Beauty

What is Beauty? Everyone looks at beauty differently and everyone has his or her own definition of it. In today’s society beauty is seen as a person’s psychical appearance, what clothes they wear, their hair and make-up, and even the shape of their body. The World English Dictionary’s first definition states beauty as â€Å"the combination of all qualities of a person or thing that delights the senses and pleases the mind. †(â€Å"Beauty† N. pag. ) I agree with this definition because I believe beauty goes deeper than the appearance of a person that it is the combination of all a person’s qualities.Too many people do not see beauty for what it really is but only see it as a psychical quality. Beauty is more than skin deep; beauty is kindness, gratefulness, courage, unselfish love, and happiness. A person’s beauty is not something that should be measured on how they appear physically, but is something that should be measured on their ki ndness. People’s kindness can show them for who they really are showing their true beauty. To be kind is to be generous and caring of others. It is being able to help others when they need it, to be respectful of everyone, and to show fairness no matter what.Kindness is beauty because kindness is a person showing respect for the feelings of another individual. It is to be aware of their actions and how their actions are affecting others. They treat others the way they hope to be treated. Ninon de L'Enclos said â€Å"That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful† (N. pag). I believe this is how people should describe and see beauty today because beauty should be seen not how people see each other, but as how people treat one other.Beauty is not the type or style of clothes a person wears, but beauty is being grateful. It is people being thankful and appreciative. For their family and friends, for the stuff their pare nts provide for them. Gratefulness is beauty because people who are grateful acknowledge what they have been given in life and are not greedy for more but are happy for what they have. people who are grateful have beauty because they are not unappreciative or ungrateful but they say thank you when they receive a gift or service no matter how little or small it was. This is beauty because eople should look at beauty as the actions of others whether they are appreciative or selfish. Beauty is not dependent on the shape of a person’s body, but it is the unselfish love they have and share to others. People who are able to love everyone in their life without judging or mistreating others have beauty. Unselfish love is being able to love people for who they are and not strive to change them but to accept them for everything they are. Unselfish love is being able to put someone else’s needs first, and to care for others no matter who they are.This is beauty because people sho uld see beauty should be seen on the love that people have on one other. It can be a difficult task to have unselfish love and not many people today can say they are able to go without judging others or being hurtful. Beauty is having courage. Beauty is people having the courage to stand up for what they believe in no matter what other say or do. It is people being able to look past what others want them to do or think and to do what is right for themselves and others.It is being able to go for their goals no matter how frightening the journey looks. Courage is beauty because people with courage are able to stand up for themselves, to go for their dreams, and to do the right thing no matter what. People should see this as beauty because courage is nothing small it takes a strong person to have courage in life. Beauty is how a person’s hair and makeup looks, but it is a person’s happiness. people with happiness are able to show joy and satisfaction in their lives. They are over all happy not only with themselves but also with life.Happiness is beauty because to be happy is to have the feeling of delightfulness and contentment. When people have happiness that does not mean that they will never get sad or down occasionally, but it means that they will be able to push past the down times in their life and remember that tomorrow is always a new day. A person with happiness will remember to keep their head up because they know things will get better. Everyone has his or her own definitions of beauty. Some people see beauty as the appearance of a person.They think that beauty is defined as the type or style of clothes they have, or how their hair and makeup look, and some even define beauty as the shape of a person’s body. However, some people are more like me and define beauty by what is on the inside. Some believe beauty comes from a person’s personality or their characteristics. As Kevyn Aucoin says, â€Å"beauty has a lot to do with c haracter. † (N. pag. ). I agree with Kevyn Aucoin, I do not think that beauty should be looked at as the physical appearance of a person. I believe beauty is a person’s kindness, gratefulness, courage, unselfish love, and their happiness.

Psychological negative effects of MRSA

Erasures was treatable with penicillin until the sass's, in 1959 when more the 90-95% of all strains became resistant it was treated with nonmetallic, a stronger form of antibiotic that was used to treat gram positive bacteria. This In turn because resistant to all strains of the bacterium. Nonmetallic is no longer used today but the term for MRS. is still used. Colonization: The organism Is superficially carried on the skin, in the nose, etc. People are not sick and do not require antibiotics.Infection: A person has a clinical Infection with the organism e. G. Wound Infection, skepticism, urinary Infection etc. Infected persons usually require systemic antibiotics. MRS. is transmitted through skin to skin contact and is carried by 2% of the human population. MRS. rate is very high in New Zealand. There are two types of MRS., HA- MRS. hospital or health care acquired and CA-MRS. community acquired. The most common means of transmission is in a health care environment as patients hav e lower immune systems and are weak.MRS. in hospitals and other care settings is easily spread as hygiene practices are not up to scratch from patient/ nurse contact and hygiene with surgical wounds and other intensive devices such as catheters and feeding tubes. Community acquired MRS. can be found in healthy patients that have not been hospitalized. Many patients of MRS. do not understand their infection and its ways of transmission; this can lead to feelings of astigmatism and fear. MRS. itself cannot have any direct psychological impact on patients with MRS. but is in fact other people's attitudes and the patient's perception of scrutiny.Research has hon. that contact with infected hospital patients on average drops by 22% when a person id diagnosed with MRS.. Isolation techniques in infection control are no longer used as they can cause psychosocial effects for patients and their families and Interfere with the home-like atmosphere that a nurse is trying to establish. For these reasons, a system called Body Substance Precautions (BSP) was developed. It focuses on keeping all moist body substances, (blood, feces, urine, wound drainage, tissues, oral secretions, and other body fluids) from the hands of personnel.This Is accomplished through hand washing and Increased glove use Shown Ms Fairly retirement village where my patient resides has a policy for MRS. and Infection control from the Missouri department of health and senior services section for living term care and the advisory committee on Infection prevention and control. Their infection control guidelines for long term care facilities have an emphasis on body substance precautions. BSP provides a consistent approach to managing body substances from ALL residents and is essential in preventing transmission of potentially infectious agents. Specific situation for the overall reasonable exposure risk associated with the task. Risk factors that should be included in the evaluation include: Type of body f luid with which there is or will be contact. Volume of blood/body substances likely to be encountered Reasonable anticipation of exposure; e. G. , â€Å"will my hands touch the resident's secretions? † Probable route of exposure; I. E. , hand contact, airborne, droplet, splashing Microbe concentration in fluid or tissue. Some safety precautions include: Gloves,Handwriting ,Face and Eye Protection ,Apron or Gown Sharps Handling and Disposal ,Employee Health ,Handling Laboratory Specimens, Soiled Linen ,Disposal of Regulated Waste From Resident's Rooms, Environmental Cleaning, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPRM) , Resident Placement, Activity Restriction and the Use of Private Rooms for Infection Prevention and Control , Physician's Role in Implementing the Body Substance Precautions System, Role of Nurses and Other Health Care Workers in Implementing the Body, Substance Precautions System, Precautions for Residents With Airborne Diseases.

