Rosa Louise Parks Essay -- Civil Rights Movement Biography History

Rosa Louise Parks   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The woman who earned the title â€Å"Mother of the Civil Rights Movement†, Rosa Louise Parks is an enormous inspiration to the African American race. Rosa was born in Tuskegee, Alabama on February 4, 1913 to James and Leona McCauley (The Life of Rosa Parks). Both of Rosa’s parents were born before slavery was banished from the United States. They suffered a difficult childhood, and after emancipation the conditions for blacks were not much better. Rosa’s mother was a schoolteacher and her father was a farmer (Rosa Parks: Pioneer of Civil Rights Interview). Rosa’s parents separated in 1915, and her mother moved Rosa and her younger brother to Montgomery, Alabama to live with their grandmother (Rosa Parks: The Woman Who Changed a Nation).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The southern states during this period of time were extremely segregated. Confederate Army veterans from Pulaski, Tennessee established the Ku Klux Klan, a secret society in 1866 during reconstruction. Members of the Klan beat and murdered several black people. During election times there would be several occurrences where Klan members would beat, rape, and murder blacks, trying to intimidate the republican representatives. In order to hide their identity, they would where white robes, and white sheets over their faces with only the eyes cut out. They would burn crosses to petrify their victims and their families (The New Encyclopedia of America 133). The Ku Klux Klan was very involved in Montgomery, where Rosa and her family were living.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rosa’s mother was a very important role model for her and her brother. Because their mother was a schoolteacher, she home schooled Rosa until the age of eleven (Rosa Parks: The Woman Who Changed a Nation). After she was eleven, Rosa attended the all-black school of Montgomery Industrial School for Girls where she cleaned classrooms in order to pay her tuition. After attending the school for girls, she enrolled at Booker T. Washington High School, another black school, until the age of 15. She was forced to drop out of her High School because her mother was ill and she needed to return home to take care of her (The Life of Rosa Parks).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Rosa McCauley was 20 years old in 1932 she met and married a barber by the name of Mr. Raymond Parks. Rosa began to sew and to take on several seamstress jobs, and also housekeeping jobs (Rosa Parks: The... ...ry Bus Boycott. Silver Burdett Press, 1991. Freedom Hero: Rosa Parks. AP News Wire. 12 August 2008 http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?=rosaParks The Life of Rosa Parks. Troy State University. 25 August 2008 http://www.tsum.edu/museum/parksbio.htm Lopes, Marilyn. The Rosa Parks Story: How One Person Made a Difference. 15 December 2003 http://www.nncc.org/Curriculum/rosa.parks.html NAACP http://www.naacp.org/home/index.htm Rosa Parks: The Woman Who Changed a Nation. Grandtimes. 20 Dec 2003 http://www.grandtimes.com/rosa.html Rosa Parks: Pioneer of Civil Rights interview, June 2, 1995, Williamsburg, Virginia. http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0int-1 Smith, Shanice. "American Poetry." The New Encyclopedia of America. 3rd ed. 2003. Spotlight on Mrs. Rosa Parks, Mother of the Civil Rights Movement. Girl Power. 15 December 2003 http://www.girlpower.gov/girlarea/gpguests/RosaParks.htm Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley. "Witness to America : an illustrated documentary history of the United States from the Revolution to today." Harper Resource 1999 "TIME 100: Heroes & Icons of the 20th Century" Time Warner Publishing, June 14, 1999

Man Against Nature in Jurassic Park Essay -- Jurassic Park Essays

Man Against Nature in Jurassic Park   Ã‚  Ã‚   "The world was made for man to conquer and rule, and under human rule it was meant to become a paradise" (Ishmael 82). Much like this evolutionary mythological theory, the movie Jurassic Park tells a tale of man's attempt to rule over nature. Through the movie's description and imagery, the viewer perceives the arrogance of humans to control nature, and the consequences and failures of this flawed intention. John Hammond, park creator, uses state of the art technology and ideas to recover dinosaur DNA, fill in missing gene caps, and breed the previously extinct animals to exploit his accomplishment. This process is set into motion without regard to the ethics behind the research, and without asking if pure scientific curiosity and drive should usurp natural evolution. Hammond arrogantly takes these responsibilities in hand and proceeds without consequence, as if he were somehow above his natural counterparts in mother nature's eyes. When this superiority is broken down, those who thought they were in control realize that their control was imagined. Jurassic Park conveys the consequences of human insolence in believing that nature is purely beautiful and subordinate to their existence, and this illusion of superiority reveals nature's true chaos and danger.    Having bred species of dinosaurs, and built a series of rides and attractions for this theme park, Hammond seeks the endorsement of several specialists to satisfy his investors' curiosity and concerns. Dr. Grant (a Paleontologist), Dr. Sadtler (a Paleobotanist), and Dr. Malcolm (a Chaotician), as well as a lawyer all are summoned to the island of Isla Nublar, 120 miles from Costa Rica and home of Jura... ...sts of Jurassic Park don't realize that the control they think that they have does not exist.    In Jurassic Park, nature appears beautiful and controllable when it is viewed from afar. The arrogant and naà ¯ve creators of Jurassic Park believe that they can regulate nature when, how, and where they please. Throughout the movie, this illusion gets broken time and time again. In actuality, nature is chaotic, uncontrollable, and dangerous. These aspects are taken for granted by the scientists of Jurassic Park and sometimes today in society. "They got so caught up in whether they could they didn't stop to think whether or not they should."       Works Cited Jurassic Park. Dir. Steven Speilberg. Perf. Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff   Goldblum. Universal Studios, 1993. Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael. New York: Bantam/Turner, 1992.   

