Free Essays - More than Atoms :: Personal Narrative Essays

More than Atoms That's why we write. That's why we sing. That's why we dance. That's why we paint. That's why we pray. Because we are just a group of atoms. Because we want something more. We need to create something more. There has to be something more. Watch someone pray sometime. I mean really pray. See someone with glassy eyes and parted lips clasp their hands and silently ask of their beliefs "why?" If you are truly my progeny, it will drive any prejudice the world may have given you from your heart. What you will see in that prayer filled face is humanity in its most vulnerable state. We pray because we need something to turn to, something to believe in. We need an all mighty truth that has the power to soothe our fears. Why? Because we are afraid of being on our own, we are afraid of not being saved from all the pain and suffering in this world. We are afraid that all we do, we do in vain. We want arms into which we may retreat after death. We want an explanation for our lives. And so we pray to our God, and others pray to theirs, and some call it enlightenment or nirvana, or "it." But we do it for the same reason, to nurse the same weakness. When you see religious prejudice, or any type of prejudice for that matter, know that that bigotry has no real foundation. No one knows more than anyone else. There is no proof. There is no answer key. Everyone has different beliefs, but we all have the same frailties. See that when you see someone pray, and have compassion. Have compassion for the world, the world that has condemned itself to anger and hatred. And try to rise above tolerance. Tolerance may be a virtue, but it is a condescending one. It says, "I do not accept you or like you or believe in anything you do, but I'll put up with you and be civil because I think that I am the bigger person.

Will the Real Lupe Garza Please Stand Up? Essay -- Ethics Case Study

An ethical dilemma is defined as a moral issue, where a situation has two equivalent undesirable alternatives and neither choice will resolve the ethical predicament. Lupe Garza, mother of two children, is a temporary employee at a plant. Garza is an excellent and talented worker, and supervisors have taken notice in her skills. A human resource specialist named Sara Jones, mislead Garza in thinking she would unquestionably obtain a permanent job position at the plant, causing Garza to turn down another job opportunity. During the interview, Garza is truthful and informs Mark Solomon, a human resource specialist, that she is currently using someone else’s identity in order to work legally and her real name is Carmen Mendoza. Mark tell Garza that she will not be able to obtain the permanent positions at the plant because of her circumstances. Garza pleads Mark for the position, felling remorseful Mark leads Garza into believing she may have a chance in obtaining the position. Furthermore, during the interview, Garza informs Mark, there are other employees using someone else’s identity. The major true ethical dilemma in this case is whether the human resource specialist should hire Garza permanently knowing she is an illegal worker or deny Garza the position. An additional ethical dilemma is presented to Mark, after the interview with Garza. Mark is faced with the decision whether the plant should continue to employ temporary Hispanic workers knowing that they may be an illegal or stop hiring these employees. The stakeholder in an ethical dilemma is anybody that is affected by the outcome of the decision. In this scenario, Mark Solomon and Garza Lupe will be both subjected by the end result of the decision. The conflict is ... ...6-irca Noe, R. A., Hollenback, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2011). Fundamentals of human resource management. (5th ed.). New York, NY, 10020: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Retrieved from http://highered.mcgraw- hill.com/sites/0078112613/information_center_view0/supplements.html Fransson, M. C., Gareett, N. A., & Noll, C. L. (2005). Will the real Lupe garza please stand up? The Society for Case Research Leonard, J. C. (2014). Business policy & strategy. (Beta ed.). Ronkonkoma, NY 11779: Linus Learning. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, (2013). I-9, employment eligibility verification. Retrieved from website: http://www.uscis.gov/i-9 U.S. Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, (2013). I-140, immigrant petition for alien worker. Retrieved from website: http://www.uscis.gov/i-140

