Inequality: Race, Crime, and the Law Essay

Policing and punishment in America is hardly colorblind. It is not a coincidence that minorities serve longer sentences, have higher arrest and conviction rates, face higher bail amounts, and are more often the victims of police use of deadly force than white citizens. When it comes to criminals, many people have a preconception of what a criminal is. Usually when people think of a criminal they picture a Black or Latino face. The thought of an Asian criminal is often related to Asian gangs. Interestingly enough, White people as a group are rarely associated with the thought of crime, even though they account for 70% of arrests and 40% of the prison population each year (Russel xiv). This seems to be overlooked, though, when people consider their stereotypical views. Minorities have become victims of these stereotypes in the U.S. courts by judges and juries as well as in their neighborhoods by local police. When asking for fairness, the desire isn’t for more rights for the criminally accused, yet for those rights of the accused to be fairly executed, before they are found guilty or innocent. This being because the system is unfair, it seems to be two different systems: one for the privileged, and one for the less privileged. Cops use methods of investigation and interrogation against minorities and the poor that wouldn’t be accepted against more privileged citizens. Courts assign public defenders to the poor in serious criminal trials that a rich person wouldn’t hire to defend them in a traffic court. Many minorities walk into a courtroom with the feeling that they are guilty until proven innocent. The complexion of their skin is too often viewed as negative. There is no doubt what the reason for it is. The evening news often leads off with a crime story, many times showing black males being taken away in handcuffs. Black females are portrayed as grieving mothers over the death or arrest of their son or daughter. This is shown so much that it’s impossible to ignore. I’m not denying that the ones shown on the news may, in fact, be guilty, but seeing it so frequently results in Americans incorrectly believing that most black men are criminals. On top of that, they connect the image of arrested individuals on the news, and begin  to stereotype all individuals they may come across personally that may have a similar appearance. Consequently, the thought of â€Å"black crime† comes to mind. I find it interesting how I have never heard the phrase, â€Å"white crime.† This leads us to racial profiling. Stereotypical views of minorities by police officers can lead to tragic situations. Amadou Diallo was a 22-year-old West African immigrant who lived in the Bronx, New York. He studied English and Computer Science in Singapore and Thailand before coming to America. A devout Muslim, he worked twelve hours a day selling videos to earn enough money to finish his bachelor’s degree. On February 4, 1999, as he was standing in the vestibule of his own apartment, about to open the door, four undercover police in plain clothes, members of the â€Å"elite† Street Crimes unit, approached him. What happened next is unclear, but when the dust settled, the four officers had fired a total of 41 times, at an unarmed man. Somehow, 22 of the 41 shots missed their target, though the officers aimed into a space not larger than a telephone booth. Of the 19 bullets that did hit Diallo, 11 hit him in the legs, five pierced his torso, one hit the right arm, one went through his chest and one entered through his back. The cops’ defense claimed Diallo was behaving suspiciously, and had not obeyed their command to stop. When Diallo raised his wallet, each one of them, imagined that this black man was raising a gun. Because this scared them, they shot at him 41 times. One year later, on February 25, 2000, the four cops were found not guilty of murder. Diallo’s fear doesn’t matter. Who cares that the skinny black immigrant must have been terrified to see four white guys bearing down on him like thieves or murderers? Not guilty, these four police officers are entitled now to return to their jobs, strap on their guns, and hit the streets armed with the same racism, the same fear that killed Diallo. Police brutality is known to be very common in the Bronx. With situations such as this one as well as the Rodney King incident in Los Angeles, Blacks have become to fear the police. When a police car approaches them, they can’t decide whether justice will be served or if the cop’s intentions are to harm or even kill them. The integrity of a police officer  is not guaranteed to the citizen. In past cases police have been known to plant fake evidence simply to have a reason to arrest a â€Å"suspect.† As a result, African-Americans make up about 12% of the general population, but more than half of the prison population (Cole 4). With so much injustice being done to minorities in general, how can you expect minorities to respect a system that doesn’t respect them? In fact, people are so quick to believe minorities are criminals that they are used as â€Å"fake† suspects by citizens who want to hide the real criminals. â€Å"Racial Hoaxes† are defined as: â€Å"When someone fabricates a crime and blames it on another person because of his race OR when an actual crime has been committed and the perpetrator falsely blames someone because of his race.† (Russel 70) The negative image of African-Americans has become so bad that â€Å"imaginary† Black people are invented as criminals. In some cases Black individuals were even chosen out of a line up and after being identified by who would end up to be the actual committer of the crime. Usually, somebody guilty of racial hoaxing is just charged with filing a false police report. On that note, hate crimes have been on the rise this past decade. There have been many race-related assaults on minorities. The majority of people arrested for Hate Crimes are White. So why is it that we rarely hear about â€Å"White crime?† Although the term â€Å"Black Criminality† is often used you never hear the term, â€Å"White Criminality.† White crime is rarely labeled. If the media feels the necessity to label crimes then when rural crimes take place they can easily call it â€Å"White crime.† When they label crime by race it gives the wrong impression that the criminals race had something to do with the reason he or she committed the crime. What most people do not know or realize is that White offenders are the most common. The following is taken from The Color of Crime by Katheryn Russell: Whites account for approximately 80 percent of those arrested: driving under the influence (86 percent), liquor law violations (80 percent), and drunkenness (81 percent). For these offenses White arrest rates are on par  with their percentage in the population. Table 7.2 also reports that Whites have high rates of arrest for several other offenses, including arson (74 percent), burglary (67 percent), loitering (76 percent), vandalism (73 percent), and sex offenses (75 percent). SOURCE: Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics (1991-1995), Bureau of Justice Statistics Whites also have a much higher rate of white-collar crimes. Criminologists Francis Cullen and Michael Benson state: â€Å"The costs of white-collar crime?the violence it entails, the money it transfers illegally, its damage to the moral fabric?may well outstrip the costs of traditional street crimes.†(Color crime PG 116) Still there is no annual count of white-collar crimes. Some say that criminologists don’t view them as real crimes. The belief that black crime is disproportionate is true, but the belief that African-Americans are responsible for a majority of crime is false. Why is it that we hardly see crime represented in other colors? There is no term â€Å"criminalwhiteman† yet people use the term â€Å"criminalblackman?† If more White criminals were in the media’s spotlight, the public image of crime would be completely different. Still, the Black stereotype will never go away unless the media exposes the â€Å"criminalblackman† as a misrepresentation. Whites who live in mainly suburban and rural areas, actually commit at a disproportionate rate as well. Only if the public could actually see the amount of Whites committing crimes, they would learn that their racial views about crime were misplaced. The O.J. Simpson case was proof of the racial division and views about how the law handles cases. Had he been an average middle or lower class Black man who couldn’t afford a good attorney, he would have definitely been found guilty. Even with such overwhelming evidence that this injustice exists to poor minorities, you would never know it by examining the outcome of most minorities accused of a crime. When it comes to statistics, lack of information may be misleading. The media’s overemphasis on how differently Whites and Blacks viewed the criminal case also masked the fact that many African-Americans believed Simpson was guilty, and many Whites believed he was not guilty. In a poll, it was found that 30% of Blacks believed he was guilty while the number of Whites who felt he was innocent outnumbered  Blacks 3: 1. (Color crime, 31). The public as a whole has a general misconception of the relationship between crime and race. Unfortunately, this misconception is brought into courtrooms. It’s no surprise that things are the way they are given the history of this country. You can change laws but you can’t change people. As long you have the image of minorities being portrayed as criminals in the media, the problem will exist. The problem only makes itself worse as it continues. Inequality is inevitable in today’s society. This nation is too busy dealing with the problems that arise from the views of race and crime to focus enough attention on fixing them. The problem can’t be fixed until we as a people can agree on what the root of the problem is. It begins in the communities and ends in the justice system. We must look inside the system and the role it play’s in society and what outcome we want from it. We need to use equality rather than personal views when making difficult decisions in society. Works Cited Cole, David. No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System. New York: The New Press, 1999. Kennedy, Randall. Race, Crime, and the Law New York: Pantheon, 1997 Russell, Katheryn K. The Color of Crime. 1998. 10 Apr. 2002 http://emedia.netlibrary.com/reader/reader.asp?product_id=1331

Goals Statement Essay

When I first sat down to write my educational goals statement, I thought it would be easy. I am an extremely goal oriented person, with my entire life being spent focusing on â€Å"what’s next†. So, how difficult could it be to simply write down those goals? When I began writing, however, I discovered it was going to be a little more difficult than I anticipated. I realized that it may be possible to have too many goals. My list was long and confusing with some goals very specific, and others vague. I thought to myself, how can I produce a smart goals statement out of this? So I re-evaluated my list and discovered that my goals could actually be divided into three predictable categories: immediate goals, short-term goals, and long-term goals. I decided then to choose one from each category to focus on for this report. My immediate goals were fairly general, but all related to my success as a student, so my main goal as student is to get an A in all of my online subjects, and this is a goal that I will go reaching slowly, day by day over the course of this course and in my following online courses. I feel a little intimidated when taking these online courses because my native language is Spanish and having to study in English is an extra challenge for me but I know that with effort and dedication I will get the A that I’m hoping for.

