How Should our Society Assign Value to Human Life?

How Should our Society Assign Value to Human Life? Sample Student Essays The Value of Life Writing Assignment So far in this assignment sequence, we have heard a number of different voices giving insights into the value of life. Hamlets soliloquy offers an emotional, metaphor-laden glimpse into the thinking of a young man contemplating suicide. Lance Armstrongs autobiography uses storytelling from a first-person perspective to get across how the famed cyclist thinks about life. Amanda Ripleys article from Time magazine provides insight into the problems involved in translating the concept of valuing life from abstract terms into actual dollars and cents. The Human Life Value Calculator establishes specific criteria for assigning monetary value to a persons life. You might not fully agree or disagree with any of the texts essential claims about the value of life. This makes your voice an important contribution to this discussion about how we should value human life. Where do your ideas fit into the terrain mapped by the other texts we have read? Is it right to assign dollar values to a persons life? Do suffering and illness impact how we should value life? Assume that the audience for your piece consists of intelligent citizens interested in this issue-the same types of people, for instance, who would read Time magazine. As you write your essay, think about the different ways the authors we have read make their points about valuing life. Depending on the points you are trying to make, you might want to use some metaphors for life, as Hamlet does, or tell some stories the way Armstrong does. You may choose to include some words from people you interview, as Ripley does in her article, or you might even choose to establish some criteria for how human life should be calculated in monetary terms. As you construct your essay, make conscious choices about the ways you can represent your ideas to your reader. Be sure to refer to and cite the readings. You may also use examples from your personal experience or observations. The sample student essays that follow reflect the EPT Scoring Guides criteria. Sample student essay with a score of 6: The Value of Life Should people put the value of life into monetary value or should life be kept solely as an emotional quantity? People and societies throughout the ages have been trying to answer the problem of putting the value of life into terms of dollar bills. The ancient Egyptians buried their dead with all of their worldly belongings. They believed a persons monetary worth on Earth was over, and they should take all of that earthly worth with them to the afterlife. Modern day Americans are different from the Egyptians. Today people believe that the families of the dead should be compensated for their loss. It is true that life is a precious commodity much like a diamond. But unlike a diamond, life has no set monetary value. But todays government is trying to change that. After the tragedies of September 11, 2002, the federal government started a federal fund to help the victims and families of victims of the attacks. This fund would give priority to people who were injured in the attacks, then to the spouse, and then to the parents. Sounds great doesnt it? Your husband dies and now you just lost your income, and the government is going to pay you for your loss. Well dont jump on the bandwagon so fast now. This might sound great now, but once you are knee deep in the program, it wont be so fun. To figure out how much money a person will receive from this fund is determined by a multi-step process. First they figure out how much an individual would have earned had there been no attacks. This would mean that a bankers family would earn far more than the family of a janitor in the building s. Is it true that a banker is worth more to society than a janitor? Is a lawyer more important than a desk clerk? Then the fund adds $250,000 as a base cover, and then another $50,000 for a spouse and each child (Ripley 12). This would imply that a married man who has 6 kids in more important than a married man with no children at all. Is it more important in society to make babies than it is to just live your life? What about people who havent yet had a chance to start a family because their lives were cut so short? Now all that money sounds like a blessing, doesnt it? Well now that you have your foundation money, now you have to subtract the money you get from life insurance, pension, Social Security death benefits, and workers compensation. After these little subtractions, you now have the total that you are going to receive from the governments fund. Now you are going to be hit with new questions after all this, for example is a rich man with high life insurance, high pension, and no children worth less than a poor man with no life insurance, no job, and ten children (Ripley 13)? The answer to all these questions is no. The lives of all people should be valued at the same price, if you are to set a price at all. A rich man should be the same as a poor man; a woman with no children should have the same life value as a woman with seven kids. The point is that if the government is going to put a monetary value of a human life, than it should be the same for everyone. We hold these truths to self-evidence: that all men are created equal (King Jr.). There are many arguments against putting a money value on human life and two of the most impressive come from Alephonsion Deng and Lance Armstrong. Alephonsion Deng is one of the Sudanese Lost Boys. We crossed a thousand miles of war ravaged country without the hope of sanctuary. Bullets replaced food, medicine, shelter and my loving parents. I lived on wild vegetable, ate mud from Mother Earth, and drank urine from my own body (Deng 16). He had to walk across an entire country from refugee camp to refugee camp, always with the thought of death behind him. He didnt have the luxury of being able to go down to the grocery store when he ran out of food. He had to scavenge for what ever he could get his hands on. If Mr. Deng was asked about the governments 9/11 victims fund, which is set to put a monetary value on life, he would probably be outraged. After what he had been through he would probably say that it is impossible to turn something as valuable as life into terms of money. Lance Armstrong survived a long battle with cancer, and after this battle came out with a new outlook on life. When I was 25, I got testicular cancer and nearly died. I was given less than a 40 percent chance of surviving, and frankly, some of my doctors were just being kind when they gave me those odds (Armstrong 1). Before having the ordeal with cancer his out look on life was just live it fast, everything was fast for him. After surviving the