The United Of Prison System - 874 Words

The United States incarcerates more of its people than any other country in the world. Even though it makes up for 5% of the world’s population, it also makes up for 25% of all of the world’s prisoners, according to the International Centre for Prison Studies. The US has been ranked number one in a ranking of 221 countries who incarcerate the most out of every 100,000 of the national population. Out of every 100,000 Americans, 707 are incarcerated. That’s 10 times as many people as Norway, 15 times as Iceland, and 14 times as Japan. The United Sates prison system focuses on punishment rather than rehabilitation, which causes the recidivism rates to be extremely high. It has one of the highest rates in the world at a 76.6%, compared to Norway at the lowest rate of 20%. The system is so focused on punishing these individuals that it forgets they will one day go back into society. A report on recidivism in 2007 released by the US Department of Justice found that str ict incarceration increases recidivism. Researchers in the National Institute of Justice found that within three years of release, about 67.8% of released prisoners were rearrested, and within five years of release 76.6 percent were rearrested, 56.7% of these individuals having been arrested their first year of release. Recidivism refers to a persons relapse into criminal behavior after serving a sentence and being punished. The US prison system is much less likely to rehabilitate their inmates. The AmericanShow MoreRelatedThe United States Prison System996 Words   |  4 PagesSince the 1980s, the United States prison population has quadrupled to 2.4 million inmates; with nearly half of the inmates in federal prison serving time for drug offenses. The majority of America’s general population has been hoodwinked into believing that the prison system helps prevent crime, but the side effects of mass incarceration is like spilling gasoline on a burning car. The side effects of fabricating additional prison complexes for the sole purpose of preventing crime will continue toRead MoreThe United States Prison System Essay1562 Words   |  7 Pagesfind a comprehensive review of the United States prison system, and why it needs to analyzed to better support and reform the people of this country. I plan to persuade the other side (politicians and society) into seeing that the way the prison system is now, is not ethical nor economical and it must change. We have one of the world’s largest prison population, but also a very high rate of recidivism. Recidivism is when the prisoners continuously return to prison without being reformed. They returnRead MoreThe United States Prison System1215 Words   |  5 Pages The United States prison system incarcerates more people per capita than nearly all European countries, and roughly two-thirds of those inmates that are released will be arrested again within three years (Ward et al, 2015). Some facilities have relatively successful programs that cut down on the recidivism numbers. However, the majority of prisons are focused on punishment and make no efforts at rehabilitation. Something in the American justice systems needs to change so that the cycle can be brokenRead MoreThe United States Prison System Essay1927 Words   |  8 PagesThe United States prison system struggles eminently with keeping offenders out of prison after being released. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than third of all prisoners who were arrested within five years of released were arrested within six months after release, with more than half arrested by the end of the year (Hughes, Wilson, Beck, 2001). Among prisoners released in 2005 in 23 states with available data on inmates returned to prison, about half (55 percent) had eitherRead MoreReforming The United States Prison System940 Words   |  4 Pages1/19/2016 Reforming the United States Prison System The United States is the largest jailer in the world. With only 5 percent of the world s population and a disproportionate 20 percent of the worlds prison population the United States also has the highest incarceration rate in the world (Chamman). In fact one in every one hundred and ten adults in the United States will be incarcerated. Many of these adults will return to prison later in their life (ACLU). The Prison Crisis has become a recentRead MoreThe United States And The Federal Prison System3063 Words   |  13 PagesSummary Today in the United States a land that claims to be the freest nation on the face of the Earth more people will wake up inside of a federal/state prison or a county jail cell than in any other country on the planet. As of 2012 this figure was a staggering 2,228,400 (jail 744,500; prison 1,483,900) add in to this the additional sum of just over 5 million people on parole (851,200) and probation (3,942,800) giving us a grand total of over 7 million citizens under some level of Federal or StateRead MoreOvercrowding And Its Effects On The United States Prison System1178 Words   |  5 Pages Overcrowding prisons are an issue that has been influencing the United States prison population for decades, however what is the true significance of overcrowding. As indicated by Jeff Bleich (1989) â€Å"the term overcrowding is repetitive, since crowding already refers to a higher level of social density than is desired†. An overcrowded prison is a shocking condition that causes outrage and dissatisfaction among detainees (Haney, 2014). This condition is so undesirable that one can consider it as unconstitutionalRead MorePrison Systems In The United States Is Growing Massively,1739 Words   |  7 PagesPrison Systems in The United States is Growing Massively, And It Needs to Change! The United States Prison Systems is at its all-time high. From 1984 to 2012 about 160,000 inmates were sentenced to life (Hamilton 805). In 2011, one million women were incarcerated or controlled by the Justice system, in which 68 percent of these women were black (Gross 32). Mass incarceration is a process of overfilling prisons with prisoners, who have committed minor and major crimes. The main targets were AfricanRead MoreAfrican American Men And The United States Prison System1422 Words   |  6 PagesAfrican American Men and the United States Prison System There is a racial connection between the United States criminal justice system and the overrepresentation of black men in the United States prison system. There are over 2 million people in the U.S. prison system exceeding that of any other nation and represents 25% of the world’s prisoners (The Sentencing Project, 2016). According to Prison Policy Initiative, African American communities are the most impacted with African American men representingRead MorePregnant Behind Bars And The United States Prison System2060 Words   |  9 Pages Pregnant Behind Bars Men and women in the United States prison system face an adversity of challenges in many aspects of their lives. One area where incarcerated individuals face a hardship is the access to healthcare they receive while they are imprisoned. Access to screenings, check-ups, medications, and treatment for diseases may be limited. Women are particularly vulnerable to inconsistent healthcare if they are pregnant while in prison. They may not receive all the necessary prenatal or

Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Five Free Essays

I shudder. I can’t help it. Even though she’s not exactly my type, it’s not pleasant to think of Lila as some vampire’s midnight snack. We will write a custom essay sample on Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Five or any similar topic only for you Order Now â€Å"Aren’t you worried,† I ask, hoping to change the subject a little, â€Å"that Lila’s just going to tell Drake not to show up at the prom since we’ll be there waiting?† I say we and not you because there is no way I’m letting Mary go after this guy alone. Which I know Veronica would think is sexist, too. But Veronica’s never seen Mary smile. â€Å"Are you kidding me?† Mary asks. She doesn’t seem to notice the we. â€Å"I’m counting on her telling him. That way he’ll show up for sure.† I stare at her. â€Å"Why would he do that?† â€Å"Because killing the exterminator’s daughter will totally raise his crypt cred.† Now I’m blinking at her. â€Å"Crypt cred?† â€Å"You know,† she says, tossing her ponytail. â€Å"It’s like street cred. Only among the undead.† â€Å"Oh.† Strangely, this does make sense. As much as anything else I’ve heard this evening. â€Å"They call your dad the, um, ‘exterminator’?† I’m having a hard time picturing Mary’s dad wielding a crossbow the way she did. â€Å"No,† she says, the smile vanishing. â€Å"My mom. At least†¦ she used to be. Not just vampires, either, but evil entities of all kinds-demons, werewolves, poltergeists, ghosts, warlocks, genies, satyrs, loki, shedus, vetelas, titans, leprechauns-â€Å" â€Å"Leprechauns?† I echo in disbelief. But Mary simply shrugs. â€Å"If it was evil, Mom killed it. She just had a gift for it†¦ A gift,† Mary adds softly, â€Å"I really hope I’ve inherited.† I just sit there for a minute. I have to admit I’m a little stunned by everything that’s gone down over the past couple of hours. Crossbows and vampires and exterminators? And what in the world is a vetela? I’m not even sure I want to know. No. Wait. I know I don’t want to know. There’s a humming noise inside my head that won’t stop. The weird thing is, I kind of like it. â€Å"So,† Mary says, lifting her gaze to meet mine. â€Å"Do you believe me now?† â€Å"I believe you,† I say. What I can’t believe, actually, is that I do. Believe her, I mean. â€Å"Good,† she says. â€Å"It would probably be better if you didn’t tell anybody. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to start getting things ready-â€Å" â€Å"Great. Tell me what you need me to do.† Her face clouds with trouble. â€Å"Adam,† she says. And there’s something about the way her lips form my name that makes me feel a little crazy†¦ like I want to throw my arms around her and race around the room at the same time. â€Å"I appreciate the offer. I really do. But it’s too dangerous. If I kill Drake-â€Å" â€Å"When you kill him,† I correct her. † – chances are, his father is going to show up,† she goes on, â€Å"looking for revenge. Maybe not tonight. And maybe not tomorrow. But soon. And when he does†¦ it isn’t going to be pretty. It’s going to be awful. A nightmare. It’s going to be-â€Å" â€Å"Apocalyptic,† I finish for her, a slight shiver going down my spine as I speak the word. â€Å"Yes. Yes, exactly.† â€Å"Don’t worry,† I say, ignoring the shiver. â€Å"I’m all set for that.† â€Å"Adam.† She shakes her head. â€Å"You don’t understand. I can’t-well, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to protect you. And I certainly can’t let you risk your life like that. It’s different for me, because-well, because of my mom. But you-â€Å" I stop her. â€Å"Just tell me what time I’m picking you up.† She stares at me. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Sorry,† I say. â€Å"But you’re not going to the prom by yourself. End of story.† And I must have looked really scary or something as I said it, because even though she opens her mouth to argue, she closes it again when she gets a look at my face, and only says, â€Å"Um. Okay.† Still, she has to add, â€Å"It’s your funeral,† just to have the last word. Which is fine with me. She can have the last word. Because I know now that I’ve found her: my future partner in the inevitable struggle to survive in post-apocalyptic America. Mary The music is pounding in time to my heartbeat. I can feel the bass in my chest-badoom, badoom. It’s hard to see across the room of writhing bodies, especially with the flickering light show coming down from the ballroom’s ceiling. But I know he’s here. I can feel him. And then I see him, moving across the dance floor toward me. He’s holding two glasses of bloodred liquid, one in either hand. When he gets close enough, he hands me one of the glasses, then says, â€Å"Don’t worry, it’s not spiked. I checked.† I don’t reply. I just sip the punch, grateful for the liquid-even if it is a little too sweet-because my throat is so dry. The thing is, I know I’m making a mistake. Letting Adam do this, I mean. But†¦ there’s something about him. I don’t know what it is. Something that sets him apart from all the rest of the dumb jocks in school. Maybe it’s the way he saved me back at the club when I lost my nerve, his shooting at Sebastian Drake-progeny of the devil himself-with a ketchup-filled squirt gun. Or maybe it’s the way he was so nice about my dad, not cracking any jokes about him being like Doc from the Back to the Future movies and even calling him sir. Or the way he picked up my mom’s photo like that and seemed so stunned when I told him the truth about her. Or maybe it’s just the way he looked when he showed up at quarter to eight this evening, so impossibly handsome in his tux-and even holding a red rose corsage for me†¦ despite that less than twenty-four hours ago, he hadn’t even known he was going to the prom (good thing tickets were available for sale at the door). Oh well. Dad was ecstatic, for once acting like a normal parent, snapping photos-â€Å"For your mother to see, when she’s better,† he kept saying-and trying to slip twenty-dollar bills into Adam’s hand, telling him to â€Å"treat Mary to an ice cream after the dance.† Which frankly made me decide I like Dad better when he never comes out of the lab. Still. I knew I was making a mistake by not sending Adam packing right away. This is no job for amateurs. This is†¦ this is†¦ †¦ beautiful. I mean, that’s how the ballroom looks. I almost gasped when I entered it on Adam’s arm. (He insisted. So we’d look like a â€Å"normal couple† if Drake was there already and watching.) The Saint Eligius Prep prom committee really outdid themselves this year. Securing the four-story grand ballroom at the Waldorf-Astoria was a feat all on its own, but transforming it into such a sparkling romantic wonderland? Miraculous. I just hope all those rosettes and streamers are fireproof. I’d hate to see them go up in the flames that are bound to appear when Drake’s corpse begins to self-conflagrate after I stab him in the chest. â€Å"So,† Adam says, as we stand on the edge of the dance floor, sipping our punch in a silence that’s-to be frank-quickly gotten a little uncomfortable. â€Å"How’s this going to go down, anyway? I don’t see your crossbow anywhere.† â€Å"I’m just going with a stake,† I say, showing him my leg through the slit up the side of my gown. I’d strapped a hand-carved piece of ash there, using Mom’s old thigh holster. â€Å"Keeping it sweet and simple.† â€Å"Oh,† Adam says, after choking on his punch a little. â€Å"Okay.† I realize he hasn’t looked away from my inner thigh. I hastily lower my skirt. And it occurs to me-for the first time-that Adam might be in this for reasons other than wanting to liberate his best friend’s girlfriend from the spell of a bloodsucking fiend. Except†¦ can such a thing even be possible? I mean, he’s Adam Blum. And I’m just the new girl. He likes me, sure, but he doesn’t like me. He can’t. I’ve probably only got about ten minutes left to live. Unless something radically alters what I’m pretty sure is about to go down. Blushing, I keep my gaze on the gyrating couples in front of us. Mrs. Gregory from U.S. History is one of the chaperones. She’s going around, trying to keep girls from grinding on their dates. She might as well try to keep the moon from rising. â€Å"It’d probably be best if you kept Lila busy,† I say, hoping he doesn’t notice that my cheeks are now as scarlet as my gown, â€Å"while I’m doing the staking. We don’t want her throwing herself in my path just to try to save him.† â€Å"That’s what I dragged Ted here for,† Adam says, nodding toward Teddy Hancock, who’s sitting slumped at a nearby table, looking out at the dance floor in a bored manner. Like the rest of us, he’s just waiting for Lila-and her date-to arrive. â€Å"Still,† I say. â€Å"I don’t want you anywhere near me when†¦ you know.† â€Å"I heard you the first nine million times you told me,† Adam mutters. â€Å"I know you can take care of yourself, Mary. You’ve made that abundantly clear.† I can’t help wincing a little. He’s not having a good time. I can tell. Well, so what? I didn’t ask him to come! He invited himself! This isn’t a date, anyway! It’s a slaying! He knew that from the outset. He’s the one changing the rules, not me. I mean, who am I kidding? I can’t date. I have a legacy to fulfill. I’m the exterminator’s daughter. I have to- â€Å"Want to dance?† Adam startles me by asking. â€Å"Oh,† I say, with some surprise. â€Å"I’d love to. But I really should-â€Å" â€Å"Great,† he says and takes me into his arms, steering me onto the dance floor. How to cite Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Five, Essay examples Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Five Free Essays What do you think you’re doing? she asked herself. Rhetorically, since she was already up the Snow-White-and-the-Seven-Dwarves-Do-Baby-Jesus neighbor’s tree and staring into the yard of the house where she’d left Sibby. I can’t wait to hear you say to the cops, â€Å"Yes, officer, I know I was trespassing but that woman was very suspicious because she was wearing false eyelashes. We will write a custom essay sample on Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Five or any similar topic only for you Order Now † With a full Creepy Cult costume. They just didn’t go. Plus she had a hole for a nose piercing. And a French manicure. Maybe she just has really big pores! And a love of dated manicures! She wasn’t what she was posing as. Is this about helping someone or having an excuse not to show up at prom and see Will with his face nuzzled in Ariel’s huge, soft- Shut up, U-Suck. I was going to say hair. You are so not funny. You are so not brave. There were two guys sitting in the backyard, leaning across a picnic table toward each other with a book between them, both in T-shirts and khakis and Teva sandals, one of them wearing thick black-framed glasses, the other one with a scraggly beard. They looked like two geeky college guys playing Dungeons and Dragons and sounded like it too when the one wearing glasses said, â€Å"That’s not how it works. It says in the Book of Rules she can’t see for herself, only for other people. You know, like genies with wishes, how they can’t grant their own.† Except they each had a large automatic rifle lying on the table next to them and Miranda could see shooting targets set up on the fence. So what? There are armed geeks. Maybe they’re Sibby’s protection. Go home. Sibby doesn’t need you. She’s fine. If she’s fine, why isn’t she out there trying to kiss the two boys? Miranda strained to hear something from inside the house but it was definitely soundproofed. A couple came out of sliding doors onto the patio away from the Geek Guys, a woman smoking a cigarette in short, tense puffs and a man. Miranda almost fell out of the tree when she recognized the woman as the cult lady, only now without the glasses, skirt, or sweater and with her hair down. Which doesn’t mean anything. The woman whispered, â€Å"We still need the girl to tell us the location, Byron.† â€Å"She will.† â€Å"She hasn’t yet.† â€Å"I told you, even if I can’t get her to talk, the Gardener can. He’s good at that.† The woman again: â€Å"I don’t like that he brought a partner. That wasn’t part of the plan. Does she get a cut-â€Å" The man called Byron cut her off. â€Å"Put that out and be quiet, we have company.† He pointed to the Geek Guys scrambling over to join them. The woman crushed her cigarette out under her foot and kicked it away. â€Å"Is She all right?† Bearded Geek asked breathlessly, pronouncing She like it should be capitalized. â€Å"Yes,† the man assured him. â€Å"She’s resting after her ordeal.† Oh, they could not be talking about Sibby. Ordeal? No way. â€Å"Has She said anything?† Glasses Geek asked. The man said, â€Å"Just expressed how very grateful She is to be here.† Miranda almost snorted. Bearded Geek said, â€Å"Will we be able to see Her?† â€Å"When the Transition happens.† The geeks wandered off in a blissful daze and Miranda decided this was the weirdest thing she’d ever seen. But it proved that Sibby was in no danger. These people clearly worshipped Her. Which meant it was time- â€Å"Why is he called the Gardener, anyway?† Fake Eyelash woman asked the man. â€Å"I believe because he’s good at pulling things out.† â€Å"Things?† â€Å"Teeth, nails. Joints. That’s how he gets people to talk.† – time to find Sibby. Miranda dropped out of the tree into the neighbor’s yard and found herself looking down the barrel of an automatic rifle. How to cite Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Five, Essay examples Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Five Free Essays â€Å"Thanks, Sheeb. Back at you.† Jezebel winked once, and then smiled wider until the black of her teeth seemed to envelop her entire face. We will write a custom essay sample on Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Five or any similar topic only for you Order Now She evaporated into the night. Sheba lingered in the dirty alley until the alluring scent of brimstone had faded away entirely, and then break time was over. Invigorated by the idea of joining the front lines, Sheba hurried back to her misery. The prom was in full swing, and everything was falling into place. Celeste was scoring high in her malicious game; she awarded herself a point for every girl who cried in a dark corner of the ballroom. Two points for every boy who threw a punch at a rival. All over the room, the seeds Sheba had planted were flowering. Hate was blooming alongside lust and rage and despair. A garden straight from hell. Sheba enjoyed it all from behind a potted palm. No, she couldn’t force the humans to do anything. They had their innate free will, and so she could only tempt, could only suggest. Little things-high heels and seams and minor muscle groups-she could manipulate physically, but she could never force their minds. They had to choose to listen. And tonight, they were listening. Sheba was on a roll, and she didn’t want any loose ends, so before she turned back to her most ambitious scheme-Cooper was pliant with intoxication now, ready for her direction-she sent her thoughts searching through the crowd for those small, annoying bubbles of happiness. No one was walking away from this prom unscathed. Not while Sheba had a spark in her body. Over there-what was this? Bryan Walker and Clara Hurst were staring dreamily into each other’s eyes, totally oblivious to the wrath and despair and bad music surrounding them, just enjoying each other’s company. Sheba considered her options and decided to have Celeste interfere. Celeste should enjoy that-nothing was more evilly fun than flaunting your power right in the face of a pure romance. Besides, Celeste listened to every suggestion Sheba fed her, entirely agreeable to any demonic scheme. Sheba continued with her evaluation before acting. Not too far away, Sheba found that she’d dropped the ball in an inexcusable fashion. Was that her own date, Logan, actually enjoying himself? Impossible. So, he’d found his Libby after all and they were both unacceptably happy. Well, that would be easy enough to rectify. She’d go reclaim her partner and send Libby running away in tears. Amateur and crude to intervene bodily†¦ Still, better that than let happiness win even one small battle. Sheba’s assessment was almost done. There was just one more tiny pocket of peace-not a couple this time; it was a lone boy wandering into the far end of the room from the hall. That annoying Gabe Christensen. Sheba scowled in his direction. What did he have to be happy about? He was rejected and alone. His date was the scourge of the prom. A normal boy would be full of rage or pain right now. But he insisted on making more work for her! Sheba inspected Gabe’s mind more closely. Hmm. Gabe wasn’t really happy. In fact, he was worrying intensely at the moment, searching for someone. Celeste was quite clearly in his view, writhing to a slow song with Rob Carlton (Pamela Green watched the display with shocked eyes, despair leaking deliciously into the air around her), but she wasn’t the source of Gabe’s worry. There was someone else he wanted to find. So he wasn’t happy-that wasn’t the sensation that had trespassed on Sheba’s atmosphere of misery. It was goodness itself that was exuding from this boy. Even worse. Sheba ducked behind the palm and pushed out with her thoughts. Smoke oozed from her nose. â€Å"Gabe.† Gabe shook his head absently and continued with his search. He’d waited half an hour as throngs of girls left the bathroom, drove after drove. Here and there Gabe had felt a weak pull, but nothing at all like that one girl’s raging, suffocating need. When three separate groups had all come and gone, Gabe had stopped Jill Stein to ask after the girl. â€Å"Black hair and a red dress? No, I didn’t see anyone like that in there. I think the bathroom is empty.