Catcher In The Rye Essays (932 words) - Censorship, Literary Realism

Catcher In The Rye 'The novel has long ignited disapproval, and it was the most frequently banned book in schools between 1966 and 1975. Even before that time, however, the work was a favorite target of sensors. In 1957, Australian Customs seized a shipment of the novels that had been presented as a gift to the government by the U.S. ambassador. The books were later released, but Customs had made its point that the book contained obscene language and actions that were not appropriate behavior for an adolescent. In 1960, a teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was fired for assigning the book to an eleventh-grade English class. The teacher was appealed and was reinstated by the school board, but the book was removed from use in the school.' 'The following year in Oklahoma City, the novel became the focus of a legislative hearing in which a locally organized censorship group sought to stop the Mid-Continent News Company, a book wholesaler, from carrying the novel. Members of the group parked a Smutmobile outside the capital building during the hearing and displayed the novel with others. As a result of public pressure, the wholesaler dropped the critcized books from its inventory. In 1963 a delegation of parents of high school students in Columbus, Ohio, asked the school board to ban Catcher in the Rye, BRAVE NEW WORLD and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD for being anti-white and obscene.' 'After a decade of quiet, objections arose again in 1975 in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, and the novel was removed from the suggested reading list for an elective course entitled Searching for Values and Identity Through Literature. Based on parents' objections to the language and content of the book, the school board voted 5-4 to ban the book. The book was later reinstated in the curriculum when the board learned that the vote was illegal because they needed a two-thirds vote for removal of the text.' 'In 1977 parents in Pittsgrove Township, New Jersey, challenged the assignment of the novel in an American literature class. They charged that the book included considerable profanity and filthy and profane language that premoted premarital sex, homosexuality, and perversion, as well as claiming that it was explicitly pornographic and immoral. After months of controversy, the board ruled that the novel could be read in the advanced placement class for its universal message, not for its profanity, but they gave parents the right to decide whether or not their children would read it.' 'In 1978 parents in Issaquah, Washington, became upset with the rebellious views expressed in the novel by Holden Caulfield and with the profanity he uses. The woman who led the parents' group asserted that she had counted 785 uses of profanity, and she alleged that the philosophy of the book marked it as part of a Communist plot that was gaining a foothold in the schools, in which a lot of people are used and may not even be aware of it. The school board voted to ban the book, but the decision was later reversed when the three members who had voted against the book were recalled due to illegal deal-making. In 1979, the Middleville, Michigan, school district removed the novel from the required reading list after parents objected to the content.' 'Objections in the novel have been numerous throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. In 1980, the Jacksonville-Milton School libraries in North Jackson, Ohio, removed the book, as did two high school libraries in Anniston, Alabama. In 1982, school officials removed the book from all school libraries because it contained excess vulgar language, sexual scenes, and things concerning moral issues. In 1983, parents in Libby, Montana, challenged the assignment of the book in the high school due to the book's contents. Deemed unacceptable and obscene, the novel was banned from use in English classes at Freeport High School in De Funiak Springs, Florida, in 1985, and it was removed from the required reading list in 1986 in Medicine Bow, Wyoming, Senior High School because of sexual references and profanity. In 1987, parents and the local Knights of Columbus chapter in Napoleon, North Dakota, complained about profanity and sexual references in the book, which was banned from a required sophomore English reading list. Parents of students attending Linton-Stockton (Indiana) High School challenged the book in 1988 because it undermines morality, and profanity was the reason for which the book

Gingivitis essays

Gingivitis essays In a recent study, it was discovered that over seventy-five percent of Americans age thirty-five and older have some form of gum disease. The first stage of gum disease is gingivitis, which is a disorder involving inflammation of the gums. Gingivitis is caused by plaque, a film of bacteria that coats the teeth. When plaque hardens, or calcifies, it turns into a tartar, or calculus. Plaque and tartar build up and create pockets of bacteria between the teeth and gums. It may result in gums becoming inflamed or swollen. This can also cause bleeding of the gums. If left untreated, gingivitis can progress to periodontitis, which is the second stage of gum disease and more serious. Periodontal disease causes destruction of bone and structures supporting the teeth (www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/wisdomtooth/stagesof.htm). Naturally, poor oral hygiene is a very common risk factor for being diagnosed with gingivitis. However, other factors may contribute to this gum disease. Heredity is a common factor leading to gingivitis. Bacteria may be more harmful to some peoples gums than others. Various medications cause dry mouth and reduce the cleansing ability of saliva. This causes plaque and tartar to build up more easily. Another cause leading to gum disease is the use of tobacco. It slows the healing process of gums causing bacteria to destroy tissue. Also, people with diabetes are at a greater risk of developing a gum disease. Diabetes could possibly cause thickening of blood vessels, which makes it more difficult to carry nutrients to the gum tissue. In addition, pregnant women become more prone to detrimental effects of plaque and bacteria because of hormonal changes during pregnancy (www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00363.html). People affected by periodontal disease are also at a greater risk of serious medical conditions. Studies reveal there is a link between bacteria in the mouth and c ...