unbeatable he came out with a brand new outlook on his value of life. He now preached that life can end very quickly and that everyone should live their lives to the fullest terms possible. If someone asked Lance Armstrong about the government trying to put life into terms of dollars, bills, he would have a heart attack. Much like Mr. Deng, he would think that life is precious and the government should not demean it by trying to bring money into the same picture frame as life. Should life be put into monetary values? The answer is no. Life is way too precious of a commodity to put into terms of money. People who have been on the brink of death would all say that you cannot put a value on the natural high that is known as life. To go back to an earlier metaphor, life truly is like the most precious and valuable of gems. They are similar in rareness and beauty, but are different in the fact that gems have a set money value, but life is a lot more stupendous than any gem on Earth. That is why life doesnt have a monetary value and never should. Work Cited Armstrong, Lance, and Sally Jenkins. Its Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to life. New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. Deng, Alephonsion. I have Had to Learn to Live With Peace. Newsweek 31 October 2005: 16. King, Jr., Martin Luther. I Have A Dream. Mephis Educational Computer Connectivity Alliance. 11/21/05. http://www.mecca.org/~crights/dream.html. Ripley, Amanda. What is Life Worth? Time December 2002: 12-13. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992. Unknown, Human Life Value Calculator. Life and Insurance Foundation for Education. November 14, 2005ÂÂ   http://www.life-line.org/life_human.html. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guides criteria for a score of 6. The superior response indicates that the writer is very well prepared to handle college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an edited (that is, revised and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriate degree of organization, content, and editing. The writer addresses the entire topic and responds fully to all aspects of the prompt. The writer demonstrates a thorough critical understanding of the readings by incorporating them into the argument and by quoting them extensively, accurately, and, generally, in correct MLA format; occasional dropped in quotations indicate that the writer has not yet fully mastered this process. The writer uses rhetorical questions to undercut the assumptions made by sources with whose opinions the writer disagrees; rhetorical questions are occasionally overused, but the writer attempts to mitigate them with details from the reading. The writer has a smooth and easy writers voice, addressing the reader directly and confidently. The essay uses a sophisticated inductive strategy, marshaling evidence first and saving the conclusions for later. The essay remains focused throughout. The essay makes use of source material beyond the readings; it also ties different types of support material together nicely. The writer avoids a formulaic essay approach and brings the reader full circle at the end by returning to the opening idea (the gem). Errors are rare and do not detract from meaning. Sample student essay with a score of 5: The Value of Life People often question how we should measure the value of life. Can life be calculated into dollars and cents? Should ones value be determined by their lifes accomplishments? Or does the value of ones life depend solely upon how much that individual embraces and loves their existence? In my personal experience I have found the latter to be true. Life is given value and meaning by one enjoying and accepting it. Someone once said You should not fear death, but fear the unlived life. This means that one should not fear the end of a journey, but enjoy the trip. To me this is absolutely true. Why should we spend our time fearing the inevitable? We are given only a few short years to experience the world, friendships, loves, and losses. Even the bad experiences teach us to appreciate the good ones. This doesnt mean we should all go out and be terrible people just so we will appreciate our good experiences, but rather that we should learn from our mistakes. Lance Armstrongs view of life is similar to this; he says that sometimes life is fun, and great, and other times it is horrible, but whether good or bad our experiences make us stronger people. It is these experiences which give our lives meaning. Meaning and value however, are completely different issues. So how can the value of ones entire life and worth be translated into monetary values? The people at most life insurance companies will tell you it is a simple mathematical process based on age, physical health, and income. Subtract $1000 for every year over 40, subtract for any diseases, or illnesses, add 50 times their yearly income and voila! Youll have the value of anyones life calculated in an instant! Unfortunately, this process cannot be applied to memories and experiences. You cant subtract points for every bad experience, lost love, and abandoned friendship and even the bad memories are carried around with us forever. Amanda Ripleys article, from TIME magazine, outlines, some of the problems with calculating the monetary value of life. Many people view the amount of money they receive as a measure of their loved ones value, which creates problems for the people who have to award the money. Calculating the value of l ife in dollar worth can be a complicated issue involving tough emotional and moral dilemmas. Value is something which each individual assigns to their life depending on how much meaning it has to them self and others. A life is not a self contained object; it is a network which is shared with others. All people have value not just to themselves but to others as well. If you died tomorrow you entire network of friends and family would surely mourn for you. All of the people whose lives you have touched would mourn for you. In Hamlets soliloquy, he neglected to consider what effect his life had on his family and friends. Everyone whether they realize it or not, has some kind of effect on the people around them. Hamlet thought of his own life as worthless and thought everyone else did too. Lifes value cannot be determined by dollar value, popularity or even by ones accomplishments. If one doesnt value life them self then they will be unhappy therefore making people around them unhappy. People must depend on themselves to make their lives valuable and meaningful. Ultimately it is peoples own ability and willingness to value life which gives them worth. Bibliography Armstrong, Lance, and Sally Jenkins. Itss Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to life. New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. Ripley, Amanda. What is Life Worth? Time December 2002: 12-13. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992. Unknown, Human Life Value Calculator. Life and Insurance Foundation for Education. November 14, 2005 http://www.life-line.org/life_human.html. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guides criteria for a score of 5. The clear competence of the essay indicates that this writer is quite ready to handle college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an edited (that is, revised and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriate degree of organization, content, and editing. The essay thoroughly addresses the prompt and raises the pertinent question of the difference between value and money. The writer remains focused throughout the essay, offers a clear thesis about enjoyment and acceptance, and pursues that thesis throughout the supporting paragraphs. The writer uses transitions to guide the reader, such as the sentence that ends the second paragraph, It is these experiences which give our lives meaning, which transitions to the opening sentence of the third paragraph, Meaning and value however, are completely different issues. Occasional shifts in diction (for example, one in first paragraph, to we in the second, to you in third) are distracting; the essay mainly uses a conversational tone that works very well for this writer. The writer makes a lovely case in the fourth paragraph for life as a network rather than a self-contained object. The essays second half begins to repeat itself, particularly in the final two paragraphs, although the writer attempts to mitigate this repetition by using the Hamlet example. Errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics are minor; the writer could use some practice with commas. Sample student essay with a score of 4: The Value of Life The value of life. What is it exactly? We will never know the true definition of the value of life because there are so many different perspectives in this world and everyone will think their perspective is right. According to the Human Life Calculator, our value is based on the amount of money we will make in our lives and nothing more. It depends on the money we make, how many children we have, and how much we spend on ourselves each month. Some people find it fair to actually compare the value of life to the dollar amount they are worth. They might even look into it so much that people choose their partner according to their monetary values and not the emotional attachment. There are many people like that these days that only worry about money and what society thinks of them instead of wanted to be truly happy. I dont agree with the Human Life Value Calculator what so ever. No persons life should be estimated on their monetary worth. It should go deeper then that. It all depends on how they want to live there life and if they think they live it to the fullest. If they live it to only become rich and die rich then so be it that is their own personal value. But to assume that every person values their life that way is completely and utterly wrong When it comes to Hamlet, he wonders if there is even a value to life. To be, or not to be-that is the question: that is his main issue throughout the entire play. He pretty much loses everything that means anything to him in his life so he cant help but wonder if there is even a point anymore. Anything he truly valued, such as his father and Ophelia, was taken from him. He has nothing to value so why should he question the value of life? Life has many hardships no matter who you are, even if you are Hamlet. It still has a value to it. It teaches you to value you what you have because you never know when or they may not be there. Lance Armstrong is a whole different story. He looks at life in such a positive perspective now unlike before. Unlike many people, he was given a second chance to live his life. He values every single thing because he never knows when it will be his time to go. He was luck the first time but no one know if he will be next time, if there is a next time. He learned the hard way not to take life for granted but to take advantage of it and live everyday as though it were your last. Not everyone is as lucky as Lance Armstrong. He now realizes how valuable his life and everyone in it is but thats because he was given a second chance. There are so many people out there who wish they would have realized how valuable everything was before it was too late because they didnt get that second chance. We may not realize it until it happens but when we or a loved one goes through suffering or illness it truly impacts how we value life. It makes us face the reality that not everyday is guaranteed and people will not stay with us forever no matter how much we wish they would. I think, as a society, we should value life not by how much money we have or how much we are worth but by how much we enjoy life and everyone in it. It shouldnt take the death of a loved one for us to realize everyday is valuable. We should wake up everyday realizing its a new day and be thankful for it. Im not saying to wake up and say today might be my last but realize it, embrace it. Take nothing fro granted and live everyday to its fullest. If you love someone then tell them. If you want to start a business then do what it take to start one. Do whatever you have to so that when you leave this world you are happy with who you are and what you accomplished. Dont expect to have no regrets or make no mistakes because those are what helped to form you to the person you become over time. I admit I am far fro perfect but that is what makes me and I am happy with myself. I love my life and everyone in it who helps to form it. I wouldnt take anything back or do anything over because if I did I wouldnt be the intelligent, free spirited, young woman I am today. I value my life to the fullest and it will never be based on money or praying to be given a second change because I didnt live it right the first time. Works Cited Armstrong, Lance and Sally Jenkins. Its Not About The Bike: My Journey Back To Life.New York: Berkley Trade, 1991. Human Life Value Calculator Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Alan Durband. London: Hutchinson and Co., 1986. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guides criteria for a score of 4; however, it is a strong 4. This adequate response to the topic suggests that the writer should be able to handle college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an edited (that is, revised and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriate degree of organization, content, and editing. The essay is a classic befuddling 4 paper; it wobbles between a 5 paper and a 3 paper, never really settling in either camp. The writer opens with a rhetorical question and then moves quickly to a clear, if simplistic, thesis. The writer attempts to integrate the readings by including supporting detail, although the essay offers only a single direct quotation. The works cited list provides a quasi-MLA format for sources. The logic in the third paragraph fails to persuade; the writer opens by showing Hamlet questioning lifes value and then closes with the question, He has nothing to value so why should he question the value of life? The essay is somewhat repetitive, restating the idea of personal satisfaction as the best gauge of lifes value. The essay lacks transitions in general, although the opening sentence of the penultimate paragraph, Not everyone is as lucky as Lance Armstrong, is an exception. The writer opens each paragraph with a statement that focuses on the reading; however, the second half of each paragraph, which features the writers own experience and opinions, generally becomes repetitive, rambles, or offers a cliched conclusion. The writer struggles with usage (than/then, there/their, everyday/every day), mechanics (especially punctuation), and grammar, although such instances do not greatly detract from meaning; the shifts in person in paragraph six, however, are quite distracting. Sample student essay with a score of 3: Extreme Life What is life? I dont know, but I know it is full of obstacles. Sometimes they are small, sometimes they arent. I dont think there is a point to it, but who knows? Another thing I know, everybody dies at the end, so why wont people live it to the maxim instead of just sitting on their bums and doing nothing, Being alive to me is to experience new adventures and to have fun. Life is worth living for as long as you can. As Lance Armstrong said, I want to die at a hundred years old with an American Flag on my back on the star of Texas on my helmet. It is very fun living out to your maximum, doing extreme sports like bungi jumping. I think that life should be extreme. It is also nice to come back home to someone who loves you and cares about you. I love food; I think its another great thing to spend time with friends, especially when you can dig in and pig out. Its nice to have friends that are there for you when you have problems, and you know that they will help you out. Life is just a great things, but it doesnt always feel like it. To be or not to be is Hamlets famous quote. I bet every single person on earth has come to this decision. Besides the great things in life, you come across difficulties. For example losing the loved one. I think that hurts the most. Another thing is when you dont feel loved or accepted. Thats when people come out of their limit and start doing bad stuff like drugs. When it gets really out of hand, they try to commit suicide. I believe that anybody who tried it or attempts suicide it are failures in life. As Lance Armstrong said, Why dont we all just stop and lie down where we are? what is we just do it? Its just an easy way out of life, escaping all the obstacles and pain. There is a lot of it. You friend can stab you in the back, your family member can die, there are just too many to name. You should just love life enough to struggle through the painful times. Why would I want to change, even for a day, the most important and shaping event in my life? Lance Armstrongs words. Express how I feel. I would not give me life up for anything. I have made many of bad mistakes that I should not have done, but those mistakes make me the person I am today. I wouldnt want to look or be any different than I am right now. I love my life, and I hope everyone else does too because its the only one weve got. You will have to start loving it or that only one wont be a good one. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guides criteria for a score of 3. Although the essay suggests developing competence, it is flawed in significant ways that suggest the writer needs additional practice before being able to succeed in college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an edited (that is, revised and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriate degree of organization, content, and editing. The essay responds to the prompt at the opening, although it moves away from the prompt later. The writer attempts to define life itself rather than discuss the value of life. The writer offers a thesis about adventures and fun but does little to offer support for that thesis. The essays paragraphs, although short, are overworked in that they contain several ideas competing for space; the essay does not attempt to separate paragraphs into discrete ideas. The paragraph about eating and hanging out with friends struggles with logic, perhaps because the writer is still trying to connect the evidence to the thesis; by the third paragraph, the writer seems willing to move away from the thesis completely. The opening of the third paragraph (To be or not to be is Hamlets famous quote. I bet every single person on earth has come to this decision) makes neither logical nor rhetorical sense. The writer attempts to quote texts directly but lacks the skill to incorporate quoted material properly. The writer shows a limited syntactic repertoire; the first paragraph, for example, contains four rhetorical questions out of six sentences. Errors of grammar, usage, and mechanics accumulate to detract from meaning; there are several missing apostrophes and fragments (see the second sentence of the final paragraph, for example). Sample student essay with a score of 2: Value of Life This is a question that runs through everybodys mind. What would somebody pay for a life? What would you do if your life ended tomorrow? Would you tell someone that you cared about the most that you loved them? What would you do for your final hours? How do you think the people aboard the 9/11 plane attack felt as soon as they knew that they werent going to see their families anymore? These questions are all very goods questions but the most important one is Have you been living the life that you wanted to live? Humans always follow others ways of posture and ways of thinking. People picking up laughs, looks, even the way they think about other people. Think of it this wayif someone put a gun to year head and they said, Give me three reasons why I should not pull this trigger? What would you say? It might sound like a harsh, blunt question but if you think about it. where you living your life to the fullest? Posers always get on everybodys nerves. They are going to look back on their lives and think what they did was really stupid. Their values of life are following somebodys elses footstep, following others stories, what they like, dont like because they cant think for themselves. They rely on other people to make their decisions for them. The final thought is the toughest thought of all. Things all bundled up inside your head. The only thing to realize is that people dont make you who you are. You make the decisions that will lead your life, the rest of your life. What would your family get if you died? Tack on an extra $50,000 in pain and suffering for a spouse and for each child. Thats what you would get. Now think to yourself, are you living your life to the fullest, what you think is good? Ripley, Amanda. What is a life worth? Time: 11 Feb. 2002. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guides criteria for a score of 2. The serious flaws here indicate that this writer will need considerable additional practice before being able to succeed in college-level reading and writing. Because this prompt asks for an edited (that is, revised and polished) essay, student papers should reflect the appropriate degree of organization, content, and editing. The essay opens with a statement about questions, followed by six rhetorical questions in a row. The writer seriously overuses the questioning strategy, with three additional questions in the second paragraph and two in the fourth (concluding) paragraph; the essay itself finishes with a question. The essay neglects the prompt; it discusses values rather than the value of life. The final paragraph attempts to approach the prompt by quoting Ripley (although the writer does not attribute the quoted material), but the quotation is ineffectively dropped into the concluding text. The essay does not demonstrate any discernible organizational strategy. Some sentences make no sense at all, such as People picking up laughs, looks, even the way they think about other people. Errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics are present but not all that profound; lack of logic and content is the issue with this essay. Sample student essay with a score of 1: The Value of Life People put a money aspect on people for example, when people have money then we need them, we dont even care about anyone unless they have money. When disaters like sunamis happen, people want to find there family but dont understand the water infected and no one nos whats happening to any one any where. Katrina for example. They (the army) use colors were dead are, yellow were sick are, green x marking the spot were people who are worth saving were. We help people every where in the world but no our own people, to save them, even the army was there making every one get out of there house if they wanted to or not, they might get shot if not. People have always come here to make a new lives and this is what happens? Its way messed up. Is this how to value people? Shakespeare new how bad life can be. To be or not to be said Hamlet who thought not. We have to find out a way to help and over come what might happen next so every one is not so discouraged because money is not the answer or stocks or bonds or jewelers but only love. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guides criteria for a score of 1. The fundamental deficiencies here indicate that this writer will need a great deal of additional practice before being

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Philippine Bureaucracy I. A POLITICAL SYSTEM DEFINES ITS BUREAUCRACY: That the Philippine government has consistently failed in satisfying the needs and growing expectations of the Filipino people is a fact rather than a perception. What is widely perceived however, is that such failure of government is only due to the inefficiency of its bureaucracy to produce and deliver public goods and services. To accept the perception that the inefficiency of the bureaucracy is the main culprit in the failu re of government is to grant the dichotomization of the orientation of governance and the administration of its affairs. The form and substance of the bureaucracy as the main machinery of government is heavily defined by the latter's policies and politics. It cannot be expected to produce and deliver goods and services corresponding to the needs of the people if the policies of government are anti-people. In the same manner that the bureaucracy cannot operate differently and independently of the ills of th e Philippine political system. A political system is based on its economic foundation thus it is beyond doubt that economic power makes political power. In a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society such as the Philippines, it is easy to conclude that the fo reign investors, their local counterparts such as the big compradors and landlords, who are the main players in the economy, control the state thru their cohorts in government. That it is their business, to effectively manage the affairs of the bureaucrac y as a means and source of graft and corruption for further self-aggrandizement and their perpetuation in power. The basic issue of the misprioritization and misutilization of the national budget clearly represents that the business of governance depends on the interests of the power holders rather than the people they govern. The coming of the public debt aspect in the 80s worsens the misprioritization of government's annual budget in favor of foreign debt payment allocations and is usually followed by t he national defense budget, the sum of which account for about three-fourths (3/4) of its grand total. As the foreign debt payment becomes automatic the government went into deficit spending, in order to correct this, the International Monetary Fund-World Bank (IMF-WB) prescribed the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) which included the aust... ... a dictator. Ramos has improved the blue print of mar tial rule of Marcos, why not, when he has the comparative advantage of being educated at West Point which is one of the best training grounds of agents of the imperialist United States of America. His regime has not reached desperation as its psychologica l-war tactics are still effective in a situation which does not yet necessitate an open fascist rule. From the point of view of the CESOs and the rank and file of government employees, the process of re-engineering the bureaucracy is but another exercise of patronage system in the positioning of the proteges of the politicians and the high bureaucrats. While in the process, victimizing hundreds of thousands of government personnel who shall be dismissed in violation of the merit system of the civil service and their security of tenure. For the public sector workers, this is another round of their continuing struggle to defend their rights as workers much more their right to a source of livelihood. As they have proven that the exercise of their strength thr u their organization is their reliable instrument to protect their interests, such is the route that they shall take.