Social psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Social psychology - Essay Example The study of personalities and theoretical differences in personalities. It can also be said that personality psychology is specific to the studying of human differences. Social psychology is related closely to personality psychology as understanding social behaviors can be better explained by observing and studying personality differences. If there were no personality differences displayed in humans, then we would all be exactly the same and diversity would not exist. Answer: The theory of self monitoring simply revolves around being in control of one’s words and actions as well as the level of awareness one has over one‘s self. It can be explained as the idea of being accountable to one’s self. For example, an individual with low self monitoring, does not think before they speak. This means that their words and actions are often socially inappropriate. An individual with high self monitoring will select their words carefully before speaking, mentally weighing their choice of words or topics of discussion. A person with high self monitoring is also very concerned with if they are acting within social norms or not. A high self monitor will act out in embarrassing ways without really feeling embarrassed, â€Å"People who are high self-monitors constantly watch other people, what they do and how they respond to the behavior of others. Such people are hence very self-conscious and like to look good and will hence usually adapt we ll to differing social situations. Answer: The overconfidence phenomenon within the work place is receiving more and more attention and study as it seems to be a growing problem in some large corporations. An example of this phenomenon is someone who excels professionally but progressively feels more and more comfortable taking more risks. The overconfident individual will state their ability to perform tasks at a higher level than what

Alcatel-Lucent Success in Brazil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Alcatel-Lucent Success in Brazil - Essay Example Alcatel-Lucent Brazil utilized various entry strategies which included adapting to the customers and industry, developing consumer confidence in the company’s products and services as well as creating and improving brand awareness in the country. In its effort to adapt to the clientele, the company researched on the various needs of its diversified customers which included government agencies, local service providers, and carriers among others. By understanding their clientele, the company was able to develop a customer portfolio specific to the client’s needs and as such adapt its products and services to its customers. Further, the company invested in building the consumer confidence as well as increasing brand awareness by using various marketing strategies such as the use of social media and TV adverts. Managing MNCs is quite a challenge to many companies as they have operations in different countries. These countries have varied cultures and value as well as other varied business environment and the poses a challenge to the company in its management (Matthews & Zander, 2007). It is thus important for companies such as Alcatel-Lucent Brazil to have an effective strategy to use in managing its subsidiaries in different parts of the world. One o0f the challenges facing the company in Brazil is that the company is in its development phase causing a lot of problems in the management and operations of the business. This, for instance, is in regards to political instability, varying exchange, and inflation rates.

Economic Theory of Regulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Economic Theory of Regulation - Essay Example The most known work of Stigler that affects many individuals and groups at present is that of the economic theory of regulation. This theoretical understanding of the major thoughts that has been created to help the society see through the situations mandated as part of the development of the human community creates a knowledgeable knowing on the part of the people's realization as to how they are playing an important role in the society. The economic theory of regulation basically shows how much people are affected by economy. The systems of the society and the rules that are established around the people living in it has long been derived from the many considerable thoughts of the ongoing relationship between social elements as per established through economic connections and demands. The relationship between every person and the groups that creates the entire society is shaped by needs and demands that each needs from the other. Through these demands, the creation of products and services are given way as per mandated through the different provisions allowed by the established legal regulations to exist. The theory of Stiglist suggests the strong implication as to how rules and regulations shape the society's capability of existing in the cause of creating balance among people and groups as established by each one's economic pursuits. In the discussion that follows, a careful understanding of the major issues concerned in understanding Stiglist's implicative theory on microeconomics naturally affect the author of this paper and how the entire idea affects the whole world basically shall be presented to the respective readers of this piece. Through this, the author aims to outline how much regulations of economy have naturally created rules and basic understanding on the roles of existence that each plays to benefit the others. ON Personal Views of the Economy As a regular individual, the author of this paper recognizes the real need to purchase things and get services that are necessary for life. Apparently, there are rules established for such needs and these rules are the ones greatly outlining the values that exist in the human society today. It is through these regulations that the birth of the many systems of economic operations are given way to control the ways by which consumers prefer to have the products that they ought to consume. It is through this that the regulations on how and when people buy what they need is established, and it is through this process that the monetary value of each service and product is identified as part of the demands of the human individuals given way as part of the fact that people and social groups exist for the survival of the other and vice versa. How does this idea affects the author personally Being an ordinary member of the society, the author is basically affected by the theory through becoming highly involved in the process of buying and appreciating products and services offered in the market through the scale of his monetary capability; a regulatory matter that is rather considered as

Film Ragtime Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Film Ragtime - Movie Review Example The inspector tells the father that the colored do not have the same sense of family as the whites do. The story simultaneously shows how white people like Evelyn Nesbit use wedlock merely to improve their wealth and status. The main intention is to show that there are good and generous people like the mother and father as well as mean people like the firehouse chief among the white people. It's the same with the colored; there are people who respond violently, like Coalhouse Walker and there are peace loving people like Mr. Booker T Washington. a) Narrative - The plot structure is chronological without any flash back scenes. The interesting part is that four interconnected stories are running simultaneously and due to the systematic and chronological order of scenes, at no point one feels disconnected with any of the four stories. b) Acting - The performance of all the actors, including those with the smallest of roles, is outstanding. However, the performance of Howard E Rollins Jr. (as Coalhouse Walker Jr.) and Elizabeth McGovern (as Evelyn Nesbit) is exceptionally remarkable. The most appealing factor in Howard's performance is his fluency in dialogue delivery. Also, there is a kind of innocence and earnestness in his performance. Some of the scenes in which his immense talent can be seen are the ones in which the firemen block his way and when he expresses his emotions to Mr. Washington and also undoubtedly the concluding scene just before his surrender. By watching Elizabeth's act, it seems like she knew exactly what was expected of her for this role; it is as though she personally knew the character she was playing. She has neither underplayed nor overplayed her role. It is evident that she does not need a dialogue to make an impact. For instance, the way she expresses "couldn't care less" attitude when her husband is speaking about bringing down her nude statue and also the way she shows her disinterest in what Baron Ashkenazy is speaking is notable. Yet another actor worthy of praise is Kenneth McMillan (as the firehouse chief, Willie Conklin). The performance is so good that one is likely to hate the very sight of the character he plays. The characters in the film maintain their basic characteristics throughout the film. The only character that changes is that of the Father's. The father, at the beginning is very indifferent towards Coalhouse, but as the film proceeds, he becomes more sympathetic and finally goes to the extent of risking his life to prove Coalhouse harmless. c) Cinematography - By observing the photography and the lighting, it seems as though great care has been taken to make the movie look very real, as if it's happening right in front of the audience and not on the screen. In the outdoor scenes, the lighting looks very natural and in the indoor scenes, the key light is on the face of the character without placing emphasis on the background. d) Editing - The pace of the film is constant throughout. The constant pace maintained even after Coalhouse and friends taking over the library has helped enhance the suspense. No transition effects have been used, yet

Europe spices - food and history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Europe spices - food and history - Essay Example All this was a way to disguise the often nasty odour and taste of food. Spices refer to the pungent or aromatic fruits, seeds, bark and other vegetable materials used to flavour, preserve or colour food. As a result, spices have often cast an enchantment on individuals’ imaginations. They have for a long period flattered people’s senses. Spices flattered people’s sight with their vivacious colours, smell with alluring fragrances, and taste with different and exceptional flavours. It is because of the search for spices that adventures, such as that of Christopher Columbus, took place. The search for spices and better ways to obtain them triggered the age of exploration and identification of new regions. The sources of spices were known by the Europeans, but relied on the Arabs in order to access them. The Europeans also wanted a direct route to reach the spices and it is for this reason that early explorers set their trail in search of spices. Early explorers such as Ferdinand Magellan, Bartholomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama were the fir st European explorers who started their journeys to identify the sources of spices. They were later joined by Columbus 1492 in search of the source of spices. Da Gama was one of the successful explorers and went back to Europe with cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, and nutmegs from India and Africa (Keay 2006). Among all the goods that were traded in the ancient times, spices most significantly impacted history since they put Europe on the chase for ultimate foreign conquest, a downfall whose failure and success influence every element of modern world politics (Anderson 2007). The desire for spices inspired the commencement of the European colonial experience, a vigour that reshaped European politics, demography, ecology, economy and culture. In this regard, this paper will give a chronological account of the history of spices in Europe through the ancient

Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 19

Review - Essay Example Music in the world is not the same neither are the musicians who compose the songs. In Java, the fundamental principal is the cyclic recurrence of the temporal in which time get estimates through running simultaneously. Java is the several concurrent cycles running simultaneously and critical days are reckoned as those points of coincidence between the different, continuous periods. The seven day and five-day period are calendrical majorly used in java. Day Five periods is in relation to on the five-day market system while the seven-day cycle is adopted from Islamic and Arabic words for the days of the gamelan cycle. Where these cycles coincide is always an important day. The basic unit of gamelan music is a period marked by gong; the instrument has ten subdivisions that allow them to play in given intervals with varied intensities. The first subdivision and the second subdivision positioned at the instruments played and the active constraints; a dot below the cipher is for the lower octave while the above shows the upper octave. Like the cyclical concept of time, the fundamental duality of this music reflects a dual system of classification in Indonesia that amazes the observer by its consistency and thoroughness. Java consists of many aspects of life that culture does not classify. For instance the mountains that are believed to be the home of Javanese gods while the seas the home of demons, place of death and evil spirits. Java divides the universe into these two main parts. The pitches played on gamelan can be perceived as melody and can be hummed as well as fitted with words. Though its formation gets its ideas from cyclic subdivisions, Jazz was only played on special occasions though it is considered old with its earliest piece being monggang was an award to Javanese by god Shiva (Wallin, Bjon and Steven 27).   The cyclic model of playing music was in use even before 1500AD. With time, the contour

