symptoms: fatigue. flu-like symptoms. dark urine. pale-colored stool. abdominal pain. loss of appetite. unexplained weight loss. yellow skin and eyes (may be signs of jaundice) Causes: Hepatitis can be caused by liver damage from excessive alcohol consumption. This is sometimes referred to as â€Å"alcoholic hepatitis.† The alcohol causes the liver to swell and become inflamed. Other toxic causesinclude overuse of medication or exposure to poisons. Autoimmune Disease. Prevention: The hepatitis A vaccine can prevent infection with the virus. The hepatitis A vaccine is typically given in two doses — initial vaccination followed by a booster shot six months later. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the following individuals receive a hepatitis A vaccine Malaria Signs and Symptoms: Fever. Chills. Headache. Sweats. Fatigue. Nausea and vomiting. Causes: Malaria is caused by the plasmodium parasite. The parasite can be spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Prevention: Malaria can often be avoided using the ABCD approach to prevention which stands for: Awareness of risk – find out whether you are at risk of getting malaria. Bite prevention – avoid mosquito bites by using insect repellent, covering your arms and legs and using a mosquito net. Check whether you need to take malaria prevention tablets – if you do, make sure you take the right antimalarial tablets at the right dose, and finish the course. Diagnosis  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ seek immediate medical advice if you have malaria symptoms, including up to a year after you return from travelling. Whooping Cough Signs and Symptoms: runny nose. sneezing. mild cough. low-grade fever. Causes: Whooping cough is caused by an infection with a bacterium known as Bordetella pertussis. The bacteria attach to the lining of the airways in the upper respiratory system and release toxins that lead to inflammation and swelling. Prevention: Preventing whooping cough. In the UK, whooping cough is now rare due to successful vaccination against it. The 5-in-1 vaccine. The whoopingcough vaccine is given as part of the 5-in-1 vaccine (DTaP/IPV/Hib), which also protects against diphtheria, tetanus, polio and Hib (haemophilus influenzae type b). Dysentery Signs and Symptoms: nausea. vomiting. abdominal pain. fever and chills. Causes: Bacterial infections are by far the most common causes of dysentery. These infections include Shigella,Campylobacter, E. coli, and Salmonella species of bacteria. Prevention: Washing one’s hands after using the toilet, after contact with an infected person, and regularly throughout the day; Washing one’s hands before handling, cooking and eating food, handling babies, and feeding young or elderly people; Keeping contact with someone known to have dysentery to a minimum Tetanus Signs and Symptoms: Headache. Jaw cramping. Sudden, involuntary muscle tightening – often in the stomach (muscle spasms) Painful muscle stiffness all over the body. Trouble swallowing. Jerking or staring (seizures) Fever and sweating. High blood pressure and fast heart rate. Causes: Tetanus is a condition caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium tetani, a cousin of the bacteria that cause gangrene and botulism. Prevention: You can easily prevent tetanus by being immunized against the toxin. Almost all cases of tetanus occur in people who’ve never been immunized or who haven’t had a tetanus booster shot within the preceding 10 years. Flu Signs and Symptoms: A 100oF or higher fever or feeling feverish (not everyone with the flu has a fever) A cough and/or sore throat. A runny or stuffy nose. Headaches and/or body aches. Chills. Fatigue. Causes: The flu is actually very different from a cold. While more than 100 different viruses can cause a cold, only influenza virus types A, B, and C cause theflu. Type A and B viruses are responsible for the large flu epidemics. Type C flu virus is more stable and usually causes milder respiratory symptoms. Prevention: If you are healthy but exposed to a person with the flu, antiviral drugs can prevent you from getting sick. The sooner you are treated with an antiviral, the more likely it will prevent the flu. Antiviral drugs are 70% to 90% effective at preventing the flu. Intestinal Parasite Signs and Symptoms: Abdominal pain. Diarrhea. Nausea or vomiting. Gas or bloating. Dysentery (loose stools containing blood and mucus) Rash or itching around the rectum or vulva. Stomach pain or tenderness. Causes: Intestinal parasites are usually transmitted when someone comes in contact with infected feces (for example, through contaminated soil, food, or water). In the U.S., the most common protozoa are giardia and cryptosporidium. Parasites can live within the intestines for years without causing any symptoms. Common Cold Signs and Symptoms: Sore throat. Mucus buildup in your nose. Difficulty breathing through your nose. Swelling of your sinuses. Sneezing. Cough. Headache. Tiredness. Causes: The common cold is a self-limited contagious illness that can be caused by a number of different types of viruses. The common cold is medically referred to as a viral upper respiratory tract infection. Symptoms of thecommon cold may include cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, runny nose, and sneezing. Prevention: No vaccine has been developed for the common cold, which can be caused by many different viruses. But you can take some common-sense precautions to slow the spread of cold viruses Pneumonia Signs and Symptoms: Nausea/vomiting Rapid breathing. Rapid heartbeat. Shaking chills Causes: Bacteria-like organisms, such as Mycoplasma pneumoniae, which typically produce milder signs and symptoms than do other types of pneumonia. Bacteria, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae. Prevention: Get a flu shot every year to prevent seasonal influenza. The flu is a common cause of pneumonia, so preventing the flu is a good way to prevent pneumonia! Get vaccinated against pneumococcal pneumonia if you are at high  risk of getting this type of pneumonia. Hypertension Signs and Symptoms: Causes: A stroke is an interruption of the blood supply to any part of the brain because a blood vessel is blocked by a clot or burst open. A stroke is sometimes called a â€Å"brain attack.