College Admissions Essay: Half as Courageous :: College Admissions Essays

If I Could be but Half as Courageous    Helen Keller was born on June 27th, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She was a bright infant, interested in everything around her, and imitating adults at a very young age. In February of 1882, she was struck with an illness which left her deaf and blind. For several years, Helen had very little communication with the rest of the world, except for a few signs which she used with her family. When she was six, her parents wanted desperately to do something to help their strong-willed, half-wild, child. They were far from any deaf or blind schools, and doubted that anyone would come to the little town to educate their deaf and blind child. They heard of a doctor in Baltimore who had helped many seemingly hopeless cases of blindness, but when he examined Helen, there was nothing he could do for her. However, he referred them to Dr. Alexander Graham Bell who recommended Anne Sullivan to teach Helen.    On March 3, 1887 Helen met "the Miracle Worker," Anne Mansfield Sullivan. Then, about a month later on April 5, Helen associated the water running over her hand with the letters w-a-t-e r that Anne was spelling into her hand. That day she learned thirty words and proved to be a very intelligent, fast learner from then on. She quickly learned the finger-tip alphabet and shortly thereafter, to write. Helen had mastered Braille and learned how to use a typewriter by the age of 10. When she was 16, she could speak well enough to attend preparatory school and college. In 1904 she graduated from Radcliffe College with Anne Sullivan by her side interpreting lectures and class discussion to her.    Helen then dedicated her life to improving the world. She delivered many lectures to improve the conditions for the blind and deaf-blind. She spoke out for women's rights and pacifism. She spoke in over 25 countries bringing new hope to many people. She spoke against World War I and her pay from lectures declined because of her stand. During World War II she visited military personnel who had become blind and/or deaf because of injuries. She also spent a lot of time raising funds for organizations working with the deaf and blind. Helen also wrote several books concerning her life, her religious beliefs, and her teacher Anne Sullivan.

The Destructive Effects of the Vietnam War Essay example -- Vietnam Wa

The Destructive Effects of the Vietnam War The destructive effects of the US war in Vietnam encompass not only a body count, but also the festering intellectual wound of a war that could not be satisfactorily explained away. The battles of Vietnam, in particular, seemed an affront to conventional understandings of ‘American culture’, military power, the limits of technology, the very possibility to control, and the causes of wartime atrocity. This deeply unsettling part of the Vietnam experiences the US endured revolve, at least to a degree, around the division between the inside and outside. The inside going into the war, from the US perspective, was an ‘American culture’ with ‘American values’, entailing an entire worldview with attendant sets of behaviors considered domestic. The outside was, of course, the radically alien junglescape populated with in-credible enemies, ‘shifty’ and ‘dangerous’ peasants, and untamable environmental hazards to boot. Apoca lypse Now works from a context fixated on the terms of inside and outside for analysis of the battles of the Vietnam War to question these categories by a strategic challenge to both totalizing theories’ explanatory power with elements of layered complexity. Of the post-war 1970’s commentary and reflection on the Vietnam war, the anti-war and rather pacifist afterglow of wartime activists offered perhaps the clearest analysis of the tragedy of the war and its atrocities: the problems are deeply internal to American culture. The 1978 film The Deer Hunter addresses the issue head on, with the Washington Post review opening, As the world moves down the various roads that converge at apocalypse, the ultimate issue becomes life itself, transcending politics or ideology... ...e before the theoretical, where place cannot exist because there is not yet a relation formed to tell the experience where it is. In the bright flames of a reality with uncertain connection to simplistic theories of division of place, the credits roll as the forest and dichotomy of place explode and burn away. Works Cited Apocalypse Now. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Miramax, 1979. Bonds, Ray. The Vietnam War. New York: Crown, 1979. Hornbacker, Robert Allen. Real Ultimate Power. 2002. UCLA. 1 March. 2002. http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~rahjr79/ Kroll, Jack. â€Å"Life or Death Gambles.† Newsweek 11 December, 1978: 113+. Matthews, Jay. â€Å"Chinese Assert Viets have Been ‘Taught Lesson’.† The Washington Post 4 March, 1979, A1+. Price, Bem. â€Å"They Fought In Vietnam with One Hand Tied Behind Their Backs.† U.S. News & World Report 30 June, 1975: 41+.