Strategic Report of Harrods & Liberty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Strategic Report of Harrods & Liberty - Essay Example have different business objectives thus their practices about the external environment is greatly variable, all aimed at ensuring they stay in line with the demands of the targets and principles for which the store stands. For instance, Harrods demonstrates a higher level of aggressiveness with the incorporation of modern technological innovations, whereas Liberty is apparently more interested in conservation of its reputation and image, as opposed to multi-engagements in macro-economic influencing factors. On the other hand, Harrods appears to have its focus on a wider range of audience as evident through its marketing techniques, which are largely technology-based. This undoubtedly enables the store to pass a busy and energetic feel of communication about itself. On its part, Liberty tends to position its practices on specific and strictly premium high-end market, giving the store a more relaxed ambience. The external and internal analysis of the two stores based on their strategies of retailing suggests that the two organizations have not yet been able to fully exploit the business opportunities at their exposure. Of significant importance is the need for the two stores to adopt diversity in the products and services provided, and the manner in which this is done, in order to widen their customer base as well as helping them overcome some of the external and internal environmental barriers to business. Over the past decades, there has been a significant transformation in the retail industry, which has equally posed more challenging moments for the retailers. Despite this, the global landscape of retailing, which is on constant change, has experienced massive improvement, even in the time of high competition from within the UK markets and that on the global scene (Thirumalai and Sinha, 2009). Evidence suggests that the move by the retailers to harness the multi-channel practices and the growing advances in technology have been key in increasing the stability

3 Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

3 Questions - Essay Example They were able to reduce their first class fares around 20-50% while regular coach fares were cut down by around 38% because of this innovative pricing strategy. Airline travels usually varies based on the seasons and the global political atmosphere. Business people and tourists were the main passengers of airliners and hence their numbers may vary based on the political and seasonal (climatic) variations in the world. So the airliners are adjusting their prices based on these variations in seasons. Another pricing strategy most of the airliners using are the bonuses for the more air miles travelled by the passenger using the same airline. This strategy will prompt the passengers to select the same airline for their future traveling needs in order to utilize the bonuses. Overbooking, discount fare traveling and carefully structured traffic management help the American airlines to ensure maximum passengers in every flight. The customers will often look for more options if the airliners are not flexible enough to reduce their prices. Moreover in a globalized environment the competition is immense in airline industry and hence only the cheaper prices ensure maximum passengers on flights. In every industry the pricing decisions and strategies must be decided based on the competition in the market. In a monopolized market the service provider has the complete freedom over fixing the prices of their product or services where as in a competitive market the pricing decisions and strategies may depend on other suppliers and external environments as well. Airline industry is a highly competitive industry because of the excessive number of private and public air passenger carriers. Most of the airliners experience shortage of passengers most of the times and hence pricing strategies are important for the existence of airliners. In some seasons the airliners will experience busy seasons and hence

Love, Death and Fascist Iconography Essay Example for Free

Love, Death and Fascist Iconography Essay To the fascist artist, his or her own art is merely a vessel that encapsulates his or her own socially-motivated beliefs. The works of Yukio Mishima and Leni Riefenstahl, for instance, embody the essence of their individual nationalities at the height of their individual careers—nationalities that might transcend origin and geography, yet extol   culture, tradition, ritual and society.   Mishima and Riefenstahl exhibit incredible parallelism in their works. Mishima, in his short story Patriotism, describe the human form with such detail and meticulousness reminiscent of Riefenstahl’s style in her 1930’s films. Much like Riefenstahl’s The Last of the Nuba, the naked body is depicted as a means of fascist iconography—the body, perfect and pure in its own way, merges with a bigger community of bodies of like characteristics (Evans 31). Susan Sontag’s treatise on the works of Riefenstahl, Fascinating Fascism, breaks down the latter’s appreciation and fascination of the strong and beautiful Nuba figure as examples of Nazi ideology corresponding to the idea of aesthetics for fascists. Sontag writes, â€Å"Riefenstahl’s portrait of them evokes some of the larger themes of Nazi ideology: the contrast between the clean and the impure, the incorruptible and the defiled, the physical and the mental, the joyful and the critical (par. 27).† This description is echoed in Mishima’s Patriotism, when the lead character Takeyama decides to commit seppuku—ritual suicide by disembowelment—as an act of redemption from the dishonor incurred when his comrades formed alliances with the mutineers.   Mishima’s imagery of Takeyama and his wife Reiko’s preparations for the ritual, as well as the metaphors he uses in describing the couple’s physical forms conveys a fascination for perfection and beauty a la Riefenstahl—remarkable symbols of fascist iconography, as Sontag would consider. In its own effect, Takeyama, Reiko and the Nuba become examples of the â€Å"master race†, where everyone is beautiful, strong, and does not age (Trimborn McCown 256). Mishima and Riefenstahl’s works are also parallel in such that their depictions of death are detailed, beautiful and almost enthralling.     In Patriotism, death in is portrayed as a reward, a happy and celebrated ceremony that requires the utmost preparation. In the Nuba culture, death is a central event, along with fighting. In the Japanese culture, as evidenced by Mishima’s paramount detail in describing Takeyama’s death, death is a way for one to demonstrate his or her enduring loyalty and nationalism to the Imperial system. Death in both Mishima and Riefenstahl’s works surpass life’s merriest events—birth, marriage, love—at times besting even life itself. Mishima writes, â€Å"All around, vastly and untidily, stretched the country for which he grieved. He was to give his life for it. But would that great country, which he was prepared to remonstrate to the extent of destroying himself take the slightest heed of his death? He did not know; and not matter (par. 63).† Takeyama’s examination of self not only mirrors the authors suggestions of his own death wish, it also echoes the sentiments of those under the spell of a fascist ideology—their so-called patriotism—that converts their idea of nationhood as something not only territorial, but equally and incredibly spiritual. The young lieutenant and his bride chose their own death by seppuku, which may be seen as either an honorable and extremely devout approach, or as a self-destructive and deadly consequence of their fanaticism. Mishima unintentionally diverts the reader’s attention from this concept with his alluring illustrations of fascist ideals and concepts, again reminiscent of Riefenstahl’s imagery in her Nazi films. Sontag would consider it an absolute expression of fascist art, in the sense that it â€Å"glorifies surrender, exalts mindlessness, and glamorizes death (par. 36).† Above everything, Mishima verifies in his work and own life the burden that comes with the duty to abide by cultural tradition—duty can be all in one beautiful or ugly, life or death. Works Cited Evans, Mark. Movement Training for the Modern Actor. London, UK: Taylor and Francis,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2008. Mishima, Yushio. â€Å"Patriotism.† Trans. Geoffrey W. Sargent. Mutantfrog Travelogue. 27   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   June 2009. http://www.mutantfrog.com/patriotism-by-yukio-mishima/ Sontag, Susan. â€Å"Fascinating Fascism. â€Å" University of California Santa Barbara. 27 June 2009.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/33d/33dTexts/SontagFascinFas  Ã‚  Ã‚   cism75.htm Trimborn, Jurgen McCown, Edna. Leni Riefenstahl: A Life. New York: MacMillan, 2007.