Do some background research into the UK poplulation. E.g. size, social Essay

Do some background research into the UK poplulation. E.g. size, social and ethnic background - Essay Example Figure 2 shows the 2011 census ethnic group breakdown in the UK. White (87.2%) is the major ethnic group, followed by Asian/Asian British (6.9%), black / African / Caribbean / Black British (3.0%), Mixed/multiple ethnic groups (2.0%) and other ethnic group (0.9%) (Office for National Statistics, 2013 A). According to the 2011 census, all usual residents aged 16 to 74 in employment the week before the census was about 29.84 millions (Office for National Statistics, 2013 B). Figure 3 shows the 2011 census occupation and local authorities breakdown in the UK. About 17.3% of the people were in professional occupations, followed by Associate professional and technical occupations (12.6%), Skilled trades occupations (11.6%), Administrative and secretarial occupations (11.5%), Elementary occupations (11.2%), Managers, directors and senior officials (10.5%), Caring, leisure and other service occupations (9.42%), Sales and customer service occupations (8.56%), and Process, plant and machine operatives (7.3%). The GDP per capita is about $37,300. The median age of the UK residents is 40.3 years. The male residents’ median age is 39.1 years and the female residents’ age is 40.3 years. The male to female sex ratio is about 0.99. The population growth rate is about 0.55%. The birth rate is 12.26 births per thousands and death rate is 9.33 deaths per thousands. The mother-maternal mortality rate is 12 deaths per 100 thousand live births. The infant mortality rate is 4.5 deaths per thousand live births. The life expectancy at birth is 80.29 years with male life expectancy at birth being 78.16 years and female life expectancy at birth being 82.54 years. The literacy rate is about 99% (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). According to BBC News (2014), the unemployment rate stands at 7.2% at the

Human Freedom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Freedom - Essay Example From this stance, freedom and responsibility becomes two sides of the same coin that are simply inalienable. Three of the most astounding quotations of Sartre with direct bearings to my thesis will be discussed in detail with the aim of setting a clear pattern that will not impede the coherence of my discourse as the paper advances. They are as follows: A quick analysis of any of the above quotations individually reveals the exclusive attributes of the message being portrayed by Sartre in one breadth and a striking presence of complementary interconnectivity as they converge to give credence to the core values underpinning the existentialist ideology. In the first quote for instance, like Plato he asserts to the principle of the object in man1. Sartre argues that any essence in life will primarily take root from a fore existence. Contingent with the above idea about man's absolute freedom, it can be said that this "freedom" is packaged in a complex paradoxical guise. He proves that freedom without determinism is terribly misplaced. It further does not exonerate the individual from being accountable for his actions and inactions, mindful of the fact that this freedom is highly pervasive because it is able to generate multiplier effects. Its effects are lumped in the various sub-categories of anguish, forlornness, bad faith, despair and authenticity. The third quote illuminates the challenges man is confronted with in his quest to exercise the discretionary power bestowed on him to make choices. His main difficulty has to do with the fact that his free choice also places a burden of responsibility towards other people directly unto his hands. For this reason man's individual choices as contained in his freedom is of universal significance. Global terrorism a twenty first century political and security challenge to the American people can be used as a sufficient illustration to drive home this point. The scale of the problem has left America in a position that makes it impossible for her to claim ownership of the war to overcome all forms of extremism and Semitism. It is for this reason that America is leading the global war against terrorism with the support of her allies as well as international security establishments like NATO. Viewed from another angle, it is a war that the terror organizations and their sponsors are determined not be vanquished, which makes the war a collective all encompassing war. On the question of responsibility, Sartre makes it known that being responsible towards oneself transcends individuality to include an extension into the wider community of the human family. Indeed, America's responsibility in the war is explained by her security and foreign policies and the extent to which these policies have affected other nations positively or negatively prompting extremism. Implicitly or explicitly, the war has had its fair share of criticism which includes among other things the US government mistakenly

