The Welfare System A Middle Aged Couple Who Live With...

Jim and his wife Cassidy are a middle-aged couple who live with the aid of welfare benefits. Jim must start looking for job number two right away because his wife just got the news that she is pregnant with twins, and he only makes $7.25/ hour; that is definitely not enough to raise a new family! The two are not so happy with the news because times are hard, and it can cost a fortune to raise two babies. So, to ease their troubles, Cassidy reapplies for benefits that have expired, sells her card for actual money, and uses the disability checks from her deceased grandmother to help pay for home expenses; her husband supports her actions one hundred percent. Although times are rough for the couple, are their actions morally correct?†¦show more content†¦Current welfare programs deny the independence of individual recipients in various ways. Americans on welfare tend to become very dependent on the government since they constantly gain benefits without having to work as ha rd as the average American. Because of handed-out benefits, America s look on self-reliance, personal responsibility, and advancement has weakened (Will 10). Many welfare programs encourage others to accept benefits from the government, resulting in people becoming lazy and unable to search for work. This is somewhat hypocritical due to the fact that America is known for its independence, responsibility, and self-determination. Because of the encouragement from organizations, the number of food-stamp recipients has increased dramatically (Bovard 2). Self-sufficiency will continue to be an issue if organizations encourage people to accept benefits. In agreeance with O’Brien, if we truly want low-income families to achieve self-sufficiency, we need to give them the tools, education, and incentives to save for the future--not penalize those who try (13). Another reason why dependency has increased in Americans is because many are afraid of failure in life and costs of living modernly. The United States has citizens who rely so much on private benefits to be protected by the risks of modern living (Platt

Vygotsky Theory, Social Learning Theory And Attachment Theory

Vygotsky Theory, Social Learning Theory and Attachment Theory in a Daycare Setting With the increasing number of working parents, there is an increasing need for childcare. When being a stay-at-home parent or having a babysitter is not an option, many parents turn to daycares for the care of their children. However, finding the right daycare for their children is a challenge because they need to find the most suitable type of care that fits their child’s needs. In doing this, they have to consider a daycare that fosters the optimal development for their child that considers their cognitive and social development as well as their emotional well being. Vygotsky’s theory, social learning theory, and attachment theory can best explain these different aspects of development. When developing a daycare design, a consultant needs to keep these elements in mind to foster the optimal development in young children. Vygotsky’s theory can be applied in a daycare setting to foster cognitive development. When guiding children, the adult-child dialogue, scaffolding, and the zone of proximal development are important for their cognitive development. Vygotsky believed that cognitive development required social interaction to develop fully (Manheimer, 2015). The need for language and communication is especially important in a daycare setting. Children are encouraged to participate in social interactions when being in a daycare around many other children and other adults. VygotskyShow MoreRelatedSocial, Family And Environmental Influences On Human Development Essay1554 Words   |  7 Pages Human Development †¢ Introduction †¢ Cultural context Social influence (Vygotsky) †¢ Physical environment (Vygotsky) †¢ Family influence (Bowlby) †¢ Social and family environment (Bronfenbrenner) †¢ Conclusions †¢ References â€Å"You cannot predict the outcome of human development .All you can do like a farmer create the conditions under which it wellbeing flourish(Robinson.K.2001)This essay will discussed social , family and environmental influences on human development ,across in wholeRead MoreVygotskys Sociocultural Theory Of Development831 Words   |  4 PagesSocio-cultural developmental theory Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of development is essential in d primary school and early childhood settings. Through an understanding of the socio-cultural theory, it facilitates pedagogical practices and teaching strategies for educators. The socio-cultural theory is underpinned by the influence of the environment and cultural contexts such as beliefs, values and skills in facilitating development (Mooney 2013, p. 77). Smidt (2009, p. 7) states that children’sRead MoreDevelopment Of A Child s Social And Emotional Development1377 Words   |  6 Pages Within the area of child development there have been many scientific studies which have formed our understanding of children’s social and emotional development, within this essay I am going to look at some of the theses developmental theories and how they have impacted modern day society in understanding the development of a child’s social and emotional development. Development is the pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the lifespan (Santrock, 2008, p.5) EmotionalRead MoreProvides Us With A Way To Learn Cause And Effect Relations1488 Words   |  6 Pagesand effect relations between environmental events’ (Martin, Carlson and Buskist, 2010, pg 259). Classical conditioning is learning by association Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which an organism learns to transfer a natural response from one stimulus to another, previously neutral stimulus. Manipulating reflexes does this. Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which the likelihood of a behavior is increased or decreased by the use of reinforcement or punishment. Operant conditioningRead MorePiaget, Bandura, Bowbly and Vygotsky1850 Words   |  8 PagesBowbly and Vygotsky Development is about the customary way that a child acts (Bruce Meggit, 2006). Child development is multidisciplinary. Several researches have put forward theories on the way children developed. These can be divided into the psychoanalytical theories, the learning theories, and the cognitive development theories. In this assignment, I will explain a number of these theories by showing what the theorists had developed. Jean Piaget: (Cognitive-development theory) Jean PiagetRead MorePiaget s Theory Of Cognitive Development1132 Words   |  5 PagesPsychologist Jean Piaget was the first to make a study surrounding the theory of cognitive development. The interesting thing about Piaget’s way of studying was that he was more concerned about how children’s thoughts got to the answer in relation to their IQ rather than simply their ability to answer a question correctly. The cognitive development theory detailed observational studies of cognition in children by a series of tests, which furthermore revealed different cognitive abilities. BeforeRead MoreExploration Of Holistic Development Within A Child s Life1442 Words   |  6 Pagesdebate ideas (Stanford 2014). Cognitive development is dominated by a key psychologist ‘Jean Piaget’. Piaget perceived children as not replicas of adults, as he believed children viewed the world differently (Oakley 2004). Piaget established his theory on three principles; assimulation, accommodation and equilibration. Assimulation is a course of new experiences in mental structures, known as schemas (Hummed, 1998). Cognitive structures are developed when a child is accustomed to their surroundingsRead MoreThe Role Of Heredity And Environment On Learning Theory1009 Words   |  5 PagesEnvironment in Learning Theory With regards to human development, is it determined by heredity or the environment? What is the importance of the answer to this question? Several developmental psychologists have researched this question and provided possible theories to answer it. This paper will take a look at three leading theorists on the subject-Bronfenbrenner, Piaget and Vygotsky. By means of personal reflection into my own learning experience, I will analyze which theory best describes myRead MoreThe Stepping Stone Preschool Program Essay1436 Words   |  6 Pagesbased its philosophy on several core developmental theories. These theories help form the philosophy that will direct all of the center’s actions. According to Freeman, C. Decker and J. Decker (2013), â€Å"The program philosophy not only includes beliefs that guide the selection of curriculum, but it also should be the guide for all interactions within the organization†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Therefore, it is important that program philosophy be imbedded in developmental theory so that the philosophy promotes development in anRead MoreSociocultural Theory in Early Childhood Development Essay849 Words   |  4 Pagescombination of social (relating to human society) and cultural (taste in art and manners that are favored by a social group) factors.† (Socialcultural , 2010) You might ask why we are defining these words. It gives a better understanding of Vygotsky beliefs â€Å"that children seek out adults for interaction, beginning at birth, and that development occurs through these interactions.† (Morrison, 2009 sec 14.6) I agree that his theory is the best process for learning. Many people feel that social interaction

Human Nature Causing Mass Hysteria in The Crucible free essay sample

Human nature is a word describing our reactions to events, our own inner struggles, and our interaction with others, a tendency that every human has in common. (Human Nature in The Crucible) In, The Crucible, several of the characters are constantly feuding, not only among themselves but with the entire community as well. Many citizens spread ridiculous lies and rumors accusing innocent people of being â€Å"under the influence† of the devil. The people of Salem fall victim to an eruption of delirium, caused by natural human tendencies. Arthur Miller illustrates blame, majority versus minority, ideology as being natural human tendencies and driving forces to the mass hysteria in the town of Salem. The citizens of Salem spread many preposterous lies and rumors out of fear and even for their own personal gain. Naturally, blaming someone else for wrongdoing is an immediate and instinctive reaction. For example, the fear of getting in trouble can drive one to put the blame on someone else in order to avoid the consequences. The characters in The Crucible rely on blame to get out of hard situations, motivated by this aspect of