Major Educational Challenges Assessment for Kenya Education System Essay

With a total population of over 43 million, Kenya is the biggest and most advanced economy in the east and central Africa. It is well-known for its natural resource and the vast variety of wildlife, which contribute a large proportion to Kenya’s GDP in agricultural and service sectors. It’s prosperous capital Nairobi is also given the name â€Å"East African Paris†. But behind the misleading impression of affluence left by a minority of urban population, Kenya is still a poor developing country with half of the population living in total poverty. Even though with a GINI index of 42. which is only medium, the economic status inequality of Kenyans is relatively high: The rich has a condo with four private cars and two maids while the poor in shabby clothes are living in slums just two miles away. The economy of the country also leads to problems in the education sector in Kenya. The objectives of this memo is to identify three most important issues that may be challenges for Kenyan Government and Kenyan education sector, and come up with potential solutions and strategies to address them. 1, Educational inequality between urban and rural areas There’s been a significant educational inequality between urban and rural Kenya. From the data provided by â€Å"Exploring Kenyan Education† site, School Location Density (2007), most schools distributes around big cities in the southern and southwestern Kenya where the majority of the population lives in. These cities includes Nairobi the Capital, Nakuru, Kericho, Kisumu, Eldoret, Kakamega, Meru and Mombasa. Since the school density does not show any problems because it follows the demography theory, but the enrollment rate and the educational investment may tell a part of the story. In big cities like Nairobi, the gross enrollment rate of primary education is as high as 103% and the net enrollment rate is 91% (2009). But as of northeastern and northwestern Kenya the ratio is as low as 35% or even 25%. Even though the primary education is free and uniform in Kenya, there are still extra costs. One that blocks the way of education for children is the school uniform. Students drop out of schools simply because they don’t have school uniform, the situation is even worse in those tribe territories and extreme poor areas. The school uniform costs almost a thousand Ksh that many families cannot afford. Even though there has been official regulation noting that no student ought to be turned away for not having uniform, uniform is such an ineradicable â€Å"culture† in Kenya schools that either schools or parents keep students away from school for not having schools uniforms. Lacking of resources becomes another. Lacking of sufficient textbooks and necessary stationaries makes students in rural areas hard to study. Students normally depend on what their teachers can provide to them and most of the time a textbook is shared by two plus students. Even there are articles saying lacking of teachers is another problem, but according to the data by Kenya Open Data, the Pupil-Teacher Ratio in rural areas is not significantly higher than that is in developed area) -Possible solutions Providing free school uniforms targeting economically challenged students (application by student or their parents). Education ministry should also take responsibility to make sure every single student can have the textbooks they need. Unified and organized studying necessities delivery should be arranged at the start of each semester. 2, Primary-to Secondary Bottleneck The primary education in Kenya is free and an average of over 90% of eligible school-age children are enrolled into primary schools, but the net enrollment rate only ranges from 3%-50%, that means even in the best conditioned area, nearly half of the students quit studying at the age of 15. Tuition Fees remains the largest barrier for going secondary school. Data shows that a primary student cost around 3,000 Ksh (32 USD) per household per year (2005), but surges to 25,000 Ksh (270 USD) for secondary education, which accounts for more than half of Annual income per household. Despite government subsidies for secondary schools, some national and top provincial schools charge fees as high as 73,600 Ksh for one year. Such excessive education expense may be totally fine for students from privileged families, but for kids from middle class or poor families who fight all the way to those schools, that becomes a disaster. The other factor that creates the bottleneck is the poor education quality in most of the public primary schools. Primary school students need to reach over 250 points in KCPE (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education) to be qualified to continue secondary education. There are better teachers teaching in private schools and students are receiving â€Å"elite† education. 77 percent of private primary school students (2007) score over 250 compared to only 45 percent among public school students. This really reveals the poor teaching quality which fails students in public schools, thus most economic privileged families send their children to private schools. -Possible solutions: More government subsidies – Though the secondary education receives governmental subsidies, more subsidies are needed to help those students with economical difficulties. Document students who need tuition aid and set up foundation targeting those students. Thus the resource can be concentrated to those in need. Further more, more money should be invested for better teachers, better infrastructures in public schools. Strengthen subsidy usage supervision – Kenyan Ministry of Education spends more than 10,000Ksh per secondary student annually. This amount of money is controlled by schools instead of directly by the students, and the tuition gets even higher each year. Many secondary schools charges suggested annual tuition standard by MOE for only one semester, and most of them cannot explain the subsidies usage. Having government nominated supervisor sent to schools regularly to make sure the subsidies are in proper use would be a potential solution. Heath problems that contribute to the dropout and poor education quality Health problem has been a huge challenge for students in Kenya and the country’s heath system has been always in a difficult time trying to provide accessible heath care for its population. Poor nutrition, underweight, intestinal worms, malaria, HIV, unexpected early pregnancies, etc. have greatly influenced students’ academic performance. In some areas such as Naivasha and Thika, own illness/disability becomes the biggest reason for not attending school. The ratio may be as high as over 70% and some time reaches over 90%. Also, early pregnancy is also a main contributor to the high dropout rate among girls. -Possible solution School heath program: a school based heath system should be set up to secure students’ health condition. Since families may not be able to provide enough food supply especially for those poor families, government should help schools provide at least one meal per day to ensure students’ nutrition supplement. Also, 3. 6 million children were dewormed in 2009 and continuing implementing deworming program has been proved to be an effective way to increase attendance. Then schools should also take responsibilities for sex knowledge education which most children could not receive at home.

