Warren and Rehnquist and the Effects of Major Court Cases on the Law Enforcement of Today

Have you thought about how much the Supreme Court decisions really affect your life and what we do on a daily basis or how important these decisions are to our civil liberties? Earl Warren and William Rehnquist are two of the most well knows Supreme Court Chief Justices. Each having different opinions on the importance’s of civil liberties and public order maintenance. Many of the court cases that each Chief Justice would hear would change the very way that we live today. As well as how law enforcement interact with regards to the 5th, 6th, 8th, and 14th Amendments. In this essay we will discuss compare and contrast the Chief Justice Earl Warrens Court versus the William Rehnquist Court, with special regards to how they effected the law enforcements, then finally addressing how the current Supreme Court balances out civil liberties against public order maintenance. Earl Warren was born on March 19, 1891 in Los Angeles, California. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, he majored in political science for three years before entering UBS’s School of Law. He received his B. S. degree in 1912 and his J. D. degree in 1914. On May 14, he was admitted to the California Bar (http://warren. csd. edu/about/biography. html). After he graduated Warren got hired on at law offices in San Francisco and Oakland. In 1925, he was appointed Alameda County district attorney when the incumbent resigned. He won election to the post in his own right in 1926,1930, and 1934. During his fourteen years as district attorney, Warren developed a reputatio n as a crime fighter. In those years he never had a conviction reversed by a higher court. Earl Warren was a republican although he had broad bipartisan support because of his centrist to liberal views. He was then elected to governorships of California in 1942, 1946, and 1950. In 1953 President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren the fourteenth Chief Justice of the United States. Earl Warren is one of the most well know Chief Justice because of his most popular Supreme Court decisions in the case Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, 1955, which ended segregation in school. This decision and many others like this are important cases that the Earl Warren Court made. The Warren Court left a legacy of judicial activism in civil rights law and individual liberties. The focus was specifically on the rights of the accused as addressed in Amendments 4 through 8. In the period from 1961 to 1969, the Warren Court examined almost every aspect of the criminal justice system in the United States, using the 14th Amendment to extend constitutional protections to all courts in every State. This process became known as the â€Å"nationalization† of the Bill of Rights. The Warren Court's revolution in the criminal justice system began with the case of Mapp vs. Ohio (367 U. S. 643 [1961]) (http://www. infoplease. com/us/supreme-court/cases/ar19. html). In 1957 Cleveland, Ohio, police thought a bombing suspect, and illegal betting equipment might be in Dollree Mapp’s home. Three officers went to Mapp’s home and asked permission to search, but Mapp refused. Mapp requested the police obtain a search warrant. Two officers left the home while one remained. About three hours later, the two officers returned with several other police officers. The returning officers flashed a piece of paper at Mapp, and broke her door entering the residence. Mapp asked to see the â€Å"warrant† and took it from an officer, putting it down the front of her dress. The police fought with Mapp and regained the paper. They handcuffed the non-compliant Mapp for being belligerent. Police did not find the bombing suspect or the betting equipment during the conduct of their search, but found some pornography in a suitcase by Mapp's bed. Mapp said that she had loaned the suitcase to a renter and the contents were not her property. Mapp was arrested, prosecuted, tried found guilty, and sentenced for possession of the pornography. No search warrant had been obtained during the course of the investigation of this case, and was not produced as evidence at her trial. When Mapp vs. Ohio reached the Supreme Court in 1961, the decided in a five to four decision that the exclusionary rule applies to the states. It concluded that other remedies, such as reliance on the due process clause to enforce fourth amendment violations had proven worthless and futile. In this landmark case, it changed the way law enforcement at the state level operated. Where illegally obtained evidence had been admissible in State Courts previously, now under the Mapp ruling this would no longer be tolerated. In another landmark case Terry vs. Ohio (392 U. S. 1 [1968]) Martin McFadden, a police detective for 39 years, was patrolling the streets of Cleveland, Ohio, on October 31, 1963. In the afternoon, McFadden saw two men, John Terry and Richard Chilton, hanging out on a street corner. McFadden's training and experience told him the two men looked suspicious, so he began to watch them from nearby. As McFadden watched, Terry and Chilton took turns walking past and looking inside a store window, they did this twelve times. At that point a third man joined them for a brief discussion on the street corner. Ten minutes later they headed down the street in the same direction as the third man whom they had met. McFadden believed the three men were getting ready to rob the store they were casing. McFadden again through his training and experience believed the suspects were armed and dangerous. McFadden followed Terry and Chilton and confronted them in front of Zucker's store with the third man. McFadden said he was a police officer and asked their names, and received only mumbled responses. McFadden grabbed Terry, spun him around to face the other two men, and frisked him. McFadden felt a gun inside Terry's coat, and ordered the men inside the business. Inside, McFadden removed Terry's overcoat and found a . 38 caliber revolver. McFadden ordered the three men against the wall, and patted them down. McFadden found an additional revolver in Chilton's overcoat. Ohio convicted Terry and Chilton of carrying concealed weapons. In an eight to one decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ohio stating the police officer’s training and experience in this case gave him â€Å"reasonable suspicion† a robbery was going to occur. This allowed him to stop and frisk the suspects, which led to him finding pistols on two of them. From this court case the Supreme Court concluded reasonable suspicion is required to stop and frisk a person.

English Language Proficiency Essay

â€Å"English is the craziest language.† This tagline was made famous by the American author, speaker and teacher – Mr. Richard Lederer. His column, â€Å"Looking at Language†, is syndicated in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States. He has written more than 30 books, including Anguished English, Get Thee to a Punnery, Crazy English, A Man of My Words, The Word Circus, The Miracle of Language, The Cunning Linguist, Word Wizard, and Presidential Trivia. Known as a â€Å"verbivore†, a word he coined in the early 1980s, Lederer’s interests include uncovering word origins, pointing out common grammatical errors and fallacies, and exploring palindromes, anagrams, and other forms of recreational wordplay. We all know that English is the universal language and by means of this, we can easily communicate with other nationalities all over the world. Filipinos are known to be good English speakers and to start our training at an early age, schools all over the Philippines managed to have the English Policy. It wouldn’t be only a benefit for the students but for their teachers as well. Based on the past issues of ECHO, QCA already underwent a system in which the faculty club had been given a chance to go for an English training. Even the students actively participated in the said policy that they should speak English or else they will pay their penalty. It’s not about prohibiting us to use our native language but it helps us to become more confident in communicating with people. As an opening for the year 2013, ECHO wanted to know the voice of the students today regarding this matter. Would they still like the English Policy back to nurture their capabilities in this language? Let’s hear some of their opinions. â€Å"Indeed! As a student, I want to help my classmates and schoolmates to develop more about English grammar and communication. In this way we can improve our English skills,† Brian Caacbay of I – Agap A stated. John Karl de Jesus from IV – Abad Santos B said, â€Å"Yes, I still want the English Policy back in QCA because it helps students to develop their competence in the use of the certain language and to encourage positive attitudes towards learning it.† â€Å"For me it’s a yes, because it can help us to improve our grammar. It can also help us to speak more fluently in English,† Reign Mariano of I – Agap A remarked. Most of the students answered positively and this brings a great  opportunity to all of the QCAians. English may be a crazy language but it’s not that hard to learn as long as we are eager to do it for own good sake.

Birthright citizenship in the United States of America Essay

In â€Å"Americanism,† Theodore Roosevelt describes the meaning of hyphenated Americans and their lives in the United States. There was no room in Roosevelt’s America for immigrants or sons of immigrants, who cling to the speech, the customs, the way of life, and the habits of thought from the old world which they have left. The hyphenated American is not an American at all. Those immigrants who hyphenated their Americanism, modifying it with the land of their or their parents’ birth, were and could not be true Americans. These Americans also can vote and be the primarily citizen of a foreign country. Roosevelt writes that the foreign-born population must be an Americanized population. They must talk the language of its native-born fellow-citizens; possess American citizenship, American ideas and maintain an American standard of living. The immigrants must not to be allowed to drift or to be put at the mercy of the exploiter. According to Roosevelt, America cannot afford to keep a lot of immigrants as industrial assets and not as human beings. We also cannot pay low wages to immigrants, and keep immigrants working on American mines, railways or working in our munitions plants because it is dangerous. All United States citizens must stand shoulder to shoulder for the elimination of race and religious prejudice. We must also improve maintenance of the American standard of living; direct every national resource, material and spiritual, and train our people to overcome difficulties. We can do all this work in a democratic country where all people have equal rights and hopes for a good future life.