Beloved :: essays research papers

A TREE CAN BE A HEAVY LOAD TO CARRY Throughout our lives, we have all had our own â€Å"tree† carved onto us. Whether it is on our back, in our heart, in our soul, our hands or feet, we can all share the knowledge and pain our lives have borne. So there is an understanding of how and what Sethe has had to bare throughout her life, and every branch of her tree has its individual story to tell. Not only has she been affected by the choices she has had to make, but also everyone who has come in contact with her have been affected. One branch of Sethe’s tree tells of her killing her baby and another tells of the guilt she has felt throughout the years and the near destruction of her from the haunting of her dear â€Å"Beloved’s† ghost. Another tells of her boys running away and another tells of the neglect that her younger daughter has had to face. Because of this guilt, she almost paid for it with her life. However, the stages that her mind her took through with coming to terms with her involve ment in Beloved’s murder, her redemption of that burden, and near madness were the elements that helped to guide her through the guilt. From the redemption of her guilt, Sethe has learned that when a branch of her tree has weltered a little, which means that her family bond is not as strong, the tree does not die, because it has a strong root. A root that represents all of the sorrow’s of her life, but she is still strong and is willing to fight to get rid of the weltering branches and sprout new ones, which represents new hope, new life and new beginning. In comparison with Sethe, many of us could probably relate to Sethe and the tragedies and devastations she has had to face. Like her, we and the people around us have had to face death, neglect, uncertainties, self-doubt or inner demons. Sethe explains that she took her baby’s life in order to save her from the treacherous world that she would have greeted. She did not want her baby to grow up in slavery like she had to, or starve because she did not have any milk to feed her. â€Å"†¦.and I could not let her nor any of em live under schoolteacher.

Behavior Management of Exceptional Children

BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN: TRANSITION SERVICES Transition Services is defined by the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) as a coordinated set of activities for a student, designated within an outcome-oriented process, which promotes movement from school to post-school activities including: post-secondary education, career training, adult services, independent living, community participation, and integrated employment (including supported employment. The coordinated set of activities shall be based upon the individual needs of each student, taking into consideration his/her preferences and interests. IEP goals and objectives are required for the following areas: * Instruction * Related Services * Community Experiences * Development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives * Daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation are required. â€Å"The importance of the transition specialist, or career education specia list, in the types of projects cannot be underestimated. The relationships these staff members maintain with the participants are crucial to the structure and success of these services†(Bullis and Cheney, 1999). Vocational Assessments Vocational Evaluation is a comprehensive process that systematically uses work activities, (either real or simulated), as the focal point for assessment of capabilities, vocational exploration and guidance. The purpose of vocational evaluation is to assist individuals in vocational development. Vocational evaluation incorporates medical, psychological, social, vocational, cultural, and economic data into the assessment process to determine realistic vocational areas. Transition Planning Transition planning begins at a very early age. It continues through each educational phase of the student's life, culminating with adult living. A continuum of services focuses upon a student's preparation for transition through participation in career awareness activities, career exploration, vocational training and employment. A continuum of Transition Services has been developed to serve as a guideline for transition planning. The continuum begins at preschool and ends at age 22. Transition planning is documented in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) beginning at age 14. â€Å"There is a lack of student and parent output, little documentation of transition plan specifics for each student, and IEP that were almost exclusively academically focused with no obvious links between goal/objectives and transition outcomes. Indeed, these weaknesses in the use of the IEP process and document planning for transition directly affect the implementation of transition services†(Collet-Klingenberg, L. L. , 1998). It is the responsibility of the IEP chairperson – usually the special education teacher – to arrange IEP / transition planning meetings for students at age 14 and older. The IEP notice to parents must include the following information: * The purpose of the IEP meeting is to develop / review the IEP and to consider Transition Services for inclusion into the IEP. * The student is invited to attend the IEP meeting. * Appropriate agency representatives have been identified and invited to the IEP / transition planning meeting. The IEP transition meeting must include all required IEP participants, plus two other representatives, as follows: * Parents or Legal Guardians * Special Education Teacher * Regular Education Teacher * Public Agency Representative (if appropriate) * Student * Other Individuals at the discretion of the parent or agency * Interpreter, when the parent or legal guardian is deaf or not proficient in the English language. * Career Education Teacher / Coordinator If the student does not attend the meeting, steps should be taken to ensure that his/her preferences and interests are considered. If an invited agency representative is unable to attend the meeting, other steps shall be taken to obtain participation. The IEP /Transition Planning meeting participants will provide input for expected outcomes. The following questions may be discussed. * What are the interest, preferences, and goals of the student after graduating