Comparing Animal Farm and Gulliver’s Travels Essay

Many people resented this law and rebelled against it. These rebels fled Lilliput to live in Blefuscu, and ever since, there has been a terrible war between the two empires. This argument is ridiculous. Swift knew that when he wrote it. It is another swipe at England in the 1720s. For centuries, England had been at war with France for one reason or another. Swift was illustrating how silly and childish, to someone with a view of the whole situation, these reasons are. The argument over which end to crack your eggs is obviously a great exaggeration of Swift’s thoughts, but it got the message across. In chapter 5 of Gulliver’s voyage to Lilliput, there is a fire in the palace. All of the Lilliputians try to put out the fire with their tiny buckets of water, but it was no use. Gulliver did the only thing he could think of, and urinated on the palace, putting out the fire. Immediately after, people were grateful that he’d managed to put out the fire. However, later on, Gulliver learns that the Emperor of Lilliput plans to use that action against him when he plots to kill him. This was Swift’s way of showing his thoughts on gratitude from people in power. He believed that people in a position of power, such as the Emperor of Lilliput, were always ungrateful for things which other people did for them. If Gulliver had left the palace, there would probably have been quite a few casualties. However, he used his initiative and put the fire out, maybe not conventionally, but it did the job just the same. The Emperor was not happy with that, and made it look as if Gulliver had done something wrong. This act, along with a few others, was intended to ensure that Gulliver would be killed. Gulliver discovered their plans, however, and escaped to Blefuscu. By chance, Gulliver is picked up in the sea by an English ship. The crew believe him to be crazy when they hear of his tales of little people, but when he produces some cattle that he had in his pocket, they believe him. This is another clue to the fact that this book was not written recently. In those days, the 17th and 18th centuries, people blamed everything on madness. Gulliver may have been ranting because he was tired, hungry, thirsty etc, but straightaway, the crew blamed it on madness. When he returns home, Gulliver is pleased to see his family, but he has â€Å"itchy feet† – he cannot wait to go on another voyage. â€Å"I stayed but two months with my wife and family; for my insatiable desire of seeing foreign countries would suffer me no longer†. Brobdingnag After two months of being back home in England with his family, Gulliver is off again. He didn’t know where he was going, except that he was going to explore foreign lands. About one year after setting sail from England, they see land. The captain sends a longboat ashore to try and find fresh water. Gulliver, keen to explore the new land, goes with them. Once on shore, the men set off in search of water, while Gulliver wanders off. He wanders about for a while, then decides to return back down to the boat. He sees his fellow shipmates rowing away in the boat, followed by a huge creature. Gulliver turns around and runs for his life. He is walking through a field of corn, the corn being nearly forty feet high, when he sees more of these creatures. Gulliver tries to hide himself in the corn, when several more of the creatures appear with reaping-hooks. The creatures start moving towards Gulliver, but are unable to see him. Gulliver, fearful of being squashed, cries out as loud as he can. One of the creatures hears his cry and looks down. He lifts Gulliver up so that he can have a better look at him. Gulliver is very frightened, both of what the creature might do to him, and because he is so high up from the ground. â€Å"For I apprehended every moment that he would dash me against the ground, as we usually do any little hateful animal which we have a mind to destroy†. Gulliver is taken to the farmer’s house, where he is given food. â€Å"†¦ a servant brought in dinner. It was only one substantial dish of meat in a dish of about twenty-four feet in diameter. The wife minced a bit of meat, then crumbled some bread, and placed it before me†. In Brobdingnag, everything is the opposite of Lilliput. Gulliver is now in a reversed role. In Lilliput he was a giant. In Brobdingnag he is tiny and unimportant. He is treated as a plaything. Being small also helps Gulliver to see the world differently. Any faults or defects are magnified and made much more obvious than in Lilliput. In