Cash Flow Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cash Flow - Essay Example It (comparison) also identifies the differences in timing between cash payments and expenses. Through the direct method of cash flows, reconciliation of the actual cash flows from operating activities with the accrual-based accounting net income can be done. The company’s stated profitability and its cash holding position is therefore clearly presented to its stakeholders in this manner. The indirect method of cash-flow preparation requires a well-established link between the balance sheet and the income statement. The statement users are therefore, able to systematically and logically view the company’s financial statements. The company’s current assets and liabilities reflected on the balance sheet are easily traced back to its operations summarized in the income statement. The use of indirect method makes it possible to disclose the company’s non-cash transactions. The statement users are therefore, in a better position to understand how non-cash transactions are not sources of cash flows but factors of net income. Direct method is an alternative to the indirect method of cash flows. The company’s cash payments and receipts with detailed categories are disclosed separately when using the direct method. Such a practice can make the financial statement to appear clustered. Auditors also tend to ask for an additional reconciliation schedule on cash flows and income from company’s using direct method. However, accounting rule-setting authorities allows companies to use indirect method by disclosing, in a simpler statement format, changes in current assets and liabilities. As a CFO I would prefer the indirect statement of cash flows method. The indirect method starts by identifying the companys net income or loss. Subsequently, any non-cash expenses, such as depreciation, amortization, loss provision for accounts receivable and any losses on the sale of a

Unemployment Rate in Different States Term Paper

Unemployment Rate in Different States - Term Paper Example Unemployment Rate in Different States At first glance it is very easy to blame the 2008 economic downturn on the likes of people like Bernard Madoff and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. A lot of people even speak of the availability of â€Å"subprime† mortgages given to those who might not otherwise qualify for them. The housing bubble then burst, putting millions out of work in the domino theory. Another reason given is the United States fighting the Global War on Terror in two separate countries. Pouring money into two countries for what was deemed unwinnable conflicts struck many as a recipe for economic disaster. Whatever the reason, the entire planet began to suffer the effects of a â€Å"downturn† in 2008 that it has yet to recover from. Why and what the differences are between the different states are covered on the following pages. II. Worldwide Impact People cannot even agree what to call this crisis. The official name is a â€Å"downturn†, while there are many people, economists in cluded, who call it a recession. There are even those who hint of the word depression, even though politicians and economists alike vehemently deny the nation is in a depression. The memories of bread lines and political losses of 1929 are way too fresh in people’s minds for that term to probably ever be used again. Yet whatever one chooses to call it, this crisis seems to be unlike any felt since the end of World War II. As the table below shows, the economy of several selected countries has suffered greatly. Even those like China which did not go into the negative still endured losses of growth. GDP GROWTH 2008-09 SELECTED REGIONS (WTO) (PERCENTAGE) COUNTRY 2008 2009 USA 0.1 -2.8 EUROPEAN UNION 0.5 -4.0 CHINA 9.6 9.1 JAPAN -1.2 -6.3 DEVELOPED COUNTRIES AVG 0.2 -3.7 DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AVG 5.7 2.1 So it is evident a worldwide financial crisis cannot be blamed on any one man. Also since it has been well touted that in the rest of the world, mortgages are difficult if not imp ossible to obtain, the housing crisis is not the problem elsewhere. Also since many countries (such as China, Russia, and India) have historically always spent a large portion of their national budget on what Americans term defense, that should not pose a problem internationally either. But this paper is on unemployment in the United States and will therefore be the basis of the remainder of this paper. This introductory piece was just to show that this country has plenty of company in its misery and a Herculean effort will be required to make us feel safer monetarily. Yet it is also true that diversity plays a key in a region’s growth or failure. For instance, the WTO points out that most of the major powers in the European Union (like Germany and France) actually saw growth during the period listed in the table but statistically the entire Union endured losses, largely due to such countries as Ireland and Greece. The same can be said for the fifty states. While the United S tate’s unemployment rate rose five percentage points from 2007-10 (4.6 to 9.6 per cent), certain states underwent either far less rise in unemployment. For example, between 2008 and 2009, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows some states such as New York, Michigan, and California shot to double digit figures. It is interesting to note that most of the jumps in unemployment were in the so-called industrialized states, while

Women and education in the time 1940-1950 Essay

Women and education in the time 1940-1950 - Essay Example These events greatly influenced the education sector, whereby there emerged greater disparities in enrollment and completion of both men and women in the education system (Rury, 2009, p39). These changes in education patterns of both men and women were greatly determined by the various demands that had been presented by previous economic depression and the Second World War that had just begun. Prior to 1940, education of women in the United States had been ongoing for a long period, recording gradual increase in the number of women enrolling in different levels of education. However, several trends characterized education of women in the United States the western countries. In United States, there was a great disparity in the racial composition of women pursuing education in various levels. Moreover, there was a remarkable difference between gender composition of the women and men, in various education stages of the education system. Another major difference in women education during 1940-50 was the type of training that they received in the educational institutions (Alexander and Bruce, 1974, p659). According to Pitts (1992, p93) United States has recorded high literacy levels since 1940 across different education levels. Both genders are increasingly completing high school and enrolling for tertiary education in colleges and universities. Before 1940 and the onset of Second World War, Appelbaum et al (2003, p61) noted that about 50% of Americans had completed at least eight years of schooling. The rate of education varied in different regions across the country with urban areas recording the highest literacy levels with an average of 8.7 years of formal schooling compared with the farming and non-farming rural residents. Education at the tertiary level was very low whereby only 5.7% of the urban dwellers had completed tertiary education compared with just 1.3% of residents in rural and farming communities (Appelbaum, et al, 2003, pp89-95). Comparing gender di stribution of the educated in the United States before the war, the number of men across all educational levels exceeded that of women. Besides the higher enrollment of men in all levels of the education system, they also had higher rates of completing their respective studies at any given level compared to women. In addition, the educational access to education was not uniform across all races, whereby the majority races had better access to schooling compared to the African American, Hispanics and other minority groups (Bound, and Turner, 2002, p50). Traditionally, the role of women in society was limited to domestic work that entailed housekeeping and bringing up the children. Men were supposed to work on more demanding jobs in order to provide for their families. These gender-defined roles were reflected in education sector, whereby women pursued careers that were traditionally associated with â€Å"feminism†. These included careers in education, home economics, secretari al and clerical work in addition to catering and hospitality work. On other hand, men were involved in heavy and technical work in industries, such as steel plants, shipyards, lumber mills among other jobs that required skills (Rury, 2009, p48). This explains why very few women enrolled in education institution before 1940 in comparison to men. It was important for men to enroll in school in order to acquire skills that would enhance productivity in the work place. Buchmann et al(2006) noted the demand for skilled workers in the late 1930’s had began to increase, because the American economy was on a recovery path, following the devastating effects of the historical economic depression that had started a decade earlier. The outbreak of

Importance of Organization culture to organizations Essay

Importance of Organization culture to organizations - Essay Example Organizational Culture refers to a pattern of learned behaviors that is shared and passed on among the members of an organization. It comprises of the various assumptions, values, beliefs, norms, rituals, language, etc. that people in an organization share. Organizational culture can be thought of as an evolutionary process that has been established, accepted and internalized over a period of time, by a majority of members of the organization. Fred Luthans defined culture as â€Å"the acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experience and generate social behavior.† Culture helps people to interact and communicate with other members of the society. Cultural traits are acquired gradually over a period of time. The differences in values and beliefs held by people all over the world make adjustments and interaction with people belonging to other cultures very difficult for some. To be successful in the global economy, it is important for all managers to be sensitive to the differences between them. People orientation is one of the characteristics of Organization culture. This is one thing that is lacking at Camford University.

Literature review and evaluation of the evidence Essay

Literature review and evaluation of the evidence - Essay Example With the patient as the â€Å"unit of analysis,† comparing the feedback-2 period with baseline, the proportion of patients who received any promoted strategy increased from 0.7% to 45.6% (P Pouzeratte et al (2001) reported that thoracic epidural analgesia was more effective with bupivacaine than with ropivacaine when these two local anesthetics are used in a mixture with sufentanil after major abdominal surgery and ropivacaine alone was less effective than ropivacaine in combination with sufentanil. Intensity of post-operative pain was assessed with a reliable and valid Visual Analogue Scale. The study was planned well with a prospective double blind design. In order to assess the tolerability and efficacy of a single dose of paracetamol solution infused intravenously (1g) compared with those of a single dose of Propacetamol (2g) in patients with moderate to severe pain after minor gynecologic surgery, a randomized, double blind, active controlled, 2-parallel group study was performed by Marty et al (2005). The study concluded that a single dose of IV-Paracetamol infusion was associated with better local tolerability, simlar analgesic efficacy, and greater patient satisfaction compared with a single bioequivalent dose of Propacetamol in patients with moderate to severe pain after minor gynecologic surgery. Charghi et al (2003) examined the hypothesis that pain treatment with patient controlled analgesia (PCA) using iv morphine is a suitable and safe alternative to epidural analgesia in morbidly obese patients undergoing gastric bypass surgery. They concluded that PCA with iv morphine is an acceptable strategy for pain management in obese patients undergoing gastric bypass surgery. Mujadi (2006) in a prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial reported that preoperative gabapentin decreased pain scores and postoperative morphine consumption in patients following thyroid surgery. Reuben (2000) evaluated the analgesic efficacy of administering a single preoperative dose of celecoxib or rofecoxib for spinal fusion surgery. The study found that rofecoxib demonstrated an extended analgesic effect that lasted throughout the 24-h study. The morphine dose required was significantly less in five of the six time intervals in the rofecoxib group compared with the celecoxib group. Rockeymann (1997)compared the costs, quality of analgesia, and side effects of postoperative patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) with bupivacaine/ sufentanil versus an epidural bolus (BOLUS) of clonidine/morphine in 68 patients with pancreatic surgery. An epidural clonidine/ morphine bolus technique resulted in inferior analgesia, more side effects, and comparable costs compared with a bupivacaine / sufentanil patient controlled