Research Paper and Argument Topics

1 The University Writing Center â€Å"Because writers need readers† Research Paper and Argument Topics Race and Ethnicity Gender and Sexuality Multiculturalism and Diversity Advertising and Marketing Economic Issues Environmental Issues Media Issues Consumerism and Convenience Culture TV and Film Sports and Entertainment Race and Ethnicity †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Should racial profiling be a legitimate law enforcement policy in some areas? Should Affirmative Action for state university enrollment be continued?Should the primary method of public school funding (property taxes in individual school districts) be amended to create more fairness in schools? If a university offers â€Å"African-American Studies† or â€Å"Black Studies† as courses, should it also offer â€Å"European-American Studies† or â€Å"White Studies†? How do certain television programs perpetuate racial or ethnic stere otypes? Should schools only purchase textbooks that offer revised or alternative perspectives on historical events? What should be done about racial disparities in the sentencing of criminals? Should the American government pay reparations and return land to Native Americans?Should hate groups have the right to distribute literature on university campuses? If research shows that certain racial or ethnic groups receive poorer medical care on average, how should this problem be corrected? Should government organizations have staff that accurately reflect the racial, ethnic, and gender balance in society? Criminal Justice Religion The Political Process Education National/International Policies UCF Issues Civil Liberties Counter-Culture Issues Youth Issues Local Area Issues Gender and Sexuality †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ What should be done to eliminate salary disparities between men and women?What should be done to create equity in executive positio ns for women in particular corporations and industries? Should women be allowed in military combat? To what extent? Is healthcare for women underfunded? In what ways? Should insurance companies that cover the cost of Viagra prescriptions also be required to cover birth control and regular examinations for women? Are homosexual characters and topics appropriate for primetime television? In what ways does gender play a role in student success and teacher attention in the classroom? Should the Equal Rights Amendment be revived and made part of the Constitution? UWC at UCF (407) 823-2197 ttp://uwc. cah. ucf. edu W:UWC ArchiveUWC BackupUWCHANDOUTSPublic HandoutsLit Not on Lit RacksResearch Paper and Argument Topics NEW. docx Jun-14 2 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Should the Family and Medical Leave Act be extended beyond 12 weeks? Should prostitution be legalized? Under what conditions? How does pornography differ from prostitution? Is it contradictory that one should be legal while the other is not? Should homosexual marriage be permitted in Florida? Should homosexual couples in Florida be legally allowed to adopt? Multiculturalism and Diversity †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Should English be made the official language of the United States?Should ESL students be taught content courses in their native language? Should high school history classes and social studies curricula be changed to reflect diversity and multicultural perspectives? Should Columbus Day be discontinued in favor of a new post-colonial perspective? Should Christmas, Easter, and other religious observances be considered national holidays? Should the United States have a more stringent or more relaxed immigration policy? Advertising and Marketing †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ How do certain kinds of advertising perpetuate gender, racial, or religious stereotypes?How do certain kinds of advertising make claims of patriotic values? How do mass marketing and manufacturing affect originality and creativity in the arts and other fields? Does the American consumerist society conflict with democratic values? In what ways? How does advertising treat convenience as necessity? Are certain kinds of advertising unethical? Should product placement in television, film, and other media be controlled? Should product advertising and selling be permitted in public schools? Should communities retain the naming rights to baseball parks and football stadiums, or should businesses be allowed to purchase these rights?Does the modeling industry bear any responsibility to provide healthy, realistic physical role models for young women? Is the use of sexual imagery in ad campaigns unethical? Should tobacco and liquor advertising be allowed on television? Should all billboard advertising of alcohol be banned? Should tobacco and alcohol companies be allowed to use ad campaigns that could be considered child-friendly? Why are alcohol companies now allowed to advertise on television under certain conditions (after primetime, with responsible drinking messages in some ads, etc. )? Economic Issues †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Should the local sales tax be increased/decreased?Should â€Å"sin taxes† on alcohol and tobacco be increased to help pay for the increasing costs of medical care? Should Florida increase the use of toll roads to pay for local road improvements? Do local power and utility companies operate as monopolies? Should purchases made over the Internet be taxable? Should the government provide financial assistance to people whose retirement funds were invested in the stock of companies that may have used unethical accounting practices (i. e. , Enron, Arthur Andersen, etc. )? UWC at UCF (407) 823-2197 http://uwc. cah. ucf. eduW:UWC ArchiveUWC BackupUWCHANDOUTSPublic HandoutsLit Not on Lit RacksResearch Paper and Argument Topics NEW. docx Jun-14 3 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Argue for or against the earning potential vs. risk of investing in a certain kind of stock. Argue for or against a controversial trade tariff or tax. Many stock analysts describe the nature of today's stock market as completely different from the stock market of twenty or thirty years ago. Argue for or against this assertion. Does America have a responsibility to assist its industries financially and politically if other countries' industries receive similar assistance from their own governments?Argue for or against Federal Reserve strategies that attempt to keep inflation low. Large corporations such as Walmart and Barnes & Noble have been criticized for driving mom-and-pop shops out of business. Is this a valid criticism when considering the nature of supply and demand? A few years ago, the U. S. Mint issued a new form of dollar coin. Argue for or against the continued use of this new currency. Should the United Kingdom join other E. U. countries in converting its currency to Euros?Environmental Issues †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Should national environmental policy focus on developing more oil resources or developing renewable energy sources? Should our national energy policy focus on building more nuclear power plants? How does overseas oil dependency influence our economy and/or international policies? Should genetically engineered food be labeled differently? How do city zoning laws and ordinances affect development and conservation? Which civic policies should be changed to encourage conservation rather than new land development? Should recycling be mandatory? How should recycling efforts be funded?Should fines for littering and dumping be stronger? Should fines and penalties for corporate pollution be more punitive? Should the fuel efficiency of SUVs a nd pick-up trucks be raised? Should the government offer tax credits for the purchase of hybrid or alternative energy vehicles? Should the designations of endangered and threatened species be changed? Should loss of economic/industrial benefits be considered when land is preserved for endangered species? Should more civilian oversight be created to monitor government and military pollution? Should environmental studies become a mandatory part of science curricula in public schools?Should third-world countries be held to the same levels of pollution control as more advanced nations? Argue for or against new environmental regulation concerning a specific industry (e. g. , clear-cutting for raising cattle vs. tropical rain forest protection). Argue for a specific regulation that will make a certain business or industry more environmentally safe. Media Issues †¢ †¢ †¢ How does profit motive in media corporations influence what and how information is broadcast? What ethica l considerations or conflicts of interest exist for a corporate media news channel?How and why do certain media outlets contribute to sensationalism in news reporting? UWC at UCF (407) 823-2197 http://uwc. cah. ucf. edu W:UWC ArchiveUWC BackupUWCHANDOUTSPublic HandoutsLit Not on Lit RacksResearch Paper and Argument Topics NEW. docx Jun-14 4 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Is the Internet a positive development for news reporting? Does it represent a more democratic medium of information? How does specific media bias affect how news is interpreted and delivered? How has the conglomeration of media companies influenced radio and TV content? Do cable companies represent a monopoly?Should more customer options be available with cable television? Should cable services be offered on an a la carte system (for example, paying $40 a month for 40 channels individually chosen by the consumer)? Should a stricter rating system be im posed upon television programming? Should tabloid television be scheduled only for late night time slots? Should parental locks be optional or mandatory on televisions? Consider media influence on national political campaigns fifty or a hundred years ago in comparison with such influence today. Should new regulations be imposed to make current campaign coverage more equitable?Should music-sharing programs that facilitate piracy on the Internet be outlawed? Should websites that allow the free download of bootlegged movies be shut down? Do production companies have the right to shut down websites that allow the free download of sound or video clips from their media? Consumerism and Convenience Culture †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Should the official work week be shortened/extended? How is shopping an American cultural value? Which American or cultural values does the mall represent? How does the concept of consumer credit influence our econom y?How does American consumer culture deal with the concept of death? How are the values, expectations, and rituals of specific holidays such as Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Mother's Day influenced by consumer culture? What role does product packaging play in consumerism? What role does the national debt play in consumers’ spending awareness? Consider the issue of disposable products and packaging and their impact on the marketplace as well as the environment. Argue for or against new regulation. TV and Film †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Should televised sexual and violent content be censored by the government?Are mandatory ratings a form of censorship? Is there a gender-based double standard regarding nudity, sex, and ratings on television? Which values do â€Å"reality television† shows appeal to? How have they changed television viewing? What does the trend towards voyeuristic TV programs reveal about modern Americ an culture? To what extent has television as a source of entertainment changed American neighborhoods and leisure activities? Which values/philosophies/worldviews are expressed by a certain television program? What impact has 24-hour news coverage had on our TV watching habits?How has it changed our view of information? How does MTV contribute to celebrity and image-selling? How has the television as an invention changed American household and family life? Why are the TV and film industries considered so hard to break into? UWC at UCF (407) 823-2197 http://uwc. cah. ucf. edu W:UWC ArchiveUWC BackupUWCHANDOUTSPublic HandoutsLit Not on Lit RacksResearch Paper and Argument Topics NEW. docx Jun-14 5 †¢ †¢ †¢ Because celebrities are so often in the public spotlight, do they have ethical responsibilities to set good examples for young people?In the past, the Screenwriters Guild of America has pushed for the credit â€Å"A Film By [director's name]† to be banned. Why would the SGA want this, and is this a justified request? Do scriptwriters have a right to be allowed on the set of a movie they wrote, or is this a privilege to be allowed at the discretion of the director? Sports and Entertainment †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ How has the increase in ticket prices and athlete salaries negatively affected professional sports? Should professional tennis players only be able to use personalized/custom-made rackets?In World Cup soccer matches that end in ties, should penalty kicks be discarded for some other method of determining a winner? Should professional sports leagues such as the NBA, NFL, and MLB establish a promotion/relegation system that rewards strong teams from lesser leagues with promotion, while relegating poor teams to a lower division? What changes, if any, should be made to NBA rules to preserve the integrity of the sport? Do celebrity athletes bear any responsibility for being role models for children? Should the instant replay remain in effect in the NFL? Should it be extended to other sports as well?Should teams with potentially offensive logos and nicknames (like the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins) change their names to be more racially sensitive? To what level should collegiate sports be funded? What is their relationship to academics? Should college athletes be paid to play? Does Title IX actually promote gender equality in college sports? Should GPA standards for college athletes be raised or more rigidly enforced? How have professional sporting events been negatively influenced by entertainment, including Jumbotrons, music, and crowd-pleasing activities?Should certain kinds of performance-enhancing drugs be allowed in different sports? Should creatine be banned from Major League Baseball? Should women be allowed to play in professional sports leagues that have no female league equi valent (NFL, NHL)? How have the four major professional American sports (baseball, basketball, football, and hockey) affected the rise of other sports such as soccer and lacrosse? How have ESPN and other media sources influenced (positively or negatively) professional sports in the last twenty years? Should communities bear all, part, or none of the burden of financing new