† The girl must have slipped past him somehow. Gabe had just returned to the dance floor, brooding over the mystery girl. At least Bryan and Clara and Logan and Libby were having fun. That was good. The rest of the class seemed to be having an exceptionally nasty evening. And then, there it was again. Gabe’s head jerked up, feeling the desperation he’d been searching for. Where was she? Sheba hissed in frustration. The boy’s mind was entirely sober and singularly closed to her insidious voice. Well, that wasn’t going to stop her. She had other tools. â€Å"Celeste.† It was time the evil girl tormented her own date. Sheba leaned lightly on Celeste, suggesting that avenue. After all, Gabe was attractive by human standards. Certainly good enough for Celeste, whose standards were hardly rigorous. Gabe was tall and subtly muscular, with dark hair and symmetrical features. He had pale blue eyes that Sheba personally found a bit repulsive-they were so decidedly un-damned, almost heavenly, ugh! – but that appealed to mortal girls. It was looking into those clear eyes that had made Celeste say yes to this squeaky clean do-gooder’s invitation. Do-gooder, indeed. Sheba’s eyes narrowed. Gabe had already been on her list before he insisted on disregarding her here at the prom. This was the very boy who had ruined her plans for the lecherous math teacher-just a little bit of pre-prom fun Sheba had arranged in between making sure that everyone asked exactly the wrong person to the big dance. If Gabe hadn’t confronted Mr. Reese at a critical moment of temptation†¦ Sheba gritted her teeth and sparks flickered out of her ears. She would have ruined the man and the impossibly innocent girl, too. Not that Mr. Reese had had far to fall, but it would have been a fantastic scandal. And now the math teacher was being especially careful, made wary by those same sky-blue eyes. Feeling guilty, even. Considering counseling for his problem. Ugh! Gabe Christensen owed Sheba some misery. She would get her due. Sheba glared at Celeste, wondering why the girl had made no move toward her date. Celeste was still wrapped around Rob, enjoying Pamela’s pain. Enough fun! There was havoc to be wreaked. Sheba whispered suggestions in Celeste’s mind, nudging her in Gabe’s direction. Celeste shrugged away from Rob and glanced toward Gabe, who was still combing through the crowd with his gaze. Her brown eyes settled on his blue for just a second, and then she moved, cringed actually, back into Rob’s arms. Odd. Gabe’s light eyes seemed to be almost as repellent to the vicious blonde as they were to Sheba. Sheba leaned again, but Celeste-for once-shook her off, trying to distract herself from thoughts of Gabe with Rob’s eager lips. Baffled, Sheba cast around for another avenue to destroy the irritating boy, but she was interrupted by something much more important than one good human. Cooper Silverdale was simply quivering with rage on one side of the dance floor, glowering at Melissa and Tyson. Melissa had her head on Tyson’s shoulder and was oblivious to the smug grin Tyson aimed in Cooper’s direction. It was time to act. Cooper was considering another glass of punch to drown his pain, and he was much too close to passing out for Sheba to allow that. She focused on him, smoke at her ears, and Cooper realized dully that the green punch was revolting. He couldn’t stand any more. He threw his half-empty cup to the floor and turned back to glare at Tyson. She thinks I’m pathetic, said the voice in Cooper’s head. No, she doesn’t even think of me at all. But I can make it so shell never be able to forget me†¦ His head thick with alcohol, Cooper reached back and stroked his hand along the barrel of the gun under his jacket. Sheba held her breath. Sparks flew from her ears. And then, in that vital second, Sheba was distracted by the knowledge that someone was staring intensely at her own face. Here, in the ballroom, that same sucking need, pulling at him-someone drowning, shrieking for help. It had to be the same girl. Gabe had never felt anything so urgent in his life. His eyes raked desperately over the couples on the floor, but he couldn’t see her. He paced the edge of the floor, searching the faces of the people on the sidelines. She wasn’t there, either. He saw Celeste with yet another boy, but his eyes didn’t pause. If Celeste didn’t claim her ride home soon, there wasn’t much he could do about it. Someone else needed Gabe more. The need tugged at him again, yanked hard, and for a moment, Gabe wondered if he was going crazy. Maybe he’d only imagined the girl in the fiery dress. Maybe this sense of frenzied need was just the onset of some delusion. At that moment, Gabe’s seeking eyes found what they were searching for. Stepping around Heath McKenzie’s big sulking form, Gabe’s eyes locked on a tiny, but brilliant, red flash. There she was-half-hidden behind a fake tree, her earrings glinting like sparklers again-the girl in the red dress. Her dark eyes, deep as the pool he’d imagined her drowning in, met his. The vibrant need was an aura surrounding her. He didn’t have to think about moving toward her. There was probably no way he could have stopped himself if he’d wanted to. He was sure he’d never seen this girl before tonight; she was completely unfamiliar. Her dark, almond-shaped eyes were composed and careful, but at the same time they cried out to him. They were the focus of the need he felt. He could no more resist their plea than he could tell his heart to stop beating. She needed him. Sheba watched with disbelief as Gabe Christensen walked straight toward her. She saw her own face in his head and realized that the person Gabe had been looking for was†¦ Sheba. She allowed the brief distraction-knowing that Cooper was hers for the taking, that a few minutes’ time wouldn’t save him now-and rejoiced in the delicious irony. So Gabe wanted to be ruined by Sheba personally? Well, she would oblige him. It would make his misery even sweeter knowing that he’d chosen it himself. She straightened up in her hell-hound dress, letting it caress her figure suggestively. She knew what any human male would have to feel when he examined this dress. But the exasperating boy was focused on her eyes. It was dangerous to look straight into the eyes of a demoness. Humans who didn’t look away fast enough could get trapped there. And then they were stuck, pining after the demoness forever, burning for her†¦ Biting back a smile, Sheba met his gaze, staring deep into his sky-colored eyes. Silly human. Gabe stopped a few short feet from the girl, close enough that he wouldn’t have to shout over the loud music. He knew he was staring too intently-she would think he was rude, or some kind of freak. But she stared back, just as intent, her deep eyes probing his. He opened his mouth to introduce himself, when suddenly the girl’s careful expression melted into one of shock. Shock? Or horror? Her pale lips fell apart, and he heard a little gasp escape them. Her stiff posture crumpled, and she began to collapse. Gabe jumped toward her and caught her in his arms before she could fall. Sheba’s knees buckled when her fires went out. Her internal flame died, sucked dry, snuffed like a candle in a vacuum. The room was not so cold anymore, and she could smell nothing more than sweat, cologne, and stale, conditioned air. She could no longer taste the delicious misery she’d created. She couldn’t taste anything but her own dry mouth. But she could feel the strong arms of Gabe Christensen holding her up. The girl’s dress was soft and warm. Maybe that was the problem, Gabe thought as he pulled her toward him. Maybe the heat of the crowded room was too much combined with her heavy dress. Anxiously, Gabe brushed the silky hair away from her face. Her forehead seemed cool enough and her soft skin wasn’t clammy with sweat. All the while, her stunned eyes never wavered from his. â€Å"Are you okay? Can you stand? I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.† â€Å"I’m fine,† the girl said in a low, purring voice. Despite the purr, her voice was just as stunned as her eyes. â€Å"I†¦ I can stand.† She straightened up, but Gabe didn’t let her go. He didn’t want to. And she wasn’t pulling away. Her small hands had crept up to rest on his shoulders, like they were dancing partners. â€Å"Who are you?† she asked in that throaty voice. â€Å"Gabe-Gabriel Michael Christensen,† he elaborated with a grin. â€Å"And you are?† How to cite Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Five, Essay examples Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Five Free Essays â€Å"Will died, Frankie,† she said. â€Å"The fall, the way he landed†¦ he didn’t make it.† â€Å"I’m sorry†¦ what?† â€Å"Chen is on his way to get you. We will write a custom essay sample on Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Five or any similar topic only for you Order Now You’ll stay with us, yes? As long as you want.† â€Å"No,† I said. â€Å"I mean†¦ I don’t†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The box of waffles fell from my hand. â€Å"Will didn’t die. Will couldn’t have died?† â€Å"Frankie,† she said, her voice infinitely sad. â€Å"Please don’t say that,† I said. â€Å"Please don’t sound so†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I didn’t understand how to make my mind work. â€Å"I know you loved him. We all did.† â€Å"Just wait† I said. â€Å"Spray painting? Will doesn’t spray paint. That’s something a pothead would do, not Will.† â€Å"Let’s get you to the house. We’ll talk about it then.† â€Å"But what was he spray painting? I don’t understand!† Mrs. Yomiko didn’t answer. â€Å"Let me speak to Yun Sun,† I pleaded. â€Å"Please! Put on Yun Sun!† There was a muffled exchange. Yun Sun came back on. â€Å"I’ll tell you,† she said. â€Å"But you don’t want to know.† A cold feeling spread over me, and suddenly, I didn’t want to know. â€Å"He was spray painting a message. That’s what he was up there doing.† She hesitated. â€Å"It said, ‘Frankie, will you go to prom with me? â€Å" I sank to the floor, next to a box of waffles. Why was there a box of waffles on the kitchen floor? â€Å"Frankie?† Yun Sun said. Tinny, faraway sound. â€Å"Frankie, are you there?† I didn’t like that tinny sound. I pressed the Off button to make it go away. Will was buried in the Chapel Hill Cemetery. I sat, numb, through the funeral, which was closed-coffin because Will’s body was too mangled to be viewed. I wanted to say good-bye, but how did you say good-bye to a box? At the grave site, I watched as Will’s mother threw a handful of dirt into the hole where Will lay. It was horrible, but the horror felt distant and unreal. Yun Sun squeezed my hand. I didn’t squeeze back. It rained that evening, a gentle spring shower. I imagined the ground, damp and cool around Will’s coffin. I thought of Fernando, whose skull Madame Zanzibar had liberated after his coffin shifted in the wet earth. I reminded myself that the east side of the cemetery, where Will was buried, was newer, with tidy landscaping. And of course there were modern ways of digging graves now, more efficient than men with shovels. Will’s coffin wouldn’t come undug. It was impossible. I stayed with Yun Sun for nearly two weeks. My parents were called, and they offered to return from Botswana. I told them no. What good would it do? Their presence wouldn’t bring Will back. At school, for the first few days, kids talked in hushed tones and stared at me as I passed. Some thought it was romantic, what Will did. Others thought it was stupid. â€Å"A tragedy† was the phrase most often used, spoken in mournful tones. As for me, I haunted the halls like the living dead. I would have ditched, but then I’d have been corralled by the counselor and forced to talk about my feelings. Which wasn’t going to happen. My grief was my own, a skeleton that would rattle forever within me. One week after Will’s death, and exactly one week before prom, kids started talking less about Will and more about dresses and dinner reservations and limos. A sallow girl from Will’s chemistry class got upset and said prom should be canceled, but others argued no, prom must go on. It’s what Will would have wanted. Yun Sun and I were consulted, since we were his best friends. (And since I, though they didn’t say it, was the girl he died for.) Yun Sun’s eyes welled with tears, but after a shaky moment, she said it would be wrong to ruin everyone’s plans, that sitting home and mourning wouldn’t do anyone any good. â€Å"Life goes on,† she said. Her boyfriend, Jeremy, nodded. He put his arm around her and drew her close. Lucy, president of the prom committee, placed her hand over her heart. â€Å"So true,† she said. She turned to me with an overly solicitous expression. â€Å"What about you, Frankie? Do you think you could get behind it?† I shrugged. â€Å"Whatever.† She embraced me, and I staggered. â€Å"Okay, guys, we’re on!† she called, bounding across the commons. â€Å"Trixie, back to work on the cherry blossoms. Jocelyn, tell the Paper Affair lady we need a hundred blue streamers and don’t take no for an answer!† On the afternoon of the dance, two hours before Jeremy was due to pick up Yun Sun, I crammed my stuff in my duffel bag and told her I was going home. â€Å"What?† she said. â€Å"No!† She put down a hot roller. Her makeup lay in front of her on her vanity, her Babycakes body glitter and Dewberry lip gloss, and her dress hung over the hook of her open bathroom door. It was lilac, with a sweetheart neckline. It was gorgeous. â€Å"It’s time,† I said. â€Å"Thank you for letting me stay so long†¦ but it’s time.† Her mouth turned down. She wanted to argue, but she knew it was true. I wasn’t happy here. That in itself wasn’t the issue-I wasn’t going to be happy anywhere-but moping around the Komikos’ house was making me feel trapped and making Yun Sun feel helpless and guilty. â€Å"But it’s prom,† Yun Sun said. â€Å"Won’t that be weird, being alone in your house on the night of prom?† She came over to me. â€Å"Stay till tomorrow. I’ll be quiet when I come in, I swear. And I promise not to go on and on about†¦ you know. The after-parties and who hooked up and who passed out in the girls’ bathroom.† â€Å"You should get to go on about that stuff, though,† I said. â€Å"You should stay out as late as you want and come in as loudly as you want and be giddy and spazzy and all that.† Unexpectedly, my eyes filled with tears. â€Å"You should, Yun Sun.† She touched my arm. I pulled away, but in what I hoped was an unobvious manner. â€Å"So should you, Frankie,† she said. â€Å"Yeah†¦ well.† I heaved my bag over my shoulder. â€Å"Call me any time,† she said. â€Å"I’ll keep my cell on, even at the dance.† â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"And if you change your mind, if you decide you want to stay-â€Å" â€Å"Thanks.† â€Å"Or even if you decide to come to prom! We all want you there-you know that, right? It doesn’t matter that you don’t have a date.† I winced. She didn’t mean it the way it sounded, but it most certainly did matter that I didn’t have a date, because that date would have been Will. And I didn’t have him not because he liked another girl or was suffering from a terrible case of the flu, but because he was dead. Because of me. â€Å"Oh God,† Yun Sun said. â€Å"Frankie†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I waved her off. I didn’t want any more touching. â€Å"It’s all right.† We stood in a bubble of awkwardness. â€Å"I miss him, too, you know,† she said. I nodded. Then I left. I returned to my empty house to find that the electricity was out. Perfect. This happened more often than it should have: Afternoon thunderstorms threw tree branches into the transformers, and entire neighborhoods lost power for several hours. Or the power would go out for no reason. Maybe too many people had their air conditioners on and the circuits overloaded, that was my theory. Will’s theory was ghosts, ha ha ha. â€Å"They’ve come to spoil your milk,† he’d say in a spooky voice. Will. My throat tightened. I tried not to think about him, but it was impossible, so I let him exist there with me in my mind. I fixed myself a peanut butter sandwich, which I didn’t eat. I went upstairs and lay on my bed without turning down the covers. Shadows deepened. An owl hooted. I stared at my ceiling until I could no longer make out the spider-web cracks. In the dark, my thoughts went places they shouldn’t. Fernando. Madame Zanzibar. You’re just like all the rest, aren’t you? Desperate for a heart-stopping romance? It was that very desperation that gave birth to my stupid Madame Zanzibar plan and even stupider wish. That’s what prodded Will into action. If only I’d never taken the damn corsage! I bolted upright. Oh my God-the damn corsage! I grabbed my cell and held down the â€Å"three,† Yun Sun’s speed dial. ?One? was for Mom and Dad; ?two? was for Will. I still hadn’t deleted his name, and now I wouldn’t have to. â€Å"Yun Sun!† I cried when she answered. â€Å"Frankie?† she said. â€Å"S.O.S.† by Rihanna blared in the background. â€Å"Are you okay?† â€Å"I’m fine,† I said. â€Å"Better than fine! I mean, the power’s out, it’s pitch-black, and I’m all alone, but whatever. I won’t be for long.† I giggled and fumbled my way into the hall. â€Å"Huh?† Yun Sun said. More noise. People laughing. â€Å"Frankie, I can hardly hear you.† â€Å"The corsage. I’ve got two wishes left!† I jogged downstairs, zinging with glee. â€Å"Frankie, what are you-â€Å" â€Å"I can bring him back, don’t you get it? Everything will be good again. We can even go to prom!† How to cite Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Five, Essay examples