MV Sewol Sinking: Media Reaction

MV Sewol Sinking: Media Reaction 2014 is a year with frequent accidents, many of them attracted large attention around the world. Media from different countries follow-up report these events under different views and media policy. The sinking of the MV Sewol is one of the concerned event. It occurred on 16th April 2014, a ferry named â€Å"SEWOL† carrying 470 passengers was sank dramatically in the southwest coast of South Korea. Most of passengers are Danwon High School’s students. Lots of passengers rescued by some fisher and merchant ship, South Korean coast guard and ROK Navy ship arrived minutes later. According to the official announce number, by the end of 15th May 2014, 295 people died in the accident and 172 people were injured, the whereabouts of other 9 people are still unknown. The captain and three other crew have been accused of murder, the other 11 crew members are charged to abandoned passengers which lead to people die. Domestic and foreign media gave increasing coverage to the sinking of the MV Sewol event (Asia Bulletin, 2014). It is not clear wrecks cause of the accident, however officials believe that overloading may be the main reason of vessels sinking. Throughout the media coverage about this event, not all of them are objective and authentic, lots of factors such as media policy, national interest, self-censorship, public opinion etc. can influence the media coverage and the representation of journalists. This essay will focus on the sinking of the MV Sewol event to explore and analysis the U.S. and South Korean’s media context of the media policy. Focusing on this event, not all media are objective, compare with some Korean media, U.S. media are more objective. The obvious reasons are not only media in U.S. have more relative free speech  but also any truth cannot influence U.S.’s public interests, national interests or government image. The United State is a country with democracy and freedom, the news media also has freedom. The first press law is the First Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1971, it stipulates that congress shall not abridging the freedom of speech or of the press (CRS,1971). It strongly protect news media’s freedom. Some major newspaper in South Korea such as The Chosun Ilbo, Munhwa Bangsong Jushikhoesa and JoongAng Ilbo have report lots of inaccuracy information which can mislead readers. For example, at the beginning of the accident MBC report that all students have been rescued (The Chosunilbo, 2014), this parlance sustained nearly half hour. Also, the initial report shows that rescuer rescued 368 people from freezing water and most of are students, but South Korea government clarify that 295 people were missing. In the morning of 17 April, Chosun Ilbo report that 174 people were rescued, 6 people had died and 290 people were missing. Compare with Chosun Ilbo, CNN report tha t 6 people had died (Hancocks, Shoichet and Pearson, 2014). The JoongAng Ilbo also reported similar inaccurate reports, for example at the beginning of the accident, they report the number of passengers and the number of rescued people which government announced and not verified, it is false report. In the coverage of the number of rescue divers who enter the water, JoongAng Ilbo quote the government announcement that â€Å"178 divers participate in the rescue†, it sounds like all 178 divers enter the water to search and rescue the victims at once. However, in fact, the number provide by government mean that 178 divers can participate into the rescue and in general, at the scene of the accident, only around 20 divers go into the water to search and rescue the victim every time(Nam, 2014). It can be seen that some of these South Korea medias are trend to government or controlled by government. In general, the standpoint of Chosum Ilbo is on the conservative side. Bennett deal with press-government relations as â€Å"indexing hypothesis† which considered that â€Å"reporters index the slant of their coverage to reflect the range of opinions that exist within the government† (Bennett, 1990). This view is one of the function of media. It is a common phenomenon that some media controlled by government and what they express is represent government opinion and what government want people to know. In this case, for this tragedy, media try to reduce the effect of the event in the society. Media always use less obvious expression to mislead readers. It can be understand as â€Å"symbolic power†, it is indirect and having the power to induce people and control their minds (Van Dijk, 1995). Through the representations, media can influence large number of people. However, lots of people have the ability to judge right from wrong, there are lots of foreign media and some of the local media to lead the correct, mainstream and objective opinion. Focusing on the Sewol tragedy, the main topics are considered about the mass sorrow, why this accident can happened and what should the government and state do to protect and help their citizens. The information that â€Å"all passengers have been rescued† reported by various media cause disastrous impact to the public (Sridharan, 2014). Hundreds journalists have gone on strike to protest government control media. Under the pressure from public, the president of South Korea public broadcasting KBS had resigned (Jun, 2014). The South Korea government and their media drew strong condemnation, which necessitate them to do apologize to public and victims and their families. On 16th May, JoongAng Ilbo published an article to do apologize for its false news during the period of Sewol tragedy. After that , criticize government and media controlled by government become the core topic.The Korea Herald published an article named â€Å"Sewol disaster reveals failure of mass media as watchdog†, it indicate that media blindly depend on government’s inaccurate announcement (Lee, 2014). The president of the journalists association of South Korea Park Chong Ryul said that reporters should listened to public and report what public want to know instead of government said. He think media should standing on its’ ‘watchdog’ and public role. â€Å"Watchdog† is a defined of media in classical liberalism communication theory, media with fair and objective position is a tool that stand for public and help to supervise government behavior. These media didn’t to self-censor themselves and didn’t rely on political correctness to restrict the expression before report which cause disaster effect. The social force lead to the threat to free speech on t he campuses which is the underlying logic of political correctness (Loury, 1994). People afraid of ostracism to avoid the candid expression of their views and opinion which are compelled with communal wisdom, it can be known as self-censorship, argued by Loury. The phenomenon that most of media stand on one side to criticize government and its’ media is an example for self-censorship. Once a common concern has been established, it will spread quickly, just as the wave to criticize and censure South Korea government and its media. On the other hand, other media follow up the critical comments are doing the self-censorship and political correctness perfectly. Although U.S. Media always boast their objective and nonpartisan principle, in fact, U.S. news media become the instrument of monopoly capital and consortium of political. They always put the so-called national interest, rather than public interests first and build the basic frame of political correctness. The partisanship of America media is obviously. For instant, The New York Times and Washington Post are inclined to the Democratic Party of the United States. To coverage the incident of South Korea, they are relative objective. Most of coverage are about the incident without any censure government speech and expression. U.S. media strictly follow the potential limitation: political correctness. It includes U.S. national interests, as a tool of extending national interest, the core mission of U.S. media is to guide audiences accept the standard of U.S. value and regard the U.S. national interest as public interest. It can understand easily, U.S do not want to destroy the South Korea-U.S. Alliance relations. In this case, U.S. Media can only report the objective fact and avoid to accuse South Korea government directly. This is kind of media self-censorship, the basic reason is U.S. national interest. Nevertheless, on the other aspect, Korean and some local media are focus on criticize the government and its’ media. As an example that the America overseas Korean published an advertisement on New York Times to criticize South Korea government, it states that mainstream media shaping public opinion and report false news deliberately to defense for government. Accuse that Park Geun-hye guide South Korea back to the authoritarian regime. The JoongAng Ilbo coverage this issue not only described the advertisement, but also mentioned that publishing this advertisement cost $160000 U.S. Dollar (Shen and Kim, 2014). This news article also quote the speech of the Saenuri Party who strongly condemn this advertisement. They asserted that these America overseas Korean utilize Sewol tragedy to reach their political purpose, they stressed that mourn over Sewol victims and against the government behavior should be distinguished. The article quote the opinion that such high advertising cost s which is better to donate to bereaved family. To analyze JoongAng Ilbo’s coverage, it can be seen that this media is still slant to government. It seems like they coverage the America overseas Korean’s opinion, but in fact they want to tell government’s opinion which induce people to rethink their speech. This article can influence lots of readers’ opinion. As Loury explained about political communication that the transmission of ideas and information about affair of common concern with the purport to form public opinion or influence policy consequence (Loury, 1994). Due to the large number of coverage about the Sewol tragedy and public opinion tendency, it influence the government policy making. According to the coverage of Yonhap on 7th November, South Korea Congress pass by , in order to find out the truth of the incident, taking back the illegal income from criminals and donate to the bereaved family, determining the basic frame about some stuffs wh ich to protect national security (Yonhap, 2014). Government’s policy making should considered about public interest, according to the Down (1962) explanation about public interest, it can be know as â€Å"the will of the people†, it is the combination of individual interest which establish a common value. McQuail(1992) defined public interest as informational, cultural and social benefits. In short, public interest is public’s interest, is citizens common interest. The basic opinion of public interest is that the law should reflect and protect public and public interest. The Sewol incident and the failure of the rescue in the Sewol tragedy damaged the public interest, large number of people died, young students stop their life, government lose public reliance. Most media in this incident are trying to emphasize describing the tragic victims and their family to give pressure to government and prompt government make some measure to remedy the damage of public inte rest, based on the media policy, media should supervise government to protect the public interest. In this case, South Korea government punished abandon captain and crew, passing by the to support victims and their families. The pressure of government not only come from media but also come from public opinion. Public opinion is an aggregate of individual views, attitude and other beliefs. Public opinion have strong power in many fields. Politician support that public opinion have influence on the development of government policy. In contrast, sociologists state that public opinion is an outcome of social communication. Media and communication is a tool to spread the opinion, when the opinion presented by media, the influence of public opinion has been enlarged (Davison, 2012). In this case, public opinion have more power to influence government policy. On the other hand, media can guide the public opinion, media always provide an opinion to incite mass and guide the public opinion. After the incident, the support rate of Park president declined dramatically, more and more people do not trust their government and suspicious of government’s rescue capabilities. According to the organ of public opini on survey Realmeter, more than 1,000 adults was do the survey, 51.7% interviewees are dissatisfied with Park Geun-hye government, only 41.4% interviewees are satisfied with Park Geun-hye government which is lowest in the history (Chung, 2014). People no long trust their government, they thought that if they were encounter similar incident, their government cannot rescued them. In this case, Park Geun-hye later anthologized publicly for several times, severely punished the abandon captain and crew, government also pass by policies to deal with problems arising from the accident. All of them are certified that public opinion have influence on government policy making. Media as an instrument to convey the public opinion to the government, at the same time, it affects the people’s view about government. It’s hard to explain the relationship between the South Korean media and politics by using authoritarian or liberalism theory. Analyzing the developing trend, the relations of South Korean politics and media is transforming from authoritarianism to liberalism. In South Korean political-media relations structure, political power is in a strong position. However, under the democracy pressure, political power have to comply with public opinion. Political power gradually tamed by democracy. It can be summarized from the Sowel incident. Moreover, in South Korea, political and capital have different effect on different media in different time. Just like newspaper media under the influence of capital will be more obvious and the TV media is affected by the government. The American media also controlled by interest group, guiding the public opinion that lead to the country’s leader stepping down. The â€Å"Watergate scandal† is kind of example. In short, through the anal ysis of South Korean media coverage and American media coverage about the Sewol tragedy, it can be seen that media restrict by self-censorship and political correctness, at the same time, the expression and representation of media can stand for the will of interest group, it can be controlled by government to lead the trend of public opinion. In this case, media is a double-edged sword, it not only can representative public opinion to influence government policy making, but also can help government lead the public opinion. References Asia Bulletin. (2014).Four crew members of sunken South Korea ship charged with murder.Available: http://www.asiabulletin.com/index.php/sid/222031775. Last accessed 13th Nov 2014. CRS. (1971).FIRST AMENDMENT RELIGION AND EXPRESSION.Available: http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt1afrag1_user.html. Last accessed 13th Nov 2014. The Chosunilbo. (2014).140 Minutes to campsizing A country that loses children while staring.Available: http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2014/04/17/2014041700213.html. Last accessed 13th Nov 2014. Hancocks p., Shoichet C.E. and Pearson M., CNN. (2014).South Korean shipwreck survivors: Passengers told dont move as ship sank.Available: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/16/world/asia/south-korea-sinking-ship-students/. Last accessed 13th Nov 2014 NAM, I.S. (2014).Media Outlets Apologize Over Sewol Ferry Disaster Coverage.Available: http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2014/05/16/media-outlets-apologize-over-sewol-ferry-disaster-coverage/. Last accessed 13th Nov 2014. Bennett, W.L. (1990). Toward a theory of press-state relations in the United States.Journal of Communication. 