Global Navigation Satellite System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Navigation Satellite System - Essay Example The present working GNS system is the 'Global Positioning System (GPS)' developed by USA. The use of GPS is mainly for military purposes and controlled by the military. Europe is going to launch its own GNSS under the name of 'Galileo'. Galileo is Europe's first GNSS which is intended to be used by various civil sectors such as transport, social service, judicial system, public works, rescue teams, etc. Galileo is set to be fully operational by 2008. The fully deployed system consists of 30 satellites (27 operational + 3 active spares), positioned in three circular Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) planes in 23616 km altitude above the earth, and at an inclination of the orbital planes of 56 degrees with reference to the equatorial plane (ESA, 2005). As a large number of satellites are working together with three active spares, therefore the dysfunction of one of the satellites does not have much effect on the overall functioning of the system. Each satellite of a GNSS is provided with an atomic clock which measures time very accurately. The satellites continuously emit signals simultaneously indicating the time of leaving of the signals from the satellite. A receiver on the surface of the earth has the exact details of the orbits of all the satellites in its memory. By reading the incoming signal it can thus recognise the particular satellite, determine the time taken by the signal to arrive and calculate the distance from the satellite (EUROPA, 2006). The ground receiver receives the signals from about four different satellites simultaneously. Once it does so it can calculate the exact position of itself. The control of the satellites and performance of navigation management is carried out by 'Ground Control Centres (GCC)' located at different places on the earth. The control centres contact with the satellites through 'Up-link stations' and carry out the operations such as time synchronisation. Development The first experimental satellite, part of the so called 'Galileo System Test Bed (GSTB)' will be launched in the second semester of 2005 (ESA, 2005). This satellite is intended to test the technologies still under development. Then in the second stage about four operational satellites are scheduled to be launched in 2006 for In Orbit Validation (IOV). After this the remaining satellites will be launched to make it fully operational in 2008. Uses GNSS has to provide four basic services as follows. Position, Velocity and Time Service (PVT) Accuracy and Integrating Services (AI) Ranging and Timing Services (RT) High Integrity Services (HI) Politics There is an opposition to the European 'Galileo' GNSS mainly from GPS who want to be the sole satellite navigation system. The US is continuously making some announcements regarding GPS in order to derail Galileo. These sorts of announcements, however, do not have any effective impact on the development of Galileo. The objections from US side are that Galileo will be purely used for civil navigation without the control of military over it. Instead of this opposition from the US, development of Galileo will surely go ahead. This is a big step forward because it is for the benefit and welfare of the common people. It will directly benefit various sectors of the society and indirectly almost whole