Selfishness Versus Selflessness free essay sample

Selfishness is seen as someone who is self absorbed, negligent on the needs of others, and only cares for oneself. Selflessness, on the other hand, is otherwise. I understood the reason why people are selfless because acts of kindness towards other people feel good. Selfless people tend to do it because of the rewards they reap after feeding the hungry, donating money, etc. They feel good about themselves. Isn’t that a selfish trait? The person did the good deed because he/she cared for himself ultimately. To get the feel good feeling he/she has to do something for others. The act selfishness came in the form of reaching out to others. The movie, somewhat, shed some light regarding the dichotomy. William Wilberforce, a white and rich merchant, sacrificed his health to focus all his energy to his cause. What benefit can he reap from the abolition of the slave trade? He can get the good feeling of selflessness in other forms. We will write a custom essay sample on Selfishness Versus Selflessness or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He could have stayed in his manor and continue living as an elite. Instead, he took the cause and fought it with his life. He faced too many hurdles, yet his spirit and passion were as fiery from day one. It took him more than a decade to forward this cause. Many were lost but too much were to be gained. This act freed thousands of Africans and freed the future generations from the pit of slavery. At the end of the day, William felt good when the bill of abolition of slavery was passed. In exchange of this good feeling came a price of his deteriorating health. Maybe this will be my new definition of selflessness. You are selfless if you something good in return you give up something of value. Maybe†¦