or exiting school? * What support would be required to reach post-secondary goals? * Will the student be referred to an adult agency? * What type of adult agency service(s) is needed after graduation, if any? Who will be responsible for the referral(s) (i. e. special education teacher, the school based staff, parent, student, others? * Who will follow-up to ensure that the linkage between the school and adult agency(ies) was established? The IEP Team will develop transition goals and objectives that focus on the desired adult outcomes (long range transition goals). Students' preferences, strengths and limitations, career / vocational skills development, n eeded support services, job availability, medical and transportation requirements are also considered. Parents' expectations of desired student outcomes should be obtained and considered. What exactly is the Transition Plan? The Transition Plan is a part of the IEP. It includes long-range transition goals, indicating the students' preferences and interests after exiting school, are identified. â€Å"The skills needed to be successful in post secondary educational and vocational; settings, such as self-awareness, awareness of appropriate career options, and the ability to engage in self-advocacy when necessary, takes many years to develop† (Janiga,s. , J. ; Costenbader, V. 2002). Transition Services needed to achieve the long-range goals are determined. Agencies involved in transition planning while the student is still in school should be identified. That involvement is considered â€Å"agency linkages†. Transition goals and objectives are written. Agency responsibilities should be recorded in the IEP on the Transition Plan. Transition activities (objectives), persons re sponsible for the activities, and timelines are recorded. If an agency fails to fulfill its responsibilities, the IEP Team must reconvene to identify alternative strategies. Transition plans are reviewed, discussed and developed annually. The special education teacher, who completes the Transition Checklist, maintains a summary of transition planning. The Transition Checklist is reviewed and updated annually at the IEP meeting. A copy of the Transition Checklist is provided to the parent / guardian for further reference and planning. To assist in the development of transition plans at the IEP meeting Guidelines for transition services agenda is used. The guidelines outline what should be done before, during and after the IEP meeting. Records Keeping The special education teacher maintains a portfolio for each student, beginning at age 14, or grade 9. The portfolio documents a collection of evidence of the student's skills, abilities, and employment competencies (see your school's Special Education Coordinator or your school-based Transition Coordinator to obtain the portfolio). The student is responsible for participation in the development and maintenance of his / her transition portfolio. Portfolios are maintained as documentation of transition services activities. Adult Agencies An adult agency representative can attend IEP / Transition meetings for students who are 16 years of age, or in the 11th grade, and thereafter, if considered necessary by the IEP Team. An agency representative may attend IEP / Transition meetings for student's age 14 or younger, if considered necessary by the IEP Team. Some students will move from school to adult life requiring little or no more involvement with adult agencies than their non-disabled peers. Examples of such agencies or services are community colleges, vocational technological schools, other post-secondary educational institutions and the military. Other students may require time-limited adult services, such as the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA). There are also students who will need ongoing support from adult agencies such as the Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration (MRDDA). The IEP Team will determine which services may be appropriate for such students. Adult agencies may include, but are not limited to, the following: * Rehabilitation Service Administration Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration * Commission on Mental Health Services * Others Private agencies representation may be invited by parent / guardian or student of appropriate: * College / Community College * Vocational Technical Schools * Adult Education Services/ Training * Armed Forces * Others Transportation for Special Education Transport ation is a related service for special education students when it is necessary in order for a student with a disability to participate in an appropriate educational program. The Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) makes individual decisions about transportation during the development of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) and placement. The MDT must consider the following: * Determine a need for specialized transportation and reflect the need in the student's IEP * Review the student's need for transportation at any IEP review * Qualifications for transportation include the following: * Limited sensory or physical endurance Significantly reduced intellectual development; and/or reduced problem solving skills Parents must do the following in order for transportation to be provided for their children: * Provide accurate address information to the Division of Special Education and ensure that it is updated if necessary during the school year * Call your child's principal of any address changes during the school year. It can take 3 to 10 school days to make transportation changes during the school year * Have your child ready when the bus arrives in the mor ning * Meet the school bus in the afternoon. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bullis, M. , ; Cheney, D. (1999). Vocational and Transition Interventions for Adolescents and Young Adults with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders. Focus on Exceptional Children, 7, 1-24. Collet-Klingenberg, L. L. , (1998). The Reality of Best Practices in Transition: A Case Study. Exceptional Children, 1, 67-78. Janiga, S. , J. ; Costenbader, V. , (2002). The transition from High School to Postsecondary Education for students with Learning disabilities: A Survey of College Service Coordinators. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 5, 462-8, 479.