Gulliver’s first voyage, to Lilliput, Swift made it clear in his writing that Lilliput was meant to be England. Gulliver was huge and so could see everything that was going on, and so was able to criticise Lilliput as he saw fit. In Brobdingnag Gulliver is the tiny one. When he is taken to the royal palace, he meets the King and Queen. He has long discussions with the King about England, and the King is disgusted by what he hears: â€Å"He was perfectly astonished with the historical account I gave him of our affairs during the last century, protesting it was only a heap of conspiracies, rebellions, murders, massacres, revolutions, banishments, the very worst effects that avarice, factions, hypocrisy, perfidiousness, cruelty, rage, madness, hatred, envy, lust, malice or ambition could produce†. This sentence summed up Swift’s feelings about England, and really, if you look back at England’s history with a cynical eye, you will see that it is true. Hopefully, if Swift re-wrote the book now, in the 21st century, he would see things differently. There are still things going on that shouldn’t be, but things have definitely improved since Swift’s time. Swift doesn’t really give a proper description of the people of Brobdingnag. At first he cannot understand their language, but the farmer’s daughter helps him. Gulliver calls her his glumdalclitch, or â€Å"little nurse†. Glumdalclitch helps Gulliver to learn the language, and accompanies him to the palace when the Queen buys him from the farmer. Probably the best description of the people of Brobdingnag is when Gulliver describes the Maids of Honour at the palace. The maids treat him as a plaything. He describes his disgust at the way they treat him: â€Å"They would often strip me naked from top to toe and lay me at full length in their bosoms; wherewith I was much disgusted; because, to say the truth, a very offensive smell came from their skins†¦ That which gave me most uneasiness among these Maids of Honour, when my nurse carried me to visit them, was to see them use me without any matter of ceremony, like a creature who had no sort of conscience. For they would strip themselves to the skin, and put on their smocks in my presence, while I was placed on their toilet directly before their naked bodies, which, I am sure, to me was very far from being a tempting sight, or from giving me any other emotions than those of horror and disgust†. In this description, it is hard to know whether Swift is disgusted with women, or if he is using them to show his disgust of vanity and the illusion of physical beauty. Women generally take more care in their appearance than men, so they would have been the obvious choice if Swift were doing the latter. Other than that, there is no description of the people of Brobdingnag. Gulliver’s departure from Brobdingnag is quite peculiar and relies completely on chance. He is carried about the country in a small box. Gulliver pretends to be ill and says that he needs some fresh air. The page carrying the box sets it down on some rocks and then goes off wandering. Then, an eagle swoops down and grabs the box in its beak. It carries Gulliver across the sea, but then is shot. Gulliver’s box falls down into the sea. By chance, he is discovered by an English ship, and is hoisted up onto the deck. Gulliver forgets that the people are of his own size, and tells one of the crew to put his finger in the ring at the top of the box and pull the lid off. Again, the crew thinks him mad, but again Gulliver has little objects that prove that he is sane. This time, he has a comb and a ring. Once Gulliver is back home, everything seems strange. He imagines himself to be in Lilliput again, where the house and people are tiny, for he is used to the size of the inhabitants of Brobdingnag. He shouts instead of talks, thinking that the people can still not hear him in his normal voice. He comments that his wife and children have starved themselves to nothing, when in reality they are well fed. Gulliver cannot see people if they kneel or sit down, â€Å"having been so long used to stand with my head and eyes erect to above sixty foot†. His wife asks him not to go to sea any more, but Gulliver knows that if another opportunity comes his way, he will take it. Laputa Gulliver had not been at home more than ten days when a captain came to see him about going to sea once more. Gulliver was offered the opportunity to have a role on the ship which was equal to that of the captain, and double his normal wage. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Jonathan Swift section.