sports arenas for professional teams?Criminal Justice †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Should the criminal sentencing process be reevaluated or changed because of racially unfair sentences? Which changes should be implemented to prevent prison rape? How has the proliferation of privately funded prisons changed the criminal justice system in America? Should certain non-violent crimes be punishable by fines rather than jail time? Are state-mandated â€Å"three-strikes† policies unfair? UWC at UCF (407) 823-2197 http://uwc. cah. ucf. edu W:UWC ArchiveUWC BackupUWCHANDOUTSPublic HandoutsLit Not on Lit Ra cksResearch Paper and Argument Topics NEW. docx Jun-14 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Should children who commit certain crimes be treated as adults? If so, should there be a lower age limit to this policy? Are exile programs (where a criminal is sent to prison in a distant state) fair? What kinds of rights should criminals have? Which conditions of incarceration are fair? Are certain kinds of capital punishment cruel and unusual? Should capital punishment be suspended because of racial disparities? Should capital punishment be suspended because of the chance of executing an innocent person? Should prison be punitive or rehabilitative in nature?Now that genetic/DNA evidence is admissible in court, should controversial closed cases be re-opened? If someone has already been executed, should his or her case be re-opened under certain circumstances? Should some kind of reparation be made to the fami lies of the wrongfully accused? Should there be a limit to the number of death row appeals that can be made? Presuming that capital punishment is allowable, what types of crimes should this apply to? Only murder? Treason? Is society's obligation to simply remove a criminal from society, to actually punish the criminal for crime, or a combination of both?Considering this, what is the purpose of the death penalty in America today? Should the legal requirements for obtaining a search warrant be changed? If an officer finds something that s/he was not looking for (e. g. , narcotics in an automobile that was being searched for firearms), why should or shouldn't the officer have the right to take the accused into custody? Consider the issue of â€Å"reasonable suspicion† in your discussion. Why are lawyers stereotyped as sharks? Is this a fair representation, and if not, why is it so prevalent? Many consider today's justice system to be too slow.What improvements could be made to e xpedite the system without sacrificing due process? Some states have harsher penalties than others for drunk driving. Consider the policies of a particular state and argue for a change in the penalties. Define â€Å"terrorist. † Under what circumstances, if any, is â€Å"terrorism† acceptable? Should terrorists be tried in a military or civil court? When tried in our court system, should the citizens of other countries have the same rights as citizens of the United States? Argue for or against an amendment to the statute of limitations for a particular crime. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢Religion †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ What, if anything, should constitute acceptable â€Å"prayer† or moments of silence in public schools? Should religious schools be required to teach health/sexual education from a non-religious perspective? Should religious phrases be removed from American money? Should government provide faith-based organizations with funds to help the needy? Should evolution be the official curricular focus of public schools regarding human origin? Should faith-based organizations be given tax exempt status by the government, even if the organization does not provide any concrete services for the needy (food, shelter, etc. )?Should the Orlando-based Holy Land theme park be given tax exempt status because it is run by a faith-based organization? UWC at UCF (407) 823-2197 http://uwc. cah. ucf. edu W:UWC ArchiveUWC BackupUWCHANDOUTSPublic HandoutsLit Not on Lit RacksResearch Paper and Argument Topics NEW. docx Jun-14 7 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Is the government justified in denying the Wiccan religion tax-exempt status because it fails to meet one of the government regulations in defining a religion – that of congregating at a regularly scheduled time and place? How has the role of the Catholic Church been affected by the recent accusations of sexual abuse by pri ests?Argue for a specific change in church policy regarding these crimes. Are public school winter holidays still generally organized around Christian holidays rather than those of any other religions? Argue for or against a change in policy. On campus, faith-based organizations can receive funds as part of a club. Does this follow the separation of church and state? Should Christmas, Easter, and other religious observances be considered national holidays? The Political Process †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Should the Electoral College be discarded in favor of a simple popular vote in presidential elections?Do alternative political parties in America receive fair treatment during elections? Should third party candidates be allowed to participate in national debates? How do the media help or hinder third parties? Should they receive equal and free airtime on major networks? Should the campaign f inancing system be reformed? Should presidential candidates be barred from spending their own money for their campaigns? What is the relationship between personal campaign finance and free speech? Should terms of senators and congressmen be further limited?Should a national form of health care be created, or should health care remain a private industry? Examine the historical reversal of the value systems of Republicans and Democrats. Should a particular Congressional District be reallocated? Argue for a policy change that would make the American democratic process more efficient. Are checks and balances a crucial element in American government? Does this process work as it was originally intended? Has the executive branch of the American government gained too much power in the last fifty years? Cite specific examples in your argument.How has/will new technologies like the Internet change the political process? How can the voting process in national elections be made less confusing? Education †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Is standardized state or national testing (such as the FCAT or SAT) helping or hurting American schools? Is the current system of public school funding (primarily through property taxes) unfair? Does it contribute to inequality in the public school system? Should tracking be used in determining courses for public school children? Should magnet and charter schools be encouraged or discouraged?Should the system of busing students to school be amended? Should local school districts be redrawn to create schools that are more equal? Should federal school vouchers be used at religious schools? How does the separation of church and state apply to this issue? Consider the needs of a teacher's salary vs. the realities of the funding schools now have. Argue for a change in education budget allocation. Do teachers in classrooms of thirty or forty children accomplish their intended tasks as educators? Should they be expected to? UWC at UCF (407) 823-2197 http://uwc. ah. ucf. edu W:UWC ArchiveUWC BackupUWCHANDOUTSPublic HandoutsLit Not on Lit RacksResearch Paper and Argument Topics NEW. docx Jun-14 8 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Some standardized tests scores factor in to how much money a school will receive in the next fiscal year. Is this an ethical way to demand accountability from a school, or does this further punish lower-performing schools? Consider the benefits and drawbacks of a home-school education vs. a public school education. Conservatives, liberals, and radicals all have different ideas about the purposes of a public education.Research several perspectives and argue for or against a particular viewpoint. How necessary are the arts in the public school system? Argue for or against a change in funding for a particular district. National/International Policy †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ In which situations, hyp othetical or actual, is U. S. military intervention in other countries justifiable? In which situations is it not? Does the threat of terrorism warrant the suspension or curtailment of civil liberties? What policy should the American government have towards international political crises? To the Middle East?To Israel? To Tibet? What should our policy be towards trade with China? Should the United States support the expansion of NATO to include the Baltic states? Should mandatory military service be required for all men and women in America? What are the ethics involved when considering the separation of powers and allowing a Presidential Line Veto? Is shuttle diplomacy a better alternative to gunboat diplomacy in the modern world? Consider the CIA's pre-September 11th policy of non-assassination and its post-September 11th policy of pro-assassination. Argue for or against this new stance.Does the United States have a right to preemptively protect itself from terrorist attacks by att acking nations accused of sponsoring terrorism? Not considering the United States, what is the most powerful nation on the planet? Explain the criteria used in making this judgment. Should the United States change its policies on educating foreign nationals and issuing student visas? UCF Issues †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ What is the best solution to the parking issues on the UCF campus? Should the GEP (General Education Program) be changed? What courses should be added or dropped?Should the composition program at UCF be changed? How? Should the course be worth a different number of credits? Is the concept of UCF as a â€Å"metropolitan university† a good idea for the future of the school? Should Greek Park expansion take place, even if it means developing environmentally delicate areas? Is corporate funding of university research a good idea? Should public universities have the right to sell the names of campus buildings to corporations? Argue for or against the UCF football program joining the MAC. Should UCF fund the men's basketball team more heavily?Should UCF devise a different scheduling method for classes held in modules and portable trailers? UWC at UCF (407) 823-2197 http://uwc. cah. ucf. edu W:UWC ArchiveUWC BackupUWCHANDOUTSPublic HandoutsLit Not on Lit RacksResearch Paper and Argument Topics NEW. docx Jun-14 9 †¢ †¢ †¢ Should the â€Å"tradition† of not stepping on the Pegasus symbol in the Student Union be reevaluated? Argue for or against more university funding for student services such as the Student Academic Resource Center and the University Writing Center. What purpose does the campus newspaper serve, and how well does it achieve its purpose?Civil Liberties †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Should people between the ages of 18 and 20 be allowed to drink adult beverages that contain a lowered alcohol content? Should legal hemp produ ction be reassessed by the Florida legislature? Under which conditions (if any) should medical marijuana use be legal? Under what rationale have some states gone against federal regulations and fought to allow medical marijuana use? Do terrorist attacks justify any suspension of civil liberties in the name of national safety? Should prison sentences for non-violent â€Å"victimless† crimes be commuted to community service or alternative methods of punishment?Is there such a thing as a â€Å"victimless crime†? What rights do airplane passengers give up by allowing themselves to be checked before boarding? Argue for or against a specific passenger check policy. What rights do people lose when on public school property? Is the suspension of these rights valid? Proponents of a lowered drinking age sometimes note the disparity between the draft age (18) and the legal-drinking age (21). Argue for or against the validity of this comparison. Counter-Culture Issues †¢ â₠¬ ¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Should people under eighteen years of age be required to have parental permission to get tattoos and piercings?Is ear piercing of children of a certain age child abuse? Should rave clubs have limits on their operating hours? Why have recent raves been shut down in the Orlando area? Was this action justified? Do owners of raves have a right to operate a business that can be potentially harmful to youth? Youth Issues †¢ Should the minimum age for attaining a driver's license be increased? Should this be a national standard? †¢ Should the mandatory age for quitting school be raised or lowered, or is the current age of sixteen justified? †¢ Should computer skills be a fundamental part of education curricula?Local Area Issues †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ What kind of public transportation system would be best for Orlando? Would light or high speed rail best serve the interests of Orlando residents? Should local zoning restrictions be changed to encourage community development? How do current zoning restrictions limit or control growth? Should police patrol the University Drive area more stringently? Should regular speed traps be a part of this patrol? UWC at UCF (407) 823-2197 http://uwc. cah. ucf. edu W:UWC ArchiveUWC BackupUWCHANDOUTSPublic HandoutsLit Not on Lit RacksResearch Paper and Argument Topics NEW. docx Jun-14 0 †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ How does traffic light timing influence traffic in the UCF area? Should traffic light patterns be recalibrated to help reduce congestion? Should Alafaya Trail be expanded to four lanes from McCollough Road through Oviedo? Should off-campus UCF housing be restricted because of conflicts with local neighborhoods? Are the policies of local apartment complexes fair? How should they be changed? Should new development in the Orlando area face more stringent environmental considerations? Should carpool restriction s be placed on certain Orlando highways for certain times of the day?Should Orlando campaign for a professional baseball team? A professional football team? Would having a professional basketball team contribute to the prestige of the city? How does tourism in Central Florida affect local communities? Should legalized gambling in the form of casinos be considered as an economic boost to this area? Should dancers be allowed to perform nude in local establishments? UWC at UCF (407) 823-2197 http://uwc. cah. ucf. edu W:UWC ArchiveUWC BackupUWCHANDOUTSPublic HandoutsLit Not on Lit RacksResearch Paper and Argument Topics NEW. docx Jun-14