Reitman’s Financial Analysis Essay

Reitmans – Financial Analysis From an analysis of the Company’s ratios over the last three years since 2009, as found in the Appendix: Exhibit _, the quantitative data reveals an unfavourable trend in performance. Liquidity Reitmans has the strongest current ratio when compared to its competitors—The Gap and Le Chateau—at almost double their value. However, the Company’s ratio has been in decline since 2009; at that time, it was at 4. , then fell to 4. 3, and finally, to 4. 1 in 2011. This trend reveals a slight decline in Reitmans’ short-term liquidity; however, even with the decline, the Company has more than enough liquidity to meet their short-term cash requirements. It could even be argued that they are not utilizing their assets to their full potential, as the usual acceptable current ratio is 2:1. Even when inventory is not considered, as with the quick ratio and cash ratio, Reitmans’ ratios are unusually high when compared to their competitors—which adds strength to the argument that they are not utilizing their assets as effectively as they could be if they were to invest their funds instead of leaving them sitting idle within an account. Asset Management As revealed by their inventory turnover of 1. 2, Reitmans sells its inventory more slowly than its competitor, the Gap, does with their ratio of 5. 7 in 2011. However, the Gap may have a higher than normal turnover, as Reitmans is favourable when compared to their other competitor, Le Chateau. The Company’s accounts receivable turnover has remained relatively stable over the past three years, fluctuating slightly but still taking just one day on average to collect from customers. In contrast, Reitmans’ accounts payable turnover has been experiencing an unfavourable decline since 2009; it used to take just 106 days to make payments to suppliers, but now it takes 257 days, over twice the time. Long-term Debt Paying Ability Reitmans’ debt ratio measures the extent of creditor financing and leverage. Their percentage of debt, 22%, is much smaller than their competitors at 63% and 39% and a result, Reitmans’ is much more solvent and more able to maintain their long-run financial viability. Further, when looking at the Company’s times interest earned, we see that Reitmans is considered to be less-risky for lenders as they are able to earn their fixed interest charges ver 3 times per year; this exceeds the general guideline that says creditors are reasonably safe if the company has a times interest earned ratio of two or more times. Profitability Most merchandising companies need sufficient gross profit in order to cover their operating expenses or else they will likely fail. Reitmans, as similar to their competitors, maintains a higher profit ratio of 64% in 2011 and 67% in 2010. Even though the Company’s other measures of profitability are still fa vourable compared with their competitors, Reitmans’ profitability ratios have declined by almost half from 2010 to 2011.

Mis “Myspace

What kind of databases and database servers does MySpace use? A database is an organized collection of data. A database server is a computer program that provides database services to other computer programs. In the initial phases, MySpace operated with two web servers (a computer application that helps to deliver web content that can be accessed through the internet) communicating with one database server and a Microsoft SQL Server database(as s database, it is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data requested by other software applications).But as the number of accounts started to increase to 500,000 in 2004 one database server wasn’t sufficient. MySpace then deployed three SQL servers database. Which one served as a master database, which received all new data and copied it to the other two databases. As time passed and the number of accounts grew to millions, the database servers where approaching their input/output capacity and causing MySp ace to add many cheaper servers to share the database load.Still having problems with overload, MySpace switched to virtualized storage architecture. In which databases write to any available disk, thus eliminating the possibility of an application’s dedicated disk becoming overloaded. In 2005 MySpace added more servers between the database servers and the Web servers to store and serve copies of frequently accessed data objects so that the site’s web servers wouldn’t have to query the servers with lookups as frequently. Why is a database technology so important for a business such as MySpace?Due to the nature of MySpace and because it mostly receive from and serves to its uses are data objects like pictures, audio files and video files databases technology is the only technology that accomplish the mission. Its database must make the objects readily available to anyone requesting access to an entity (person). Database technology cuts through many problems of tr aditional filing. Rather than storing data in separate file for each application, data are store as to appear to users as being stored in only one single location.How effectively does MySpace organize and store the data on its site? MySpace. com was one of the most popular social networking sites and experienced one of the greatest growths in the history. But unfortunately it wasn’t able to keep with its data storage and challenged technical letdowns that degrade web site performance and frustrated its rapidly expanding network users. MySpace used two Web servers communicating with one database server. It was adequate when the site had a small number of users who were updating or accessing database objects.Obviously that won’t work with millions of users. Unfortunately, MySpace kept overloading more frequently than other major Web sites. With a log-in error rate of 20 to 40 percent on some days, the site is not effectively organizing or storing data. What data manageme nt problems have risen? How has MySpace solved, or attempted to solve these problems? Some of the problems MySpace has encountered are inadequate storage space on its database servers, slow access or no access through its log-in application, and users’ inabilities to access data.Over the years, MySpace has attempted to fix these problems by adding more and Web servers and more database servers. Some were simply â€Å"added on† without restructuring the entire system to more efficiently use its hardware and software. Workloads were not distributed evenly between servers which caused inefficient use of resources. MySpace developers continue to redesign the Web site’s database, software, and storage systems, to keep pace with its exploding growth, but their job is never done. MySpace switched to a virtualization storage architecture which ended the practice of attaching disk dedicated to specific applications.