Positioning And Differentiation Strategies

Positioning And Differentiation Strategies The increasing competition that organizations are experiencing in the face of globalization and innovation has of late resulted to them seeking to enhance their competitiveness. This has been achieved through application of various management as well as marketing strategies. Some of those strategies are meant to enhance organizations as brands of choice through effective brand positioning. Consequently, differentiation has also become crucial as one of the key means of effectively positioning organizations relative to their competitors. In that respect, this analysis identifies UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint Inc. Group as two organizations in healthcare industry for analysis on their application of positioning and differentiation strategies. The analysis notes the best practices in positioning and differentiation strategies application as well as compares and contrasts the strategies application by the two organizations. Body Organizations Overview UnitedHealth Group is a parent company to various health insurance and health care service organizations. It is the second largest publicly traded US company in health insurance providing healthcare services worldwide in healthcare consulting, specialty services and healthcare management. Serving over 75 million people globally, the organization has a large scale advantage extending across its product lines which helps it attract new hospitals in its members list and in negotiating for low prices. The companys service is divided into two main business lines; Health benefits and Health Services with UnitedHealth care delivering Health benefits while Optum is in charge of Health services. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) On the other hand, WellPoint is among the largest health benefits organizations in US. The organization has over 36 million members in its affiliated health plans as well as 67 million being served by its subsidiaries. It offers a wide range medical services and products. (WellPoint, 2013a) Positioning Strategies Organizations are experiencing increasing changes in information technology, globalization and market competition that is changing the business landscape calling for them to implement effective positioning strategies to enhance their competitiveness. (Njuguna, 2009) Consequently, organizations apply positioning strategies which refers to the applications they use in defining their services and products to customers minds against the competitors brands. (Karadeniz, 2009) This is due to the fact that, positioning is a key element in the modern day marketing being crucial to organizations in growing their customer base as well as the brand equity. (Manhas, 2010) In that respect, an effective positioning of an organization involves considering: The target market. The difference with competitors. How the difference can be communicated to customers. The value of the difference to customers. (Manhas, 2010) In addition, organizations employ positioning strategies that seek to identify and address brands positioning and differentiation from comparing brands, identify opportunities for potential markets to introduce new brands and reposition the existing ones as well as identifying the underserved segments that the existing brands serve. (Gwin Gwin, 2009) Organizations also employ experiential positioning as a strategic process seeking to understand clients desires and needs and providing services that deliver certain experience and communicates an organization promises to clients in a different way from competing brands. (Padget Mulvey, 2009) Positioning strategies should follow the process of creation of competitive advantages, selection of the right competitive advantages and choosing a competitive positioning strategy. It also entails engaging in effective communication to the target market. (Kardeniz, 2009) In that respect, UnitedHealth and Wellpoint position their services to customers depending on transaction factors, packaging, availability, pricing, advertisement, and benefit factors. The strategies applied also depend on composition factors defining the quality of service and their consistency. (Manhas, 2010) Positioning their brands also relies on brand communication which seeks to help clients identify the source of the brand. They use distinctive qualities of their brands as additional stimuli to the brand name including color, symbols, taglines and advertising styles. (Ramoniuk et al, 2007). The positioning strategies applied by UnitedHealth and WellPoint include: Positioning within the market through differentiation of a product or service. In this case, the differentiated service share attributes to the competitors service but are superior in differentiated attributes. Positioning through creation or establishment of a new market from the competitors, a strategy that uses differentiation attributes to give a perception about the services different attributes from that of competitors. (Mita Bettman, 1989) In this consideration, UnitedHealth Group positions itself as an organization with all connections relevant to the healthcare including that of right doctors and patients, between right patient data and physicians, between right information and consumers as well as between patients and their needed medicine. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) The organization has also established itself as the national exchange centre for essential information entrusted with the globally largest clinical data. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) UnitedHealth also sets itself as a leader in healthcare technology system. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) Example is the organizations Health Coverage through which it directly provides various health insurance plans to students, families and individuals aged below 64 years through Golden rule Insurance. Through this service, the organization positions itself as a preferred service provider for the target segments. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) WellPoint WellPoint seeks to make health care easier through improvement to their system as well as improving the clients healthcare access. (WellPoint, 2013a) The organization uses health affiliated companies and healthcare plans to drive innovation, empower customers as well as control healthcare costs. (WellPoint, 2013a) Differentiation Strategies In a bid to establish competitive advantage, UnitedHealth and Wellpoint delivers services that provide valued features of quality, reliable delivery and flexibility. (Spencer, Joiner Salmon, 2009) It also entails developing of added value through remarkable differentiation to set the service apart from their competitors. Their differentiation is a component of their positioning strategies. (Barna Chapman, 1986) In that respect, their well positioned brands through differentiation bears the qualities of being different, creative and striking. (Karadeniz, 2009) Their products and service differentiation as a means of effectively positioning themselves has benefits in that brands have to be differentiated from the competitors for them to attract clients. In addition, it enhances their ability to maintain market share since more differentiated brands have loyal customers who are not much sensitive to competitors brands. (Ramoniuk, Sharp Ehrenberg, 2007) However, differentiation is dynamic in that, the porters generic differentiation strategy has developed to strategies including differentiation through service innovation, marketing and image management and customers responsiveness as ways of responding to environment complexity. (Spencer, Joiner Salmon, 2009) Thus organizations seek to establish their positioning through application of various types of differentiation that include service differentiation in which the service has different attributes from that of competitors, price differentiation and niche offers that establish segments which are different from the mass market. In addition, they carry out differentiation through added services by providing extra services which motivate customers as well as service differentiation through communication. (Grimm Malschinger, 2010) In that respect, United Health seeks to position itself through differentiation in its service provision through innovation. An example is the Health4Me mobile application that offers consumers health information regarding benefits, registered nurses information as well as physicians and hospitals locations. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) UnitedHealths cancer care is differentiated in transaction through a payment model that bundles payments to ecologists ensuring continuity of the patients care as well as improving their healthcare quality. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) UnitedHealths iPlan integrates health reimbursements accounts with highly deductible health plans. This expands ordinary plans to include employer groups health savings accounts. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) United Health also has differentiated service delivery through its care coordination. This channels resources to physicians and consumers eliminating the prior authorization. (UnitedHealth, 2013a) On the other hand, Wellpoint applies some differentiation to its service delivery with an aim of effectively positioning itself as a competitive healthcare service provider. Some of the differentiation strategies applied are noted below Operating in an industry where physicians face the challenge of having to incorporate a huge volume of articles and data into practice and putting them in operation in their patients care. In this respect, WellPoint has in collaboration with IBM established the IBM Watson application program that helps doctors analyze huge volume of data and get results in less than three seconds which has enhanced the organizations ability to deal with complex cases. (WellPoint, 2013b) Wellpoint also provides their clients with an online feedback tool through which they provide feedback on their experiences with physicians as well as rate their services. (WellPoint, 2013b) Wellpoint also provides a virtual enrolment centre which provides customers with a platform to engage the organizations employees. Through the platform, customers can also access benefit plans, healthcare plans as well as prescriptions information. (WellPoint, 2013b) Thus both organizations seek to position themselves as preferred healthcare service and benefits providers. To achieve this UnitedHealth seeks to focus on the target markets needs of healthcare information by offering differentiated service which has more information provided as added services and through healthcare education through Optum insights. On the Other hand, Wellpoint seeks to position itself as an organization whose services are easier and effective to access. This is done through the various innovations aimed at making consumer experiences as efficient as possible. However, both organizations have some similar strategies in their focus on effective utilization of healthcare data to position themselves as efficient providers of services based on informed decisions. This is clearly visible in UnitedHealths utilization of its large healthcare data while WellPoint utilizes the IBM Watson application program to access and analyze large volume of healthcare data. (WellPoint, 20 13b) Conclusion The analysis has demonstrated effective positioning as crucial in establishing successful brands that are capable of effectively competing in face of increasing rivalry in the healthcare industry. It has also brought out the need for firms to identify their target markets, their competitors brands competitiveness as well as their ability to deliver value to their target markets as a means to positions themselves favorably relative to their competitors. Differentiation has also come out as a key element of positioning strategies as it seeks to set an organizations brand apart from the competitors through various differentiation strategies. In conclusion, UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint Group have been demonstrated to be applying some similar positioning and differentiation strategies as well as contrasting strategies in a bid to set their brands as unique compared to the competition brands. Consequently, the strategies application has had a significant impact with both organizations having established themselves as the brands of choice in their respective locations and being nationally ranked position one and two in terms of market share and performance.