Hamlet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 5

Hamlet - Essay Example Hamlet feigns insanity to discover the truth, but his character can still be ascertained by closely examining what he reveals about himself through his many speeches and his interactions with others. The fact that he survives until very near the end of the play demonstrates his strength of character while his insane ramblings to some of the other characters reveal his sharp mind. While many have pointed to his lack of immediate action upon learning of the true nature of his father’s death as a sign of weakness, the reasons for Hamlet’s inaction are demonstrated as an intelligent man’s determination to do what’s right. Throughout much of the play, Hamlet’s speeches can be seen to indicate more than one aspect of his character, such as in the Player’s speech (Shakespeare II, ii). This scene has been interpreted as Hamlet trying to remind himself of the need for revenge, trying to prove the need for revenge or trying to stir himself into the action of revenge due to the nature of the play he suggests (Westlund, 1978). At the same time, it shows Hamlet’s tendency to approach life as if it were a play, constantly taking on new roles to fit the action he is confronted with. In his comparison of the roles available to him in this instance, he can be seen to relish neither one. His sense of duty and honor, while it prevents him from willingly taking on the role of a murderer, also prevents him from allowing a foul, underhanded murder go, not only unpunished, but richly rewarded should the ghost happen to be the true spirit of his father. â€Å"One part of him says that he must take revenge, another part finds it horrible; he attempts to reconcile these conflicting feelings by saying that he fears the Ghost may be a devil† (Westlund, 1978: 252). At this point, he can not find a role that allows him to both enact the revenge demanded and retain his own

Motivation and Applied Performance Practices Dissertation

Motivation and Applied Performance Practices - Dissertation Example The level of dissatisfaction is also analysed from the fact that the employee takes long leaves and also aims to leave the organization. Critical Analysis The issues highlighted in the case can be analysed using the framework of the Exit Voice Loyalty Neglect Model. This model distinguishes employee behaviour into two kinds namely a constructive and a destructive type. It also shows two forms of action namely passive and passive response (Harvey & Wenzel, 2001, p.41). In this case Wendy shows a destructive and active response in behaviour while Tanya shows a constructive and passive response. The response shown by Wendy largely implies negative effects on an organization whereas the opposite is reflected from the response shown by Tanya. The behaviour of the employee is largely an outcome of employee motivation and job satisfaction. Theoretically it has been stated that employee satisfaction is strongly correlated with motivation levels (Andrews & Johnson, 2002, p.152). In this case Wendy as largely de motivated following the promotion of Tanya that led to de motivation ultimately leading to dissatisfaction from the job. Stress Management It is very clear from the case that Tanya is suffering from stress following the state of events unfolded in the organization.

Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Discussion - Essay Example Personality characteristics, such as shyness, or a reluctance to be frank with people not known on a personal level, also come into play. These barriers can be overcome by gathering regular feedback and arranging meetings in which the team members make physical contact and have an idea of whom they are working with. Technological training is essential for every member to be comfortable with the software used. When Virtual Communication is reinforced by written and spoken communication, the margin for error decreases. Communication Barriers are usually centered on different perceptions of work expectations and are often aggravated when the supervisor resorts to indirect channels such as e-mails, where the chances are high that the meaning of the message gets distorted. The employee may not be comfortable with the computer technology used. Even a telephone line with noise distortion can pose a barrier to communication. The employee, who differs culturally from the supervisor in terms of education, economic background, religious beliefs and other personal traits, may misinterpret the supervisors’ communication, particularly when a language barrier exists and the employee is not fluent in the language or the jargon of the work place. Emotional overtones also tend to confuse the receiver of the message. These barriers can be overcome by the supervisor having a clear idea of his expectations from the employee, communicating on a face to face basis, using gestures and other non-verbal clues to r einforce the message, using a noise free, relaxed environment, reducing the links in the channel of communication, gathering employee feedback and regularly monitoring performance. Corporate ethics can be subjected to various interpretations, particularly in the context of cultural differences. The Japanese business culture, in which expensive gifts are considered a symbol of the esteem in which the business is held, is opposed to our perception of gifts as bribes and

Describe the main determinants of oral health inequalities. Discuss Essay

Describe the main determinants of oral health inequalities. Discuss dental public health strategies that can be implemented to tackle oral health inequalities - Essay Example Just as healthy body contributes in creating sound mind, similarly oral health is essential in maintaining a healthy body (Audobato, 2009). Due to this it can be stated that oral health and healthy body have a positive connection with each other. Surgeon David reported oral health as ‘silent epidemics’ and emphasized on the importance of oral health by creating a strong connection of oral health with other diseases. A human mouth is the main portal of a human body and bacteria which is present in the mouth causes and creates different systematic conditions. According to the doctors, dentists and physicians every part of the body is linked with each other. Thus if any problem exists in the mouth area then it causes adverse affects all over the body (Donaghy, 2006). An oral health disease also causes harmful effects on the physical and psychological well beings of the people and this further affects the overall quality of life. According to the study conducted in America it has been stated that 23% of 65-74 year age group suffer from severe periodontal diseases. But not all of them get cured because this facility is not provided to all as 5 % of the aged Americans live in long-term care facility where the this fac ility is not provided to them, thus inequality in oral health prevails. Generally individuals are reluctant in getting their oral problems cured because of the general cost associated with oral health, i.e. oral health issues are expensive to cure. The cost factor is the biggest factor for individual’s unwillingness all over the world. Thus, Oral health knowledge and awareness is not only important for the well being of the individuals but also for the well being of the society. A large population today enjoys all the services of dental and they are being taken care of their every oral health related problem. But with deep grief there still exists a

Theory of Mind and Child Bullying Literature review

Theory of Mind and Child Bullying - Literature review Example Conclusion 15 References 17 Introduction Social issues and concerns have normally come under immense ignorance and people fail to notice the issues that leave indelible imprints on to abundant of people. Bullying, predominantly child bullying is one of the socially ethical dilemmas that dates back to several decades and may be centuries (Sanders and Phye, 2004, pp. 1-3). One can define bully as a "Use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants" (Alvesson and Spicer, 2011, pp.165). This means that bullying is an action that can come under performance by either one person and can even involve a group of people, where they tend to have aggressive and violent conduct. In addition, the practice of bullying is intended to provide harm to other people or become a source of humiliation for them publically because they perceive them stronger and wants to prove their dominance over the weaker people (Sanders and Phye, 2004, pp. 3-5). In general, it has come to observation that the victim's abilities, personality, ways of expression, gender, religion, culture, and several others become the primary or fundamental source of bullying. Bullying not only comes under restriction to verbal harassment, but also can lead to further violent conduct that includes physical assault and psychological violence. (Coloroso, 2009, pp. 5-8). Bullying has become one of the common and widespread practices that comes under exercise in nearly every institution whether it be educational institutions like schools and universities, workplace and even neighborhood. Due to this persistent and extensive application of bullying in every facet of life, it has become imperative to discover the root causes behind it, the harm that it can provide and the extensive research with respect to the subject matter (Macfarlane and McPherson, 2004, pp. 10-12). The relation of child bullying to theory of mind is imperative t o understand because the theory of mind is one of the social cognitions that come under development in the early childhood. However, the actions of the child are highly dependent upon social cognitions. This means that the mind and development of the child leads to understand the actions performed in the social world. Due to this, it comes under considerations as one of the most important developments of early childhood tha t helps in shaping the personality of the child. Child bullying has a lot of influence and power on how the personality of the child comes under formation in his or her childhood. Therefore, it is pivotal to study and analyse the role and impact of theory of mind upon the performance of the child that can help understand how and why child bullying comes under relationship to theory of mind. The thesis report has come under division into segments where the first segment broadly defines the wide-ranging research that has come under performance with respect to the grave issue, at the same time enlightening child bullying and theory of mind. In addition, it also includes a comparative study that delineates the relationship between the two. The following segment highlights the strengths, limitations, and omission in the research taken place concerning the two aspects. Lastly, based on all the research studies suggestions would come under articulation for future research questions as well as research methods. Overview to Literature Review Process The literature review concerning the matter of child bullying and theory of mind have come under consideration, numerous studies and researches have come under practice that can bring this matter into