40 (2), p103-105. Van Dijk, T.A. (1995). Power and the News Media. In: David L PeletzPolitical Communication in action: states, institutions, movements, audiences, Cresskill. NJ: Hampton Press. p9-36. Sridharan, V. (2014).South Korea Ferry Tragedy: US Amphibious Assault Vessel to Join Rescue Operation as 295 Remain Missing.Available: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/south-korea-ferry-tragedy-us-amphibious-assault-vessel-join-rescue-operation-295-remain-missing-1445002. Last accessed 15th Nov 2014. Jun, J. H. (2014).KBS President under pressure to quit.Available: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/05/116_156954.html.Last accessed 15th Nov 2014. Lee, S. S. (2014).Sewol disaster reveals failure of mass media as watchdog.Available: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140516001217. Last accessed 15th Nov 2014. Loury, Glenn.C., 1994, ‘Self-censorship in public discourse: a theory of ‘political correctness’ and related phenomena,Rationality and Society, 6, pp.428-461. Shen, G.Z. Kim, J.X. (2014).Some American Korean published NYT advertising require that check the truth of Sewol.Available: http://chinese.joins.com/gb/article.do?method=detailart_id=119413. Last accessed 15th Nov 2014. Yonhap. (2014).Cabinet passes package of bills in aftermath of ferry accident.Available: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/search1/2603000000.html?cid=AEN20141118002900315. Last accessed 15th Nov 2014. Iosifidis, Petros, 2011, ‘Media policy and regulation in the public interest,’ inGlobal Media and Communication policy, Palgrave Macmillan. pp.23-75.P95.8.I672011 Davison, W. W. (2012).Public Opinion.Available: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/482436/public-opinion. Last accessed 16th Nov 2014. Chung, M.U. (2014).Parks approval ratings slip steeply.Available: http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/04/113_156249.html. Last accessed 16th Nov 2014. Is the American Dream Achievable? Is the American Dream Achievable? The American dream came about during the United States Declaration of Independence where it was meant to be a land of freedom where prosperity and success to the people prevailed regardless of their social status or where or how they were born. All people were to be treated equally by having their rights exercised freely with their happiness. Children were to be given good education and career without any barriers. Everyone was to make his or her own choice without the obstacles of their class, caste, religion, race ethnicity (Kronenwetter, 1997). By this it meant life should be great, richer and be enjoyed to the fullest by everyone according to their opportunities and achievements. Ever since independence, America has been seen to be a land of opportunity where good life can be achieved through your sweat, freedom of democracy is allowed and where everyone has a right to exercise his or her religion and moral beliefs. Equality was the in-thing. American Dream ever since has been operating under the principle of freedom but nowadays, much has changed in America. It has been born from a nation of freedom to a nation of materialism (Adamson, 2002). Before, one earned his leaving through hard work which was considered to be an achievement of financial success but nowadays people no longer look into the vision of the future which includes time, sweat and ultimate success but instead they sit in their comfort waiting for it to come true. American being a nation of capitalism, the quest for money was part a way forward to achieve their dreams. Instant wealth to the Americans was never part and parcel to their success, working hard was always their dream. During the colonization period, Benjamin Frankline counseled people on their way to wealth, according to him, retiring early to bed and waking up earlier will make you healthier, richer and wiser (Adamson, 2002). The American Dream education system has also been influenced towards not achieving the dream. One needs to qualify in a given area in order get an opportunity in the society instead of developing genuine competence and knowledge or show their interest. The poor who cannot afford education cannot fit in the system with whatever knowledge and experience they have because all this is left to the educated ones. Freedom of the people has also been altered because most of them nowadays have been turned into slaves to some people, the government and any other kinds of institutions. They have got no freedom of their own to rest. They work hard for other people instead of themselves. The achievement of security for all has also become a mirage with the United States topping the list of countries with the highest crime rates in the world. Crime rates heighten to new levels every day and curbing terrorism has become a hard nut to crack, increasing government spending and worsening the already b ad economic situation of America hence hindering the achievements of the American Dream (Kronenwetter, 1997). With all the above happenings, the American Dream can still be achieved through the norms that have been isolated. Norms such as old principles should be observed instead of being materialistic, the concept of being right or wrong, believing in inalienable freedom and the liberty of the individual. With the above, some achievements can be attained. Adaptation to change in institutions, organization or the government can also contribute very much towards the achievement of the American Dream. Faithfulness in what the nation stands for, for instant obeying the rules or the constitution of the nation and being a good citizen rather than being an obligation to the country. Poverty, ignorance, oppression and those things which are meant to hinder the countrys progress towards achieving its dream must be fought in all means (Lasch, 1995). With poverty, addressing the issue of inequitable distribution of wealth among the American people will solve the issue. This can be termed as a sign of justice and fairness among its people since there will be no favor or class of distinction (Adamson, 2002). Education should be put into consideration because with the old principles forgotten, achievement in academic can lead to achievement of a dream, happy and prosperous life. Best education comes with hard work and with this, knowing the root course what is hindering the achievement of the American Dream today can be possible. Economic crisis among the American citizen should be observed. Of recently, the Obama administration has been able to observe that by helping the needy through extending health and unemployment benefits and increasing food-stamp benefits. The problem of unemployment has been able to be addressed through the economic stimulus funding to the state and local government as they concentrate on other infrastructures such as repairing the aging transportation infrastructures. Safety among the citizens should be observed. Violent crimes should be abolished. Instead of crime, good virtues such as peace and prosperity should prevail. With unity, the gift is happiness; integrity of the country is always showing true spirit of the citizen. Goal achieving has been part and parcel of everybodys life but obstacles at times do come on the way. Political instability in a country can affect one to achieve the nations dream. If you want to start a business and the country or two groups are always at war with each other then your business will not grow either. Lack of motivation and drive is a major and key contributor to the achievement of the set goals and dreams (Adamson, 2002). Intrinsic motivation for goal attainment increases once drive to follow through the plan. Developing a set of ambitious life dreams is one thing, but having the drive, motivation and determination to follow through and work toward making your dreams a reality is entirely different. Knowing the motivating factor and never losing sight of it aids in sticking to the action plans. Once motivation is not cultivated in ones inner being the spirit of making the first step towards achieving the dream is deterred and in the long run the dream shuttered. Its therefore a pre-requisite for one to set attainable dreams and walk the dream (Lasch, 1995). Flexibility in making decisions is another critical factor that impacts on dream achievement. Fixed mindedness is a deterrent factor since individuals are not allowed to think beyond in a wider context but rather follow the st rict guidelines in achieving there set targets and as a result the spirit of invention and innovation is not appreciated. It is therefore upon every individual to look at various means of achieving the dream and the most productive decision empowered (Weir, 2007). Skills and competences also sway once judgment in setting dreams. Having the skills to follow through with the desired action is an important factor to consider when elaborating your plan to achieve your dreams (Lasch, 1995). It is therefore once obligation to be handy in identifying his special attributes and align them with his dreams even if means developing the skills through training and research an example would be a carpenter will never achieve his dream of becoming the best unless he continuously improve on his skills. Despite the above achievements and obstacles, they are those who have made the American Dream to become a reality. For instance Abraham Lincoln at some point was quoted saying Where is the American Dream and this, he achieved. Kennedy Abraham Lincoln who was the 16th president of the U.S between 1861 and 1961 took over power when the country crisis of Civil War was on the rise with millions of the Americans already dead (Kronenwetter, 1997). The war was between two worlds with their own visions. These worlds were the Union states of the North and Confederate states of the South. This gave rise to the War of Succession or Civil War. This was a time when the unity of the U.S and its territories were at risk. Lincoln was determined to end this war through the means of unifying the nation. By achieving this, he arrested those suspected to be secessionists and put them under detention without trial. Lincoln career as a president was a very humble person who never loved war. At one point, Lincoln became under attack by both sides of the Union states of the North and Confederate states of the South, Radical Republicans voiced for harsher treatment of the South while Democrats desired Compromise of which he fought back with patronage by making them feel sorry for each other (Adamson, 2002). He had power in speech to convince the American people. For example, at one occasion when addressing the Gettysburg in 1863, he was quoted saying and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, will not perish from the earth (Kronenwetter, 1997). This statement remained to be an icon of the Americas dedication to the principles of nationalism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. Abraham Lincoln dream came true when he abolished slavery in the U.S. With time discrimination and segregation came to an end. Racism only remained in many older North Americans while the young ones continued to interact with different races. Civil Rights Act allowed anybody from any race to study in the U.S with no discrimination. Equality was considered first. Most migrants moved in to the U.S in search of different freedoms and opportunities. Other intermarried for example the blacks and the whites. Then black man, Barrack Obama, with Lincolns footsteps came into being the president. Abraham Lincoln remained a hero and one of the greatest U.S presidents after giving freedom to the slaves (Lasch, 1995). Martin Luther King Jr. was never left behind for fighting for the American Dream. Being a Baptist minister, he was in the war front fighting discrimination against the blacks. All he wanted was racial equality among the Americans. 1963 is the day to be remembered when Martin and his staff went to Birmingham Alabama and protested non-violently. This kind of behavior intrigued bad publicity, forced the white leaders of Birmingham to agree to some anti-segregation demands. He was later arrested and jailed. This was the last time to be seen in public until the memorial of Abraham Lincoln (Lasch, 1995). Here, he invoked the name of Lincoln in his I Have a Dream which was televised across the country. In his speech, he talked about slavery which Lincoln had fought for before. In his own word he said, I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood (Lasch, 1995). All he meant was the equality among the American people. His speech of I Have a Dream to the Americans has achieved the American Dream. The fight for the racism has been achieved equality between the blacks and the whites (Lasch, 1995). Black people are being offered same opportunities in the American at large. Kings was against crime to the humanity, he was against the Vietnam War. In his speech titled Beyond Vietnam he openly declared that he was against U.S involvement with the Vietnam War. To him, U.S was in Vietnam to occupy it as an American colony and calling the American government the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. He also didnt miss the wealth and poverty topic, to him, U.S needed some moral changes in which he said, A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Africa, Asia, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries (Lasch, 1995). Politically, his prediction about his four children living in a nation where a black will rule came to be accomplished the Barrack Obama. Martin Luther King Jr. left a legacy behind for fighting equality and human rights. Despite this kind of lives, the two leaders demonstrated leadership in themselves. Trying to look at their personalities and their achievements, we can see each having growing up to fight for the rights of the human nature. Their life stories, memorable phrases and quotes and incredible feats that give us a glimpse of what we already know. There destinies were shaped by the obstacles but they managed to overcome it. For instant, Born on February on 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln came from a very humble family and made a living with simple jobs like cutting wood, failed merchant. With nine years old, Lincoln lost her mother due to milk sickness, and then her older sister died also when giving birth at a young age (Kronenwetter, 1997). His father re-married again of which his fathers wife became very close to Lincoln despite the distance between him and his father. Slavery was part of their family. This haunted Lincoln very much with the kind of hard labor his father was going through due to lack of education. All cores expected of him as a male in the household such as building rail fences was his work. Lincoln worked so hard when he was young and whatever he earned, he gave his father and when he grew older, he at times loaned some money from his father. His romance life was also full of obstacles, her first love died of typhoid fever before they could settle together. Her second romance didnt work either after courting for some time. At the end, he married Mary Todd Lincoln whom they had children together who died later with different ages. This haunted both parents so much and at some point Mary was committed to a mental care asylum in1875 while Abraham Lincoln suffered from melancholy (Kronenwetter, 1997). Life went on with lots of ups and down until Lincoln became a legislator of Illinois, an advocate against the extension of slavery, later a candidate of the nascent Republican Party, later the President of the United States, and, finally, a man of principles who believed in the essential virtue of democracy for resolving conflict of which he fought for so much and at one point, he was quoted saying As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy (Lasch, 1995).Education wise, Lincoln was very smart. He observed nature with a lot of closeness which enabled him later to accomplish his American dream. Living in Illinois opened his future of becoming a lawyer and this helped him sharpen up the skills of politics. Through politics he managed to become the president of the United States of America. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and confederate spy from Maryland in 1864. Martin Luther King Jr. was also assassinated in 1968 in his room that he had booked. He was born in January 15, 1929 as Michael which later changed to be Martin, grew up in a Christian family. His father was a pastor in Ebenezer Baptist church in Atlanta where he acted as a co-pastor. Martin was a learned man, he attended segregated schools in Georgia, graduated from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B.A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. Three years after his theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected preside nt of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951 (Kronenwetter, 1997). Later he married MaCoretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments of whom he had two sons and two daughters with. He worked as a strong worker for Civil Rights for the members of the race. He fought for the equality of the American citizens. Left behind a legacy of predicting that one day the American will be ruled by the blacks. Of which it has been accomplished. This two leaders had some few things in common, the both fought for the humanity rights (Lasch, 1995). The both wanted America to be a land where freedom is exercised and opportunity citizen to both are adhered to. Through their fight for humanity, American Dreams have been achieved. Education wise, resources are being distributed freely to all the people. In summary great people dream big, this can be translated to mean people will always try to get a good life. The Promised Land flowing with goodies will always attract masses; in view of this fact America has been seen by many as a country that promises the good life. What people do not realize is that the country was built through hard struggles and sacrifices to achieve the success. Successful people commit to achieving better than their peers. For them, commitment has becomes an instinctual habit they practice every day. However, commitment is not merely about the intention or the strength of your promises, it is all about taking action. Even the strongest commitment is just another broken promise unless a commitment to take action occurs. In conclusion achieving once dream is a product of individual efforts and intrinsic power to venture into the world of unknown unveiling discoveries. Americas top two icon leaders have lived the example and the idea of achieving once dreams made practical and many more yet to be unfolded.