Tax Accounting Questions. Assignments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Tax Accounting Questions. Assignments - Essay Example For example, the collection of fees in advance will be recorded in GAAP when it earned while according to tax accounting it will be considered as rent taxable income automatically. Another example is the recording of depreciation of fixed assets. Under the GAAP it asset will depreciated using different methods such as straight-line while under the tax accounting only one method is allowed known as MACRS. Under both the depreciation methods, the effect is on the net income. The difference resulting from both the accounting methods may cause differed tax assets or liabilities which can be transferred from one accounting period to the other depending on the financial situation of the company. Another difference between GAAP and tax accounting is the recognition of other revenues or items. For example, the revenue earned from municipal bonds is recognized as interest earned in GAAP whereas such revenues are exempt from federal taxes accounting. The filing status depends on an individual’s marital status and his/her family situation. There are five possible filing statuses. These are married filing jointly, surviving spouse, head of household, single, and married filing separately. Although there are five filing statuses, only four rate schedules or tax tables are used because surviving spouse and married filing jointly usually use the same rate. The characteristics that distinguish each of the filing statuses are based on four factors which also determine how much tax rate is applied to each of them. These factors are maintenance of household, having any dependents, marital status, and citizenship. The characteristic of a surviving spouse is that he/she has to maintain a household, have dependents such as a daughter or a son, the marital status remains the same for atleast two years and is a citizen. The tax rate is that same as that of

Criminal Law (Damage to Property) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Criminal Law (Damage to Property) - Essay Example The Criminal Damage Act 1971 has three different types of criminal damage offences: simple criminal damage which is covered under section 1(1), aggravated criminal damage under section 1(2) and Criminal damage by arson under section 1(3) (Crown Prosecution Services, 2011). This Act does not define what damage is or what may be assumed to be damage under certain circumstances, which has led to courts construing the term freely. The Act also does not limit damage to large scale life threatening destruction of property, small acts like smearing mud in a police cell’s walls is also considered a criminal offence under this law. The maximum punishment for an aggravated and arson criminal damage is life imprisonment. All other offences covered under this act attract a maximum penalty of ten years. Horace’s Liability In the first case scenario, Horace knowingly tinkers with the shop’s lock so that it may temporarily refuse to open. He causes this damage with the intent of making it possible for his boss to attend the Tennis Finals at Wimbledon. However, Horace’s well intentioned act is not appreciated by his boss who would rather open his shop than attend the match. He (the owner) is forced to close shop the whole day since he cannot secure a new part for the lock. According to the law, what Horace has committed is a simple criminal damage.... He causes this damage with the intent of making it possible for his boss to attend the Tennis Finals at Wimbledon. However, Horace’s well intentioned act is not appreciated by his boss who would rather open his shop than attend the match. He (the owner) is forced to close shop the whole day since he cannot secure a new part for the lock. According to the law, what Horace has committed is a simple criminal damage. S.1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 states that an individual is guilty of a criminal damage offence if he or she recklessly or intentionally destroys or damages property that belongs to another without any lawful excuse. Horace causes temporary damage to the shop’s lock so that it can stay closed on the day of the tennis finals at Wimbledon. He has committed an offence by knowingly damaging property that dos not belong to him (Ashworth, 1991). However, Horace did believe that he was doing his boss a favour by tinkering with the padlock. His action may have a lawful excuse since he believed that his boss’s attending to the shop was just as important as attending the tennis finals at Wimbledon. Under section 5 part 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971, a lawful excuse may exist if at the time of the damaging act the person accused of the offence â€Å"believed that the person or persons whom he believed to be entitled to consent to the destruction of or damage to the property in question had so consented, or would have so consented to it if he or they had known of the destruction or damage and its circumstances† (Crown Prosecution Services, 2011). Part b of the same subsection allows for lawful excuse if the accused party caused damage or destruction to property so as to protect

David Hume Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

David Hume - Essay Example om senses, and also not from rational thought. Instead, according to Hume, the idea of self comes from imagination. In turn, imagination stems from causation and memory. To this effect, Hume is of the persuasion that the sole question concerning the creation of self identity is how the elements [contiguity and causation] combine so as to produce the uninterrupted idea of self. In regard to the above, Hume’s intended to mean that ideas are fundamentally ancillary to impressions, including sensory perceptions. In this case, Hume intends to mean that the impressions are the acquired, the lively, forceful and uncontrollable inputs of the senses, imagination and memory. In this case, ideas are taken as the images of the impressions are deemed by Hume as not being accurate, so that he renders them fictitious. Similarly, Hume’s mental existents are all based on the givens of perception, so that he is deemed as a British empiricist. As he uses the term copy to signify the relat ionship among the relationships which exist among the impressions and the very ideas which are dependent on them, Hume reiterates that complex ideas are based equally on impressions, though one step removed. In the case above, Hume is of the persuasion that a proposition which may not admit of much dispute that all human ideas are merely copies of impressions so that it is impossible to think of anything which has never been antecedently felt by either internal or external senses. To this effect, complex ideas may be known by definition and may be nothing more than an enumeration of parts or simple ideas which composed them (Yolton, 548-50). The significance of Hume’s standpoint above concerning relationship between ideas and impressions is that if an idea is valid or proper, then an individual will be able to relocate the very impressions on which it is based. In the event that no such impressions are found, then the very idea at hand is merely an arbitrary construct of huma n imagination which may therefore be fictitious, and having nothing extant on what it is based. Again, Hume continues that identity is not reality or a real idea, but a fiction of a person’s imagination. Hume maintains that this is the case since no individual can find an impression from which that identity can be considered a reality. Just as Lamprecht observes, Hume takes the persuasion that all that is given to man is a flow of impressions which are merely individual perceptions. In this light, the concept of unity is then to be premised on a single and unique sensory impression of solitary lump of things that are unchangeable. Because of this, the concept of unity becomes based on perceived uninterruptedness and invariableness of perception. Because of this, Hume is convinced that the principle of individuation is merely uninterruptedness