Brand Placement

Businesses strategically place their brands and products in movies or in TV series to subtly get consumers to notice their brands, this Is called brand placement. Two products which I have noticed In movies are Apple Imams In the Twilight movie Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011) and Manual Blank shoes in the Sex and the City Movie (2008). These were both big blockbuster hits which many people viewed and obsessed over. They both star very famous celebrities who play desirable characters.In the movies both the brands are clearly shown with the characters so the viewer ill relate who the character is with the brand to give the brand symbolism (Levy, 1959). In Sex and the City we first see the Manual Blank heels when the mall character Carrie Bradshaw Is shown her new wardrobe which will soon be filled with her clothes that are envied by viewers. The scene is romantic and everything is perfect in Carrie's world which suggests that the consumer would be in a similar situation if they had theses shoes.The label on the box is clearly shown as Carrie carefully puts her prized possession on the shelf. The shoes appear at the end of the vie during a special scene where Carrie Is being proposed to, the heel is used to close the deal of the proposal. This once again Incorporates the shoe with happiness and romance. Sex and the city has been a popular TV series (1998 – 2004) so there was a huge hype when the movie was released. Carrie Bradshaw is a well known character for her glamorous life; Carrie is an icon for fashion and high class.We straight away draw a connection with any brand associated with Carrie Bradshaw to being an ultimate luxury brand, and as a viewer I desire to own the brands shown in the movie to make myself appear more glamorous. The Sex and the City's target audience are females over 16 years. It has an emphasis on relationships and high fashion. I aspire to be Like Carrie and her friends as they were Independent and bring out ideas of their own about s ex and women being in control.The Manual Blank shoes are targeted to me and women with similar interests in fashion and their appearance. The shoes are a very high priced item but the brand makes me think that I would be superior to others if I own this luxury good. By owning Manual Blank shoes I would feel a part of the top label brand community which they associate Carrie with (Ganglier, 2012). I believe that If I owned them I would appear more glamorous and they would give me class and style. These shoes would affect self image positively for me (Williston, 2012).This is because I would feel more important and confident with these shoes on. Mascots Hierarchy of Needs suggests that â€Å"people are motivated to fulfill their basic needs, before moving on to other, more advanced needs† (Cherry, n. D. Para. 1). The needs are shown on a pyramid starting with physiological needs then safety needs, social needs, self-esteem needs and finishing with self-actualization (Cherry). M anual Blank shoes fall Into the self- esteem group as they can give the owner confidence and status (MBA Online Programmer, n. ). The Culled family in Twilight are depicted as perfection. They are beautiful, rich, and intelligent and are identified as superior to everyone else. The brand Apple appears in Breaking Dawn during a serious scene in the movie where the Culled family are desperately researching to find a life line. As the computer is reliable and a good source of research as an intellectual family such as the Culler's use them. Breaking Dawn was the third top grossing movie of 2011 which shows the age audience that this movie reached out to (Midi. Mom, Inc. N. D). The Apple symbol glows on the screen with the family in the background to emphasis that this is a brand that a family as perfect as the Culler's would use. The Twilight series is targeted to teenage girls and women who fantasize over the desirable men in the movie (Denial, 2011). The Twilight Saga has been a huge hit, as at 13/04/12 its Faceable page has 31 ,951 , 1 55 likes with many of these fans being obsessed over the characters and actors in the movie.With other 31 million fans, Apple is getting their rand out to a huge audience who are likely to be influenced by what the characters are associated with. Twilight fans will believe that by associating themselves with the brands that are used in the Twilight Saga movies they will be more alike the characters. I am a fan of the brand Apple; I personally own an Apple pod and an Imax. My pod is something I could not imagine functioning without as it holds many songs as well as having other functions such as the internet, email and camera.I personally spend a lot of time on my Imax both for social reasons communicating with people and to get university work completed. These Apple products are essential for me as I could not imagine my daily life without them. It is part of my culture to be up to date on the latest technology, and to be able t o communicate indirectly through the internet with my peers (Williston). It is a norm within my culture to own Apple products, the people around me and I use Apple products daily (Williston).By having Apple associated with famous actors such as Robert Patterson and Kristin Stewart, the brands are a part of these actors indirect reference group as the actors are people you aspire to be like (Williston). These groups give us â€Å"a point of reference in deciding what consumption behavior to undertake† (Williston, 2012. Group Influence & Social Norms Lecture). Indirect reference groups can have a different amount of influence on consumers depending on many factors including how attractive the reference group is, whether the product is being used publicly and the consumer's self-esteem (Williston).Apple is already a very well known brand and as soon as the logo came into view on the screen the viewers would have straight away recognized it and began to make connections with he b rand and the Robert Patterson or Culled family reference group. Brand equity is important when trying to make your brand familiar with consumers it is â€Å"The value premium that a company realizes from a product with a recognizable name as compared to its generic equivalent† (Investigated, n. . Para. L). Brand equity is about the name and symbol of the brand, it includes brand loyalty, name awareness, perceived quality, brand associations and other proprietary and brand assets (Ganglier). With Apple and Manual Blank appearing in these well known and popular movies they are gaining a lot of brand awareness which is important as when consumers are choosing between options they will pick the brand they are most familiar with.Viewers of Sex and the City associate Carrie with high quality goods so by seeing Carrie with her Manual Blank shoes consumers will automatically relate the Manual Blank to top quality which will add value to the brand. Manual Blank and Apple have been suc cessful at getting their brands out Breaking Dawn Part One. The characters and actors are dollied by many so a lot of consumers are likely to be influenced to purchase these products. By owning the products shown in the movies consumers will be able to associate themselves with the brand communities and reference groups.