fear. Towards the very beginning of the novel, Betty and Abigail have many suspicions surrounding them, and they need to direct the townspeople’s wrath away from themselves. Abigail claims that â€Å"I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil† (Miller 48)! Abigail and Betty therefore avoid their initial fate. As the book progressed, the lies piled on top of each other, and soon everyone wanted in on the action. Blame turned into a use of getting back at one another. For instance, Ann Putnam claims Rebecca Nurse â€Å"murdered seven babies by sending out her spirit on them† (Miller 56). Rebecca Nurse is falsely accused, arrested and later executed. In turn, the natural inclination to blame other leads to false accusations and overall mass hysteria. When the majority of people in a group start to believe a certain thing, it is likely that the others in that group will naturally conform to these ideas. This idea of majority versus minority is argued to be another human tendency causing of the mass hysteria in The Crucible. Throughout the novel, wrong ideas were being defined as right without concrete evidence. Once a few members of the community influenced an idea, naturally, more started to believe that this idea might be true. For instance, Abigail and her band of friends convince the judge, and many other citizens that witchcraft is, in fact alive in the town of Salem. Once they tricked one person, it spread and spread until, finally, the entire community was convinced. One such person who helped convince others was Reverend Hale. Hale originally comes to Salem in search of witches, and citizens look to him as their all knowing savior. Reverend Hale is an intellectual man, and he has studied witchcraft extensively, therefore making him naturally believable and convincing to those who follow and listen to him. Hales goal is purely â€Å"light, goodness, and its preservation† (Miller 24). Another such person was Deputy Governor Danforth, who followed the hype around the hysteria. Since he is of high authority, and is respected throughout the community, citizens believe what he says must be true. He felt that what he was doing was right. He said, â€Å"Now hear me, and beguile yourselves no more. I will not receive a single plea for pardon or postponement. Them that will not confess will hang. Twelve are already executed; the names of these seven are given out, and the village expects to see them die this morning. Postponement now speaks a floundering on my part; reprieve or pardon must cast doubt upon the guilt of them that died till now† (Miller 97). He is truly convinced that the actions he is taking are necessary for the town. Once the entire town was convinced, accusation became a death sentence that no one could escape. The aspect of majority versus minority is apart of human nature and helps to build up the conflict of mass hysteria in the town of Salem. The Puritan society is religious and tightly bound. They initially came to America to practice their religion in peace, and the community has worked together in order to survive. Their rules and morals are based on their religion, with no form of government. This strong faith was evident in the residents of Salem, Massachusetts. Puritans believed that the English Protestant Church was becoming corrupted, and solidly stuck to their theory that they were the chosen ones by God, and thus every rule they set in place was regimented by God himself. Ideology is a set of beliefs or ideas that are the basis of social theories (Fischer, Claude). Many of the church leaders in Salem followed a very strict view on what the description of witches were. They refused to look beyond the reputation and good morals that the character possessed. Many of these court officials believed that whatever happened in the court would be the truth and nothing but the truth. They felt that if they didnt lie in the courtroom then a lawyer did not need to be present. Judge Danforth states, â€Å"As for the witches, none will deny that we are most eager for all their confessions. Therefore, what is left for a lawyer to bring out† (Miller 59). They were strict in many of their ways. Along with this, the narrow-minded Puritans were easily deceived by Abigail, who is a very deceptive antagonist. They were so brainwashed by the doctrines placed, and they believed whatever the higher authority told them to believe. No one ever sat down and truly evaluated and concluded that there was no evidence. This natural human tendency to place their belief in ideology played a key role in the formation of mass hysteria. Through the development of blame, majority versus minority, and ideology, three naturally occurring human instinctive, mass hysteria is driven throughout Salem. Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, teaches readers many lessons about human nature and its effects as a whole. Human nature was fully to blame for the disaster which took place in Salem in 1692. The decisions made by the people were critical to the disasters progression. This mass hysteria illustrates how a person’s insight into the witchcraft trials can have an effect on those around them, and the community as a whole. Once the paranoia began floating around in the town, the ball kept rolling. Overall, Miller argues that humanities natural tendencies created the mass hysteria that led to the downfall of Salem, Massachusetts.