Homeless Youth Facilitators and Barriers

Homeless Youth Facilitators and Barriers When considering the problem of homelessness, we may think of the stereotypical skid row bums, drug addicts, or perhaps the mentally ill living on the sidewalks begging for change from passerby (Letiecq, Anderson, Koblinsky, 1996). All people that are homeless do not live on the streets. Homeless people can be someone who stays with a friend or a family member, someone living in overcrowded conditions, someone living in poor conditions that may affect their health, someone living away from their loved ones because of certain conditions. Many of these people are youth who lacks proper shelter. Homelessness among young people is a major social concern in the United States. Youth homelessness is not a new phenomenon and it has become more and more severe over the years. We ask what youth homelessness is. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, homeless youth are individuals under the age of eighteen who lack parental, foster, or institutional care (2008). Homeless youth i ncludes runaways, throwaways, and street youth. They are also referred to as unaccompanied youth (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2008). ÂÂ  Homelessness for youth has been an ongoing issue and is at greater risk due to the greater vulnerability due to the background factors related with their life style. Homeless youth can be found anywhere throughout the U.S. and most of these youth are age 18 or below. Many of these homeless youth comes from low-income communities or from dysfunctional families. Although the prevalence of youth homelessness is difficult to measure, researchers estimate that about 5 to 7.7 percent of youth- about 1 million to 1.6 million youth, under the age of 18 experience homelessness each year (Pope, 2013). As an estimated report by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the US Department of Justice, there are about 1,682,900 homeless and runaway youth (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). ÂÂ  Children and youth identified as homeless by the Department of Education in FY2000, only 35% lived in shelters; 34% lived doubled-up with family or friends, and 23% lived in motels and other locations (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). These children and youth may not immediately be recognized as homeless and are sometimes denied access to shelter or the protections and services of the McKinney-Vento Act (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). Youth that are homeless can become this way for a variety of reasons. Many youth become homeless as a result of family problems and financial difficulties. Some of the causes of homelessness are due to physical or sexual abuses, family that has a drug addiction, or because of parental neglect. Often the young people experience more than one of these factors in their homes. For example runaways usually leave their home without letting their parents or a legal caregiver know about their whereabouts. They often tend to have a history of hardship in school and behavioral problems with other peers. Children from families that have always been poor are likely to be worse off than children in families that experience sudden hardship due, for example, to the recession and foreclosure crisis (NCSL, 2103).ÂÂ   Parents are the majority of the time a primary reason these youth becomes homeless. A dysfunctional family can be one of many reasons why these youth would leave their home. The youths become homeless due to some disruptions of their families caused by divorce. If the families break up, the youths are forced to search for new places to live and this becomes very difficult for them. They may lack suitable places to go or stay as they may lack the required funds.ÂÂ  The number of homeless youth has been growing and it has become a serious problem in our society. In a study, 46% of runaway and homeless youth had been physically abused and 17% were forced into unwanted sexual activity by a family or household member (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2007). Some of these young people becomes homeless when their families suffers financial crisis resulting from lack of affordable housing, no job opportunities, no medical insurance or inadequate welfare benefits. ÂÂ  They are not only in need of money, but they are also in need of attention and support. Youth homelessness face gets involve in a high-risk survival behaviors in order to meet their basic needs. Youth on the streets fall prey to substance abuse, develop mental illness, and victimization. Young homeless people are most likely to have high-risk behaviors in such like engaging in unprotected sex, having multiple sex partners and gain access to substance abuse. Some of the homeless youth are forced to involve themselves in prostitution in order to obtain their daily bread and survival. For instance, they participate in unsafe sex in the exchange of basic necessities such as food, shelter and money. This is so because the greater percentage of the youths is sexually active at the average age of thirteen and fourteen years.ÂÂ   Homeless youth use prostitution as ways to survive, in which it can cause lots of unwanted pregnancies. Chronic health conditions, including asthma, other lung problems, high blood pressure, tuberculosis, diabetes, hepatitis, or HIV/AIDS, are prev alent among homeless youth (Pope, 2013). To obtain money, food, or a place to sleep, homeless youth may panhandle or resort to extreme measures such as theft, drug sales and abuse, prostitution, or survival sex (Pope, 2013). Homeless youth can also become mentally unstable. Mental health problems may develop as a result of violence or other trauma experienced while homeless (Beharry, 2012). Homeless youth can be face with traumatic and stressful events which can cause them to be in constant fear or become mentally unstable. They have a greater risk of severe anxiety and depression, suicide, poor health and nutrition and even low self-esteem. Drug and alcohol use are often seen by homeless youth as self-medication for depression and other mental health issues, as a social outlet for connection with peers, or as an otherwise adaptive coping strategy for survival on the streets (Christiani, Hudson, Nyamathi, Mutere, Sweat, 2008). These mental problems can or most likely interfere with their activities such as learning and communicating in school. ÂÂ  Homelessness can lead to an interruption of their education and therefore affects their future ability to live comfortably and independently. These youth that lacks education can set them to experience s evere financial and emotional challenges as not being able to secure any employment in the United States of America. The presence of uneducated and unemployed homeless youths affects the development processes of the societies. Homelessness can affect their educational opportunities for future success. Homeless children and youth who are able to enroll in school still face barriers to regular attendance: while 87% of homeless youth are enrolled in school, only 77% attend school regularly. (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). Youth that are from families who are struggling seems to move around a lot in search of something that is affordable for them such as housing and for employment. These children or youth experiences changes of school messes up their education because their family has to find a place where shelter is affordable for them. According to the Institute for Children and Poverty, homeless children are nine times more likely to repeat a grade, four more times more likely to drop out of school, and three times more likely to be placed in special education programs than their housed peers (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). ÂÂ  Homeless youth need access to services that will help them regain stability in their lives, such as obtaining a job and affordable housing. What does homeless youth need? They would need housing which includes shelter, transitional living programs, and supportive housing that is permanent for youth with mental illness. Homeless youth benefit from programs that meet immediate needs first and then help them address other aspects of their lives.ÂÂ   States can provide homeless youth with access to educational outreach programs, job training and employment programs, transitional living programs, and services for mental health and life skills trainings (NCSL, 2013). There are many programs run by government and voluntary organizations that are aimed to help homelessness by providing advice, financial support, a place to stay and other assistance. There are programs such as housing subsidy, local or federal government assistances. When there is no shelter it becomes a problem for these youth. A lack of affordable housing and limited scale of housing assistance program have contributed to the current housing crisis and to homelessness (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). Income and housing-related factors continue to play a significant role in the growth of homeless families (Anderson Koblinsky, 1995). When parents cannot provide for their kids, these youth are also affected as well. Housing is the key to ending homelessness to help these young people and their families. There are only a small percentage of all homeless youth that seek shelter (Pope, 2013). There are ways to help house these youth. Youth housing programs include group homes, residential treatment, host homes, shared homes, youth shelters, and community-based transitional living programs (NCSL, 2013). As according to LaKesha P. Pope, there are the five strategies to house homeless youth (2013): Develop stable housing without time limits specifically designed to meet the needs of youth which link services for future independent living. Include set-aside unites for youth in existing or newly developed mainstream affordable housing. Allow youth to be integrated into the local Continuum of Care planning and implementation process and as consumers of affordable housing stock. Market housing resources in places where youth will see them. Educate private landlords about the special needs of homeless youth and the existence of programs willing to offer supervision and assistance to youth tenants. These strategies can bring in some positive attitudes to these youth when they know that there is some kind of help or assistance that is set up. What homeless youth need the most is a home. Programs are out to help these youth but it can be a challenge to get the services. It can be a challenge for homeless youth to find help and assistance shelters. They can lack transportation to get to their destination for help. Many youth feel that agencies favors are usually with people who need help the least. Connecting youth to resources is a critical service and especially when a program that lacks funding to provide shelters. A barrier that homeless youth can experience in accessing housing are (Pope, 2013): No rental history Age discrimination No job or not enough income to afford market-rate rents Lack of standing to sign lease Trouble with mobility due to few public transportation options Exposure to domestic violence, sexual assault and adults who solicit youth for illegal activity in exchange for housing Teen parents Past abuse and trauma resulting in mental or cognitive disabilities Failure to find housing with proficiencies in various youth cultures Youth often find themselves homeless because of family breakdowns, system failures, and marginal resources (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2013). Homeless youth who are not able to live with their families, other options should be made available for them to contribute and take care of themselves. However, we cannot change how people treat their youth, but we can try to change the outcome of a youths life. There are many risks that these youth can face being on the streets with no shelter or help. Some youth may never want to find help or look for assistance but we as human service worker, should try to reach out the best we can.