The Media and Its Role Today Essay Example for Free

The Media and Its Role Today Essay The media has always been playing the main role in providing information to us. Whether it covers on education, information or entertainment, gaining the latest news on these topics has been made easier nowadays with the help of the media. There are a number of the types of media that could be obtained nowadays. This includes television, radio, newspapers, magazines and internet. Although the main idea of the media is to educate people on the latest happenings, and connect the people from different parts of the world, there is also a downside of it. Sometimes, the media could have an impact towards a person’s personal lifestyle. One of the many impacts that could be influenced by an individual due to the media is their state of health. Exposure of the media could influence us either mentally, physically and socially as well. 2. 0 So How Does the Media Influence a Person’s Health? 2. 1 Parent Child Relationship First of all, the media in a non obvious way is actually influencing its audience’s social relationship between parent and child. There is no doubt that when relating to the media, families are always getting together whenever they are watching a movie or enjoying their favourite sitcom aired daily. This is one of the healthy influences of the media as it helps to create closer bonds between parents and their children. A recent study estimated that 65 to 85 percent of young children’s viewing is with family members, where more than half viewing with their parents. (Van Evra 1998) But on the other hand, some people tend to misuse the media as a way to get out of family crisis. This could be seen normally among teenagers and young children where they turn to the media to avoid interaction between family members, especially their parents. It is indeed true that parents are the main contributors towards how their children behave. Nevertheless, it also could not be denied that the media is also one of the major influences of this matter as well. Nowadays, the younger generations are more advanced, in terms of how they think and act. It is due to the reason that they are too exposed to the media contents portrayed in films and music videos. The younger children as well as teenagers mostly, imitate these behaviours and adapt them to their everyday life. For example, if they were to see a scene where a child talks back to their parent, the child will tend to do the same thing to their own parent. Other than that, due to work load and inconsistent working hours, parents tend to use the media as a way to keep their children occupied. They will leave their children glued in front of the television or play station while they are away, whether for work or leisure. According to a recent study in the US, watching television often replaces the time for doing homework, playing and reading which is essential in creating closer bonds between a parent and child. This influences the child to become addicted to the media, and they will constantly be attached to it. Due to this matter, relationships between their parents will be reduced. Therefore, we could argue that relationships between a parent and child can be influenced by the media. 2. 2 Diabetes and Obesity It is agreeable that the media’s main role is to inform and educate its viewers on latest events happening around the world. Another main role of the media is to act as a medium for advertisers to advertise their products. Advertisements can be gained from different types of media. For instance we have newspapers, magazines, internet, radio and the most common medium which is the television. Fast food companies advertise their products often to attract viewers to buy them. It is true that advertising sells, but it may affect impressionable youngsters and self-conscious adolescents. An online survey showed that an individual watching television for 2 hours per day would have seen a total of 20,000 food advertisements in just one year. The most commonly showed commercials are food containing high sugar and fat, which is known to be dangerous to the human body. Without even noticing, the media is supporting the food industry which is contributing towards a significant effect on future problems involving weight issues. Besides that, children in particular are being exposed to the media without any parental guidance. Parents are letting their children having television sets in their bedroom, which is not a good thing as this promotes unhealthy habits, such as eating while watching television. A recent online study showed that children who have televisions in their bedroom are more likely to have weight problems, in this case obesity and diabetes than those who do not have televisions in their room. From that online research, the statistics showed that 27. 3% of children with a television in their room are overweight, which is high compared with 17. 7% of children who do not have a television in their bedroom. Therefore, it is also arguable that the media could influence the occurrences of diabetes and obesity. 2. 3 Anorexia Through out the decades, our definition towards beauty has been altered dramatically. We no longer value people from all shapes, sizes and skin colour. The underlying cause is the portrayal of beauty standards in the media in this generation. One of the focus on beauty standards is body image. In order to be accepted, you have to be thin or else there is no place for you in Hollywood or the world of modeling. These beauty standards set by the mass media has impacted women and young teenage girls especially to aspire to be as stick thin as celebrities in the media. Examples of stick thin celebrities are Nicole Kidman, Keira Knightley and Victoria Beckham. These days it is difficult to flip through a magazine or watch television without feeling bad about one’s body. The media’s portrayal of stick thin beauties has attributed to many young teenage girls and women developing a eating disorder. One of the eating disorder is anorexia. Anorexia is an eating disorder associated with women and young teenage girls to drive themselves to near starvation in order to be thin. Even though they are thin, they still see themselves as fat and drive themselves further by not eating or barely eating. In short, they have developed a fear for food and a fear for getting fat. The influence of media is on our daily lives, so often we are not aware how it is affecting us. Celebrities being the main focus of the media, how they portray themselves will indirectly influence their viewers especially young girls who are not old enough to make sound judgments. In the television series, Ally Mcbeal, apparently the show’s star refused to eat so that she could keep up with the thinness of her co-stars such as Lucy Liu, Courtney Thorne-Smith and Portia De Rossi. These little girls will grow up thinking that â€Å"thin is in† after watching shows that condone unhealthy body image. That is when they will most likely have a tendency to develop an eating disorder such as anorexia. Related statistics by the National Eating Diorder Association indicates that 40-60% of high school girls are on diet, 30-40% of junior high school children are concerned about their weight and 40% of 9 year olds have dieted. Lately the influence of celebrities such as Keira Knightly, Nicole Richie and Kate Moss with emaciated stick-thin bodies have inspired young girls and women alike to emulate their body type. Put it simply, the extreme exposure of celebrities with size 2 or less figures has made women and little girls unhappy or dissatisfied with their body image. However, parental influence can also plays an important part in contributing to a child’s idea of an ideal weight or size. Mass media may be bombarding young minds with unrealistic standards of beauty, but it is a parent’s job to educate the child from young to know what is healthy and what isn’t. If a parent is constantly dieting and complaining about unhappy body image, then a child will more likely be vulnerable to developing an eating disorder such as anorexia. Anorexia is a very serious mental illness as it has caused many deaths in women and teenage girls because of their refusal to eat. A study by the National Eating Disoder Association indicates that 5-20% of those with anorexia nervosa will face complications associated with the disorder such as kidney failure and heart problems. This means that among all the mental disorders, anorexia has the highest mortality rate. Their minds have been conditioned so badly to think that by eating the slightest bit that they will get fat. Their bodies’ lost of nutrients, fat and minerals can cause them to die unless they get treatment in time. Prevention can save lives by encouraging healthy, realistic attitudes towards weight and diet. 2. 4 Violence Let’s face it, the media is cool, whatever is being done on television is being emulated by the public. For example fashion trends, smoking habits, binge drinking and premarital sex. But what happens when violence as seen on television is being seen as the way to solve problems? Violence these days is on the rise. People think it is alright to solve problems using violence. For example solve a feud by firing fire arms at each, beat up someone for not giving money, or blowing up a public facility. These cases especially involve young adolescents who spend too much time viewing violence on television and video games. The problem with violence in real life is that one cannot escape getting hurt from a violent action. Most television dramas portray characters still end up alive or not hurt at all during a round firing bullets at each or that a character can survive a major bomb blast in a building by some stroke of luck. It is unrealistic that someone get up on his feet with just a few bruises after being bashed up by a bunch of gangsters. That is what has been aired on television time after time. For example, the latest popular drama TV series Heroes and Smallville show unrealistic events such as rising from the dead multiple times after being killed many times. The shows’ character flying into the sky might make children under 6 think that flying is possible as in the case of a boy who thought he could be Superman flew out the window and died. It is also unrealistic that people can develop supernatural powers by being infected by alien meteorites or through gene mutation. However, most viewers who are children and teenagers might not have good judgment to know that violence can’t solve anything would emulate their actions on television in real life. The case of two teenage boys who shot dead 13 people in a Columbine High School were fans of the highly popular video game DOOM. DOOM is a very highly violent video game where players go around building tiers to shoot characters in the video game. Analysts theorize that part of the killer’s problem may have desensitization due to the vast amount of time spent on video games, music and vidoes filled with violent imagery. Even violent music lyrics have been shown to instil violent thoughts and emotions in a person. A research conducted by New Scientist revealed that children who listen to violent music lyrics all the time were more likely to make aggressive association with words like animal, rock and stick. This is especially so with the availability of downloading softwares, whereby anyone can download violent songs and listen to it in a portable device such MP3, MP4 and Ipod anytime. Violent messages will constantly be bombarding their heads and more likely bringing out violent actions in chidren and teenagers. According to a survey carried out by American Academy of Pediatrics ( AAP ), studies have shown that excessive exposure to violent imagery in the mass media increases the likely hood of a child committing acts of violence. Base on statistics, nearly 2 out of 3 TV programs contain violent acts, averaging 6 violent acts per hour. An average child would have seen 10,000 violent acts per year by just watching 2 hours of cartoons a day. Teens who watch more than 1 hour of TV a day are four times more likely compared to other kids to commit violent acts. A typical kid who enters middle school would have seen 8000 murders and 10,000 more acts of violence aired on television. In another study, researchers found that by cutting down television and video game consumption to less than an hour a day decreases verbal aggression by 50% and physical aggression by 40%. This is very serious as violence is the leading cause of death for children, adolescents and young adults which is a higher cause compared to diseases, cancer or congenital disorder. In the past, violence was seen as a way to solve disputes as it was important to determine the survival of the fittest. However this media-exposed generation has been influenced to think that violence is cool and acceptable. We must remember that this is the real world, people can get injured and don’t heal miraculously or wake up from the dead. Destruction and chaos are the result of despicable violent acts committed by people. 2. 5 Racial and Ethnic Discrimination The media is so much part of young people’s lives these days that it is impossible to not base life and make judgments by comparing to the media. Media influence is so prevalent that when we look at a race with tend to stereotype them to what is being portrayed in the media. If are not careful, we will be growing up with a narrow mind by thinking everything the media says is true. For example, minorities such as the blacks and Latinos are always portrayed as the bad guys. When we meet one in real life, we tend to immediately shun them thinking they are not good people as seen on television. Another reason media influence has caused discrimination among certain races and ethnic groups is that the minorities are seldom cast as the lead character. Almost always they are second to the lead character, the victim, the bad guy or the first to die in the movies and television drama. Caucasians are mostly cast as the lead actor or actresses whether they are distress, out to save the world or leading a normal family life. This is a bad influence to the young generation who are exposed to the media 24/7 thinking that Caucasians or Americans will always be the superior person in power, never the minority. Discrimination among certain races and ethnic groups due to media influence has caused us to belief that Caucasian looks are all that. Media influence has caused us to believe that fair, big eyes, sharp noses and high cheek bones are standard beauties of today. We have ignored other qualities of other races to be deem as beautiful. These include people of colour, people with slit eyes, people with the big lips which is an attribute among the blacks and so on. Hardly do you see an African woman or man donning the covers of magazines. On the contrary, it is history that has influenced the media to portray a certain race or culture in a discriminated way. The blacks were brought to America as slaves in the olden days. Most cab drivers in New York are Indians. The Chinese culture believes that women cannot be independent and Indonesians in Malaysia are mainly maids and construction labourers. So, what the media has done is simply highlighting real life situations and portraying them as they are. Hence, a local movie would most likely portray the maid of a family as an Indonesian for this is common in Malaysian society. Therefore, we cannot argue the fact that it is the people who have instead influenced the media. In conclusion, media can influence people’s beliefs of a certain race or culture. However, we must not forget that it is people’s beliefs in the first place that has influenced the media to portray them in a certain way. This cycle can only stop if we change our own beliefs to influence the media on race and culture. 3. 0 The Media Does Influence a Person’s Health The mass media is a very powerful tool. It can shape our beliefs, influence our perspective and distort our views on anything and everything. In addition to that also, our state of health could easily be influenced by the mass media. We should always take extra precaution and note that the people ehind the media are just out to make big bucks, where they will portray whatever it is they want you to see and believe so that you will be obsessed with their product. Therefore, we must instill in children from young to always create a filter in their minds to differentiate right from wrong whenever they are exposed to the media. Although media influence is strong, with parental guide and the rig ht education, it can make all the difference in raising the next generation to make sound judgments about the contents in the media. Individuals should be exposed on the harms that media can cause, in this case towards our health in order to generate a better future.

