MPH502-Introduction to Public Health (Module 3 SLP) Essay

MPH502-Introduction to Public Health (Module 3 SLP) - Essay Example In this step it is assessed as to how much a certain disease is prevalent and what has been done in this regard. In this step the government takes data of different hospitals and analyzes which disease or disorder is increasing and needs to be addressed. It also analyzes if the health care programs are fulfilling the needs of the individuals who are suffering from such problems. Moreover all this is analyzed by the government officials and specific figures are taken. These figures are then compared and a proper research method is carried out to see how much the disease has affected people and how much is being done in this regard. This particular step is mainly developed by the federal government as they are the ones who design policies. And it is the state and local governments who have to follow these policies later. In this step specific policies are developed so as to counter act on the analysis of different diseases that have been found in the region. These policies also include health care programs for workers and other civilians. Programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance program are examples of the policies designed by the government. These programs help to provide insurance to those people who have a low income or are above the age of 65. Similarly environmental policies are also implemented which aim at lowering the incidence of a certain disease such as the swine flu. All these policies were developed in the aim of lowering the prevalence of a certain disease and increasing health coverage to all the individuals living in the society. However more policies are needed regarding the prevention of certain diseases and disorders, for example coverage for all the individuals living in the society for free and without any exceptions. State governments are mainly responsible for the health promotion activities. Health promotion activities such as the prevention of AIDs have been widely