What Your Digital Content is Missing and What it Could Cost You

If a company writes a blog post and no one reads it, does it really exist? In the digital age, the amount of content your company produces for websites, blogs and social media are not nearly as important as the impact it creates in terms of views, traffic and shares. The degree to which your content has an impact will depend on a number of factors including its relevance, its originality and whether or not it is compelling for your target audience. If your blog traffic is stagnant and your social media blasts aren’t making the rounds online, what might your content be missing? Here are a few elements you need to keep in mind to create impactful content. Ensure It’s Relevant and Timely Simply put, content needs to be relevant for your target audience and be available at the right time. For example, the last thing people probably want to read about in May is a deal on shovels or tips on how to prepare for winter. People are probably more concerned about planting their garden or planning their summer vacations and you likely won’t get many readers, traffic or sales from your winter-themed posts. Make sure to do research and determine what specifically your users are interested in at different times of year and where they are looking for that information so you can be ready with the right content at the right time in the right place. The Long and Short of it There is much debate as to the optimal length for online content. Some will tell you to never go over 500 words while others strongly support the need for extensive and detailed content. But the truth is, you need a mixture of both. Make it Sharable If you are hoping to get your content shared amongst your audience, there are a few things to consider when developing this content. These include a compelling title, the type of content you choose, the way it is organized, where and when you publish, images and calls-to-action. You can find more information on these topics here. However, if you are not designing your content strategy to fit your specific audience, none of these things will help increase the reach of your content. If you give your audience what they want, they will end up doing to leg work for you. Be Emotional People need to be intrigued and entertained. Fractl explains that while an emotional response to your content is a good thing, some emotions are better then others at encouraging your audience to share. The top five shareable content emotions are amusement, interest, surprise, happiness and delight. Take advantage of these findings and bump up your audience’s interest and willingness to share. What Bad Content Could Cost You When you ignore these valuable lessons you may be missing out on more than just entertaining your audience. Having less engaging content means you will: Be less likely to have content shared on social media Have decreased online visibility Have lower brand awareness Have reduced sales Companies and marketers who miss these details and concepts in their digital content are less likely to have their content read and less likely to have it shared on social media. Take the time to get to know your audience and figure out what content they would be most interested in reading. Those who can do this well will be rewarded with more online visibility and brand awareness, which can translate into increased sales.

How to Make Academic Posters

How to Make Academic Posters How to Produce an Effective Academic Poster The aim of academic posters is to share information at conferences, seminars, and exhibitions. They can tell about some complex issues, and thus it is essential that the information on them is well-organized, readable, and eye-catching. While creating a poster, it is critical to take care not only about its visual appearance but also about its content. Main approaches to producing college posters Approach 1 One-piece method involves creating a poster in one large piece. The design is elaborated by means of different software applications, such as Microsoft Powerpoint. It is usually performed in A3 or A4 size and after that is enlarged at the printout stage. Approach 2 Panel method The distributed poster space is broken down into some separate panels. It can be comprised of such elements as text, images, tables, or titles. Standard word-processor and presentation software are the best tools for this method. The panel method can be flexibly used and adjusted to changing layouts. This approach is attention-grabbing and makes your poster distinct from the rest. Steps to Creating a Poster Step One Deciding on the content The first step is to understand your assignment and identify the type of information that you will use in your poster. These questions may come in handy:What is the purpose of your poster to present findings, put forward an argument, persuade an audience, or endorse a product? Who is interested in your poster? What is your audience searching for elaborate information or a concise summary? Where will your poster be displayed? Is there any instruction with the defined content of your poster?Step Two Drawing an outline Having defined the content of your poster, you should think of the way your information will be displayed. By drawing an outline, you can wisely use the space allocated. Structure Your structure must be comprehensible and logical so that viewers could easily follow the flow of information in your poster. To provide a readable flow of information, consider mapping out your poster on a grid system. Creating your poster design Having laid out the parts of your poster, you need to print out roughs of the text, use scissors, and glue to cut things out. It will help you to apply different sequences and spacings to see the exact quantity of information required for an efficient display. Step Three Creating your final poster Having decided on the location of your information, you can start working on your final poster. To achieve good results, you need to be knowledgeable about some design principles of organizing your material. Sticking to them will secure you a good feedback from your teacher. How to Create a Powerpoint Template? Once you are done with writing your text, you need to think of its presentation. There are 5 key points to take care of:Font. Pick a font that is readable from a great distance. Most of the usual fonts are appropriate for this (e.g. Helvetica, Palatino, Times). Avoid applying too many fonts since it can look scruffy. Two is a happy medium; one for the headings and one for the main information. Type size. Keep in mind that your poster will be viewed by people standing at around a meter away and thus the text should be easily read at a distance. Apply large type sizes (24 and 36 points). Titles and headings should be more sizeable than your main text. Try to minimize the number of type sizes. Otherwise, your paper will look awkward. Line spacing or leading. Applying one and a half or double spacing between lines makes your poster design more legible. Alignment. Most word-processing packages enable you to align your text in various ways on the page; you can choose between left, right, center, and justified. Try not to resort to alignments since it can sometimes look out of place. Left aligned is the best to read, especially when applying a large type. Case. Text in UPPER CASE is hard to read, even being very close to the presentation, and thus it is better to avoid it.Color pattern Colors can make poster design appear in a new light, and provide you with a new method of underlining some aspects of your information. Pick colors that correspond to each other so that they do not distract from the information in your poster. Do not apply a miscellany of colors, otherwise, your poster will look messy. Diagrams Presenting your information on a poster enables you to show your data in a riveting and creative way. Think of how you can improve your poster by means of pictures, tables, charts, or photos. The insertion of even one well-chosen picture can significantly make your audience more interested in your poster. Step Four Presenting your poster Poster presentations can be performed in many ways. You may be asked to stand near your poster, conversing with people as they browse and answering questions about the information you presented. Also, your poster can be just a part of a general display. You can come up with some ways of helping interested viewers to take information away from your poster: making printed A4 copies of one-piece posters or short summaries of panel posters are indeed efficient ways of communicating your information. Summary Creating academic posters is an extremely effective way of putting across information to a great majority of people. However, it can be quite challenging to create a poster that is both visually attractive and informative. Still, if you take pains to make an engaging and interesting poster, you are certain to reap outstanding results.

Uncouth, Unkempt, and Unwieldy

Uncouth, Unkempt, and Unwieldy Uncouth, Unkempt, and Unwieldy Uncouth, Unkempt, and Unwieldy By Maeve Maddox Most negative English adjectives that begin with un- have a familiar antonym. For example: unhappy / happy unlucky / lucky unsuspecting / suspecting ungenerous / generous This post is about three adjectives whose positive forms are rarely used in modern English. uncouth: Awkward and uncultured. Examples of current usage of uncouth: The Malawi government has branded  pop  star Madonna an uncouth bully who exaggerates her charitable work in the country. After considering the likes of refined English actors such as Cary Grant and David Niven, the producers cast Sean Connery as Bond in the film. Fleming was appalled at the selection of the uncouth, 31-year-old Scottish actor, considering him to be the antithesis of his character.   The adjective couth (â€Å"known, familiar†) was very common in Old English. One spoke of â€Å"couth lands† and â€Å"couth customs† meaning â€Å"known lands† and â€Å"familiar customs.† The word couth came to mean cultured, genteel. Nowadays, when speakers use the word couth, it is with the latter meaning, but with self-consciously humorous intent. The second of these two examples of current usage of couth transforms the adjective into a noun: Well, orcs arent human, and I would suppose that they arent as  couth  as humans are. Im reminded that junior high  boys  are  not  known for their  couth. unkempt: uncombed (of hair, wool, etc.); neglected, not cared for, untrimmed. Here are examples of modern usage of unkempt: How can they let [NCIS character Deek] on camera with that  unkempt  mop? The role as a loudmouth  unkempt  woman easily was her finest personal performance to date. Criminals are attracted to  neighborhoods  that appear dirty or  unkempt. In Old English, kempt was a past form of cemban, â€Å"to comb.† In modern English, kempt is occasionally used humorously to mean combed or neat, as in the following examples: Ive had more  kempt looking  pros  change  the oil in my Maserati. [The apartment] is occasionally a little  messy but  not unkempt. Semi-kempt? His plaid shirt was half-untucked, and his usually kempt  comb-over was flying wildly into the air. unwieldy: Difficult to control, guide, move, manipulate, etc., by virtue of size, shape, or weight. In modern usage, the adjective unwieldy is applied to things, like tools or weapons, but originally, it referred to people. A â€Å"wieldy person† was nimble and had the agility to handle a weapon with skill. Although wieldy doesn’t make much of a showing in COCA or the Ngram Viewer, it is used in serious contexts. Wieldy is a brand name for a line of camera accessories, and the word is at home in discussions of tools and software: Is the handle attached separately or is the whole slicer and handle cast together as one piece?  It’s all one piece, and extremely wieldy. The great thing about the SKS was it could drop people at distance but you could also get up close and do well, partly because of the high fire-rate but also because it feels extremely wieldy.   Yes, I know – it’s hard to imagine anything bigger than 10 inches to be considered wieldy enough for practical use. Of the three supposed antonyms of uncouth, unkempt, and unwieldy, couth continues to be a word that provokes amusement, wieldy sounds like a â€Å"real† word, and- judging by this example I found in a blog about wedding planning, kempt may be slipping back into serious usage: You should make sure that your facial hair is neat and  kempt. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely?20 Pairs of One-Word and Two-Word FormsShore It Up