† Prevention: A heart-healthy lifestyle can help you prevent high blood pressure. These changes are especially important for people who have risk factors for high blood pressure that cannot be changed, including family history, race, or age. Anemia Signs and Symptoms: Fatigue. Pale skin. A fast or irregular heartbeat. Shortness of breath. Chest pain. Dizziness. Cognitive problems. Cold hands and feet. Causes: Iron deficiency anemia. Iron deficiency anemia is caused by a shortage of the element iron in your body. †¦ Vitamin deficiency anemias. †¦ Anemia of chronic disease. †¦ Aplastic anemia. †¦ Anemias associated with bone marrow disease. †¦ Hemolytic anemias. †¦ Sickle cell anemia. Prevention: Many types of anemia can’t be prevented. However, you can help avoid iron deficiency anemia and vitamin deficiency anemias by choosing a diet that includes a variety of vitamins and nutrients Asthma Signs and Symptoms: Frequent cough, especially at night. Losing your breath easily or shortness of breath. Feeling very tired or weak when exercising. Wheezing or coughing after exercise. Feeling tired, easily upset, grouchy, or moody. Decreases or changes in lung function as measured on a peak flow meter. Causes: Asthma triggers are different from person to person and can include: Airborne allergens, such as pollen, animal dander, mold, cockroaches and dust mites. Respiratory infections, such as the common cold. Physical activity (exercise-induced asthma) Cold air. Air pollutants and irritants, such as smoke. Prevention: You need to know how to prevent or minimize future asthma attacks. If your asthma attacks are triggered by an allergic reaction, avoid your triggers as much as possible. Keep taking your asthma medications after you are discharged. This is extremely important. Migraine Signs and Symptoms: a headache that lasts anything from four up to 72 hours. pulsating or throbbing pain, often just on one side of your head. a headache that gets worse when you’re active or stops you from being active. feeling sick or vomiting. increased sensitivity to light and noise. Causes: Hormonal changes in women. Fluctuations in estrogen seem to trigger headaches in many women with known migraines. †¦ Foods. Aged cheeses, salty foods and processed foods may trigger migraines. †¦ Food additives. †¦ Drinks. †¦ Stress. †¦ Sensory stimuli. †¦ Changes in wake-sleep pattern. †¦ Physical factors. Prevention: Not all migraine headaches can be prevented. However, identifying your headache triggers can help to reduce the frequency and severity of migraine attacks. Cardiovascular Signs and Symptoms: Chest pain (angina) Shortness of breath. Pain, numbness, weakness or coldness in your legs or arms, if the blood vessels in those parts of your body are narrowed. Causes: Atherosclerosis is also the most common cause of cardiovasculardisease, and it’s often caused by an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, being overweight and smoking. All of these are major risk factors for developing atherosclerosis and, in turn, cardiovascular disease.

Format: Typeface and Science Investigatory Project Essay

Title The title should be able to catch the attention of the reader. It should be concise, descriptive, and self-explanatory. It should indicate clearly what the project is about. The phrase â€Å" A Study to Show†¦Ã¢â‚¬  should be avoided, because in research you do not seek to prove something but rather to impartially find an answer. Background of the Study This presents the reasons that led the investigator to launch the study. A historical background may be given. Or the background of the study may state some observations and other relevant conditions that prompted the investigator to explore them. Some questions to guide you while writing this part of the paper are the following: 1. Why did I select this research project? 2. Are there others who have done similar studies? 3. What have the others done or not done that moved or spurred me to work on this problem? 4. What are my own observations which are relevant to the study? 5. Will the results of the study make any contribution in the attainment of a better quality of life? A. Statement of the Problem This must state what you aimed to accomplish. Whether the problem is stated in the form of a question or a declarative statement, always use brief, precise and accurate statements. The objective should be stated positively and in the declarative form. Define the general objective or main problem and the specific objective(s) or sub-problem(s) you are trying to answer or resolve. State these such that they are definitely and clearly related to the data obtained. B. Significance of the Project State why the study or project is worth making and how it can contribute to you as an individual, to your community and to your country. C. Feasibilty of Research: 1. How much time will the project take? 2. Do you have access to participants, sources, instruments, etc. 3. What are the budgetary considerations? 4. What is the extent of your knowledge and experience in the area?