Visit To The Planetarium Essays - Constellations, Ursa Major

Visit To The Planetarium Astronomy Second Paper 11-27-00 I attended the Wagner College Planetarium(located in Spiro Hall)on November 15, 2000 at 11:00 for research and to observe the stars, planets and our entire solar system more closely. There was a clear dome on the ceiling for us to see the sky. The director of the show was Dennis Anderson. He put the latitude to forty degrees, and dimmed the lights. Up in the sky the stars are beautiful and bright. They seem, by the naked eye to be moving but the earth is what is actually moving. Everyone knows that the sky doesn't move. The earth rotates around the sun. The earth being in a different spot in its' orbit all the time gives us different stars to see at different times out of the year. A star is a huge ball of glowing gas in the sky. The Sun is a star. It is the only star close enough to the earth to look like a ball. The other billions of stars are so far away that they are no more than a pinpoint of light. A constellation is a bunch of stars in the sky that form a picture. Each Constellation has a definite time of the year when it reaches its highest point. At latitudes to far north or to far south of the equator, many constellations do not reach there culminates high enough to be seen. The constellations appear to move westward as the earth rotates around the Sun. For this reason, certain constellations can only be seen during one season of the year. There is Pegasus which is extremely large. If you connect the stars of Pegasus it is supposed to look like a horses body. However it is upside down. The instructor put a line going across the middle of the dome. It separated the sky from north to south. He said this line is called the Meridian. When a star is at the Meridian it is at its highest point. It is nine degrees elliptical on each side. The second brightest star is Mercury it has a very thick atmosphere. However the brightest star nearest to the horizon is Venus. We also saw Jupiter it was also a very bright star but not as bright as Venus. Jupiter has four moons' which was very interesting to see. We live in a spiral Galaxy. It has one to four billion stars. Some people believe we live in the barred galaxy. It is also called the Milky Way galaxy. If stars or galaxies explode we would not know until light years later. This is due to the great distance between us and other stars or galaxies. Light years are a measure of distance. Some bi-global clusters of stars are a numbered at 150,000 to one million stars bunched together. This is called Messier 13. Messier 13 is 30,000 light years away. It was discovered by a man named Charles Messier. Charles Messier also discovered the Stellar Nebular. He got a lot of credit for his time, which was around the 1700's. Many years ago stars were known as navigation systems. Sailors used the stars to guide them on where they wanted to go. They would look at the stars and try to judge where they were by where the stars were located in the sky. Thus turning the stars into a navigation system. If we were in the country side and not the city we would be able to see the stars much better. They would seem brighter to the naked eye. The instructor at the planetarium explained to us that in New York City the street lights and car lights seem to drown the energy of the stars. He also said that if something isn't done about it in a couple of decades we will not be able to see any stars from our city. A set of stars everyone is familiar with is the Big Dipper, but it is only part of a constellation called the Big Bear. There is also the Little Dipper. At the handle of the Little Dipper is a star called Polaris, which is also known as the North Star it stands out in the sky when you look

Texting in Modern Society

Texting in Modern Society When making a choice of a subject that others have not focused on, I usually reflect on it without any particular method or order. By so doing, the reflections appear in freedom and looseness of an essay more than the regularity of a discourse set. It is in this manner that I consider Texting in my present essay.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Texting in Modern Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More All the creations below and above a man are considered serious because he the merriest of all. A man will always see things in a different angle from other beings and, therefore, find his mirth developing from objects that cause things like displeasure or pity in higher nature. Texting is indeed an incredible counterpoise to spleen. As observed, the master pieces and vast souls of human nature were formed in the worlds first ages, a time when text messaging was not there. Men were strangers to little embellishments and texting which are more fashionable in the present days. They shined from the noble simplicity of their behaviors. Texting has tried to bridge the gap between the unreachable and the civilized world. In the gap, there stretches a treacherous barrier. There is no accounting for the best text, they spring up from anybody. They can come from people in whom, for many generations never had a slight idea attached to them. A persuasive text is proficient in consoling. A person in deep grief and sorrow will not feel like anybody else. There is nothing that can convince him or her otherwise. It becomes less heartrending than more pitiful to see them immensely cheerful while going about their businesses. In addition, it becomes particularly poignant to see them humming or whistling as they go, unconscious of their terrible quandary. The text gives them utmost which results to whole humored patience altitude, dutiful words of approval, and praises with pale damns. To cut the long story short, he or she is left with a firm heart that, everything is all right. The adults’ activities of all the species are much known to us. When you are not feeling well, who is the person that makes haste to your bed side with moods of blancmange which you have hated from childhood with unspeakable loathing? My dear, gentle reader, you are way ahead of me as usual- it is in deed the authentic text. The entire text effectively smooth out the bolster after you have just worked in the contented shape, screech into the room on less noisy tiptoe, affectionately lay on the delirious forehead damp cloths which trickle incessantly down your neck.