Radioactive Dating

Dating techniques are procedures used by scientists to determine the age of a specimen. 2 types of Dating: *Relative Dating *Absolute Dating Relative Dating -methods tell only if one sample is older or younger than another sample. -They do not provide an age in years. Stratigraphy -Main Relative Dating Method -is the study of layers of rocks or the objects embedded within those layers. -based on the assumption that deeper layers were deposited earlier, and thus are older than more shallow layers. Seriation is the ordering of objects according to their age.James Ford – used seriation to determine the chronological order of American Indian pottery styles in the Mississippi Valley. Absolute dating * any method of measuring the age of an event or object in years. * To determine the absolute ages of fossils and rocks, * scientists analyze isotopes of radioactive elements. Isotopes * atoms of the same element that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. * Most isotopes are stable, meaning that they stay in their original form. * Other isotopes are unstable. * Scientists call unstable isotopes radioactive.Radioactive decay * Radioactive isotopes tend to break down into stable isotopes of the same or other elements. * Refers to the process in which a radioactive form of an element is converted into a decay product at a regular rate. – This dating is not a single method of absolute dating but instead a group of related methods for absolute dating of samples. * Because radioactive decay occurs at a steady rate, * Scientists can use the relative amounts of stable and unstable isotopes present in an object to determine the object’s age. Dating Rocks — How Does It Work? In radioactive decay, an unstable radioactive isotope of one element breaks down into a stable isotope.* The stable isotope may be of the same element or of a different element. Parent isotope * The unstable radioactive isotope. Daughter isotope * The st able isotope produced by the radioactive decay of the parent isotope. * The rate of radioactive decay is constant so scientists can compare the amount of parent material with the amount of daughter material to date rock. The more daughter material there is the older the rock is. Absolute Dating Methods Cation-Ratio Dating – used to date rock surfaces such as stone artifacts and cliff and ground drawings.-this technique can only be applied to rocks from desert areas, where the varnish is most stable. *Thermoluminescence Dating – very useful for determining the age of pottery. Has the advantage of covering the time interval between radiocarbon and pottasium-argon dating or 40,000,000 years. *Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) – very similar to thermoluminescence dating, both of which are considered â€Å"clock setting†. * This technique can be used to determine the age of unheated sediments les than 500,000 years old. a disadvantage to this technique i s that in order to get accurate results, the sediment to be tested cannot be exposed to light, making sampling difficult. Radiometric Dating Determining the absolute age of a sample, based on the ratio of parent material to daughter material. If you know the rate of decay for a radioactive element in a rock you can figure out the absolute age of the rock. Half-life * the time needed for half of a sample of a radioactive substance to undergo radioactive decay.After every half-life, the amount of parent material decrease by one-half. Types of Radiometric Dating Scientists use different radiometric-dating methods based on the estimated age of an object. * There are four radiometric-dating techniques. 1. Potassium-Argon Method * Potassium-40 has a half-life of 1. 3 billion years, and it decays leaving a daughter material of argon. * This method is used mainly to date rocks older than 100,000 years. * Relies on the fact that when volcanic rocks are heated to extremely high temperatures, they release any argon trapped in them. 2. Uranium-Lead Method * Uranium-238 is a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 4. 5 billion years.Uranium-238 decays in a series of steps to lead-206. * The uranium-lead method can be used to date rocks more than 10 million years old. 2 types of Uranium-Lead Dating *Daughter deficiency methods *Daughter excess methods * In daughter deficiency situations, the parent radioisotope is initially deposited by itself, without its daughter (the isotope into which it decays) present. * In the case of daughter excess, a larger amount of the daughter is initially deposited than the parent. 3. Rubidium-Strontium Method * The unstable parent isotope rubidium-87 forms a stable daughter isotope strontium-87.The half-life of rubidium-87 is 49 billion years * This method is used for rocks older than 10 million years. 4. Carbon-14 Method * used to date charcoal, wood, and other biological materials. * Carbon is normally found in three forms,, the stable isot opes carbon-12 and carbon-13 and the radioactive isotope carbon-14. * Living plants and animals contain a constant ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12. 1. Once a plant or animal dies, no new carbon is taken in. 2. The amount of carbon-14 begins to decrease as the plant or animal decays. 3. The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,730 years.The carbon-14 method of radiometric dating is used mainly for dating things that lived within the last 50,000 years. – Radiocarbon (14C) is a radioactive form of the element carbon. It decays spontaneously into nitrogen-14 (14N). Fossils: evidence of past life Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals (also known aszoolites), plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous (fossil-containing) rock formations and sedimentary layers (strata) is known as the fossil record. -Fossilization processes proceed differently according to tissue type and e xternal conditions:– 1. Permineralization is a process of fossilization that occurs when an organism is buried. .2. Casts and molds The remaining organism-shaped hole in the rock is called an external mold. If this hole is later filled with other minerals, it is a cast. An endocast or internal mold is formed when sediments or minerals fill the internal cavity of an organism. 