Baroque Art Essay

This paper will start with an explanation of what Baroque art is. Baroque art is art that utilizes the effects between lightness and darkness. We will begin by looking at three paintings from the Baroque period. The first painting we will be discussing from the Baroque period is Annibale Carracci’s Pieta. A pieta is a sculpture or painting of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. This particular pieta was done by the artist Annibale Carracci from Bologna, Italy. Annibale’s Pieta depicts the Virgin Mary holding her son Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. Annibale used his lighting very well in this painting. Because of the way he used the lighting in his painting it made Jesus Christ the main figure, but still managed to have the Virgin Mary in the center along with Jesus. Annibale painted Mary in a soft blue, which contrasted well with the paleness of Jesus Christ. Annibale painted the look of sorrow onto Mary’s face and out stretched her left hand as if she was questioning how this could happen to her. This painting has so much detailed to it, along with Mary and Jesus there are also two angels in the painting: one angel scrutinizes the crown of thorns, while the other mourns while holding Jesus’ hand. Annibale Carracci was a well-known and admired painter that helped create the Baroque style. Annibale Carracci, along with his brother and cousin founded the Accademia degli Incamminati, which translates to the Academy of progressives. Later in the 15th century the Carracci family was painting some of the most advanced paintings throughout Europe. Annibale created a new broken brushwork style to capture movement and the effects of light on form (Christiansen, Keith. 2003). This new style resulted in paintings being put inside churches. The fresco painting on the ceiling of Pope Farnese’s Palace was Annibale’s greatest masterpiece. The second painting from the Baroque Period is The Entombment by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. The symmetry of the group of people in this painting is miraculous . This painting shows everyone bowing down or bending towards Jesus, showing that his death has an impact not only emotionally but physically on them. The look of terror and shock is remarkably captured in this painting. The group of people look traumatized at the death of their beloved Savior Jesus Christ, however at the same time they look relieved. I love how Caravaggio illustrates these people. He doesn’t make the people beautiful or extravagant looking, he makes them look like ordinary people. Just as Annibale used the lightness and darkness as did Caravaggio, bringing out the drama and suspense of the moment. Caravaggio was a wild and carefree person. He believed in truth, that not everyone was beautiful or heroic as they are made to seem. He refused to portray the human individual as sublime, beautiful and heroic (Christiansen, Keith 2003). During Caravaggio’s time the Catholic Church had complete control of what was considered to be acceptable art if it wasn’t deemed acceptable by the church then it wasn’t art. Caravaggio disdained the masters of the Renaissance and the mannerist style (Sayre 2010). In the Baroque Period, religion was the best thing you could paint about, this is the only topic that would be profitable. The third painting from the Baroque Period is Belshazzar’s feast by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. The painting displays King Belshazzar and his visitants feasting while using the holy items from the Jewish temple. Rembrandt depicts a moment when a glorious hand appears in right to the inscription on the wall when transliterated the inscription reads: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN; meaning ‘God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; your kingdom is given to the Medes and Persians. ‘. â€Å"Rembrandt | Belshazzar’s Feast | NG6350 | The National Gallery, London†, 2004) . After that night, King Belshazzar was killed. Rembrandt utilizes the light in this painting to give light more effect the hand. The main figure is King Belshazzar who is struck with fear as the hand continues to write on the wall. Not only is the King and shock but so are all his adversaries. Rembrandt uses chiaroscuro in his painting by outlining the outside of the painting in a dark color. Chiaroscuro is the contrast of light and dark to create atmosphere, drama, and emotion (Sayre, 2010). Rembrandt was asked what he truly wanted to achieve through his art, he stated â€Å"the greatest and most natural movement† translated from die meeste ende di naetuereelste beweechgelickheijt (encyclopedia. stateuniversity, 2010. He didn’t want the subjects of his paintings in poses contrived as was the case in Mannerist style. (Sayre, 2010). His main goal was to portray the naturalness of the human body. In Holland, during the 16th-century at the Utrecht school Italianate architecture continued because of most of its attendance, especially the notable Gerard van Honthorst. He later traveled to Italy where he met Caravaggio and was inspired by his work. The Utrecht school artists ended up influencing Pieter Lastman with their styles of using lightness and darkness. Pieter ended up becoming Rembrandts, therefore providing a monolithic background for what would become known as Dutch Art. All three of examples I chose are religious; depicting an important scene from the bible. The first two paintings show Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. The third painting is from the Old Testament from the prophet Daniel. All three paintings used lightness and darkness to add drama to their paintings as well as chiaroscuro. These paintings show characters are very lifelike as well as the difference of chiaroscuro from its very beginning to it being perfected by Rembrandt. There are differences within these paintings. The way emotion is depicted upon each of the characters faces in every painting is different. What shocked me the most was that the The Pieta depicting the crucifixion showed the least detailed emotion. You see that Mary is grieving and is in sorrow but in the entombment the emotion is really detailed upon the faces of everyone. However, I believe Rembrandts Belshazzar’s feast has most emotional of all three paintings. You can actually see the fear and terror upon their faces. Also, the use lighting is more evident in Rembrandt paintings and his characters look more realistic; whereas in the Pieta the characters are perfect and beautiful when they’re supposed to be mourning the death of their loved one. In comparison to the Entombment the Pieta was the least dramatic and emotional of the two. Through these paintings you can see how the church has influence over the art and how it changes throughout the centuries. You can also see how each painter understands chiaroscuro. For instance, Rembrandt perfected it whereas Annibale merely understood it. While studying this I learned that art styles progress throughout the years, sometimes getting better and sometimes becoming worse.