Effects of Health Inequalities on Infant Mortality

Effects of Health Inequalities on Infant Mortality Health and social policy assignment Introduction Longest (2002), the Health Policy Institute Director at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States, states that †Public policies are authoritative decisions made at the legislative, executive or judicial branches of government †¦ (which are) †¦ intended to direct or influence the action, behaviors, or decisions of others†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He continues, â€Å"When public policies pertain to or influence our pursuit of health †¦ then †¦ they become health policies.† (Longest, 2002). Longest vision of health policy is seen in United Kingdom as well as Europe in the same manner as â€Å"†¦ view of public health activism that sees little distinction between health policy and public policy as a whole† (Randall, 2000, p. 8). Petersen and Lupton (1996, p. xii) describe the new public health as â€Å"†¦ at its core a moral enterprise, in that it involves prescriptions about how we should live our lives individually and collectively†, which represent an approach that is much like Monnet’s plans for Europe (Fontaine, 1994, p. 12), which explains the European health policy as it exists today. As a unitary state, the United Kingdom’s central government directs most activity representing government functions. Social policy applies to those policies that governments utilize for welfare as well as social protection, the manner and ways via which welfare is devised and developed, and the academic study of social policy (Robert Gordon University, 2006). Social policy, in its primary sense is concerned with the welfare state and social services, and in its broader context represents the range of issues that extended beyond governmental actions, including the means that welfare is promoted as well as the economic and social conditions shaping its development (Robert Gordon University, 2006). William Beveridge offered the citizens of the United Kingdom â€Å"†¦ a blueprint for social advance and a modern caring state †¦Ã¢â‚¬  which would provide for citizens â€Å"†¦ from cradle to grave† (Randall, 2000, p. 5) which were foundations of the welfare st ate that Britain briefly embarked on after World War II that offered full employment, a minimum national safety net, free and equal access to health and education, and a state provision for welfare. The Beveridge Report aimed at the elimination what was termed the ‘five giants’ of want, ignorance, idleness, squalor and disease, which he believed â€Å"†¦ construed an investment to facilitate a healthier workforce that would be able to promote productivity† (Gormley, 1999, p. 31). Beveridge’s vision helped to serve as the foundation for the later development of the National Health Service. The National Health Service came into being in 1946 by the UK Minister of Health and enacted through the National Health Service Act 1946, the National Health Service â€Å"†¦ was created by a national consensus within Britain† (Rintala, 2003, p. 3). Prior to its creation patients in the United Kingdom generally were responsible for paying for their health care services with free treatment sometimes available at hospital that taught as well as charitiable hospitals (Gormley, 1999, pp. 14 – 21). As a country, the United Kingdom â€Å"†¦ has a long history of offering some form of assistance for the sick, destitute and poverty-stricken† (Gormley, 1999, p. 13). Evidence of the foregoing is found under the National Insurance Act of 1911 a small deduction was taken from wage payments, 4d, that was also aided by employer contributions, 3d, and the government of the UK contributed 2d (Spartacus Educational, 2007). Workers received free medical service as well as being guaranteed a payment of 7s per week for a term of fifteen weeks when unemployed that were paid at Labour Exchanges that also posted notices regarding job vacancies (Spartacus Educational, 2007). Aneurin Bevan is credited as being the architect of the â€Å"†¦ successful implementation of the National Health Service †¦Ã¢â‚¬  as a result of his â€Å"†¦ personal political skills† (Gormley, 1999, p. 36). The NHS today is Britain’s largest employer, and is managed by the Department of Health, controlling the ten Strategic Health Authorities which have the responsibility for overseeing National Health Service activities in specific areas (Bevan, 2006). The Strategic Health Authorities have the responsibility for the strategic supervision of the 302 Primary Care Trusts that oversee the general practioners and dentists, 29,000 and 18,000 respectively, along with the commissioning of acute services from the private sector and other NHS Trusts (Bevan, 2006). The National Health Services Trusts number 290, representing 1,600 hospitals, and also falling under the supervision of the Strategic Health Authorities are the NHS Ambulance Services, Care Trusts and Mental Health Services Trusts (Bevan, 2006). The National Health Services broad and comprehensive program(s) includes Special Health Authorities, Blood and Transplant, Business Services Authority, National Treatment Agency, National Patient Safety Agency as well as the National Insitute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Bevan, 2006). This document shall critically analyse the inequalities in health care services as it relates to infant morality in Northern Ireland. As of 2006, the infant morality rate for all of Ireland stood at 5.3, and in Northern Ireland stood at just under 6 in 2001 (Bureau for Vital Statistics, 2001) which is higher than the 5.1 for the United Kingdom, and a number of other European Countries (infroplease.com, 2007). The problem lies in the infant morality rate for children from the highly deprived areas who are fifty percent more likely to die in their first year than are babies from more affluent areas (BBC News, 2000). This is problematic in light of the provision for equal health care for all as mandated under the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. This examination of the health care system in Northern Ireland shall take into account why the infant morality rates are high as well as whether there are inequalities in the system and if so what they are and why they exist. The reason is to reach a determinatation as to the causes, and reasons for the higher infant morality rate as well as what is being done to reverse the occurance. The figures for infant morality in Northern Ireland have been showing a downward trend, yet the morality rates for infants from deprived areas indicates a mortality rate that is 50% higher than the overall average during the first year (BBC News, 2000). The signifacne of Tables 1 through 4 is to provide a foundational frameowrk from which to make comparisons of underlying reasons and facets attributing to higher infant mortality rates as a factor of inequalities to be discussed utilizing varied class, income, and other correlations. Table 1 – Neonatal Morality in Northern Ireland 1988 – 2003 (dhsspsni.gov.uk. 2004) Table 2 – Post-Neonatal Mortality in Northern Ireland 1988 – 2003 (dhsspsni.gov.uk. 2004) Table 3 – Infant Mortality in Northern Ireland 1988 – 2003 (dhsspsni.gov.uk. 2004) The preceding figures take on increased importance with regard to the nature of this examination when viewed in comparison to figures from other regions. Table 4 – Live Births, Stillbirths and Infant Deaths by Mother’s Country of Birth, 2005 (National Statistics, 2006) These figures represent the Northern Ireland population as a whole. An important facet in this examination is represented by economics. The region has a higher proportion of people that are receiving benefits for being out of work, large numbers who are not working and a larger population of low pay wage earners (Joseph Roundtree Foundation, 2006). In finding conducted by a study it was found that infants of lone mothers as well as those that belong to parents in manual social classes are of the highest risk regarding infant morality (Whitehead and Drever, 1999). They also found that the lives of babies has at the highest risk in lower income groups as tabulated by the numbers of live births, stillbirths, early neonatal, late neonatal and postnatal deaths for babies in all types of marriage and non-marriage circumstances (Whitehead and Drever, 1999). The ‘Black Report’ in 1980 presented the term ‘inequalities in health’ as a result of it uncovering the gap between the richest and the poorest concerning experiences in illness, life expectancy and accident rates (Unison, 2001). The broader context of inequality in health, which has bearing upon infant mortality rates is comprised of factors associated with access to quality services, along individual as well as group characteristics that can affect and or lead to unequal treatment and discrimination (Unison, 2001). The report by Unison (2001) also identified social and economic factors, broader economic and environmental societal conditions and risk factors that are a part of lower income lifestyles. These aspects directly affect not only the mothers, but also fathers of infants in that their personal health, choices before and during pregnancy may not constitute the best avenues to the development of healthy offspring. In addition the importance of prenat al care, treatments, diet, nutrition, exercise, abstinence from smoking, drinking, drugs and other damaging aspects is higher in the lower socioeconomic groups (Investing for Health, 2006). The report also drew attention to health inequalities as a factor of an individuals social class, gender, ethnic origin, religious beliefs, political opinion, marital status and sexual orientation that area aspects even though these discrimination potentials are addressed in Northern Ireland’s equality and human rights laws (Unison, 2001). The overall effects of the broader consideration, representing age as a facet in infant mortality rates is illustrated in the following Table: Table 5 – Standardised Mortality Rates for People Aged Under 75 (Health, Social Services and Public Safety, 2004) 1997 – 2001 1998 2002 The preceding clearly indicates the differences in mortality rates as referred to in the Unison (2001) study, as well as the underlying health / lifestyle aspects of smoking, drinking, nutrition, exercise and allied factors indicated by Investing for Health (2006). The Health, Social Services and Public Safety (2004) report indicated that life expectancy for mean and females in deprived areas represented 72.0 and 77.9 years as compared to the non-deprived males and females of 75.2 and 80.2 years. The preceding also reveals itself in infant mortality rates, as shown by the following: Table 6 – Infant Mortality Rates per 1,000 Live Births (Health, Social Services and Public Safety, 2004) The foregoing clearly indicates the vast differences as uncovered in the Unison (2001) and Health, Social Services and Public Safety (2004) reports where the infant morality rate in deprived areas is a staggering 23% higher. A factor in the overall causes and reasons attributing to higher infant mortality rates is also shown by the higher incidences of teenage pregnancy: Table 7 – Teenage Birth Rates per 1,000 Females Aged 13 – 19 (Health, Social Services and Public Safety, 2004) The preceding indicates a 70% deferential in2001, and 71% differential in 2002. Another factor in the higher deprived area infant mortality rates is immunization. Table 8 – Immunisation Uptake Rates, Children born in 1998 (Health, Social Services and Public Safety, 2004) Table 9 Immunisation Uptake Rates, Children born in 2001 (Health, Social Services and Public Safety, 2004) In seeking to equate the causes and reasons for the higher incidence of infant mortality rates in Northern Ireland as a result of socioeconomic class, and inequalities in health care, the facet of overall general admission rates for non maternity reasons represents a valid area to be explored. The rationale for the preceding is to seek to determine, in a general fashion, if the inequalities in infant mortality rates represents more of a factor of lifestyle, health and personal choices as opposed to inequalities in the health system with regard to treatment, discrimination and related factors that are much harder to prove as well as seeming less likely to be a broader system wide occurrence. Table 10 – Standardised Admission Rates (Health, Social Services and Public Safety, 2004) 2001 – 2002 2002 – 2003 From the preceding, the argument that inequalities in health care being available or offered to lower income or deprived individuals as a factor of race, martial status, or other discrimination aspects is not seemingly borne out by the above table. What this table does suggest is that there are increased health factors affecting this segment of the population that are more in keeping with poorer health lifestyle choices, nutrition, smoking, drinking and drugs. Further evidence of the preceding rational is supported by the waiting time for inpatient admissions that does not indicate a bias against lower income groups despite their higher incidence of health services utilization as shown in Table 11. And while the area of reference utilized for this aspect is not within the infant mortality confines, it does provide a general factor that does not seemingly support bias in treatment as a result of income, or social status. Table 11 – Waiting Times for Inpatient Admission Proportion of inpatient elective admission where the patient has waited more that 18 months, or 12 months for cardiac surgery (Health, Social Services and Public Safety, 2004) Further illustration that the health care system in Northern Ireland is not seemingly discriminating against individuals with a lower socioeconomic status, and or other facets of discrimination is indicated in the following Table: Table 12 – Median Ambulance Response Times (in minutes) (Health, Social Services and Public Safety, 2004) In further analising factors representing potentially inequalities in health care that contribute to higher rates of infant mortality, the following Table indicates that there is a higher incidence of mortality in rural wards, which are more likely to also be lower income: Table 13 – Infant Mortality Rates per 1,000 Live Births (Health, Social Services and Public Safety, 2004) Further support for the contention that inequalities in infant mortality in Northern Ireland are seemingly more of a product of factors inherent in the lifestyles, living conditions, health choices and educational background of individuals from deprived wards as opposed to the NHS discriminating and or providing a lower quality of care was reported by the BBC (2000) which advised that the Institute of Public Health was holding a conference to examine ways in which the inequalities in health would be addressed, focusing on social circumstances to build more successful partnerships. One of the key aspects mentioned was that a survey found that babies born in deprived wards had a fifty percent higher incidence of death than those born in affluent areas (BBC, 2000). The report also indicated that males in the lower socioeconomic classifications have a higher incidence of dying younger and have higher chronic illnesses than males from managerial and or professional groups (BBC, 2000). The Institute of Public Health in Ireland (2005) in its ongoing concern regarding higher infant mortality rates in deprived wards has stated that poverty and educational levels of parents continues to represent the biggest threat in this area and that an improvement in poverty rates is an important area in reducing infant mortality. The consultation also pointed out that diet, nutrition, understanding of child symptoms and seeking medical assistance at the onset of problems along with better pre and post natal care are factors attributed to higher infant mortality in lower socioeconomic groups. The updated report found that the government of Northern Ireland has not provided core funding to broaden educational outreach programs aimed at educating mothers and families in the lower socioeconomic groups to the symptoms and dangers facing infants. It points to the lack of the preceding as a clear indication that the government does not consider this a priority (Institute of Public Health in Ireland, (2005). The consultation also advised that monitoring with respect to birth outcomes, vaccination rates, infectious diseases, institution and other facets need budgets to enable the health system to perform better follow up on children identified as living in or subject to these aspects to lower infant mortality rates. I t suggests that through increased partnership cooperation this could be obtained, however, that the commitment of addition funds and resources from the government is required in order to cause this to work. Internationally, the World Health Organization (2005) in its 56th Session held in New Caledonia stated that most child deaths could be avoided through the provision for more basic health care and detection, monitoring and follow up of pregnant mothers and newborns. The World Health Organization (2004) advises that to effectively reduce infant mortality, increased monitoring during the first month of life needs to be addressed as approximately 2/3rds of mortality occurs in the first month, with 2/3rd of that figure occurring in the first week. This holds implications for Northern Ireland in that an extended outreach, educational and monitoring program addressing the first month would effectively reduce infant mortality rates. Sweden, Norway and Demark provide an illustrat