Amoled Technology Essay

Since 2001, funded by national and european programs, the Institute is developing new research lines focused on molecular magnets, molecular opto-electronic devices, molecular machines and supraand supermolecular structures with long lived electron transfer processes. The IcMol has employed more than 100 scientific researchers and is based at the Valencia University Campus. The Institute presents the most advanced systems for the preparation and characterization of organic light emitting diodes, organic solar cells and other molecule based opto-electronic devices. Main tasks in the project are the following: †¢ Preparation of p and n type solution processable charge injection layers †¢ Wet processing of optically or electronically active small molecules †¢ Hybrid and standard device preparation and characterization www. uv. es – www. icmol. es Appendix 5:CombOLED Project, Partners Leti Leti is a CEA laboratory located in Grenoble which is one of the main European applied research centres in electronics. More than 85% of its activity is devoted to research that is conducted with outside partners. We are a partner to the industrial world, with 200 collaborators and 350 contracts a year. Leti has led to the creation of almost 30 start-ups in high-technology, including Soitec, the world leader in Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI). We files some 180 patents a year and manage a portfolio of 1,000 inventions protected by patents. Our main areas of activity are as follows: †¢Micro-and nano-technologies for microelectronics, †¢ Technologies, design and integration of microsystems, †¢ Imaging technologies, †¢ Micro- and nano-technologies for biology and health, †¢ Communication technologies and nomad objects. Leti is endowed with an annual budget of 174 Mâ‚ ¬ and employs 1,000 people with, in addition, more than 500 external collaborators (postgraduates, research partners and industrialists). We have 11,000m? of clean rooms, an equipment portfolio worth 200 Mâ‚ ¬ and we invest more than 40 Mâ‚ ¬ a year on new equipment. Leti is one of the main forces behind Minatec ®, Europe’s premier Centre of Excellence in Microand Nano-technologies. In the future Minatec ® is destined to bring together more than 4,000 researchers, industrialists and teaching staff in Grenoble. www-leti. cea. fr Appendix 5:CombOLED Project, Partners PPML PPML is one of the first European companies that are investing in OLED applications. PPML was born in 2005 with the aim to become the excellence in manufacturing OLED based solutions. Having collected a wide database of feasible applications, PPML is currently working in the deployment of some prototypes and general demonstrator in partnership with OSRAM-OS and with the aim to launch the first solutions in parallel with OLED introduction into the lighting market. PPML will contribute to CombOLED project leading the dissemination activities in order to accelerate OLED penetration to the final users. For this reason, PPML will lead a wide dissemination campaign through known channels like the organization of a specific Design Contest and special Workshops with the major European Design School. www. ppml. it Appendix 5:CombOLED Project, Partners Schreiner Group Innovation, Quality, Performance and Enthusiasm are the values of Schreiner Group based in Oberschleissheim near Munich. The family-owned business develops, designs and produces high-tech products. As certified system suppliers and development partners, seven specialized divisions offer a comprehensive range of innovative products and customized solutions. Schreiner ProTech delivers individual solutions for self-adhesive markings and functional components for engineering industries. Schreiner MediPharm focuses on self-adhesive products for medical technology and pharmaceuticals. Schreiner ProSecure offers a wide range of counterfeit-proof solutions for authenticity and value protection. Schreiner LogiData specializes in data carriers, transponders and complete systems based on RFID technology. Schreiner VarioLight develops and produces printed electronics, in particular high-grade electroluminescent lamps with electronic power supply and control components. Schreiner Systems offers complete solutions from consulting support and development of specifications, to delivery and installation of hard- and software, all the way to after-sales service. Schreiner Labels designs and produces labels for product marking and advertising. Schreiner Group’s experience in printing electronic devices stems from various products including antennas, capacitive sensors and electroluminescent lamps.