Cult of Domesticity Essay

Women faced many restrictions during the 1800’s based solely on their gender. The Cult of Domesticity served as a basic guide that explained the appropriate ways women of this time period were expected to act. It essentially laid out four proper characteristics women had to portray: piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness. Many authors captured the difficulties in a woman’s life with having to deal with such strict expectations in their writing. These included Emily Dickinson with her poems â€Å"I felt a funeral in my brain†, â€Å"This is my letter to the World†, and â€Å"These are the days when the Birds come back†, Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†. These pieces of literature proved women’s struggle to live with the pressures of the Cult of Domesticity, and society itself. Emily Dickinson herself was a very odd, secluded woman and that expressed her thoughts through her poems. In â€Å"I felt a funeral in my brain†, Dickinson writes â€Å"And I and silence some strange race/ wrecked, solitary, here† (15-16). This is a prime example of the solidarity that held her captive and caused her descent into madness. Her poem is a cry out for help, but being the submissive woman she was supposed to be, she hid away her feelings while still acting weak and inferior. Another example of submissiveness can be taken from her poem â€Å"This is my letter to the World†. It starts off â€Å"This is my letter to the world/ That never wrote to Me† (Dickinson 1-2). She is again crying out against the unfairness that the â€Å"world† never wrote to her, or acknowledged her because of her sex. As a woman she was constantly in the shadow of a man and therefore did not matter. From â€Å"These are the days when the Birds come back†, Dickinson wrote â€Å"Thy consecrated bread to take/ and thine immortal wine! † (17-18). Her allusion to the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist enforces piety. Women needed to always act as the â€Å"handmaidens of God†, to repent for the sins of Eve in the Old Testament. Religion was a big enforcer of a woman’s quiet way of life and acted as something to occupy their time at home with. Emily Dickinson’s struggle with society’s expectations is greatly shown through her poetry. Dickinson’s many poems were great in number, but creates only one part of the perspective from a woman about the Cult of Domesticity. In Kate Chopin’s â€Å"Story of an Hour†, young Mrs. Brently Mallard discovers the news of her husband’s death. Once the shock and grief wear off, she comes to an important realization. â€Å"’Free! Body and soul free! ’†(Chopin 2). Louise finally is free, without her husband’s name bearing down on her and out of the clutches of domesticity. She no longer needs to act like the perfect wife at home, constantly taking care of the house and looking after her husband’s every need. She can live for herself like she always wanted. â€Å"There would be no powerful will bending hers† (Chopin 2), and she would no longer be the victim of submissiveness. Her husband no longer had the superior power, which all men were granted at the time of birth, to control and dictate her every move to the point where she was just like a small child that needed guidance and direction. But, in the end her joy is all for naught. Brently is not dead. And Mrs. Mallard, when receiving the news of his return, â€Å"die[s] of heart disease† (Chopin 2). The thought of being pushed into that submissive state of being that she had just escaped from ultimately caused her premature death. Chopin’s character Louise was a lot like the narrator of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† in regards to their relationship with overpowering husbands. â€Å"John laughs at me of course, but one expects that in a marriage† (Gilman 1). The narrator acts with submissiveness as she accepts that she is inferior to her husband, he is always right, and she is just the silly woman. She feels she must take his lead and constantly follow because that is how society wants her to feel. Her opinion does not matter at all, and she even states outright â€Å"I don’t like our room a bit† (Gilman 2). She detests the room, with its ugly, yellow wallpaper and barred windows, but since her husband says it is the best place for her she just, once again, accepts it and does not say another word on the subject. The room she would like to sleep in was prettier and airier. But John said that â€Å"there was only one window and not room for two beds† (Gilman 2). This not only reinforces her submissiveness, but also her purity as a woman. The narrator, though married and a mother, sleeps in a different bed from her husband. This is not to keep her â€Å"gift† safe anymore, but to keep from tempting him and to guarantee the rest she needs to recover from her anxiety. Emily Dickinson, Kate Chopin, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman were all talented writers and advocates in their own ways for the struggles of women with the Cult of Domesticity in the 1800’s. Each accomplished a way to present a light into the minds of the women who were being suffocated by the men’s superiority. Emily Dickinson created poems full of solemn and even remorseful moods that mirrored depression and repression that women felt because of society’s expectations. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman created characters that not only used the same suffocating repression, but empowered their women by taking the men out of the equation. Only then were their characters given a chance; Louise without Brently and a small taste of freedom, and the narrator’s ability to finally â€Å"creep† along the room in peace when John faints. The Cult of Domesticity was a cause for women’s repression but also their strength and growing stand to the unfairness of the treatment they were being dealt for so long.