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The latest advancement in technology and the increased desire to be wealthy have made people extremely busy. Nowadays there are no people to befriend you. Everybody is busy trying to make ends meet . In times of illness, a text will always act as a comforter which makes the sick have hopes towards fulfillment of destiny. Texting reveals the truth in the statement that was given by Louis that, ‘we grow weary when idle† (4). A person is not only considered idle because of doing nothing, but it also includes doing great things that are not recognizable by the relevant ruling class. Texting is a great deal that is recognized in the ruling class. A person who drafts a text with an intension of creating an impact to somebody’s life is a hundred times better than a person spending the whole day begging. Both the beggar and the writer are considered busy but, the result obtained from their work is what matters. This is what makes texting recognizable in the diagnostic formulas of the ruling class. Some people may argue out that texting is time consuming, that is okay because they are right to some extent, but, the effectiveness of their statement is reduced when the benefits of the text are reviewed. If you look back to your life, am sure most of the time you write a text you realize afterwards how much time have gone. Texting makes your hands and brain so active and the act of being busy results to kinetic stability. I am much sincere that, you would confidently join me when I say that, â€Å"texting is a legitimate medicine for killing idleness†. One evening I was scrolling though my phone as I went through the old massages which I had not discarded. I slowed down to re- read a text which I had received from my former school mate a few months ago. I had not given much concentration to it when he sent me because I was listening to summon. It was a story of a tycoon who took his only son for a picnic to show him how poor one can be. They spent the whole day in a poor man’s farm exploring from one corner to the other. On their way back home, the tycoon asked the son, â€Å"Did you see how poor they are?† The son looked at h is father and said, â€Å"we have piped water, they have a river; we have a wall to protect us, they have friends to protect them; we use bulbs for lighting, they use stars; we read encyclopedias, they read a bible; I have seen how poor we are†. The text inspired me a lot, and I felt the need to share it with other friends. I edited a few words and forwarded to my friends whom we had not chatted for long. Later at night, five of the friends replied expressing how they felt after reading the text.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Texting in Modern Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The most startling and shocking thing happened in the morning when another friend appeared to me with a small bottle on his left hand. He was intending to poison himself because of some challenges he was facing. He had spent many days in distress with no one to comfort him. Do you still argue that texting does not encourage? Th is is just a single scenario out of many which happen in our daily lives. I am extremely sure that, people are full of stories to tell about how encouraging a text can be. A text can trigger the mind and make it focus on a totally different thing than the one it had. It is a fact that, texting is a productive mental exercise which functions effectively when sent to the right reader. It is a savior to people who have been dominated by slavery careers, people who have many alternatives and options to choose in life but all of them are the same, ‘giving up’. These are people who live a life of complaints, all they say is, â€Å"my strength has failed me†, and they have no better alternative than losing hope. People will always ignore many things, but advice is much of this. We find that the people giving the counsel as citizens who present a challenge to our mode of thinking and take us to be children. The instructions given by these people are considered as the zea l and implicit censure with presumption or impertinence. Due for this reasons, the art of making an advice agreeable becomes exceedingly difficult. It is from this weakness that I take the chance of considering texting the best method to give advices. Advising people through text is easier than through face to face conversations. This is because it is the less shocking and it makes it easier for people to talk about private and personal issues that one would otherwise feel shy to talk about face to face. A reader is also able to read the message several times and reflect on it. The advice intimates itself barely, the one reading it learns in a surprise, giving him or her wisdom. This simply means that a man is over reached as he follows the dictates of another. Reading the text gives a masterly ambition of the soul as well as gratification. When reading, everything comes out to him as a discovery of his own. He is simply busied to apply the circumstances and characters of the advise r (Addison, 3). At this stage of the essay, I intend to support the wise men who said that, â€Å"every thing that has advantages has disadvantages too†. We can all agree that all the people born after 1980 are digital natives. They have grown up under the influence of the new technology because they use it every day. Texting is as delightful as amateurish especially to learning students.