Impact On The Natural Environment Construction Essay

Impact On The Natural Environment Construction Essay The building sector has a significant impact on the natural environment. It consumes almost 33 of the worlds natural resources, including 40 of its energy and up to 12% of its water. These estimates do not consider embodied energy (i.e. the energy used to obtain, manufacture, use and dispose of building materials), which can represent a significant proportion of a buildings lifetime energy consumption. The building sector is also responsible for 40% of global green-house gas (GHG) emissions and 40% of the waste which ends up in the landfills (World Green Building Council, 2006). The consumption of natural resources, particularly none-renewable energy sources, is an important factor in the economy of many nations. Authorative reports show such trends in many parts of the world. In the United Kingdom, for instance, the building sector consumes almost 50% of all the countrys energy. While in the United States, about 40% of the total national energy production and almost 70% of electrici ty production is used in the building sector, as well as 28% in transportation a factor which is partly influenced by urban design. The building sector in China currently accounts for 19% of the countrys total energy consumption. This relatively small percentage is due to energy intensive industrial production. The same scenario occurs in the rich oil-producing areas of the Gulf Corporation Council Countries (GCCC). For example, the building sector in Kuwait account for nearly 45% of the yearly electric energy consumption, whilst in Saudi Arabia this sector consumes about 70% of the total electricity consumption. In Bahrain, the smallest country within the GCCC, buildings account for 83% of the national consumption of electricity (EIA, 2010). Apart from its energy consumption, the building sector is also one of the largest contributors to changes in the environment and atmosphere: firstly, building construction, raw material processing and product manufacturing overall are the largest sources of GHGs. They account for some 40% of the world GHGs emissions. The building sector creates the most waste, habitat destruction and is responsible for the most pollution. Second, GHGs, particularly CO2, are the main by-product of fossil fuel energy consumption, and as buildings are, in total, among the largest consumers of energy, they are also the major contributor to the increase in CO2 emissions and hence global warming. While most available data related to these contributions are for the developed world, reports show that, on the whole, these contributions are worse in developing countries such as the GCCC. These countries have become major GHGs emitters. According to the International Panel of Climate Chang (2007), the GCCC are amongst the top countries in terms of CO2 emissions per capita. Recent statistics show an increase of CO2 emissions due to excessive energy consumption in different GCCC sectors, particularly the building sector. The increase in CO2 emissions had been within the range of 30-35% between 1997 and 2006. The GCCC are found to contribute two and half per cent of the global GHG emissions (United Nations Statistic Division, 2007). One of the main principles of the GCCC is to enhance the economic and environmental actions related to the adoption of policies and unifying environmental laws as well as the conservation of natural resources (GCC, 2008). Within this context a two-fold policy aims at promoting energy regulations and sustainable developments has been adopted. A major role has been given to the building sector, with a special focus on the important role that efficiency regulations can play in reducing energy consumption and protecting the environment. On the ground, some actions have been taken by the GCCC in order to achieve sustainability in buildings, such as the implementation of green building regulations. Most of these regulations are based on the USAs Green Building Councils (US GBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, with modifications made to account for the local environmental conditions. In terms of green construction, many attempts have been made in different parts of the GCCC. Examples can be seen in the Bahrain World Trade Centre in Manama, the large-scale Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, the campus of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and the Energy City in Qatar. These projects incorporate several efficiency techniques and green materials. A consideration of these huge, costly projects shows that three parties can benefit from such developments: governments and owners can save energy and protect the environment, thereby gaining a favourable image; contracto rs and suppliers can sell green products and developers can use the affirmative image as a positive marketing tool. However, in his article The Business of Green Elsheshtawy (2010) claims that some green and LEED certified buildings in the GCCC end up consuming much more energy than the evaluators predicted due to poor energy practices. Coupled with this is the economics of energy efficiency and green buildings. Cost of building green A great number of available projects, such as those mentioned above, shows that if building green is a target at the outset of the design process and material selection then the cost of the green building is competitive. In a commercial setting, such projects can result in reduced energy consumption, saved environment, improved occupant health and comfort and reduced capital costs. Many rigorous assessments show that the overall cost of these projects is no more than that of any equivalent conventional project. Increases in first cost are reported within the range from five-ten per cent. During the construction phase the use of the green strategies, such as downsizing of costly mechanical, electrical and structural systems can increase the saving in initial costs, while during the first two decades the increases due to the use of green technologies will result in a savings of at least ten times the initial investment in operation costs for utilities such as electricity. In rental pro perties, owners are concerned only with the initial cost, especially in the cases where tenants are paying the bills. Governments and some owners, however, can realise the energy savings and so are willing to pay more for minimising the operation cost and reducing the environmental impact. The trade-off between economic costs and environmental benefits can stimulate people on the basis that adoption of green technologies will have environmental and social benefits outside the margin of cost consideration. Although the concept of eco-efficiency, in many cases, does not take into account the social benefits, such an approach can balance environmental design with cost-effectiveness. To achieve eco-efficiency in the building sector, it is necessary to apply an integrated approach with the assistance of a team of professionals across different areas. This is realised in what is called the whole building approach. This approach represents a key factor in the design and construction of green buildings, especially with the advance of technology and increased complexity of constructional systems. The incorporation of the whole building approach at the projects conceptual design phase enables the evaluation of a buildings design, materials and systems from the perspectives of all the project team members as well as from the perspectives of owners and occupants. A principal advantage of this approach is the coordination and mutual dialogue between project team members, which represent a cornerstone for any successful projects. By applying the whole building approach initial and other cost savings can be realised, energy efficiency evaluated and environmental impact asse ssed. The role of cladding systems in making buildings green Green buildings are generally designed and built in an ecological and resources-efficient manner. They often respond to their local environment and, therefore, different building designs are found in different regions. In any region, however, the ultimate target of green buildings is to provide a comfortable environment in an economic way. The buildings skin, particularly building facade, represents the connection between the internal environment and the outside conditions, and hence a key function of the building facade is to reduce the need to modify the indoor environment as little as possible in response to the environmental load from the outdoor climate. Sometimes, a building facade fails to meet its objective due to one or more reasons, such as the insufficient design of wall systems or the inappropriate selection of cladding materials that probably make it impossible for any specific level of comfortable environment to be achieved. Then, it is necessary to rely upon electrical and mechanical systems to achieve comfort. This reliance leads to higher cost which is translated into bigger capacity requirements for lighting and mechanical equipment and higher capital costs for such equipment as well as larger amounts of energy consumption by the lighting system and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. In contrast, efficient environmental design and appropriate selection of green cladding materials can result in a comfortable inside environment, reduced project initial and running costs and a building that is energy and resource-efficient with lower operating costs than conventional buildings. Practitioners have demonstrated that the implementation of green strategies contributes to a buildings comfort, economic and energy performance. The use of green cladding systems, in particular, is able to make a significant impact on the thermal and operational performance of green buildings. Reports show that when green cladding systems are taken in to account at the conceptual design phase, significant improvements in the energy performance can be achieved (Radhi and Sharples, 2008). Aside from their influence on building operational energy, the external wall systems and cladding materials are major contributors to changes in the natural environment. The production of construction materials such as precast and aluminium increases atmospheric concentrations of GHGs. The environmental impact starts with the chemical reactions during the production phase, where such materials represent one of the largest source of CO2 emissions and other GHGs. Then, the transportation of the materials to construction sites consumes considerable amounts of primary energy and generates high levels of GHG emissions. At the installation phase these materials generate different types of waste, whilst at the operation phase some of them influence the interior and exterior spaces by producing unhealthy components into the air. Some construction materials have relatively short useful lives and, consequently, the disposal and manufacture of replacement materials occurs, thereby generating mo re GHGs and waste. Research experts have shown that a careful selection of low environmental impact components and materials reduces the CO2 emissions by up to 30%. Some cladding materials are reported to have the capacity to reduce ozone emissions and other sources of pollutants such as CO2 (Radhi, 2010). How can the eco-efficiency of cladding systems be measured? The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD, 2000) terms eco-efficiency as the synthesis of economic and environmental efficiency in parallel. Within this context, eco-efficiency in the building sector can be determined by three broad objectives: Reduce natural resources consumption by minimising the use of embodied and operational energy, raw materials, water and land as well as enhancing recyclability and material durability Reduce environmental impact by minimising GHGs emissions, waste disposal, water discharges and the dispersion of toxic substances, as well as encouraging the use of renewable resources. Increase the value of materials and systems by providing more benefits through material functionality, flexibility and modularity. In the light of these objectives the important question is how the eco-efficiency of cladding systems can be measured. Significant scientific work has been addressing this issue by introducing suitable assessment methodologies and rating systems. This is best seen in the environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) and life-cycle cost (LCC) approaches developed by the international standards for LCA principles and framework ISO 14040 (ISO14040, 2006). Assessment is performed in four phases, including goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation. Two main approaches are available to classify and characterise environmental impacts. The first is the problem-oriented approach (mid-point). The second is the damage-oriented approach (end-point). A great number of methods have been developed under these two approaches such as the critical volumes (weighted load) and ecological scarcity (eco-points) systems in Switzerland, environmental priorities system in Sweden, eco-indicator 99 in Netherlands and the environmental problems system in the United States. The use of such methods makes it possible to select building systems and materials that achieve the most appropriate balance between environmental and economic performance based on certain values of the building team. Case study: assessing eco-efficiency of cladding systems in Bahrain The current assessment, based on the LCA of residential buildings (Radhi and Sharples, 2012), is performed to characterise the eco-efficiency of cladding systems in Bahrain. Bahrain is chosen as many of its building construction approaches and techniques