3. Authigenic mineralisation This is a special form of cast and mold formation. he organism (or fragment of organism) can act as a nucleus for the precipitation of minerals such as siderite, resulting in a nodule forming around it. 4. Replacement and recrystallization Replacement occurs when the shell, bone or other tissue is replaced with another mineral. A shell is said to be recrystallized when the original skeletal compounds are still present but in a different crystal form, as from aragonite to calcite. 5. Adpression (compression-impression) Compression Fossils, such as those of fossil ferns, are the result of chemical reduction of the complex organic molecules composing the organism's tissues.However, the phytoleim is lost and all that remains is an impression of the organism in the rock-an impression fossil. 6. Carbon films are thin film coatings which consist predominantly of the chemical element carbon. 7. Bioimmuration occurs when a skeletal organism overgrows or otherwise subsumes another organism, preserving the latter, or an impression of it, within the skeleton Palaeontologists rely on stratigraphy to date fossils. Stratigraphy is the science of deciphering the â€Å"layer-cake† that is the sedimentary record.If a fossil is found between two layers whose ages are known, the fossil's age is claimed to lie between the two known ages. Types of Fossils: 1. Index – (also known as guide fossils, indicator fossils or zone fossils) are fossils used to define and identify geologic periods (or faunal stages). 2. Trace – consist mainly of tracks and burrows, but also include coprolites (fossil feces) and marks left by feeding. – are particularly significant because they represent a data source that is not limited to animals with easily-fossilized hard parts, and they reflect animal behaviours.Transitional – is any fossilized remains of a life form that exhibits traits common to both an ancestral group and its derived descendant group. This is especially important where the descendant group is sharply differentiated by gross anatomy and mode of living from the ancestral group. 4. Microfossils a descriptive term applied to fossilized plants and animals whose size is just at or below the level at which the fossil can be analyzed by the naked eye. 5. Resin Fossil resin (colloquially called amber) is a natural polymer found in many types of strata throughout the world, even the Arctic.Derived A derived, reworked or remanià © fossil is a fossil found in rock made significantly later than when the fossilized animal or plant died : it happens when a hard fossil is freed from a soft rock formation by erosion and redeposited in a currently forming sedimentary deposit. 7. Wood -wood that is preserved in the fossil record. Wood is usually the part of a plant that is best preserved (and most easily found). Fossil wood may or may not be petrified. The fossil wood may be the only part of the plant that has been preserved: therefore such wood may get a special kind of botanical name.

Crime in the Information Age Essay

It’s not difficult to gauge what the popular notions of crime in the United States are. Engage in any polite conversation over dinner or cocktails and one is likely to hear similar themes: â€Å"crime is out of control, it’s just not the same world we grew up in, it’s not safe to walk down the street anymore, it’s a mean world out there,† etc. The underlying theme that can be drawn from these notions is fear. There is a widespread conception that crime is a rampant problem in this country and that violent crime and others are on the rise. However, these beliefs are not supported at all by the facts, even those put forth by our own law enforcement agencies. So why then, are most Americans so concerned with the threat of violent crime in particular? While the answer to this question is a complex one involving many contributors, the focus of this essay is concerned with the impact of popular media on these perceptions, because the media, it would seem, is one of the most influential contributors to the social construction of crime in this country. The coverage of crime, and particularly violent crime, in the news media has increased in frequency of coverage and sensationalized reporting despite statistical proof that violent crime has been decreasing for many years. This phenomenon is of great concern because how we arrive at our perceptions of our world should be critically examined so policy solutions react to truth not manipulated reality. As of 2001 homicides made up one to two-tenths of one percent of all arrests, yet made up 27-29% of crime coverage on the nightly news (Dorfman and Schiraldi). Still one of the most shocking statistics from Dorfman and Schiraldi’s study states that, â€Å"Crime coverage has increased while real crime rates have fallen. While homicide coverage was increasing on the network news by 473% from 1990 to 1998, homicide arrests dropped 32. 9% from 1990 to 1998. We can see one indication of the effects of this unrealistic reporting in 1994 when, for example, in a Washington Post/ABC poll respondents named crime as their number one concern (far more than any other issue) with 65 percent of those who responded as such saying that they learned about this issue from the media (Jackson and Naureckas). The fact is, however, that violent crime has been on the decrease for roughly thirteen years and is estimated to be at a roughly thirty year low (U. S. Department of Justice). The following g raph rom the Department of Justice shows a dramatic decrease in the rates of violent crime beginning in the early nineties: ? The National Criminal Victimization Survey, which is conducted differently than the more common Uniform Crime Reports, shows a decrease in violent as well as property crimes in the United States for more than a decade (qtd. in Torny 118). The evidence seems to be overwhelming; no matter what the method used for measuring crime rates there is an obvious decrease in crime, especially with respect to violent crime in the United States. These are just a couple of the statistics researchers and academics have compiled over recent years addressing the discrepancy between media coverage of crime and actual crime statistics. So in light of these multiple studies using different methods, how and why is it that media coverage of violent crime has grown exponentially? Surette explains that crime is both an individual and cultural product (237). There is a correlation between media consumption and support for more harsh criminal justice policies and perceptions of the â€Å"mean-world