Cultural-Adaptation Essay

The East African tribe ‘Maasai’ can be found in Kenya and certain parts of Tanzania. Their subsistence strategy has primarily been pastoral for several centuries. The Maasai herd cows, sheep and goats for a livelihood as they depend on the meat and milk for their survival. The Maasai are also semi-nomadic people, making them pastoral nomads (O’Neil 2). This helps them move from place to place, in search of better climatic and external conditions suitable for raising their herd animals. They constantly move to areas having greener pastures and adequate water to ensure that their livestock are healthier; it also facilitates grass growing back again in areas that have been grazed by cattle. Their choice of location would also depend upon other factors such as safety from predators such as lions. The Maasai do not construct permanent settlements as they are constantly on the move; they live in temporary dwellings that are simple to construct. The social structure of the Maasai has played a key role in preserving the tribe’s primary subsistence strategy as pastoral for centuries. The age-based social structure is quite fair and consistent as there is no discrimination based on caste or familial segregations. However, there are certain gender-based roles and customs within the tribe. The men are divided into the youths, the warriors also know as ‘moran’, and the elders. On the other hand, the young girls get married to warrior men, bear children and raise them; the women can also become elders after their bear four children. The youths become warriors around the â€Å"age of 13 to 17† and move to a different village, live in unsecure enclosures called ‘manyatta’ built by their mothers and eventually get married (Martin 7). It is the duty of the warriors to ensure that the tribe is safe and cattle are protected from predators. They are mentally conditioned as well as physically trained from a very young age to perform this duty. The Maasai women specialize in building houses from sticks, mud and cow dung. This helps the tribe to move from place to place easily and sustain their semi-nomadic way of life. The Maasai men also build thorn fences to keep their cattle safe in enclosures. The elders are supposed to impart wisdom and live passive lives, as the responsibilities and duties of the tribe pass over to the next generation of warriors. The authority figure in their social system is a person known as laibon, roughly translated as ’medicine man’; the ‘laibon’ also fills the religious needs of the tribe and practices shamanism for healing. This uniform socio-cultural structure lends stability and contributes to the subsistence of the Maasai way of life, as there is very little room for rebellion within the group. Many aboriginal cultures around the world are going through transition due to modernization and the Maasai are no exception to this rule. Urbanization had led to the Maasai being confined to smaller areas, thus threatening their way of life. To cope with these changes, a small segment of the tribe has recently changed its subsistence strategy to agriculture, fishing and taking menial jobs in urbanized areas. The tourism industry promoted by the government has compelled certain Maasai tribes to diverge away from their self-sufficient lifestyle and act as showpieces for tourists (Akama 717). However, the Maasai still retain certain aspects of their cultural identify such as speaking a language called ‘Maa’ and wearing a red cloth called the ‘shuka’; they also pierce their earlobes and adorn large metal earrings. Despite the influence of the modern world, a large segment of the Maasai tribe is still quite self-sufficient as they produce their own food from cattle and take care of other needs such as shelter and medicine. Works Cited Page Akama, John. Marginalization of the Maasai in Kenya. Annals of Tourism Research, Volume 26, Number 3, July 1999. Martin, Marlene. Society-MASAI. The Center for Social Anthropology and Computing. June 14, 2009, O’Neil, Dennis. (2007). Patterns of Subsistence: Pastoralism. Palomar College. June 14, 2009,

Human rights Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Human rights - Research Paper Example The current international human rights paradigm emerges from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. This supra-national charter focused on the specific principles and goals of international human rights legislation and has served to guide the behavior of nations. (Beitz, 2009) The Declaration lays out the structure of rights system and describes the mechanisms that must exist within institutions. What this means is that a legal system can be understood as a control system which is instrumental in controlling and regulating the actions of its individuals. Yet, there is also an urgent necessity to restrain government in its wielding of power to avoid civil liberty and human rights abuses (Glendon, 2001). Therefore, a mechanism must exist to ensure proper redress within an institution or society to protect this vital but delicate balance. Examples of the fragility of this balance are plentiful. While many societies will agree that for instance freedom of assembly is guarante ed in many situations the government and police have failed to protect this right.