The Need to Eliminate the Abusive Treatment of Muslim Women Essay

The Need to Eliminate the Abusive Treatment of Muslim Women Thirty thousand men and boys poured into the dilapidated Olympic sports stadium in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. Street hawkers peddle nuts, biscuits and tea to the waiting crowd. The scheduled entertainment? They were there to see a young woman, Sohaila, receive 100 lashes, and to watch two thieves have their hands chopped off. Sohaila had been arrested while walking with a man who was no relation to her, a sufficient crime for her to be found guilty of adultery. Since she was single, it was punishable by flogging or a series of lashes; had she been married, she would have been publicly stoned to death (Goodwin). Goodwin also stated that as Sohaila, completely covered in shroud-like burqa veil, was forced to kneel and then whipped, Taliban 'Cheerleaders' had the stadium ringing with chants of onlookers. Among those present there were only three women: the young Afghan, and two female relatives who accompanied her. Women are treated unfairly all around the world, but in some places, worse than others. In Afghanistan, women are not allowed to do much of anything. They are restricted to their homes and are not allowed to exit without a good reason. Also, they must be fully covered. Women are not even allowed to leave the house if they need medical assistance. It is also illegal for women to show off any part of a their body to anyone other than their husbands. Meetings, even among groups of women, are prohibited in Afghanistan. They are banned from getting an education and from employment. They are treated as their husbands' possessions. (Courcey) Muslim women should have the right to be present in public without hiding their identity. What have women done t... ...tor on staff would not have been allowed to remove her clothes." When women are punished for any contact with a male, the punishment can result in death. Other punishments include lashes and mutilation of the limbs. There is hope for these women, such as Sohaila. People around the world and especially from the United States are on their side. They are not only fighting for these women's rights, but their lives as well. These womens importance will be returned through cooperation, and they will once again be appreciated. Works Cited Courcey, Kevin. "Freethought & Women's Rights." Freedom From Religion Foundation. March 1998. December 5, 2001 <www.ffrf.org/fttoday/march98/courcey.html>. Goodwin, Jan. "Buried Alive: Afghan Women Under the Taliban." Echonyc. February 27, 1998. December 3, 2001 <www.mosaic.echonyc.com/~onissues/su98goodwim.html >.