NASA is a Waste of Money :: Politics Government

Were you aware that the budget for space exploration extends well over thirty-two billion dollars? People are dying of hunger overseas, not even wealthy enough to feed their own families, and NASA is spending twenty billion dollars to put a man on the moon! What did we learn on the moon, how can this endeavor help mankind? Nothing, and it can't! Some people declare that space exploration is man's greatest enterprise into the unknown. Space exploration is no great endeavor, it is in fact man's greatest waste of money and time that could be better spent elsewhere. Did you know that NASA spends up to fifteen point forty seven billion dollars per space mission? The Space Review is a pretty reputable site for science related news, one account stated that, ?No firm cost estimates?. cost of Mars expedition estimated at nearly one trillion dollars?. That is a great deal of money that could easily pay for multiple operations all over America, and other places too. A spacecraft en-route to Mars exploded in nineteen sixty-nine by USSR technicians. These failures are taking big chunks out of NASA?s (over-sized) budget, much of which is being funded toward more inevitable failures. They say that you learn from your mistakes, but those mistakes can lead to some way bigger problems. These expeditions are taking too much time as it is. It took us four years just to take pictures of the surface of Mars. I saw these pictures, and I must say, I have seen better views of Mars taken through a telescope. This is too much time taken just to get some bad pictures of a planet that, sources suggest, has long been dead. Half of NASA?s rovers haven?t even got to the planet, even less have ever even sent any data back to Earth. Numerous satellites, spacecrafts, and rovers are endlessly exploding, getting lost in space, and so on. Until we can send things into space with a one hundred percent chance of success, we shouldn?t send any up period. All this money that NASA is spending on failed missions could save countless lives, multiple times over. As mentioned previously, people are dying overseas: starving, dying of dehydration, perishing ever so slowly. Their lives gradually wasting away to nothing, while some people are using the money that could be used to send them food and medicine, in order to send big hunks of metal into space which, as they say, is a whole bunch of nothing! I will admit that money isn?

Essay --

1.0 Analysis on Ford Motor Company Financial Condition Based on question 1, the table in appendix 1 indicates the financial statement of Ford Motor Company from the year 2008 to 2012. According to the table, the balance sheet has shown that, there were a positive figure in Ford’s operating income from the year 2012 to 2012. Meanwhile, there were slight decrement in the balance sheet from the year 2008 to 2009, whereby has designates negative value in the operating income. A convergence in factors produced in December 2007 to June 2009, was Great Recession due to bad bank loans, improper credit ratings, lax regulatory policies and misguided government incentives that encouraged reckless borrowing and lending (Lutterell et al., 2011). Besides that, this crisis also had drastic effects towards oil price because in 2008, the oil price has increases up to 18 % from 13% per year because of the crunch. It has resulted loss of trust towards U.S government and its capitalist economic system. According to Fraser Institute Index of Economic freedom has indicated that, from the second rank of global ranking, U.S has drop to 18th in 2012 (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, 2012) The increasing of economic challenges and crunch in 2008 has impacted badly on the annual reports of companies, in both terms of cash flow and operating losses. In the earlier year it is predictable weak, up to 15% drop in annual operational cash flows. Following the declines in automobile sales throughout 2008 has affected the other car maker in U.S, such as, General Motors (GM) and Ford Motor Company. In this case, the automobiles industry has requested for emergency loans in order to encounter upcoming cash shortages (Brent and Glass, 2009). Finally, with the resolv... ...7 compare to Ford which is 1.01 and GM 0.985 and as the average of the year the quick ratio is in positive form which is 0.981. In the past 5 years the total average of quick ratio which is been stated in the financial statement for Toyota is 0.9726 and Ford is 0.86 where else, GM has a low average 0.821 compare to Ford and Toyota. Finally, Ford and GM managed to step away from the low quick ratio issues and went up steadily due to their dedication in maintaining their current liabilities and inventories which Toyota failed to balance which resulted the decreased growth in the year 2012. To be concluded that Ford is the leading force in the automotive industry because of the expert staff, quality products and services. This company is the perfect investment opportunity; paying close attention to the risks and regulations and protecting their investors’ interests.

Black Boy By Richard Wright :: essays research papers

The conflicts between man and bigotry have caused casualties within man, which caused them to become victims. In the novel Black Boy Richard Wright explores the struggles throughout his life has been the victim of abuse from his coworkers, family, and his classmates, due to this he is able to return his pain and he becomes a victimizer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wright depicts the victimizing tendencies of the members of his dysfunctional family. In the beginning Wright a first notice something is wrong with his family when his father goes to work and never comes back. This instance confused Wright making him unstable and untamed without restrictions. The next time Wright sees his father is during court when his mother was asking him to pay child support. This is the moment that Wright feels resentment for his father when he sees his father smiling throughout the court conflict while his mother was crying. Another occasion where Wright becomes a victim is when his mother makes Wright to accompany her to ask his father for money. When they were ready to ask his father for the money they found him with another woman getting â€Å"comfortable†. As Wrights’ mother asks for the money his father laughs at them and says he doesn’t have any money. When the woman that his father is with looks at Wright she say s Wright was cute and that his father should give him something. This causes Wright to become embarrassed and hurt because when that woman told his father to give him something the only thing his father would give him was a nickel. The moment that Wright becomes a victim is when his father laughed and put the nickel back into his pocket. Another instance, which happens throughout the novel, is the verbal actions taken toward Wright. Throughout this whole novel the readers see that his family yells at Wright at least once a day. All of that yelling has to victimize Wright because it had the reader’s attention. Through all of his trouble at home Wright turned is fear into anger and in turn became the victimizer. One instance is when he takes out razor blades and threatens them again his uncle. Then there was an occasion when he killed a cat just because his father told him to kill it in a sarcastic way. Another time was when he physically fought his aunt because she was trying to beat him.