What Social Factors Affect Students’ Use of Online Registration: An Exploratory Study

What Social Factors Affect Students' Use of Online Registration: An Exploratory StudyXiaobing Cao, Ph.D., Institutional Researcher Robert Brodnick, Ph.D., Director and Assistant Professor Planning and Research University of the Pacific Association for Institutional Research 42nd Annual Forum June, 2002 (Toronto, Canada)Track 3: Institutional Management and PlanningAbstractWhat Social Factors Affect Students' Use of Online Registration: An Exploratory StudyThis study investigated how social factors affect college students' use of the online registration service that was recently offered in a private university in Northern California. During the first year, about 31% of the students who pre-registered their courses used the service. The results indicated that academic and demographic factors affected students' use of the online service. For example, students from certain disciplines (e.g. Pharmacy and International Studies) and high income families were more likely to use the online se rvice. It is interesting to notice that the results did not show a significant impact of gender on the use of online registration. Implications are presented for institutions considering alternative registration methods or the implementation of technological solutions to administrative processes.What Social Factors Affect Students' Use of Online Registration: An Exploratory StudyThe current study focuses on how social factors affect students' use of online registration. The online service was first offered at the university in spring 2001. Using online registration can be viewed as new technology adaptation. However, updated literature in students' new technology adoption is rare. It is worthwhile to investigate how social factors affect college students in adapting the new technology. There are two objectives for this study: reviewing relevant literature of the online registration and examining the impacts of social factors on use of the online service. Review of LiteratureAccordin g to the literature, online registration1 can be divided into three stages of development. The first stage is the 1970s. This is a â€Å"developing stage† in which some universities led higher education institutions to experience initial new technology application in administration (Michael, 1976; Chapman & Gambrell, 1976; Brown, 1979; Hengehold & Keim, 1975; Adams, 1974). During this stage, online registration underwent a period of experiments and testing. Online registration was beginning to be recognized for its operation in assisting university administration.The second stage refers to the decade of the 1980s. During these years, online registration was widely used by universities across the country. New features in the registration process were added and more experience was summarized (Heard, 1987; Cook & Parker, 1983; Arnett & Posey, 1986; Lonabocker & Long, 1983; Lisker, 1987). This period can be viewed as the â€Å"stabilized stage.† Cook & Parker (1983) conduc ted a survey of online registration practices among 66 colleges and universities. They found that online registration had improved academic advising.Online registration in the literature review refers to various methods through which a registration can be completed, such as, mainframe computer,  telephone, and web.New technology application had saved time for students, faculty and staff members (1987). Online registration has been clearly confirmed as â€Å"a successful approach† (Lonabocker & Long, 1983; Arnett & Posey, 1986).The third stage includes the 1990s and beyond. This period can be viewed as the â€Å"enhancement stage.† There have been new ways of exploring online registration such as using web service (Swein, 1997), integration of internet technology into all phases of the education process (Thomas, Carswell & Price, 1998), and getting specific groups of students involved in online registration (Kelly, 1998). Thomas et al. pointed out that the integrative approach has been effective in university administration. The third stage indicates that online registration has been well developed, looking for new ways to enhance the new technology environment through new technology convergence.Theoretical Framework & Research QuestionsSocial cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) helps explain how human behaviors are affected by both social factors (e.g. family income) and personal factors (e.g. selfconcepts). The theory suggests that different social characteristics of students affect how they adapt themselves into the new technology environment. Based on social cognitive theory, the current study is investigating how social variables affect students' use of online registration. The following are the research questions. 1. To what extent do student academic variables impact the use of online registration? 2. To what extent do student demographic variables impact the use of online registration?  3. What are the effects of the academic and demograp hic variables on the use of online registration? MethodologyThe data were extracted from the university student information system. The  dependent variable was the registration method (online vs. walk-in). The independent variables were in two parts: academic variables and demographic variables. TheSocial Factors and Online Registration 5 University of the Pacificacademic variables included Major, Class, Grade, and Degree Level. The â€Å"major† was measured by the college or school a student majored in. The â€Å"class† described the students' class level including freshmen, sophomore, junior, senior, and graduate. The â€Å"degree level† was measured by two categories: graduate level and undergraduate level. The â€Å"grade† was measured by the students’ cumulative GPA. The demographic variables included Gender, Age, Ethnicity, and Family Income. The â€Å"family income† was a two-category variable including families with income =$90,000 . The data source was the adjusted gross income reported from FAFSA.ResultsTo answer research question one, â€Å"To what extent do student academic variables impact the use of online registration?†, a descriptive analysis was conducted. The results showed that the students who used the online registration were more likely those who majored in pharmacy (39%) and international studies (37%). The students who did not use the online registration were more likely those who majored in music (13%). The Chi-square test shows that the relationship between the registration method and major was significant, χ2 (6, n=3024)= 43.8, p