Case study analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Case study analysis - Essay Example It is also a growing market. The countries in consideration in Latin America are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. These countries have fairly stable governments and political environment and it is possible to do business here on long term basis although the economic and geographical conditions vary from country to country. The immediate problem is future strategy. It is the course of action needed to increase profitability and market penetration in Latin America. There are several options before Supermercados Disco. However, the main options are whether the company should choose to go ahead with a joint venture with Royal Ahold or continue independently. Other than this problem, there are choices to do with pestel analysis. There was strong economic growth in the 1990s, making it vital for the political dispensation to frame policies to maintain the growth curve. Economic prosperity made it imperative for political factors to go along with economic parameters and shun despotic influences. Argentina and Brazil became the favored destinations for retailers in the 1990s. Argentina was favored because of its wealth and Brazil because of its purchasing power due to its large middle class population. Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela were roughly equal in terms of disposable income, but they had unequal distribution of wealth excluding up to 40% of these countries’ populations from normal consumer activity. The region was projected to growth continually in the ensuing decades producing increase in the size of the working population. Due to foreign investments, there was also the fact that cities would grow disproportionately in size and wealth improving communications and infrastructure. These changes were bound to favor retailers. State-owned enterprises were thrown open for privatization. Most of the steel mills, chemical, petrochemical, shipping and aircraft companies were sold to private

Happiness Paradox Essay Example for Free

Happiness Paradox Essay This chapter, titled Feeling Free, is all about freedom and humans need to feel it. Ziyad Marar begins the chapter comparing happiness to freedom, saying how â€Å"[freedoms] current expression has a relatively recent and local† (Marar 39), which is similar to his view on happiness. Marar goes on saying how people have been striving for freedom, but claims more freedom brings bad consequences. People are blinded by mass media, the consumer society, management gurus, therapists and Hollywood who all relentlessly preach about freedom and self-expression. He ends the first section by stating that people need to â€Å"celebrate freedom without denying its corrosive qualities; even to admire those very qualities† (Marar 43). Since freedom is a something humans naturally strive for, and the main driving force in modern civilization, it has a strong impact on most things that humans do (Marar). The next two sections talk about how humans find freedom in the wild and in self-creation. Society is a form of conformity, which â€Å"loses you time and blurs the impression of your character† (Marar 46) and it is human nature to not be held down by conformity. This creates a need to be in the wild, away from everything society has to offer, an escape. Marar connects this to the idea of becoming lost in one’s imagination, or the lack of it. As children we are consumed by our world of imagination, using our creativity and self-expression in its purest form, something lost in adults. Children are free to do and say as they please, they are not tied down by the conformity that adults are. This lack of freedom and expression in adults can be compared to a restriction of our humanly instincts, since it is human nature that we find the need to be free (Marar). Marar goes on to relate freedom to sex, death, and the ‘search for strange’. â€Å"Perversion, obsessions, the apparent mutability of the most mundane objects into the stuff of erotic fantasy, all remind us that the realm of eroticism is dominated by the need to walk on the wild side. † (Marar 53). Sex is something that, like freedom, is something humans instantly strive for, and like freedom is restricted through civilization trying to make us conform to the social norm. Humans seek freedom in sex, it is a time when our inner most instincts come out. This freedom comes in two forms, the freedom to and the freedom from. We all have the freedom to discover, create, and fantasize, but only some are free from structures, schemes, codes, and above all other people. Freedom of people opposes the claim that humans need to feel justified, since justification is all about other people. The section ends by stating how death is the ultimate form of death, and agrees with Freud and his though of the death instincts and how all human life is striving towards death, for it is the final escape to freedom (Marar). The last section of the chapter is about the freedom from language, or the perspective of others. He uses the holidays as an example, the way we remember them though pictures and stories. Through retelling we move away from the personal aspect the memory has, it seems â€Å"to create a concept to flee from language† (Marar 57). To pursue this freedom, to the point when you are uninterpretable to others, is when people start to see you as crazy or insane. This is where the paradox lies, for we seek freedom and justification but to be free is to stop caring for the justification of others. On the other hand with justification of others you are giving up your freedoms (Marar).