Drama Homework

The chosen character was Mrs. Johnston, she was a very calm and she cared a lot about her children but she didn't have conditions to have twins so she cited to give one to Mrs. Lyons because she knew that Mrs. Lyons would take good care Of her child and the child would have a good education. ‘ decided to explore the lion because they both have similarities, for example, mothers lion really care about her children.My eyebrows were raised, my mouth was little bit open to show that was shocked my hands were holding the chair very strongly and aggressive because lions are aggressive then I quickly got up and I gave three big large steps towards my partner, because lions have big paws and they are very fast. As a bit louder than her and my voice was bit pitched to show that I was transforming my character into a lion and my eyes were wide open, my eyebrows were raised from the inner sides to show sadness so I grabbed her clothes to show was desperate, I was nearly on my knees.My eye brows pulled downwards towards the inner sides to show anger my mouth was wide open, I quickly stepped away from her because wanted to calm myself but my partner was getting a bit closer to me. Thought that both characters' personality were similar because they are both retroactive and they really care about their children like for example, when Mrs. Johnston gave one of her twins she was thinking about his future and that he would have a better education and I think that a lion would do the same thing just to see their child grow in a better way.Another reason how linked both characters' personality was that they are both brave and strong for example, Mrs. Johnston would do anything so her family can have something to eat even though that she hasn't got a man to help her and a lion would do the same thing just to keep her children fed. The way transformed the animal characteristics into my character was that, a lion has big paws so their movement is big and large so my character ha d to have big Steps and large to show that I was pretending to be a lion.Another way I transformed the animal characteristics was that lions, are loud so whenever I was talking, I was always a bit louder than my partner to show how I was describing the lion. When I was exploring the lions characteristics was acting like a real lion, how they walk, how they attack, how they express their feelings, how protective hey are, how they relate with others etc.. When I was sure about how the lions are, started to act like Northernmost but with a lion personality but in a human body, for example my facial expression was angry to show that I was describing a lion.Another example the steps of a lion are big and large so I had to make the same movement as them but at the same time as a lady. What have noticed from my partner was that she looked a bit dizzy, because she was balancing side to side in a slowly way when she walked. Her facial expression, her eyes were wide open to show that she was paying attention ND I thought she wanted to show that she wanted me to get scared of her and that she wanted me to be possessed because of her eye contact.

Aubade Poem

Analysis of Aubade He is lonely and depress with the world. He drinks every single, work to support himself and stay up all night rethinking about his useless life. He is dark outside and cold from the inside, no one can see him. He is afraid of what might happen if he takes another step into life. He begin to describe his emotional feelings on paper, thinking about the time that he will be the next one laying in the grave, he is fearing death.In the poem, â€Å"Aubade,† Philip Larkin take the reader into his pathless journey, letting his audience know what he does and what will happen. He accomplished this through the use of imagery, poetic devices, and organization of the poem. Throughout this poem, the narrator uses imagery by describing his fear of death and the unexpected of death. In the first stanza, lines 1-2, â€Å"I work all day, and get half drunk at night, waking at four to soundless dark,† show what he does on his daily basis.He tell people what he is doing without feeling shame, â€Å" work all day† you can picture him working at factory doing the same thing all over again, meanwhile he come and get â€Å"half drunk. † It seem like the narrator can’t sleep and he is depress. His depressing phrases, he begins to describe what is outside of his house when stepping into the society of death. In lines 3-4, â€Å"In time the curtain†¦till then I see†¦ Unresting death,† he goes from light behind his curtain, the brightness he faces in the morning when going to work and the death road along the way.He emphasizes the â€Å"unresting death,† explaining that he will soon die and he makes all thoughts impossible. â€Å"The mind blanks at the glare. Not in remorse- The good not done, the love not give,† is the mephator Philip uses to establish the meaning of the title. Aubade is the lovers separate at dawn, so other words it doesn’t mean two couples, it is the relationship between death and the narrator. The death can be seen as a lover; because the narrator spends the whole time in bed thinking of what will happen to him if he start another day.The lover can be dawn, â€Å"the love not give,† walk away when light hit. With his tone of fear, he describe the â€Å"emptiness,† when dying you feel nothing but knowing that you are alone in the grave. The sentence â€Å"not to be anywhere† exist on its own line, this where we see the narrator create a connection with death by using the context, line is says, and form, the sentence is all by itself. The narrator is trying to make you feel that death is the one that can separate you from your own life and keep you lonely forever.The organization of â€Å"Aubade† is rather linear. Philip begin with all the negatively, what he does every single day and the fear he has inside of him, death. In the second stanza he show an emotional appeal letting his audience know that he is unable to do anything because death will soon arrive to him. In the third stanza, he tell his opinion about religion, he has no trust with god to save his life, he believe it is a trick as mention in lines 22- 24, â€Å"No trick dispels. Religion used to try.. reated to pretend we never die,† to him he has no belief in savor. As we scroll down to the next two stanza, he tell the readers that even if we want to step away from death, there is no way to overcome and he says in rhyming way, â€Å" Being brave, Lets no one off the grave. † He knows that death is one of the top ten lists of fear. We can feel what he is trying to getting across. We know that he fears death and he speak about what will be expected and the moments that he wished that he could of created. With the journey he took his readers

A Comparative Study of Two Shampoo Brands Based on General Consumer-Related Qualities

A blind comparison of two brand-name shampoos was performed using two selected subjects that have been pre-determined to be willing to participate in the study.   The brand-name shampoos included in this investigation were ClairolTM Herbal Essences and Tresemmà © TM.Each shampoo brand was used daily by the participant for an entire week.   Overall evaluation of each shampoo brand was performed through the completion of a questionnaire.Shampoo quality scores were determined to be higher for Clairol TM Herbal Essences than for Tresemmà © TM.   In addition, the participants’ response rate to the Clairol TM was faster than Tresemmà ©TM, suggesting the Clairol TM Herbal Essences is a better shampoo brand.IntroductionHair quality and appearance has long been considered as a major factor in personal appearance.   In both men and women, several aspects of hair maintenance are given substantial attention, including style, color, shampoo, conditioner, treatments and accessori es such as gels, spritzes and sprays.There is a continuous increase in the number of brands of shampoos, and the consumer is generally overwhelmed and confused with which brand or even type of shampoo would be most beneficial to their personal hair care needs.Such settings warrant the comparative study of specific brands and types of shampoos for the benefit and understanding of the public consumer (Rapaport, 1981; Rigopoulous et al., 2007).This study aims to compare two shampoo brands that are commonly found in the local pharmacy or grocery, and determine which brand provides a greater hair improvement as well as better hair maintenance.Materials and methodsTwo brand-name shampoos were selected for inclusion in this comparative investigation:   Clairol TM Herbal Essences and Tresemmà © TM.   Two subjects who previously gave their consent to participate in this investigation were given an unlabeled bottle of shampoo that contained either Clairol TM Herbal Essences or Tresemmà ©TM.Such blind setting was designed to avoid bias among the participants.   The subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire (Appendix A) upon handing out the shampoo, and were also asked to use the shampoo daily for an entire week.At the end of the week, the participants were asked to complete a second questionnaire (Appendix B).   Each question had an equivalent score of 10 points and the total score of 100 points can be calculated for each brand of shampoo.ResultsEvaluation of responses of each participant was evaluated and the total score was determined for each brand-name shampoo.   Clairol TM Herbal Essences received a higher total score than Tresemmà ©TM, suggesting that Clairol TM Herbal Essences was a better brand-name shampoo to the consumer based on the shampoo qualitites enumerated in the questionnaire.It was also determined that ClairolTM Herbal Essences showed a faster improvement rate than Tresemmà ©TM, wherein the participants hair quality improved upon on e application of the shampoo.DiscussionHair maintenance has been an important factor in the personal hygiene of every individual (Trueb and the Swiss Trichology Study Group, 2001).   Several factors have been determined to play key roles in successful hair maintenance, including haircuts and styling, washing and conditioning, as well as hair dying and curling (Trueb, 2007).There are currently a huge number of shampoo brands out in the market, and the consumer is generally overwhelmed and confused in terms of choice of the best brand for their personal use.   This study aimed to compare two brands of shampoos that are commonly sold at local pharmacies and groceries.Using a blind study of brand-name shampoos and two participants, we were able to compare the qualities of Clairol TM Herbal Essences and Tresemmà ©TM, including consumer satisfaction, sudsing and hair softness.It has been shown that ClairolTM Herbal Essences remains to be a consumer’s choice, based on the total overall score shown in the evaluation of the questionnaire completed by the participants after one week of usage of the shampoo.This study has also shows that it is possible to compare a specific brand of shampoo with another brand using a short-term exposure treatment.   However, the study also shows some limitations because the study population is very small and the treatment time was too short.This investigative tool may serve as a model for future large-scale and prolonged-treatment investigations.ReferencesRapaport M (1981):   A randomized, controlled clinical trial of four anti-dandruff shampoos.   J. Int. Med. Res. 9(2):152-6.Rigopoulos D, Gregoriou S, Kontochristopoulos G, Ifantides A, Katsambas A.Mycoses (2007): Flutrimazole shampoo 1% versus ketoconazole shampoo 2% in the treatment of pityriasis versicolor. A randomised double-blind comparative trial. Mycoses   50(3):193-5.Trà ¼eb RM (2007):   Shampoos: ingredients, efficacy and adverse effects.   J. Dtsch. D ermatol. Ges. 5(5):356-65.Trà ¼eb RM and the Swiss Trichology Study Group (2001):   The value of hair cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.   Dermatology  Ã‚   202(4):275-82.