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Text messaging is time consuming because it takes time to write particularly on cellular contrivances like keyboards. Just like all other forms of writing, texting takes time especially on cellular devices like keyboards. For many years, ‘texters’ if so called have been saving time through the use of short hand commonly referred to as ‘chat- speak’. The form used abbreviations which include numbers, incorrect grammar, and symbols. Students are the most users of texts as they do it most often. This has highly affected them because it has led to extension of the habit to school related projects, job applications and in the real world scenarios. As Tomita puts it, texting has destroyed the way kids think, read, and write because it has reduced their level of critical thinking (5). Students have gone to the extent of instant messaging, which reduces time, resulting to conversion of formal English to informal one. This has made them unable to pronounce and punct uate correctly and hence poor performance. My question is; where will we get the professionals? Automatically, the answer is ‘no where’. Gone are the days when people could write compelling grammar and converse correctly. Unless something is urgently done in the learning institutions, we will end up with a society of a few or no competence personnel to work and serve people. This is the generation that uses small letters in place of capital letters. Are they the same people who will teach the future generations? I question the future of literacy. Our generation is ending; we better conclude that. There are very serious issues that arise from such things as social text sending. I think everybody will support me when I say that, chatting with friends by use of text messaging is as addictive as any drug. It is a natural, human tendency that needs to be responded to. These circumstances are much prevalent in places where the medium for communication are readily available. I n addition to that, text message conversations take longer than face to face conversations. But, is this a problem? This brings us to the second negative effect of text messaging. It has created a lot of problems in the social communication. It is not astonishing to hear a child say to everyone around him that, they are not valuable like the person on the phone. According to the survey done by Zogby International, there is a serious risk on roads. The survey showed that, out of a hundred people, sixty six text while driving. This is indeed a behavior that can be taken as compulsive as well as obsessive, and a stupid thing to do. People who are much addicted to text messaging do not live a comfortable life. You try to be in two places at the same time and end up, not in either, this leads to lack of comfort when doing things and it is a lousy way to live your life. To a person driving, texting is a vital distraction. It is devilishly hard for him, or her to maintain focus while texti ng and driving at the same time. This reduces the competence levels of controlling vehicles and increases the time of response to any danger. Texting while driving is equally risky as driving while drunk. The prospect of a driver getting into an accident increases while he is texting. It does not matter how well one drives, if one driver on the road is not careful, all of them are exposed to a danger of losing their lives. Even though, it is a not a consistent problem, texting do cause wrecks for which some are fatal. I have a pal who was lately involved in an accident because of texting on the road. It is only because he was not driving fast; otherwise, it would be seriously hazardous (Baggott, 2). Time wasting is another dissenting that makes my heart sunken. According to the survey conducted in year 2000 by Harris Interactive, forty seven percent of the teenagers felt that, texting reduces the time for socializing. It has led to deteriorating of social life. Fifty four percent of the female crowd concurred with this saying that; it leads to over- communication. A lot of time is spent chatting over pointless things. In the coming years, literacy will eventually fade away or deteriorate. The various aspects of literacy vary in respect to the types of media being used to pass information to people or to varying audiences. Switching to a linguistic mode from a text massaging language mode will be singularly appropriate to students because it will help them in addressing the teachers and essay writing. As per facts given in various researches, there is a very dynamic change that is happening in the world of text messaging. We need to act now. ‘Tomorrow’ will never come. It is the high time we settle the battle between the past and present. We need to bring down the texting technology that has dominated communication between young people to a lower level. There is a need to change the necessity and purposes of analyzing audience in a tone that will f ind intelligence and persuasiveness. Addison, J. On giving advice. Reading and resources, classic essays. New York. Penguin.1984. Print. Baggott, K. Literacy and text messaging. Technology review. New York. MIT. 2006. Print. Louis, R. S. An apology for Idlers. Reading and resources, classic essays. New York. Penguin.1984. Print. Tomita, Dean. â€Å"Text Messaging and Implications of its use in Education.† TCC 2009 proceedings. 15 Aug. 2009. /https://coe.hawaii.edu/ltec/. 8 February 2012.