Development of Internet Television Service

Development of Internet Television Service EXTENDED INTERNET USAGE 1. Introduction The first question that arises in our mind when we are talking about the internet is â€Å"What is Internet?†. So Internet is basically Network of computers that is connecting millions and millions of computers globally. Over the past 4 decades Internet has undergone a huge transformation from being used in academic research and moved into a broader platform of commercial usage. With each and every passing day Internet is turning into an indispensable and essential part of our life. With each and every step taken towards improvement of the internet every sphere of our life is directly getting affected; it is not only making our tasks much easier but also saving us a lot of time 2. Uses Of Internet 1. Communication (Fig-1): It is one best things that internet has introduced worldwide. It is very easy nowadays to communicate with people who are living very far away from us with ease. Earlier it was a very difficult task to accomplish; now we can directly chat with people very easily. Video Conferencing is making it easier for people actually see each other while talking. Fig-1 (Communication) Fig-2 (Research) 2. Research (Fig-2):Few decades whenever we had to do some research we had through hundreds of books to find something which is of relevance. Since internet came into being we can say that â€Å"everything is just a click away†. We can easily search our topic using several search engines available to us using internet thus saving us a lot of time. 3. Education (Fig-3): There are books, reference books, study materials, Web-help centers are available online which makes education an easy and interesting experience. Websites are available that can help you gain knowledge about everything without taking the help of any other individual. There are tutorials and even test series available in the internet so that one can test this knowledge. Fig-3 (Education) Fig-4 (Financial Transaction) 4. Financial Transactions (Fig-4): With the use of internet Financial transactions a have become a much easier task as it was few years ago. Now instead of physically being present in the bank, we can directly log into the bank website and with the help of the provided authentication documents by the bank. Once we are inside our account we can do any transaction at our will. We can also do fixed deposits and Guaranteed investment Schemes directly through our online account 5. Real time updated (Fig-5): Any kind of news updated or any other happening or decision taken in once part of the world is available to us real time using the internet. There are websites available online through which we can actually get updates about almost every field be it business, finance, sports, entertainment, politics, Railways and airplane tracking. Fig-5(Real time Updates) Fig-6(Leisure) 6. Leisure (Fig-6): From watching videos to listening to your favorite music, watching movies, playing games, chatting with friends and family; all these leisure activities we do in our free time are with the use of internet only. Whenever we get time we prefer doing activities in the internet which would help us relax. Internet is something which can help us freshen up our mood in few minutes. 7. Online booking (Fig-7): Online booking of airplane tickets, movie tickets, railway tickets are not only hassle free but also easier task to accomplish. Instead to standing in a queue for hours we can now directly book tickets through the internet using desired website. Thus, making this process a less tedious and more reliable job. Fig-7 (Online Booking) Fig-8 (Job Search) 8. Job Search (Fig-8): There are countless number of websites available in the internet that gives us the information about vacancies in various companies. Even online application for the positions available. Job portal websites once anyone gets registered with them they will send you mails mentioning openings as per choice. 9. Blogging (Fig-9): People nowadays are interested in writing blogs. They have the option of publicize their work and it can reach people who as looking for a similar topic to discuss about. There are a lot of website available which can be used to write a blog, only registration with the website is required. Really good blog writers are sometimes contacted by big organization to write a blog about them. Moreover using Google AdSense money can also be earned on per click basis. Fig-9 (Blogging)  Fig-10 (Shopping) 10. Shopping (Fig-10): Online shopping has become one of the most attractive thing to do in the internet. People don’t have to leave their home just open some websites, Browse through the website and order their desirable product. One of the advantages of online shopping is that everything is available in each and every website. The product is directly delivered to your home. Product can also be returned back to the vendor if it not of good quality. 3. Extended Internet Usage Now as we have seen some basic uses of the internet. Let us discuss some more advanced uses. Even though there many additional uses of internet but we are going discuss about 4 main topics in this research paper. IPTV: Internet protocol Television(IPTV) is an assembly in which Television services are distributed over an IP network in a digitized form. So we can say that it uses the existing broadband network to deliver us a TV service which is more reliable, efficient and data is 100% digital, thus improving the overall quality over an analogue TV VOIP: Voice Over Internet Protocol(VOIP) is a system in which voice conversation can be conveyed over the IP network. The end user in a VOIP network has the authority to make telephone calls over the Broadband network. The Network used in such type of connections can be through the internet which makes it global or Intranet which makes it local the Inside Network of the company. Cloud Computing: Cloud Computing is a process in which data is stored in a Large centralized server or data storage unit. Thus providing an online access to the stored data as per requirement of the end user. The data stored in the cloud not only is shared my multiple users at the same time but also can be reallocated as per demand of the end user. Thus reducing the storage, power and space of data by using the same data for multiple users. MIRACAST: Miracast is basically a HDMI based dongle which is used for live streaming of Video and Audio channel without using an Access point. So a device which uses a point to point network technology which allows different devices to connect to each other using Wi-fi direct thus allowing them to share live streamed data. Now we will have an in-depth discussion of each and every topic separately discussing about their architecture, functioning, advantages etc. 4. IPTV 4.1 Introduction IPTV is basically an internet based television service which uses networking and architecture methods of the IP system over a Packet switching network structure. IPTV has 3 main groups in which it can be classified Live Television Time-Shift Program Video on Demand IPTV uses a set-top box which uses a broadband IP data network to access channels, subscription services and other multimedia services over and safe and end to end network. IPTV services are sometimes bundled with internet access and VOIP services altogether over the same infrastructure. IPTV is not as simple as someone watching a video over the internet. IPTV connection to home provided by telecom companies uses optical fiber and digital subscriber lines (DSL) to set up a link towards a housing compound. For Cable operators they use a hybrid fiber co-axial (HFC) cable to provide a broadband connection to the subscriber. IPTV incorporates the procurement, processing and safe delivery of all video content over an IP based Setup. The service provider uses various other service providers like satellite TV carriers, cable TV carriers, Telephone companies and private network operators to bundle up a single service which is provided to the end user. Figure. 11 shows the basic block diagram for a simplified IPTV system      Fig-11(Simplified IPTV network) 4.2 Features of IPTV There are some notable features of IPTV listed below Interactive TV: Rather than providing a half-duplex connection of the rudimentary cable TV connection, IPTV delivers us a two-way connection thus providing us an interactive TV packaged with services like High definition TV(HDTV),interactive games, learning programs, High speed internet browsing many more. Time Shift: IPTV when bundled with a digital video recorder (DVR) provides the end user the capability to record programs as per his choice. Thus providing him an option to time shifting of programming content. There are service providers who provide 7 days’ worth of data to be recorded in the DVR. Personalization: Due to a full-duplex bi-directional connection between the service provider and the end user, personalization option of the set-top box is available. The user can personalize what to watch, when to watch as per his comfort. Low Bandwidth Requirement: IPTV technology allows the service provider to stream only one channel which the end user has demanded rather than delivering each and every channel subscribed by the user Thus allowing the service provider to conserve bandwidth and reducing cost. Accessible to Multiple Devices: End user have the option of using their mobile, computers laptops to access the IPTV services instead of using television. 4.3 Architecture of IPTV The diagram (Fig-12) given below shows us the architecture of IPTV Fig- 12-IPTV System Architecture The functional blocks of IPTV architecture is given below Super Head End: The channels from the national broadcasters enter the IPTV network from here. The content here is processed, prepared and stored for transmission. Core Network: IP/MPLS Network technologies are used for transporting the traffic and to gain access to the network. Access Network: IPTV data streams are distributed to the DSLAMs Regional Head End: All the area specific local content is added to the network here. End User Premises: This is the termination point for the IPTV data stream. All Data is viewed at the customer end here. One super head available in the network can be used to serve millions of customers in the network by processing the video channels common to end users across the whole area. The IPTV delivery system is constructed in such a way that it can cover a large expanse of territory over the hierarchy of structure built to deliver the video content. Offices are located in each territory which are specially constructed to handle area specific local program and channels. 4.4 IPTV Networking Technologies The diagram (Fig-13) shows the structure of IPTV and Standardization bodies Fig-13 (IPTV Activities standardization bodies) DLNA: Digital Living Network Alliance is used for setting up the home network. HGI: Home Gateway Initiative sets up the standard adjoining the gateway between end user home network and broadband connection ISMA: Internet Streaming Media Alliance sets up the broadcast of the AVC video over IP. DSL Forum: Digital Subscriber Line is used for remote-management of residential gateways and set-top boxes. ITU: International Telecommunication Union standardizes the Distribution and access network architecture. ETSI: European Telecommunications Standards Institute standardizes the IP network used for transmission of the IPTV. ATIS: Automatic Terminal Information Service is standardizing the end to end IPTV architecture including contribution and distribution 4.5 Advantages of IPTV The signals which are used IPTV service s are 100% digital signals so better quality and easier to propagate. IPTV works on the existing internet connection, So if there is an available internet connection only the set-top box is needed to be installed and IPTV services can be used. IPTV services doesn’t require any kind of wires to get its signal. So a wireless system reduces the overhead of wires and wear tear of the wires with time. Programs can be stored in servers and can be viewed in accordance to the will of the end user thus providing flexibility. 5. VOIP 5.1 Introduction VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a process of communication in which the user can make telephone calls over the IP network. To transmit voice Signals/Conversation over the existing Data network (Wireless/Broadband) using Internet protocol VOIP is used. VOIP technology can be used over the internet as well as over the local intranet for communication within the company or special private network which are used specially for long distance calls.