Service-Learning or AIDS WALK Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Service-Learning or AIDS WALK Experience - Essay Example The community received students with a perspective of professionals who had a purpose. Young and old, youth and elderly, the community members, enjoyed seeing the students walk from one corner to another attending to the sick, advising, teaching and activating for a better health in the society. To the students, they had a chance to explore the community needs and wants, apply the class work to practical service to the community and employ their skills in service delivery. The participants arrived at the starting point on time and were issued with T-shirts with the writings, â€Å"AIDS is Real† and â€Å"Anyone can be a victim†. The T-shirts were issued to all the people who had already bought their tickets to participate in the walk. We all were required to pay $ 20 per person to acquire the ticket. It seemed that people had bought the tickets in plenty since the walk attracted more than two thousand people. Everyone seemed jovial to participate in the walk. This walk was aimed at sensitizing the public about AIDS and raise money to assist AIDS victims. The walk started at 10 am and lasted for four hours. We all walked through the city streets in unison and felt as though we were a community. The walk organizers provided all the participants with bottled water and energy drinks, in the course of the walk. This walk had incorporated nearly all the celebrities and other public figures. As we all walked and ran through the city, the national army band thrilled all passersby and the participants. The band played lovely songs that motivated people to continue walking. At the end of the walk, we all converged at the City Hall grounds where the partners and facilitators took us through ways on how we should treat AIDS victims and how we should relate to them. At the start of the AIDS Walk, the participants had formed opinions about the service, partners and personal abilities. Most of the participants thought that the service targeted a specific ethnic group and that it was a disease for gay people. Needless to say, other participants had a mistaken assumption that the partners should help reduce the prevalence of AIDS through the use of drugs alone. The participants also had the misconception that people should not interact with AIDS victims. This makes AIDS victims feel alienated from the society making it extremely difficult for them to open up and share AIDS opinions with the public. Moreover, the participants underestimated their abilities before the start of the walk. Walking 10 kilometers seemed impossible to many of the participants, but they were all surprised. In addition, most of the participants believed that they lacked personal attributes of relating well with AIDS victims. After the walk, all the assumptions held by the participants were proved wrong. Notably, we all gained personal skills on how to treat and relate with AIDS victims. In essence, the students who engage in service learning gain the practical skills and their contexts to provide back to the community the learned skills as services in response to any identified community concerns. The aim of Service learning is to attain equilibrium between service and goals of learning (seifer 1988). This objective fosters critical thinking and ensures there is a connection between theory and experience or practice. The facilitators and the partners noted that AIDS was not a disease for a particular ethnic group and that anyone can be a victim. They cleared the air by indicating that

Self Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Self Analysis - Essay Example In this regard, upon close review and evaluation of the skills honed and improved from the course modules, I am hereby detailing the personal progress made in writing through the student learning outcomes and written communication hallmarks, as required. Effective writing needs more than rules to compose a fairly effective essay. Rules are merely practical guides that give the writer direction and focus on the concepts and theories which he already has a competent grasp of. Writing, to be effective, has to consider other factors such as the audience or the reader, the writing process itself, and even the elements of communication. This course enabled me to be exposed to effective writing structures composed to suite various purposes and readers. Thereby, I put a score of 9. 2) Engage in a writing process that includes exploring ideas, considering multiple points of view, developing and supporting a thesis, revising with the help of peer and instructor feedback, editing, and proofreading. One of the rules in effective writing is to always check your work for accuracy and completeness. This is always true. The method of seeking the assistance of peers and the instructor for feedback is effective in evaluating and reviewing my work. Due to the fast pace of work that needs to be completed on time, there are also tendencies to fail checking the accuracy and completeness once work is accomplished. Contemporary writing already provides appropriate utilization of technology to facilitate checking; the grammar and spelling check provided in Word software programs used for typing and encoding, recognize the need to change and edit words which are not properly punctuated. However, it is still effective to use peer review and instructor’s comments for second and third opinions regarding the ideas explored and compliance to required structure. The feedback mechanism is critical in making corrective actions in cases of weaknesses and mistakes. This tool is