are typical of those found in the GCCC. The production, construction, use and disposal of a 75 m2 front facade of a typical Bahraini house (Fig. 24.1), formed the basis of this assessment. Technically, the building facade consisted of two main components that included the wall system and cladding layers. The wall system is generally classified as cavity wall, barrier wall or mass wall (National Institute of Building Sciences, 2012). The cavity wall (sometimes called the screen wall system) is the preferred method of construction in many climatic regions due primarily to its ability to achieve pressure-equalisation. The barrier wall is an exterior wall system of assembly. The principal difference of this system is its ability to integ rate the surfaces of outermost exterior wall and construction joints, which can offer resistance to bulk moisture ingress. The mass wall relies principally upon a combination of wall thickness and storage capacity. Some fundamental differences exist among these systems such as the thermal performance, fire safety, moisture protection, acoustics, maintainability and material durability, and so consequently their impact on the environment. In terms of cladding, it is the exterior finish layer that is installed to cover wall systems and/or support structures. This finish layer serves several functions, including improving appearance, optimising thermal and environmental performance and keeping undesirable outdoor elements away. Today cladding systems are available in many forms and materials, which are often chosen based on economic and aesthetic factors. Structurally, the use of any alternatives of cladding determines the type of wall system and vice versa. The mass wall system, for example, can form structural elements or finished cladding systems. This system is commonly associated with plaster and masonry cladding systems. On the other hand, the barrier wall is used with precast concrete spandrel panels and some types of metal cladding systems such as composite and solid metal plate as well as with exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS). With the advance in building technology and construction materials, many alternatives of cladding systems are now available in the market. Examples are studied in the current work, namely, stucco, masonry veneer, marble, ceramic tile and the EIFS. Stucco is a hard, dense, thick and non-insulating material, such as cement plaster, that can be used to cover exterior wall surfaces. Both Portland cement and masonry cement are used with sand for the base and finish coats of stucco exterior walls. Unlike the ordinary stucco system, the EIFS (also known as synthetic stucco) is a lightweight synthetic wall cladding that includes foam plastic insulation and thin synthetic coatings. The masonry veneer is made from a mixture of Portland cement and aggregates under controlled conditions. It provides cladding and resists transferring wind and heat loads to the building support structure. The marble cladding system is a natural stone, while the ceramic tile cladding system consists of a mixture of clay and other ceramic materials. To improve environmental and thermal performance, recycled windshield glass is often added to the ceramic mix (Brookes and Meijs, 2008). These five cladding systems are assessed under real construction and thermal scenarios with the same wall system (mass wall), as illustrated in Fig. 24.2. To provide each scenario with the basic systems quantities per functional unit, the existing facade parameters and wall materials of the typical house are considered as a reference scenario, in addition to the operational aspects that are influenced by the building facade. Data inventory of cladding systems The LCA method and LCC technique are integrated to deliver a complete and detailed assessment of the overall potential impact of the typical house. An important point to note is that system and material selection based on a single impact could obscure other factors that might cause equal or greater damage. Therefore, the adopted LCA methodology takes a multidimensional life-cycle approach, in which multiple environmental impacts are considered over the entire life of the assessed cladding systems. To balance the assessment, the LCC is performed over a 60 year life span, and is based on published data and methods outlined in (Radhi 2010). Categories of expenditure typically include costs for purchase, installation, maintenance, repair and replacement. Measuring the economic performance is relatively straightforward by using real cost data collected through a field study. The data in question are the real cost data that occur and the subsequent cost, which will occur in the future. Normalisation is carried out in this work in order to present a more useful scale of measurement and to make comparisons of various systems simpler. Normalisation is an optional step in impact assessment and can be described as a form of benchmarking, where the flows of each environmental impact are first summed and then divided by fixed Bahraini scale impact values. This can yield measures that are placed in the context of Bahraini activity contributing to that impact. The placing of each measure in the context of its associated Bahraini impact measure makes it possible to reduce different values to the same scale and allows the comparison across impacts. The resulting performance measures are, thus, expressed in non-commensurate units. For credibility, the commercially available BEES model (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2007) for building construction materials coupled with the international inventory data (Hammond Jones, 2011) were used to compare and check. The BEES model is generally used to measure the environmental and energy performance of building products and facade materials using the life cycle assessment approach outlined in ISO standard 14040. Environmental impact assessment Given the desire to link environmental and economic performance through the concept of eco-efficiency, the ideal way is to base the eco-efficiency indicators on international agreement as far as possible. According to the framework of the United Nations (2006), the assessment of eco-efficiency includes various generic environmental issues such as energy use, global warming contribution, water use, ozone depletion substance and waste. From these indicators, energy consumption and CO2 emissions, water use and ecological toxicity are of the greatest relevance for this study. Fig. 24.3 compares these indicators with respect to the five studied cladding systems. Some of these systems, such as the marble cladding, have significant impacts on water use but moderate impacts on global warming and embodied energy. Other systems, such as stucco, have a significant impact on both the energy consumption and global warming but a minor impact on water use. The others, such as the EIFS, have a minor impact on different generic environmental issues. From the illustration, the EIFS system seems to be the best performer, followed by the ceramic tiles, marble and finally the brick. Stucco is found to be the least effective system in terms of energy consumption and ecological toxicity as well as in relation to CO2 emissions. This can be related to the large amounts of CO2 emissions during cement production, which is the main component of the plaster cladding system. Environmental versus economic When the overall environmental impact of the examined systems is considered, a different scenario occurs. The overall environmental performance is illustrated in Fig. 24.4. Two main observations can be highlighted: firstly, the overall environmental performance ranking of the five systems is different from single measures such energy use and global warming. The EIFS cladding system is the best environmental performer, whilst the ceramic tile system is the worst performer. The difference is more than 24 points. As systems with lower scores are greener, the EIFS cladding system is greener because it contributes, on average, 0.1% of annual per capita Bahrain environmental impacts, whilst the marble contributes a larger share, 0.35%. Secondly, the environmental performance ranking is different from that of the economic performance. The illustration shows that the economic impacts of cladding systems are various and different from the environmental impacts. For example, the stucco claddin g is illustrated as the best economic performer, but it is not in terms of the environmental performance. The difference in score is significant, being almost 11 points. This can be also seen in the case of the ceramic tile cladding. In contrast, the marble cladding achieves a high overall environmental performance and a low economic performance with a difference that reaches almost 21%. The EIFS cladding seems to have a balanced environmental and economic status. The same ranking occurs when both environmental and economic performance are estimated. By using the multi-attribute decision analysis technique, environmental indicators and the economic performance are combined into an overall performance measure (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2007). It is important to mention that the overall performance scores in this work are not indications of absolute performance. Rather, they are reflecting proportional differences in performance and representing relative performance among system alternatives. By following this procedure, these scores can be changed when the number of system alternatives are increased or reduced. The potential overall performance of the studied systems shows different scenarios when compared with the environmental and economic performances. The stucco cladding seems to be the most eco-efficient systems in spite of its poor environmental performance, followed by the EFIS system with a score of 29%, with the masonry veneer coming next. In contrast, the ceramic tile cladding is found to be the wor st with almost 50%, in spite of its moderate economic performance. Overall, different cladding systems have different environmental and economic performances. Some cladding materials improve the environmental performance, but provide a moderate influence in terms of economic performance, and vice versa. Others positively improve the environmental performance and can optimise the economic performance. Therefore, a careful eco-efficiency assessment should be undertaken in selecting wall cladding systems. Such an assessment can benefit the appraisal of green cladding systems and hence into the design decisions made in developing various scale of green buildings. Conclusion Todays modern buildings systems, particularly cladding system, are often selected and assessed based on aesthetics and cost rather than their environmental performance or their overall potential impact. The concept of eco-efficiency introduced in this book balances the environmental performance with economic aspects. This chapter presented a systematic eco-efficiency assessment of cladding systems and explored its role progressing a green future in the building sector. The interrelation between environmental indicators and economic performance was examined by comparing various cladding systems, considering both overall environmental impact indicators and life cycle cost. The differences in environmental indicators of various cladding systems, namely, stucco, masonry veneer, marble, ceramic tile and the EIFS systems, are generally significant. The ranking of these systems in terms of environmental and economic performance are different. Some of the cladding systems, such as the marble cladding, reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, but provide a minor reduction in terms of the life cycle cost, and vice versa. Others, such as the EFIS system, impact positively upon the environmental indicators and can optimise the overall potential impact. This system has the ability to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions; however, other aspects, such as maintenance and life expectancy, should be considered at the time of system selection. The scope of the current study focused on the eco-efficiency of representative residential cladding system in a developing country. Consequently, the outcome of this assessment may not be applied to buildings in countries with different economic and environmental situation. In spite of this shortcoming, this assessment approach may provide useful quantitative and qualitative information for cladding design decisions. Therefore, it is important to highlight some general notes: New green building technologies, such as the exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS), are effective cladding systems in promoting a green future in the residential building sector. To improve the overall potential impact, wall cladding systems in desert climate regions, such as Bahrain, can be designed as exterior insulation and finish systems. Every building is unique in both design and operation. Academic experts and practitioners benefiting from this work should consider the impact of related variables, and therefore a careful assessment must be performed during the selection process in order to achieve eco-efficiency in the building sector. In addition to its ability to assess building cladding systems, the eco-efficiency concept can be used with various other systems, materials and innovative applications. It can yield a precise assessment in the case of multifunctional problems in relatively short times and at relatively low cost. In the near future the concept of eco-efficiency will become more important in the context of the green built environment in order to show which design process, building systems and renewable technologies are more favourable than other alternatives.