Anatomy, Evolution, and Homologous Structures

Anatomy, Evolution, and Homologous Structures If youve ever wondered why a human hand and a monkeys paw look similar, then you already know something about homologous structures. People who study anatomy define these structures as a body part of one species that closely resembles that of another. But you dont need to be a scientist to understand that recognizing homologous structures can be useful not just for comparison, but for classifying and organizing the many different kinds of animal life on the planet. Scientists say these similarities are evidence that life on earth shares a common ancient ancestor from which many or all other species have evolved over time. Evidence of this common ancestry can be seen in the structure and development of these homologous structures, even if their functions are different. Examples of Organisms The more closely organisms are related, the more similar the homologous structures are. Many mammals, for example, have similar limb structures. The flipper of a whale, the wing of a bat, and the leg of a cat are all very similar to the human arm, with a large upper arm bone (the humerus in humans) and a lower part made of two bones, a larger bone on one side (the radius in humans) and a smaller bone on the other side (the ulna). These species also have a collection of smaller bones in the wrist area (called carpal bones in humans) that lead into the fingers or phalanges. Even though the bone structure may be very similar, function varies widely. Homologous limbs can be used for flying, swimming, walking, or everything humans do with their arms. These functions evolved through natural selection over millions of years. Homology and Evolution When Swedish botanist  Carolus Linnaeus was formulating his system of taxonomy to name and categorize organisms in the 1700s, how the species looked was the determining factor of the group in which the species was placed. As time passed and technology advanced, homologous structures became more important in deciding the final placement on the phylogenetic tree of life. Linnaeuss taxonomy system places species into broad categories. The major categories from general to specific are kingdom,  phylum,  class,  order,  family,  genus, and  species. As technology evolved, allowing scientists to study life at the genetic level, these categories have been updated to include domain, the broadest category  in the taxonomic  hierarchy. Organisms are grouped primarily according to differences in ribosomal  RNA  structure. Scientific Advances These changes in technology have altered the way scientists categorize species. For example, whales were once classified as fish because they live in the water and have flippers. After it was discovered that those flippers contained homologous structures to human legs and arms, they were moved to a part of the tree more closely related to humans. Further genetic research has demonstrated that whales may be closely related to hippos. Bats were originally thought to be closely related to birds and insects. Everything with wings was put into the same branch of the phylogenetic tree. After more research and the discovery of homologous structures, it became apparent that not all wings are the same. Even though they have the same function- to make the organism able to get airborne- they are structurally very different. While the bat wing resembles the human arm in structure, the bird wing is very different, as is the insect wing. Scientists realized that bats are more closely related to humans than to birds or insects and moved them to a corresponding branch on the phylogenetic tree of life. While the evidence of homologous structures has long been known, it has just recently been widely accepted as evidence of evolution. Not until the latter half of the 20th century, when it became possible to analyze and compare DNA, could researchers reaffirm the evolutionary relatedness of species with homologous structures.

Hurricane Katrina Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Hurricane Katrina - Essay Example This was positively considered by the European Union and help was sent. In terms of positive response, the local government was more positive than the federal government and the state government. Within the first week of the hurricane, the federal government dispatched ten billion dollars as aid package and also deployed seven thousand troops from the National Guard. Firefighters were also relocated to the affected areas. The Mexican government which had just taken office, offered two hundred members from the National Guard to help the victims. Repair crews were sent to the areas affected so as to restore power to the various industries affected by the hurricane. Before the crisis struck, equipments were sent out of the city so as to give space for evacuees (Gallup & Newport, 2007). The metrological department had warned of a major Hurricane occurring, but the response did not reflect the earlier warning. The White House wanted the response in Louisiana to be federalized since the governor was a democrat and not a republican. The White House denied these allegations claiming that there was no political consideration when dealing with the situation, though there was proof that the whole situation was politicized (Brasch, 2006). The Stafford act which dictates that the localities should make a contribution of 10 percent of the reconstruction and clean-up services was not waived unlike in previous Hurricanes. Evacuations were not ordered in cities like New Orleans until 24 hours before the Hurricane struck. The Plaquemines Parish was not late to order evacuation though. The National Guard sent from Mexico was snarled by the state government, this made them to arrive five days into the crisis. The vice president ordered that the electricity line be repaired; this electricity line only restored power to the pipeline which sent oil to the northeast. This move by the vice president delayed the restoration of electricity to the hospitals in the