view† (Surette 196). This supports the theory that the more news a person consumes, particularly television news, the less they know about the actual state of the world. Surette explains that while the media certainly does have an impact it is not the only factor in creating this culture of the fear of crime and impacts those who live in a more isolated environment and consume higher levels of media (200). He also notes that research suggests that those who watch a good deal of television have trouble differentiating between the television world and the real world (204). The media has a â€Å"relationship with fear† that can correlate with fear fore some viewers (Surette 206). One example of this â€Å"relationship with fear† that the media seems to have can be found in a 1994 article in â€Å"US News and World Report† where the authors, despite noting briefly that violent crime by all statistical accounts is actually down, names the previous year as â€Å"the scariest year in American history† seeming to assert that the numbers don’t matter (Jackson and Naureckas). The article also makes a good point about the contradiction between perceptions of crime and the reality of crime: â€Å"the drumbeat of news coverage [that] has made it seem that America is in the midst of its worst epidemic of violence ever. That sense is not supported by the numbers† (Jackson and Naureckas). Throughout the rest of the article similar contradictions abound and it is difficult to tell exactly what conclusion should be drawn from it. The causes of crime, as with most crime reporting, are not dealt with in the article while â€Å"random violence† is examined closely (Jackson and Naureckas). Most violent crime is perpetrated by someone whom the victim knows yet the theme of â€Å"random violence receives much more attention in the media (Jackson and Naureckas). The US News piece illustrates how the media engages in a form of â€Å"doublethink† where despite knowledge of factual evidence indicating a decrease in crime they continue to put forth images that depict violent crime as an epidemic and continue to support perceptions of fear, distrust, and cynicism. This fear mongering often plays into preconceived notions of crime and violence such as racism, ageism, and classism held by some. A 2001 study by Dorfman and Schiraldi found that crimes against African Americans were underrepresented in reporting and overrepresented as perpetrators, white victims tended to receive more lengthy coverage as well. In Los Angeles television news African Americans were 22% more likely to be shown on TV committing violent crimes than non-violent ones despite the fact that arrest reports indicate that African Americans in Los Angeles commit both types of crime almost equally (Dorfman and Schiraldi). The study also shows how youths are also disproportionately covered: 7 out of 10 local TV news stories dealing with violent crime in California had youths as the perpetrators despite the fact that youths commit only 14. 4% of violent crime in that state. Furthermore, half of the stories dealing with minors for any reason involved violence even though only 2% (though due to unreported crimes the actual number may be higher) of California youths have been victims or perpetrators of violent crime (Drofman and Schiraldi). The study also found by looking at news reports over the last decade that in Hawaii there has bee a 30 fold increase in the number of youth crime stories despite a steady decrease in youth crime over that same time period. This increased focus on youth crimes has led to increased support for treating juvenile offenders as adults and, especially in instances of more serious crimes, applying the same retributive punishments previously not applied to young offenders (Glassner 73). These findings show how not only are the media’s sensationalized reporting of crime contributing to a false sense or reality for many people, but are also einforcing stereotypes and bigotry. Utilizing these preconceived ideas also intensifies the impact of fear based coverage. This sense of fear that the media is able to conjure up in certain situations can easily be manipulated by politicians and policymakers looking to gain some support. According to Glassner, the more fearful people are of crime the more likely they are to support more punitive justice systems instead of rehabilitation programs. This is especially true with respect to juvenile offenders (72). Glassner further argues that it is interesting that as we cut into funding for educational, medical, and antipoverty programs we begin to grow more concerned about crime and there seems to be what he calls â€Å"unacknowledged guilt† about why crime now seems inevitable (72). While the media is often the target of criticism and blame it has been argued that largely the media mirrors public opinion and can be controlled by it (Gans 76). There is evidence however that particularly brutal crimes or large amounts of coverage of crime can shift public opinion somewhat. For example, polls show an increase in support for the death penalty following news of horrifying crimes (Gans 76). Gans believes that despite the fact that the news media is often thought of as having more power than it actually does it may have long-term effects on public opinion (88). So, even though the media of course cannot shift public opinion overnight in the long run a shift in coverage of sensationalized crime coverage can have long lasting effects of the political climate around crime policy. If the tone of the media is largely controlled by previously held notions of media consumers then how might the news media correct the public when it’s beliefs are erroneous? Chiricos examines the effect of â€Å"moral panics† which something or someone becomes defined as a threat to societal values or norms (2). Moral panics are signaled by a rapid increase in the volume of media reporting and are often followed by political action as the public feels that â€Å"something must be done† (Chiricos 60). Every so often crime and violence becomes the subject of a moral panic in America. Chiricos examines two moral panics occurring in the early to mid nineties: crack cocaine and violent crime. Both of these stories where covered in much the same way: as inner-city problems leaving the ghettos and threatening the middle-class way of life (63). When this issue was framed as a direct threat to suburban America a moral panic followed. When crime was confined to urban areas and â€Å"ghettos† there was little to worry about until the perception became that crack and violence was spreading into areas that were considered to be â€Å"safe†. During this time 49 percent of Americans then said that crime was the most important issue facing the country compared to only 9 percent before the moral panic began to set in (Chiricos 64). The panic was further compounded by reports that these issues were spreading to children which Chiricos notes is a common component of the rise of a moral panic (65). The reaction to these panics was unsurprising. Panics are viewed as sudden problems and treated with fundamentally inappropriate solutions such as sending more people to prison and building more of them (Chiricos 67). Following moral panics, according to Chiricos, â€Å"commands† are issued by the public (71). The policy ramifications from these moral panics included 9. 