Social Media and Social Issues Essay Example for Free

Social Media and Social Issues Essay A study on the role of social media in shaping and publicizing Social issues Mohana Sudhan Mayilsamy, Assistant Professor, School of Communication, Dr. G. R. Damodaran College of Science, Avinashi Road, Coimbatore 641014. e-mail:[emailprotected] com, Mobile: 9944223455, Fax: 0422-2591865. Abstract Social media, especially social Networking Sites are turning up as an essential mode of interactive and informing media in the recent past. Especially, it is being considered as a platform for both promotion and publicizing social issues. But, the credibility and the truth of the news travelling in the networks as blogs and posts is a debatable issue. The paper starts with examining the powers enjoyed by the social networking sites and social media in the controlling the mass, uncategorized audience as well the informed citizens. Focus group observation method has been employed and analysis of the media in content handling have been done despite the rules and regulations imposed by the self-regulatory bodies in India and the loopholes present. With the findings the author concludes the need for a regulation of content in social media and a code of conduct for content management in Indian scenario. Key Words: Media, Social Networking Sites, Media effects, Social Media, Opinion seeking Introduction to the study: Do we rule the media or the media rules us? Has always been the question of researchers in media and in common users of media as well. The prophecy â€Å"Medium is the message† by Marshall McLuhan, gives a clear picture of how media has been ruling us and is ruling even now though the communication tools change, and he has emphasised this in many of his works including the Global village concept to technological determinism, where media plays a major role in deciding the content and ideology of users and not the users. But with the advent of advanced technologies and interactive devices, wiz, computer, mobiles and the increasing usage of Internet and other communication technologies, communication has got a radical change. Each and every day, yet another new technology is being diffused into the minds of the people every day and even people keep on getting used to all the technologies. The gratifications approach has been found valid for the day, as people select media in a wide spread manner. Social Networking Sites, an outcome of interactive services offered by social media and communicative tools like Internet and intranet have brought the world too handy, enabling people to interact and discuss virtually. A share in a social networking site can reach hundreds even millions in time depending upon the connectivity of the users. This makes people getting flattered on the networking sites and makes them spend hours and hours hanging over the net. It offers various services like e-mailing, instant messaging, sharing photos and videos, make friends and so on. With the increase in its need and usage, the information flowing in the Social Networking Sites is unpredictable. The content travelling in the social media is very vast and in an uncontrollable way, thereby creating a non-centred authority to control news. The news gets its own form in the media as it delineates to people and gets a different perspective and form as it reaches the end user. This makes Social Networking sites, a threat to harmony in society. Maybe they are perceived as elements of social elevation, but it depends on the audience it reaches. If the audiences are well informed and are able to take a good decision, then the flow of news would not be a problem, but since social networking sites are being used by diversified audience, there should be a control imposed over the content to have a good and healthy environment in the country and make it stable in development. Social Media: The term  Social Media  refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies in communication and making it interactive. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein, define social media as a group of Internet-based applications that allow the creation and exchange of  user-generated content†. Social media is rather a media for social interaction, than social communication. Equipped with modern technologies and speedy Internetworking, social media has changed the way of communication between people, groups and organisations too. There are various categories of social media which includes online magazines, Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs and Social Networking forums. Further Kaplan and Haenlein categorises Social media into six types, namely, collaborative projects, likewise Wikipedia, blogs and microblogs likewise twitter, content communities like Youtube, social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut, virtual game worlds and virtual social worlds. Among them Social Networking sites have become the most popular and highly used media as it provides more chances for Interactivity and presence. It is also being used as a marketing tool to market ideas, products, as well business. Social Networking Sites: Social networking sites, commonly abbreviated as SNS, are the interactive websites and forums that allow users to maintain an account, create a profile, find friends, chat, interact, conduct discussions, ask questions and so on. They act as a platform between users to share ideas of their own to the known and unknown, as per their wish. Social Networking sites, hit India with the increased number of Indian immigrants to the entire globe for employment. It arose as a tool for communicating with their families, and later on with the increased usage of technologies, it became a part and parcel of day to day life. We can easily say that there are hardly 10 out of 100, without at least an account in any of the social networking sites. Facebook – a general introduction: Facebook presents a lot many features and is being listed as the first in social networking sites on usage. It is basically a forum started in a university to keep in track with the friends and alumni and soon the interactive features, that it provided and the regular usage of people made it an eminent site. Soon it fore run social networking giants Orkut and yahoo that where dominant in India and has a membership of more than 800 million active users throughout the world. It allows the users to connect with people they know or do not know, share photos and videos of themselves or general interest, post comments and update any information as stories and comments, and comment and give opinions on others inputs. The ethical concerns noticed are Invasion of Privacy, dissemination of information without consent, unknown affiliation and so on. The status in India: Taking the case of India, the Social Networking sites are taking a new form and are becoming the lobby for people to hang out and discuss on various issues, ranging from personal to public, make posts and opinions on various social concerns and create pages on whatever issues they wish to. But this is going to a level that anyone can write or post any material on an issue without the approval of either the administrator of the networking site or the Government and transport down to any user of the network despite the user is a friend or not, through public postings. This poses a threat to the privacy of the users and also the news that gets transported. It takes a new form at every user’s page depending upon the understanding of the user on the issue. This increases the diversion of the perspective of the news. The most important social Networking sites in India based on their usage are Facebook, Twitter, Orkut and MySpace. A recent study in the UK showed that most Britons have a strong desire for the regulation of social network sites like MySpace and Facebook. In fact, 9 out of 10 people said there should be tighter regulation and, according to  The Guardian, 89% said there should be a set of widely accepted rules to help prevent personal information from being abused. – An article by Bobbie Johnson, Technology correspondent, The Guardian. With Social Media playing a major role in India, and especially Social Networking Sites, acting as monsters in the media arena, and as catalysts in determining the social issues, people who use these media are not mere demographies and rather perspective targets of the messages travelling in Media. So they need to be approached as careful as possible and since each and everyone differ in ideologies and conceptual, utmost attention should be paid in transferring news that help in decision making. Objective of the study: The study aims at understanding the media content that has always been a debatable issue ever since its inception. It is the final output which reaches the audience as the face of media. Various media disseminate the same content at the same point if time in various formats, under various control factors. Here, the aspects various controls and various formats determine the content, controls more on a large and aspects on a lesser part. Because, the amount of control decides what the message should be and what it cannot be. In the context of social media, which has tremendous feathers waving along 360 degrees, content management is a tedious process. That too, in a country like India, with diversified users of media, with a diversified mindset, content can be a dangerous thing, if it is not taken due care of. For example, we can quote the Anna Hazares IAC campaign, which gained the utmost interest of the social media, and has been listed as the best discussed topic of the year in the Facebook. India, as a democratic country has vested its own citizens with the Right to Speech and expression, but on the other hand, those rights are limited to the extent where the harmony and peace of the country is not disturbed. Social Networking Sites, because of the freedom they provide, intuit people to speak on all the news they wish and give chances for opinion by anyone, no matter whether they are aware of the topic or not. This may account to false perception of any News by the society and can bring in confusions and problems to the society. This does not mean that there should be restriction on using the sites, which can account to anti – democratic, but there needs a monitor over the information that flows in the Net, so that there can be a check over what can be discussed and what need not be. Theoretical perspective: The study works on the theory of Media effects finds its impact on the study and in specific, Catharsis effects and Reinforcement theory holds well. The theory goes as follows: Reinforcement theory  is one of the limited effects media model applicable. The theory generally states that people seek out and remember information that provides cognitive support for their pre-existing attitudes and beliefs. The central assumption of the theory stated that people do not like to be wrong and often feel uncomfortable when their beliefs are challenged. The theory of Catharsis effects also applies to the impact of media on user attitude behaviour. The term â€Å"catharsis† is derived from the Greek word ‘katharsis’ which means cleansing, purging, or purification. In the way, the theory is used in communication research, it implies that the execution of an aggressive action under certain conditions diminishes the aggressive drive and therefore reduces the likelihood of further aggressive actions. Secondly, the theory of Media advocacy also holds good for the study. Media advocacy is a sort of development communication, which involves the strategic use of media in shaping public opinions, mobilising community activities and in influencing decision makers in policy change. It shifts the focus of an issue from persona frame to social frame. Since Media advocacy stresses on policy change, it always confronts interaction with power vested authorities and hence it has the following advantages: i. Since media advocacy is always focused in gaining access to news than advertising it is highly cost effective and the users need not spend more on promotion of ideas and issues. ii. The effects of public policy are long lasting. They set the standards for the expected change, and transform it down to more number of users for a long period of time. Hence , though Media advocacy is involves planning, skill sets, creativity and also long time commitment, it is preferred more in addressing public issues on a major. Sometimes, Media also needs advise where it lags behind and need to be changed. The media academicians stand as the resource providers when media needs an advice and change. Methodology used: Content analysis of the social networking sites, has been done to analyse where some social networking sited go wrong and fail to cater to the needs, security and safety of the data and content of the society. This has been taken as a primary data which is further analysed and some predominant flaws in the dominant Social Networking Sites were exposed. A panel discussion on â€Å"The Need for a National Media Policy† to regulate the content and functioning of all the media including print, electronic and Internet and Social Networking Sites was conducted to analyse the trend prevailing in Media, and the situations that create the need for a National Policy on Media in India were arrived at. This was carried out with an expert panel of five members from various industries of media with around seventy five media students from various colleges as participants and was also allowed to interact and give their inputs wherever needed. Intensive observation method has been applied for analysis of the transmission of news in SNS. A sample size of fifty respondents comprising of teachers and media students who have a base knowledge of news and society is selected and were posted a question and asked to give opinions on that. Then the responses with the comments were again posted in for discussion and the results were analysed based on the parameters set and analysis was done. Outcome of the study: The content analysis of Social Networking Sites arrived at the below mentioned flaws prevalent as well with some earlier cases that were stated as the disadvantages of Social Networking Sites. I. Lack of Identity of users: There is no strict measure in verifying the real identity of the users in all the Social Networking Sites. So, anyone can own any number of accounts in a single SNS, provided they have an additional e-mail id. This in turn also does not look for any identity verifications. This shows the lag of control over the identity of the user and hence cannot execute actions or take action on ignorant people, which may lead to causalities. The case carried by The Times of India, reveals that how a genuine person has been under custody of the court for around 55 days. Lakshman Kailash, employed as software engineer by HCL and a resident of Kodihalli gets arrested in Bangalore on August 31, 2007 under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and spends 50 days at Yerawada Jail in Pune. He is charged with defaming Chatrapathi Shivaji, one of the founders of the Maratha Empire, by allegedly uploading an insulting picture of the latter on Orkut, a social networking site (SNS). This was based on the complaint filed by a Pune resident, Dhiraj Ramchandra Ghate, the Pune Police arrests Kailash apparently based on his IP address through Airtel, his Internet service provider. However, they later learn that one Kiran Reddy, a resident of Bangalore, was the actual culprit. After the intervention of the State Human Rights Commission of Maharashtra, the police set Kailash free. This can show the level of trauma, the convicted would have underwent, when he was in jail, and this is a single incident and if there would have been identity of the members in all SNS, this would have been avoided. II. Invasion of Privacy: Case I Facebook has had a lot many issues regarding Invasion of privacy ever since beginning. You can protect your data to general public users but cannot narrow down to the level of protecting them from being viewed by your friends. Facebook explicitly states their restrictions and user expectations of user content in their terms of use. In particular, Facebook does not allow users to in any way make available any content that we deem to be harmful, threatening, unlawful, defamatory, infringing, abusive, inflammatory, harassing, vulgar, obscene, fraudulent, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable. In January 2006, Facebook shut down a group titled I Hate Jesus after Facebook received complaints from other users about the group. As Facebook explained to the groups creator in an email, Hate groups of any kind are not tolerated on the site, even if they are meant to be comedic. Even then, this has been done after a bombarding of complaints have been filed to the administrator to close the group. Hence, in this way Facebook does not have an automatic control over the management of the content. Case II Also, as per the rules there is no practical way to protect public content so that only trusted friends can view it. Not only does the publisher risk their pers onal information being used for offensive purposes (identity theft or otherwise), but if they change their minds, it is nearly impossible to remove something permanently from the Internet. Search engines can keep copies of web pages long after they have been removed. So, one cannot confine that their privacy is secured even if the user has deleted the account. Information Gathering by Social Networking Sites: Another major issue that raises substantial privacy concerns is the accumulation of private information by social networking services. With more than  800million users, Facebook stores an immense volume of private data that is constantly expanding: 250 million photos  new photos are uploaded to Facebooks servers every day. In addition to private photographs, Facebook stores many other types of personal information that users submit, including relationships, political views, sexual orientations, and credit card numbers. Facebook also keeps track of its users purchasing habits through the Beacon affiliate program: even when users decline to publish stories on Facebook about their purchases, the information is still sent to Facebooks servers. This Information Gathering by Social Networking Sites, has been posing a threat in content management of users. Intensive Observation Method: Intensive observation method of Social Networking sites revealed at the following flaws, which cannot be a major issue to discuss, but can become at a point of time. Dissemination of Information without consent: The Facebook users can comment, share, like and post stories create any blog in Facebook in any of the user’s links, irrespective of privacy. This can be delivered down to all the Facebook users throughout the world, if posted as a public post. In this the content can become inappropriate to some users, which gives a chance for misleading opinions, deviating audience to a wrong perspective, and even leading to mishaps depending on the intensity of the issue. This has been experimented by selecting a sample size of 50 respondents, segmented in two categories: i. General Audience: People who are users of Facebook and members of Social Networking sites, but do not have an in-depth knowledge of Media effects and other terms. 25 people comprising of students and college teachers represented the sample. i. Informed Citizenry: People who are users of Social Networking sites, equipped with the knowledge of effects of Media were selected. 25 people comprising of students and teachers from the Media Department represented as samples. A question was posted into the Facebook profile of the respondents, and responses for the question is analysed. Question for Response: Do you think India is in a need to change its way of governance. Wha t will be your options? Please post your opinion and comments. Options: 1. Military Regime 2. Monarchy ( Again Colonialism) 3. Communism 4. Leave as it is (Democracy). Analysis and Interpretation of data: I. The content analysis of Social Networking Sites revealed up with the following ethical concerns: i. No confirmation of identity of the users is carried out in any of the Social Networking Sites, which can be avoided. ii. Facebook does not have an automatic control over the management of the content. iii. One cannot confine that their privacy is secured even if the user has deleted the account. Hence it raises the possibilities of data being utilised by anyone later on. iv. This Information Gathering by Social Networking Sites, has been posing a threat in content management of users. II. The analysis of collected data of Intensive Observation revealed that a majority of people opining Military regime as the need for the day. If such surveys or opinions can be posted in a site which contains most vulnerable audience likewise, youth and teenagers, that can pose a threat to the harmony of the country. Outcome of the study: †¢ Although these are serious ethical constraints, there are reasons to believe that, for the most part, social networks are counteracting to these challenges. For example, although large centralized repositories of data are necessarily vulnerable to malicious insiders, social networks have had few reported problems of this variety. This may be the result of an organised content management and highly scrutinized employees. †¢ Users post information to social networking services in order to share it with others: a breach of privacy that lets anybody view photos that you only intended for your friends to view may be damaging, but it is likely less damaging than a breach of privacy that reveals your PIN number or your medical history, which you intended for nobody else at all to see. Though these advantages exist, Social Networking sites, on a whole are a threat to the society, unless and otherwise, a content management code is defined to manage the content keyed into Social Networking sites, and also a team to monitor the content in sites, and if possible, the real identity of the members of the sites can also be kept in track, so that any mishaps, demeaning of personality’s images cannot happen. Suggestions of the Panel Discussion Committee: Indian Media is in the stage of its peak at development, though it’s in a learning curve on the part of ethics to be maintained and measures in finding newsworthiness. †¢ There can be a self-regulatory body to reframe the working nature of the Social Networking Sites and on the content they carry. †¢ If media is not ready to go with that, Government can formulate and execute a Media Law, which is still under progress since 2003, that can make the Indian Media come under control. †¢ The policies cannot be called as controls, but regulations on a moderate level, that cannot curb the working nature of media. Some regulations on governing International media clients operating in India, can be arrived at, because it is observed that more than 50% of the Indian media is under the monopoly of Foreign media organisations. I would like to thank the Indian Government, that i was fortunate they have come up with a notion to develop a code of conduct for the content of Social Networking Sites. To conclude with, we can again remember the quote by Marshall McLuhan,† Medium is the message†, which states the deciding authority lies in the hand of media, which should look upon the well being of the society as the first and foremost function. References: Klaus Bruhn Jensen (2003). â€Å"A Handbook of Media and Communication Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Methodologies†. Routledge Publishers. Lelia Green (2001). â€Å"Communication, Technology and Society†. Sage Publications. http://www. communicationencyclopedia. com/public/tocnode? id=g9781405131995_yr2011_chunk_g97814051319958_ss9-1 http://www. facebook. com/press/info. php? statistics http://startups. in/view/asides/software-engineer-sues-airtel-for-20-crore-rupees/