Socializing in the internet

Socializing in the internet Socializing in the Internet The Internet, even though it revolutionizes the way people communicate with each other, it could actually be the very cause of many people having an acute case of social defect. Socializing is being rewritten in these last few years, with information going around so easily people are not trying so hard to make human contact, which could be the cause of many people suffering from social defect. Even though it may not be the only cause, it is proven by many research papers that the discovery of â€Å"The Internet† is the main tipping point of the modern social trend. Internet is actually not made to serve the multiple purpose it serve today, it was actually only made to be a place to store information, and even the idea itself is born for military purpose. The original plan is to spread large numbers of information all over the United States, so even if one center of information is destroyed, the information is not completely gone, or at least just the copy of it is missing. Although the U.S. military is the first instance to come up with the idea, the European or to be more specific the people at France is actually the first instance who successfully executed the idea. From there to the development as of today is another story to tell, but what makes it more than an information highway is something not to be missed. Information sharing in its simplest form is through the Internet, and its called an information highway cause the rate of it is mind numbing. Although the rate is relative to its importance and relevance to what most people are searching for, compared to other media the Internet is the fastest. For example, the news of Michael Jacksons death is spread across the world in mere second after the news is announced, and of course, its supported by the quantity of people spreading it. How fast the Internet share information is not just being upheld by the fact of how easily it is to share it, but also by the fact that the quantity of people sharing it is way far from small and the place to share it, is a plenty is an understatement. Once upon a time a boy asks a wise man â€Å"Which is the most; the fishes, or the stars?† then the wise man answered â€Å"The fishes, of course.† â€Å"Why?† the boy asks, the wise man answered, â€Å"Because no matter how much fish you take itll never run out†. As much as there are fish in the sea, there are a lot more places in the Interwebs where people socialize, and that number is increasing day by day just like the fish in the sea. In addition those places are divided into four main categories; forums, chat rooms, blogs, and social websites. One of the oldest place to socialize, and still as strong as it was if not more stronger is the forums, which is the root of everything thats about socializing in the Internet. In essence, Internet still serves its original purpose, and that is a place to gather information. Therefore, the Internet is basically a large forum that involves a humungous number of people from all parts of the world gathered in a single place. Almost everything in the Internet is a forum, only the form is different, and the people participating in it is even more so. Most people wouldnt probably think so, because the Internet have changed so much that its simply hard to be called a forum, though essentially it is. An article is also a forum, because of the comments or critiques that it sparked. Even a simple statement could also grow into a forum depending on the respond it received. In short, everything thats in the internet and receive a response from other people it can already be called a forum, because people are talking about something and discussing it. Forums are not a place for written words anymore, it have evolved to something more. Forums have evolved since its olden times, from town halls, to written things that are on monitors. Though the form is simple, it have proven to be an effective place where people can; discuss things, give opinions, and coming up with a solution. Moreover, there is no discrimination between the members of the forum, in fact anonymity is encouraged to make people focus on the problem at hand rather than the person whos providing the voice. Therefore, the biggest change for forums is its clarity, everybody is taking notice, and everybody is listening. Even so, there are times that a statement needs something to make it clearer. The forums itself is not limited to written words anymore, images are often used to convey the message more clearly or a little more blunt than whats needed. Because sometimes images convey the message more clearly than words, certain forums caters to its needs and they call it imageboards or forums on steroids. In short, imageboards is a forum that puts a full emphasis on the image posted rather than whats written, someone can write the greatest story in the world there, but people would probably not give an ass if it doesnt have the image to support its monstrosity, it is actually better to put a great picture and not write anything about it. 4chan is the greatest example of an imageboards, and at the same time the worst example of a sensible forum. Despite the lack of common ethics (or because of it), many Internet history is made there, even the rules of the internet is born there. Although it sounds crazy, 4chan itself is not a place of common sense, it probably is the place where all the wrong things the Internet have to offer are, and it could actually are where â€Å"curiosity [really] killed the cat†. Even though there are many bad things to say about 4chan, there is also a good side to 4chan. 4chan have been actively organizing protest against The Church of Scientology, a cult that cons people for their money. Surprisingly the protest are well organized, theres not even a single conflict with the official. Whats amazing is they promote healthy protest, where they told all the members to protest on the sidewalk only, even the littlest form of disturbance is not tolerable by members of the protest, and they all actually doing it wearing Guy Fawkes mask. There is another reason to the Guy Fawkes mask other than the impact it brings, and its anonymity. Anonymity is a key ingredient to the whole process, without it, maybe they wouldnt be what they are today or people would look differently to what they are trying to convey. Anonymity is something that couldnt be separated from the modern age forums. Although its not an essential part of a forum, its embedded in the culture. Moreover, people dont care who they are talking to, they only care about what the person say. For that reason, the character is not build by how people look anymore, but it is born by how that person contribute his/her opinions to the forum itself. However, when anonymity is not emphasized, where faster, more personal and contact that is more direct is wanted people usually go to chat rooms. Chatting is like a miniature forum, except it is faster, more personal and more direct than forums, people usually chat with their closest persons, rather than strangers. If forum is a place where people gather to think, then chat rooms is just a place where people just talk or catching-up with the person close to them. The communications in chat rooms are faster because people can get an instant reply, more personal because people choose the person whose participating in it, and its more direct because no one can interfere unless they are allowed to. In its own way, chatting is better, but only at a personal level, and to make a large number of people to voice their opinion needs a lot more effort than what people usually need in a forum. For the reason that each person that they want to talk to have to be available at the same time as they make the chat room. Therefore, even though chatting has its own strong points, it became its own weaknesses at the same time. Then again, what is a problem without a solution, chatting itself has its own kind of forum and they usually call it IRC. IRC or Internet Relay Chat is probably what people call chatting turned upside down, because the order of interaction is reversed. When in normal chats people usually find the one they want to interact with then make a room, in IRC the room is already prepared then people who wants to voice an opinion enters it. To put it in another way the room is not there just for certain people, but also for the people who wants to participate in it. So IRC is putting less emphasize on the personal aspect and focusing it more on the gathering aspect. Even so, IRC is very traditional and old, and not much people develop it mostly because â€Å"why reinvent the wheel?† the system have proven that it works for decades in fact the root of chatting is in the IRC itself. IRC have existed for decades maybe even before the term Internet is widely introduced. The days when messenger software is not even planned computer geeks spend their time chatting in IRC over the internet. Then suddenly a couple of guy thought that why not make it more user friendly, so that more people can use it, and to make it more simple we should put an address to each people rather than just putting a simple username so people can contact each other directly and not interfered by other people. Then e-mail services, messenger software, etc. that supports the chatting protocol comes to life. After that, the history of chatting writes itself as one of the milestones of the modern social trend. After that many things happens in chat rooms, but its not always flowers and rainbows. Chatting is a perfect place for evil-doers to lurk about, many crimes have happened there, mostly that involves kids under age. Nowadays people cant put trust so easily on the people they chat with, the number of people who can do harm is not small, especially people who eagerly offer to meet in person. Therefore kids are usually a soft target to those predators who god knows what reason kidnap them. Many cases of kidnapping or worse child molestation starts with the children making contact with the criminal and as time goes the child starts to put trust in the criminal thats when the criminal starts to take its chance to meet and kidnap the child. Surprisingly this happens a lot, more than anyone couldve imagine, whats worse is the difficulty of catching the criminal is increased because the lack of identity, witness, and location clarity. Luckily, technologies today have advanced far enough for us to detect the location of the criminal, and theres even a department dedicated to tr apping and catching these kinds of criminals. Even so, its still hard to say that its completely safe, because the crime happens in numerous numbers, and their technique in disguising themselves is getting better and better. Rests assure it only needs a little common sense to avoid the crimes happening in chats. The development in chatting is not only on the crime side, but also in its interactivity. As internet connection getting faster and faster, the possibilities expand beyond what people could think of. Now we could not only send text and pictures, we could also send continuous stream of moving pictures, or video is what they call today. With this breakthrough we can see live the person at the other end of the world, and we could actually simulate the whole socializing experience on the internet. Many important meetings are actually done this way, because it is cost effective and less hassle than meeting in person. Even though, its available, people mostly still prefer chatting, simply because it needs way less resource than video chatting. Even if video chatting is grand and all, it has its own disadvantage. If someone wants to have a video chat, the other person must have a webcam or some sort of contraption that can record a video, if not then its impossible to establish it. Besides that it needs a fast internet connection for the experience to go smoothly, so if you have a slow connection might as well not do it. Although, it needs plenty of resource, people still go through miles for it, simply for the experience. For those reason people still prefer chatting than video chatting because its simple and straightforward. But if someone wants to express themselves better, chat room is not the place, they usually use what they call a blog. Blog is what people call the modern diary minus the privacy, more or less a journal. People usually makes blog to express their inner feelings, whether its sadness, happiness, or just a little something in between. Blogs ranges from talking about casual daily lives, to topics that baffle the minds. People even use it to store their precious moments by writing it in their blog, or maybe they want the world to know about their wonderful experience. Therefore, blog are places where people can express everything you want, but dont be surprised if theres a response from other people. Many people actually hope for their blog to get a response, in a way they want attention. By putting their views on the internet, they are shouting in a big open field filled with many people crossing from many places around the world, hoping that they would get a response. Heaps of people would probably ignore it, but peoples that share the same interest in their views would probably willingly listen to what they say, and with pleasure provide support, question or constructive criticism as to what they write about. However not all response are positive, there are usually people who simply like to spam, or vent their frustration to what other people say. Negative response, is usually initiated by a different view as to what the writer says, and what actually makes it negative and not constructive is the fact that they cant give enough reason to oppose the idea. In addition, most of it is because they simply want attention and want to disturb other people. Another form of negative response is when they promote their own blog senselessly without even contributing any plausible response whatsoever. But whats dangerous is when negative response gives birth to flame wars. Flame wars is when two or more people are trying argue as to what they think is right, or people usually call it an unhealthy debate. Even though a flame war usually happens in forums, it could actually happen in blogs as well, often at that. This war is usually born when someone propose one thing is better than another, and people starts to support it and other simply not agree with it. As a result, people are trying to prove their argument, and mostly with little vocab held back. Despite that flame wars could actually have positive result, because we can get more information from the facts that they provide while they are arguing. Although blogs are usually a place to lament, its functionality has actually gone beyond that what people might think of. Blogs have many functions in this modern age such as, money maker, news source, reviews, just to name a few. These functions show that blogs have limitless possibilities, and its function depends on what the owner desire. In fact, not many people use blogs for diary anymore, people usually use it for something else. There are many reasons as to why people start doing this, and one of it is about the thing that makes the world go round. Because people can get money out of blogs, not small numbers of people thought to stereotype their blog for the masses, so it can get more popularity that equals to more income. In addition, its also one of the reasons why many people are making one. Even though, its hard to make any amount of money thats worthwhile to spend on, people are still trying to venture in this business, since it doesnt need too much effort and resources to start with. There are many blogs that is successful and making an amazing amount of money with their blog, not only that their large income is huge, their fame rose as their income skyrocketed. Fame is not exclusive to the real world only, but its also available in the internet. Many stars are born from the internet, and some of them enter the TV business, like Perez Hilton, and Danny Choo. These peoples, who are famous, usually offer exclusive content that are not available at any other blog. Therefore, many people always come back to their blog, and the people who dont know their blog will know because their names echo through the internet. Surprisingly, the source of their income is the same as those TV companies, and it is advertisement. Advertisements on the Internet are spawning like a colony of ants that found a whole heap of sugar. There is almost not a single page on the internet that doesnt have any advertisements whatsoever, not only blogs, many websites are supported by advertisements that are shown there. Sometimes there is website that has too many advertisements that it got to the point where its not worth it anymore to go there. Various ways are made to force the user to see the advertisements, and sometimes the user fights back with an ad-blocker they install on their browser. However some websites didnt allow the usage of such stuff, by blocking the user to their content if they install an ad-blocker. But no matter how much advertisements people put it is useless if there is no one that visit their blog, thats why there are many services that offer popularity. These services that offer popularity, is usually a website that ranks blog and list them, there is also a website that aggregate links that are usually focused on a specific genre or field, and blogs could also provide these kind of services. Blogs provide the service by sharing their link with one another, by doing that they are making a vast network that connects to one another. People usually use this method because it needs little effort than other method, though its not highly effective, at least it brings some more traffic. While the other method takes a little more effort, it brings more traffic than sharing links with other blogs, like ranks blog and list them. Websites that rank blog and list them are usually a good place to start popularizing a blog, because they provide an easier way for other user to find your blog. But it needs more effort on the blog owner side, they need to register to the website that provide the service, and its usually followed with a certain catch or qualification that needs to be fulfilled before the blog is accepted to be listed at their website. Although, the qualification are not that intricate to fulfill as websites that aggregate links. Aggregate means a collection or a cumulative of something, so links are being collected and shown, and these websites are usually split between genre or field. The qualifications to these websites are usually more intricate than the ones that ranks and list blog. However they usually share one common qualifications and that is the maturity of a blog, how much post have that blog post, or how long have it been standing. These qualifications are strongly upheld to sustain the quality of the links there. Without those qualifications some random links would just enter, even the ones thats not related to the website, and people will start to rarely go there because the quality of the links available there. Whats amazing is these websites automatically post the link of the new post with the same time as when the owner posts its recent post. As a result, what people get at those websites are near live update of the blogs that are registered at that site, with that people can rest assure th at they get the latest from their favorite blogs, and the blog owners can relax that their blog are shown with each new post. Links are not the only thing that aggregate on the internet, but people also. People that dont know; facebook, friendster, and websites that are alike to those, are probably living under a rock. These websites are the craze of the modern age, and probably one of the biggest tipping points in the modern social trend. Social websites is what they usually call it, websites like these offer the best in social interactivity over the internet. In addition, people can stay in touch with their dearest friends, even though they are miles away or on the other side of the world. However, their interaction is not limited to the people they know in the real world, but they also interact with the people they just know over the internet. Social websites expand the world of many or opening the door to a whole new universe to countless people. Gone are the days where peoples social connections are limited to the place where they live or where they have gone to, its only limited to how far people are willing to go to find the person they are looking for. As a result, people are interacting at an amazing speed, and socializing on steroid is an understatement. Social interactivity is highly different in social websites, people interact like they do in real life minus the face-to-face, but plus the media interactivity. Media interactivity is enhanced greatly in social websites, in fact it maybe one of the advantage that it have contrast to other form of socializing in the internet. People can share things more easily in these websites, though they mostly share it with the people they know. They can even share a live update about their daily lives if they want to, and everything that you change or input to, can have a comment, even the most absurd thing. Socializing is all about interactivity or response, and that is what social websites is, its a place where people can positively expect a response from someone you know. People usually comment on photos that capture a special moment, a video that makes them laugh their ass off, or the sudden change in marital status. To comment on everything is not a taboo anymore, in fact its a culture that just appear naturally on the scene. But all this interactivity sometimes makes people forget that real life actually exists. Shut-in are people that somehow dont care about the real world that much, they completely replace reality with everything virtual, its like they completely move their mind somewhere else. Since socializing itself is changing, peoples habits are too. Things like going outside are a taboo for them, and socializing in real life is somewhat something impossible to do. People like these usually shut themselves in their room, and utilize their internet connection to their fullest potential. However, people like this can be considered a hero in the internet with their contribution to the community its in. Heroes in the internet world can actually be a loser in the world, because their focus lays too much on the things available in the internet. This reason, cause delusion to many people who have set their heart on the internet, they abandon their life completely for their own selfish reason. In addition, they cant differentiate between something that is real and something that is not. Their image of reality is distorted in such a way that they are afraid of whats to come in reality. In the end, everything thats good always has a dark side to it. In conclusion, though the modern social trend is a breakthrough out of the old socializing method, and brings many benefit and conveniences to a lot of people, it also brings numerous negative effects. Therefore, any technologies no matter how ideal it is, will always show the bad in people if they are used recklessly or for terrible purpose. However only at these kinds of times that people are starting to show whats been hiding in them, either its the good or the bad, people could only hope for the best.