7 billion dollars for more prisons, California’s three strikes program, and various repressive laws aimed at adults and children alike in many states (Chiricos 71). These examinations of the media’s relationship with public opinion point out how in this age of information the media is an important factor in how we carry out our democracy and decide what issues are important. If this has become the case than there are serious concerns for how the media is serving democracy. Lawrence sees the media as an arena where problems are constructed and there is constant struggle between elites, groups, and the public seek to define and address problems (3). What constitutes a problem is socially constructed. This is also true of crime problems. Lawrence is concerned with how problems are socially constructed in the media because when something is defined as a problem facing the country power is conferred upon the social institutions we would likely look to deal with it (5). So, in the arena of the media if crime is framed by elites as stemming from the degradation of society or loss of opportunities for many people then programs and institutions organized for supporting the poor and communities will be empowered. However, the usual winners in this clash of frames typically define crime as an epidemic problem fueled by a justice system which is too soft on criminals. With this frame politicians must appear â€Å"tough on crime† and power is given to more punitive crime control policies and the prison-industrial complex flourishes as more and more money is spent on warehousing offenders. This further disempowers social welfare institutions as money spent on police and prisons cannot be spent on education, healthcare, or welfare programs. This struggle to define problems can be looked at as a clash of differing realities where vastly different takes on issues exist but one is adopted by the media and then disseminated to the public (Lawrence 5). Lawrence says that the prevailing reality held by the most successful definers typically comes from officials within the government (5). There exists a close relationship between government officials and the news media. They are the primary definers and therefore the strongest factor in how we construct the reality of crime (Lawrence 5). This is unhealthy because, with the issue of crime in particular, officials are quick to define crime as an epidemic issue filled with fearful imagery and then act against criminals in draconian ways. When they construct a reality where they are needed to protect their constituents justice in harmed for the sake of political capital. This manipulation of reality and fear for the sake of power is addressed by Entman but with respect to the war on terror instead of crime and justice. He argues that the elite exert control by hegemony and indexing (4). Hegemony refers to the way officials release only information that supports the narrow reality that they seek to perpetuate and indexing is how the media reflect this narrow debate among elites quite closely (Entman 5). With this control over public perception it is relatively easy for officials to frame issues such as crime or terrorism. When they win the battle to define a problem obvious remedies arise. If terrorism is framed as an attack on our way of life rather than a consequence of our projection of power across the globe then it follows that the remedy is defense and war. Similarly, if elites succeed in defining crime not as a consequence of lost economic opportunities but as a result of naturally deviant personalities then the reaction that follows is to lock up these defective personalities and isolate them from the rest of â€Å"normal† society. The way in which we think about various issues and problems directly affects how we deal with them. Most in society would say that the solution to problems is obvious because it is. What is missed however is the fact that how we think about problems can completely shift the ways in which we deal with them. In order to change policy then the first step is to change the perceptions and the reality surrounding it for officials and the public alike. Lakoff tells us that if we can reframe issues we can create social change (XV). When we change the way the public sees the world, largely through the media, and alter that perceived reality we can change the policies that follow. So why then does the media seem to be so concerned with violent crime and creating feelings of fear and anxiety in its consumers? The reason seems to be sensationalized journalism meant to increase viewership and a system where officials control our perceptions through the media. It needs to be understood that passive consumption of the media is unhealthy and we should think critically about how reality is constructed by elites and the media because, that subjective reality directly affects the solutions that are used to deal with our problems. While so many people are given the impression that crime is rampant the underreported fact is that crime has been decreasing for many years. In order for there to be rational crime control policy in the United States we need to have accurate information about the reality of crime in this country. In order for this to happen the media must provide an accurate depiction of crime that is constructed by a fair debate in the public arena of the media. There is a lot at stake in how we perceive the world around us and how we think about crime and punishment.