Analysis of Theme for English B by Langston Hughes Essay -- Poetry

Langston Hughes was an African American poet and author who joined other black artists to break literary barriers during the civil rights movement. The poem entitled "Theme for English B" was written thirty years or so after the birth of the Harlem Renaissance, but still embodies why the Renaissance had originated in the first place. I believe this poem reflected on Hughes' life in general, but more importantly on the fight against the ignorance that created discrimination. James Mercer Langston Hughes was born February 1st, 1902 in the town of Joplin Missouri. Being the great-great-grandson of the first African American to be put into public office, one could say that Hughes was destined to make his own mark in society. The first signs of talent began in the eighth grade, where he was elected class poet. After attempting to receive a degree in engineering at Columbia University, Langston went back to his love of writing. The art of writing was Langston's calling, but his father didn't believe he could make a living simply because he was black. Ironically, the Harlem Renaissance was just emerging. The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that strived to put African American poets, authors, and song writers on the same level as the white population. It was an underground uprising which included magazines filled with African American literature such as poems and short stories. Amongst these artists were Claude McKay, Bessie Smith, Countee Cullen, and Langston Hughes. The one characteristic that describes the Harlem Renaissance most correctly was the fact that there was no one set style. Every artist had their own way of getting their point across. The only tie that bonded them was the push for artistic eq... .... But just because what she thinks is the theme makes a whole lot of sense, it doesn't mean that mine is wrong. People interpret poetry differently. I myself went with the whole equality route. All in all, are thoughts weren't that far off. The poem "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes is best summarized by the author's life in general. It's not hard to see the similarities between the student in this poem and the man who wrote it. Langston had no advantage in the fact that his grandfather was the first African American in office. Hughes had to make a name for himself on his own. He did this by traveling on a cargo boat, working as a bus busboy, and eventually contributing his works to the Harlem Renaissance, which gave African American literature the credit it deserved. The student who wrote this assignment grew up to be a world class author and poet.

The Tell-Tale heart Essay -- essays research papers

The behavior of the narrator in The Tell-Tale heart demonstrate characteristic that are associated with people with obsessive-compulsive disorder and paranoid schizophrenia . When Poe wrote this story in 1843 obsessive-compulsive disorder and paranoia had not been discovered. However in modern times the characteristics demonstrated by the narrator leads people to believe that he has a mental illness. Poe’s narrator demonstrates classic signs throughout the story leading the reader to believe that this character is mad   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most psychiatrists believe that when a person suffers from paranoia they most likely have paranoid schizophrenia. According to Frederick Frese chief psychologist at Ohio mental hospital, Paranoid schizophrenia is defined as â€Å" excessive concern about one's own well being, sometimes suggesting the person holds persecutory beliefs concerning a threat to themselves or their property.† Some characteristics are â€Å"confusion; indecision; nervousness, suicidal and homicidal thoughts. People with paranoia tend to believe that they have super sensitive hearing. They hear inanimate object taking to them or voices that don’t exist †Many People with schizophrenia go through periods of getting better and worse. They have remission and relapse. They can go for long periods of time without any symptoms (Frese 13) In the case of Poe’s narrator, he showed symptom of paranoia He believed that his old room mate’s eye was evil.† One of his eyes resemble... The Tell-Tale heart Essay -- essays research papers The behavior of the narrator in The Tell-Tale heart demonstrate characteristic that are associated with people with obsessive-compulsive disorder and paranoid schizophrenia . When Poe wrote this story in 1843 obsessive-compulsive disorder and paranoia had not been discovered. However in modern times the characteristics demonstrated by the narrator leads people to believe that he has a mental illness. Poe’s narrator demonstrates classic signs throughout the story leading the reader to believe that this character is mad   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most psychiatrists believe that when a person suffers from paranoia they most likely have paranoid schizophrenia. According to Frederick Frese chief psychologist at Ohio mental hospital, Paranoid schizophrenia is defined as â€Å" excessive concern about one's own well being, sometimes suggesting the person holds persecutory beliefs concerning a threat to themselves or their property.† Some characteristics are â€Å"confusion; indecision; nervousness, suicidal and homicidal thoughts. People with paranoia tend to believe that they have super sensitive hearing. They hear inanimate object taking to them or voices that don’t exist †Many People with schizophrenia go through periods of getting better and worse. They have remission and relapse. They can go for long periods of time without any symptoms (Frese 13) In the case of Poe’s narrator, he showed symptom of paranoia He believed that his old room mate’s eye was evil.† One of his eyes resemble...