Gothic Elements in A Curtain of Green and Death of a Traveling Salesma

Gothic Elements in A Curtain of Green and Death of a Traveling Salesman In fiction, Gothicism is defined as a style that emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate. Eudora Welty makes frequent use of the grotesque in her work, often pairing it with elements of mystery, as in "Keela, The Outcast Indian Maiden." However, she usually deals with desolation as a separate element, as in "Death of A Traveling Salesman," in which the focus is placed on the lonely, fruitless existence of R.J. Bowman. One early reviewer of A Curtain of Green, in which "Keela, The Outcast Indian Maiden" appears, wrote that Welty was "preoccupied with the demented, the deformed, the queer, [and] the highly spiced" (Vande Kieft 67). Though the presence of these elements is pronounced, the reviewer has failed to look past these devices to see Welty's purpose. Welty's focus is never centered around the grotesque itself; rather she focuses on her characters' reactions to it and the contrast it creates. "She does not try mystically to transform or anonymously to interpret," she me...

Music and Media Can Be Detrimental to Children :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Music and Media Can Be Detrimental to Children Parents will argue that other people are the reason their children are violent and usually take absolutely none of the blame, when in reality they should be taking a lot of the blame for violence among children. I believe media as a whole, including television, radio, movies, video games, news, etc, can be very detrimental to society and leads to a lot of this violence among children with which we are dealing. I was always taught what goes in your head has to eventually come out, so shouldn't you put in only good stuff? "Critics claim that music negatively affects teenagers by repeatedly exposing them to themes such as Satanism, substance abuse, murder, suicide, and sexual violence, which may be heavily reinforced and normalized by the frequency of their portrayal" ("Youth and Violent Music"). I think there are too many television shows that run between the hours of three and five in the afternoon, which is when most children watch television, that make violence their main theme. Also during those hours, there are music video countdowns playing on just about every channel to which you flip. The only things kids learn when they watch these videos is how to abuse their wives, how to shoot a gun at someone, how to violently deal with a bully at school, how to dress so sexy that all the boys will like them, etc. Kids idolize anyone on television, especially if they're a popular songwriter or singer. Most parents know that children imitate whatever they see and hear, so wouldn't you think if parents let them watch these over-sexy and violent videos that their children are going to want to look and act just like what they're watching on television? "Several major rap artists have been charged with violent crimes in real life, and many worry that their actions seeming ly condone the violent messages in their music. Their celebrity status also serves to glamorize their violent behavior" ("Youth and Violent Music"). There are many cases dealing with the death of one or more children due to them "trying-out" a move they watched on television that "look real cool". Even if there was only one case, that would be one too many for me not to think we had taken a wrong turn somewhere.

Passion – Basketball

My Passion by: Shariar Alam Sadmun What is basketball? In technical terms as defined by Princeton, it could be defined as a game played on a court by two opposing teams of 5 players; points are scored by throwing the ball through an elevated horizontal hoop. In my own words I would describe basketball as my best friend that never backstabs or goes away from my side; it is always there by my side no matter what just like a true friend. Everyone has a passion but I think my passion is truly unique because I have loved the sport of basketball since I was seven. I remember the day I was watching my first basketball game, I still remember it as if it was yesterday. I was not very familiar with the rules and the scoring. I did not know any players. My idol, Shaquille O’Neal, was playing in that game and he was dominating the whole game until he missed two crucial free throws near the end and his team lost. After the game he said, â€Å"Me shooting 40% at the foul line is just God’s way to say nobody’s perfect. † His play that game and the way that he encountered and the way he intellectually answered the critics that day has inspired me to play and love the game of basketball. People sometimes ask me, â€Å"Why do you love basketball? All you try to do is shoot that ball through that circle. That is not fun† My response to them is always the same. I tell them basketball is not just a game, it is more than a game. It is my love, it is my passion, it is the game that is always by my side, and it is the game that gives me the most enjoyment whenever I am playing or watching it. I love to watch the game. If they show the game on television for 4 hours straight, I will watch it without getting fed up with it. If someone starts a conversation about basketball, I will turn into Manny from Ice Age who never stops talking. I hate losing, basketball brings out my competitive spirit. Basketball lets me take out my emotions, which helps me in expressing myself to others. Basketball is a game of cooperation, where the five people on the court work cooperatively to achieve the goal of winning. The great Michael Jordan once said, â€Å"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships. † Michael Jordan is a hero and an inspiration to a lot of people. He is the reason a lot of people not only in North America, but everywhere in the world started playing basketball. He once said, â€Å"I have missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot†¦ and missed. And I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why†¦ I succeed. † His competitive spirit and his hunger to succeed have always inspired me, and every time I hear or read these awe-inspiring quotes by him it always gives me goose bumps. Basketball teaches me good discipline in terms of when to shoot and when to pass to a teammate. Basketball has given me the chance of leading by example. Basketball players not only play the game but they do a lot to help their communities. A great example of that would be Steve Nash, who is an honorary member of Order of Canada (the highest civilian honour in Canada). He is possibly the greatest Canadian basketball player ever. He is an inspiration to every Canadian. All the philanthropic work he does, the way he takes care of his body, his work ethic and the way he leads his team is just a joy to watch and hear about. It makes me proud to be a Canadian and to know that a Canadian is one of the greatest basketball player ever to step on the court. Players like Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal are once in a generation type of players. The way they play with intensity and seriousness is something really commendable. I practice every day during the summer, I try to play with that killer instinct like my idols. When I was in grade five, I would play my brother every day after school and I would never win. One day he did not want to play me anymore because he told me I was not at his level. That really hit me. I remember for the next two months, I had a basketball with me. Everywhere I went, I had it with me from walking and dribbling it to the point where I slept with it. That is how much I wanted to beat my brother. I got that competitive spirit from players like Jordan or O’Neal. After two months, I requested my brother to play me and I told him if I lost I would never ask him to play me. He accepted the challenge, and after a very close game I beat him twenty-one to eighteen. After the game, I cried so much because I was so thrilled that I finally beat my brother. Basketball for some people is just a game. It is more than a game to me. It is like my best friend. It is my passion. It has always been there for me through the tough times and as well as the good times. It has helped me take my emotions out in a proper manner. It lets me take out my competitive spirit. It has taught me how to work in a team effectively. Alan Armstrong once said, â€Å"If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen for you, to you and because of you. † I feel basketball has given me the chance to enjoy my life in a way that I would have probably not enjoyed without it. Basketball has given me the chance to become its best friend, and I will always admire basketball for what it has done to change my life and what it has done to always stay by my side.