How does Hardy elicit sympathy for the three main characters? :: Free Essay Writer

How does Hardy elicit sympathy for the three main characters? Thomas Hardy has an extremely clever way of obtaining sympathy for a character. Hardy has specific ways to elicit sympathy by varying the level of sympathy he gives to character. He either gives sympathy to someone or takes it away from a character so more sorrow seems to be on another. He also uses powerful language to strengthen his points and finally he shows sorrow from a character’s point of view. He uses these techniques on the three main characters (Rhoda, Farmer Lodge and Gertrude) exceptionally well. We first see Farmer Lodge in his gig while bringing his new wife Gertrude to Holmstoke. He sees his son but completely ignores him: â€Å"One of the neighbourhood. I think he lives with his mother a mile or two off.† (Page 4) Gertrude asks Farmer Lodge who the boy is but he totally disregards his son and does not even acknowledge the child. He does not even tell his new wife that the child is his son. We give him no sympathy for this cruel act as he should have at least greeted the youngster. In comparison, Farmer Lodge’s son looks up to him: â€Å"Mr Lodge, he seemed pleased, and his waistcoat stuck out, and his great golden seals hung like a lord’s† (Page 70) It seems his son wants to get to know his father and holds him in high regard as his description of Farmer Lodge is rather flattering. Hardy has made Farmer Lodge seem unfeeling and not caring about his son. This is another reason not to feel sorry for Farmer Lodge. Farmer Lodge ignores Gertrude and her needs because of her withered arm: â€Å"Half a dozen years passed away, and Mr and Mrs Lodge’s married experience sank into prosiness, and worse.† (Page 19) She needed his help and support but still he ignored her. This is cruel as he marries her and then ignores her. It is wrong. Hardy portrays him to be bitter and heartless and therefore he receives no sympathy what so ever. At the end, Farmer Lodge’s character changes, he tries to make up for his previous behaviour and how he ignored his son by setting up a reformatory for boys: â€Å"he went away to Port-Bredy, at the other end of the county, living there in solitary lodgings till his death two years later of painless decline.† (Page 33) Hardy uses strong words such as â€Å"painless decline† which gives atmosphere about the solitude he lived in. It is clear that Farmer Lodge wants to make up for his previous behaviour by setting up the reformatory and giving a â€Å"small annuity† to Rhoda. How does Hardy elicit sympathy for the three main characters? :: Free Essay Writer How does Hardy elicit sympathy for the three main characters? Thomas Hardy has an extremely clever way of obtaining sympathy for a character. Hardy has specific ways to elicit sympathy by varying the level of sympathy he gives to character. He either gives sympathy to someone or takes it away from a character so more sorrow seems to be on another. He also uses powerful language to strengthen his points and finally he shows sorrow from a character’s point of view. He uses these techniques on the three main characters (Rhoda, Farmer Lodge and Gertrude) exceptionally well. We first see Farmer Lodge in his gig while bringing his new wife Gertrude to Holmstoke. He sees his son but completely ignores him: â€Å"One of the neighbourhood. I think he lives with his mother a mile or two off.† (Page 4) Gertrude asks Farmer Lodge who the boy is but he totally disregards his son and does not even acknowledge the child. He does not even tell his new wife that the child is his son. We give him no sympathy for this cruel act as he should have at least greeted the youngster. In comparison, Farmer Lodge’s son looks up to him: â€Å"Mr Lodge, he seemed pleased, and his waistcoat stuck out, and his great golden seals hung like a lord’s† (Page 70) It seems his son wants to get to know his father and holds him in high regard as his description of Farmer Lodge is rather flattering. Hardy has made Farmer Lodge seem unfeeling and not caring about his son. This is another reason not to feel sorry for Farmer Lodge. Farmer Lodge ignores Gertrude and her needs because of her withered arm: â€Å"Half a dozen years passed away, and Mr and Mrs Lodge’s married experience sank into prosiness, and worse.† (Page 19) She needed his help and support but still he ignored her. This is cruel as he marries her and then ignores her. It is wrong. Hardy portrays him to be bitter and heartless and therefore he receives no sympathy what so ever. At the end, Farmer Lodge’s character changes, he tries to make up for his previous behaviour and how he ignored his son by setting up a reformatory for boys: â€Å"he went away to Port-Bredy, at the other end of the county, living there in solitary lodgings till his death two years later of painless decline.† (Page 33) Hardy uses strong words such as â€Å"painless decline† which gives atmosphere about the solitude he lived in. It is clear that Farmer Lodge wants to make up for his previous behaviour by setting up the reformatory and giving a â€Å"small annuity† to Rhoda.

Gender Stereotypes in Military Essay

In the non traditional occupations, also called non domestic jobs, women in the work place including its attitude about women’s roles are being studied by some professionals. Gender stereotypes are prone into this kind of scenarios. In the military communities for example, there is still a widely held gender stereotypes. Men and women in the military are being approached and treated differently. Military communities in the past were often integrated with men. Women’s participation in the military and in war throughout history has been limited due to those common gender stereotypes. Women can not be good soldiers allegedly because they are innately weak physically and emotionally. Generally men were believed to possess a higher level of motivation, initiative and leadership qualities necessary for effective military performance. Whereas women, primarily considering their physiological aspects, possess more feminine attributes that hinders them to achieve an excellent military performance. But given that the â€Å"physical barriers to military participation have been gradually eroded due to the advent of highly technological weaponry and the improve fitness of women but the emotional barriers remain strong† (DeGroot 24). It is believed that women are genetically programmed for the softer and caring roles and therefore can not apply aggressive impulses necessary for effective soldiering to defend military interests in future conflicts. To recruit women therefore considering this belief means giving into the risks to lose future wars. This perceived reality hinders the military setting to recruit more women for an aggressive physical war. Many points of arguments have put forward by those against the idea of putting women into hand to hand combat. One of the obvious concerns regarding women in combat is the given fact that women do not possess as much physical strength as their male counterparts. The female body structure is not as adept and enduring at handling high g-forces activities needed for actual combats. â€Å"Female soldiers who are, on average, shorter and smaller than men, with 45-50% less upper body strength and 25-30% less aerobic capacity, which is essential for endurance† (Willens 1996). Psychologically, mixed gender accommodations in a small space can be very intimidating and can provoke sexual anxieties towards men which might affect their focus in combats. Moreover there is a greater possibility for acts of rape, sexual harassment and molestation. Romantic relationships between men and women is somehow inevitable especially that war is a depressing situation. This can disrupt a unit’s fighting capability. Many women might be forced to get pregnant as well in order to escape combat duties. Moreover pregnancy may intimidate military readiness that will greatly affect the military combats. Placing women in combat may also mean putting the fighting unit into risks. Female are truly exposed to the risk of capture, psychological and sexual abuses. The opposing parties may use women to intimidate their enemies through using them as prisoners. Meanwhile another interesting argument to keep women out of combat is the fact that female might disrupt the military cohesive unit and might undermine the soldiers’ sense of esprit de corps. The effectiveness of the military hinges on a cohesion — every member must completely trust and respect one another. Many argue men would not be able to trust women to be capable of accomplishing the physical demands of combat, which could lead to serious problems.. A standard must be maintained to make every member feel as if he/she is part of one single unit, not separated by gender (Willens 1996). These gender differences and given the reality of war, the opposing parties who want to keep women out of combat believe that it is safe to put men in actual combats because they guarantee a greater percentage of military effectiveness. In the military, each party needs to have the most capable military power. In United States during World War 1 â€Å"with the creation of U. S. Army Nurse Corps in 1901 and the U. S. Army Nurse Corps in 1908, women were relied on primarily to provide nursing care† Worell 772). Nursing the wounded soldiers was the most visible role played by women during early wars until World War 1. Marriage, pregnancy and motherhood however could be main legitimate basis for voluntary discharge. The â€Å"Army Nurse Corps in 1901 expressly prohibited nurses from marrying and being mothers† because these will hinder their social and governmental service and responsibilities (Worell 774). In World War II however â€Å"historians documented the more informal participation of women in active combat, in artillery units, as disguised enlisted men, in militia units, and in frontier warfare during the early years of U. S. history and as spies and scouts during Civil War† (Worell 776). The start of World War II apparently expanded non nursing roles of women provided their identity will not be boldly exposed so not to create public misinterpretations. War setting has been redefined however in the beginning of 1950s. Women were openly admit for military service. There is an apparent changing nature and role in the modern military. Military now not only participates in physical combats. Their role has changed â€Å"with peacemaking and disaster relief becoming the most common reason for deployment† (DeGroot 25). In this reason, military integrated a wider women’s participation these past years. Women’s gentle nature, their ability to control aggression and their conciliatory attitude are now perceived positively in the military setting. Women’s nature can make a significant contribution for peacemaking. Women are often integrated into combat support roles and services depending on their capabilities. The discrepancy between the stereotypic attributes of female apparently has variety of emotional effects on the experiences of women in the military. In terms of performance evaluation, people readily give a lower standards and expectations to women. They readily recognize and accept the fact that women has weaker physical and emotional attributes. Therefore as a result, they integrate women’s role into the domestic and traditional jobs inside the military. Work Cited Page: DeGroot, Gerard J. A Few Good Women: Gender Stereotypes, the Military and Peacemaking. Olsson, Louise. Tryggestad, Torunn. Women and International peacemaking. Great Britain: Routledge 2001 Willens, Jake. â€Å"Women in the Military†. CDI Center for Defense Information (1972). August 1996. Retrieved on 25, June 2009 from http://www. cdi. org/issues/women/combat. html Worell, Judith. Encyclopedia of women and gender: sex similarities and differences and the impact of society on gender. Elsevier, 2001