Us War Against Iraq Essay Example for Free

Us War Against Iraq Essay The Bush Administration in June of 2003 first attacked but than later withdrew its troops from Syria. There was no significant explanation for this act by the United States. This was a pure and simple aggression. Than later in August of 2003 George Bush told his people that he is going to launch a more destructive attack on his arch rivals around the world. Than George Bush was approving Israel’s leader Ariel Sharon act of aggression against the Lebanon’s, Palestine’s and Syrians. The World War 3 was not far away at this point. In the beginning of 2004, in the presidential campaign George Bush clearly pointed out the clear picture of the prospect on more aggression on different countries. Was this extra aggression a way for George Bush to win his first Election? Or he wanted to steal the Presidency of United States from the people of America like he did in 2000? When the Bush Jr. administrations aggression against Iraq was over, the United States and the United Kingdom became the â€Å"belligerent occupants† of Iraq in accordance with, and subject to the requirements of, the laws of war. Bush Jr. s May 1, 2003 â€Å"end of major combat operations† speech on the deck of a U. S. aircraft carrier was nothing more than a cheap campaign and legally deceptive propaganda stunt. Succinctly put, these legal rules of war can be found in the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, its Additional Protocol One of 1977, the Hague Regulations of 1907, and U. S. Army Field Manual 27–10 (1956), which require, inter alia, the preservation of Iraqs constitutional and domestic legal order. Nevertheless, the Bush Jr. administration made it crystal clear that they were going to remake Iraq in their own image and thus not pay the least bit of attention to the laws of war. This has entailed a range of policies which would further U. S. /U. K. interests while seeking to drastically curtail future Iraqi options, e. g. , â€Å"privatization† of the Iraqi economy, including and especially its oil industry; drafting a new constitution for Iraq to determine the nature and extent of its democracy; re-writing Iraqs laws; establishing ad hoc war crimes tribunals along the lines of the Bush Jr. kangaroo courts in Guantanamo; de-Baathification; indoctrinating Iraqi schoolchildren with American propaganda through extensive â€Å"reform† of its education system; etc. All of this serves to put the future of Iraq up for sale to the lowest American (and then British and Israeli) bidders. Such violations of the laws of war are war crimes, establishing the legal predicate for a legitimate Iraqi government in the future to repudiate them all. Oil and Gas as the Key to Global Dominance There is no denying that oil was at the top of the Bush Jr. / Sr. hit-list and the fact that Iraq possesses about 11% of the worlds oil reserves. Indeed, prior thereto it was the thirst and lust for oil and natural gas by the American power elite that really propelled the Bush Jr. administrations aggression against Afghanistan: the need to gain direct access to the rich oil and natural gas fields of Central Asia, which marked the first exploitation of the terrible tragedy of September 11 as public justification for a pre-planned war of aggression under the pretext of â€Å"combating international terrorism. Though according to the Bush Jr. administrations version of events, 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11 were from Saudi Arabia, for some mysterious reason America had to attack, invade, and occupy Afghanistan. Bush administration functionaries continue to lie, cover up, and obstruct investigations into who was ultimately responsible for the terrible tragedy of September 11, and why no one in the Bush Jr. administration acted to prevent it despite numerous, repeated, and widespread warnings beforehand from American as well as European diplomats and agencies. We are witnessing a Pearl Harbor cover-up all over again. The Bush Jr. Wars of aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq must be understood as part of a major grab by the United States government for global energy resources and the attendant power to be derived from controlling about two-thirds of the worlds oil and natural gas supplies located around this Eurasian heartland. Such an assault had been contemplated and planned by the U. S. power elite for quite some time, dating back to the Kissinger threat and plan to steal the Arab oil fields in reaction to the 1973 Arab oil embargo of the West for assisting Israel in its war to hold on to the Arab lands Israel had illegally stolen in its 1967 aggressions against the surrounding Arab states and peoples. The collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the disintegration of the Soviet Union provided the U. S. power elite with the opportunity to put their Machiavellian scheme for world economic hegemony into operation. But the Bush Jr. Wars of aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq must be seen as more than the seizure of oil for domestic consumption. Rather, they are components of a longstanding American plan to control and dominate the oil and natural gas supplies for Europe, Japan, and Asia, and thus the future of the worlds economy—a project my teacher, mentor, and later friend, the late and great Professor Hans Morgenthau once denominated as â€Å"unlimited imperialism† in his classic work Politics Among Nations. Tied into this was the subsidiary objective of making sure that oil continues to be paid for in dollars instead of Euros on the open market. The Bush Sr. 1991 war against Iraq for oil was the first battle in the U. S. quest for world economic hegemony. These subsequent events must be viewed in the same light: the Bush Sr. invasion of Somalia; the Clinton/ Bush Jr. military intervention into Colombia; Bush Jr. s support for the anti Chavez failed coup in oil-rich Venezuela; the post-9/11 U. S. military intervention into and occupation of Djibouti in order to control the Suez Canal/ Persian Gulf oil route to Europe, and also to obtain direct military access to the oil and natural gas resources around the Horn of Africa; the August 2003 U. S. military intervention into Liberia, once again to grab direct military access to the oil and natural gas resources located off and on the West Coast of Africa; etc. Whatever the public rhetoric or justification might be, the fact of the matter is that if the reader looks at a map of the world, the United States government has its military, paramilitary, and covert forces converging upon and/or threatening almost every country in the world that possesses significant quantities of oil or natural gas, as well as their transportation supply-lines and the latters choke-points. Many of these energy-resource-rich countries just happen to be Muslim. That reveals what Huntingtons infamous â€Å"Clash of Civilizations† was really all about. Our clash is their civilization. After September 11, Bush Jr. himself proudly boasted that he was going on a Crusade. Certainly that is the way the Muslim world sees it: an American fundamentalist mission to remake â€Å"world order† in Americas imperialist image—not as democracies, but as client or even failed states—while fomenting world disorder in the process. In this relentless quest and insatiable lust for oil and gas around the world, the United States power elite is now in the process of destroying the entirety of the international legal order that had been established by a predecessor elitist generation running the United States government in the aftermath of and in reaction to the genocidal horrors of the Second World War. Most particularly and especially, this includes, inter alia, the United Nations Charter, as well as the Nuremberg Charter, Judgment, and Principles, all of which had heretofore been the bedrock upon which the entirety of the post-World War II international legal order rested. Preventive Warfare: The Nazi Precedent Iraq had been continuously and illegally bombed by the United States and the United Kingdom since the end of the Bush Sr. Gulf War in 1991 under the pretext of enforcing unauthorized and clearly illegal no-fly zones. But in order to accomplish their objective of seizing Iraq outright, the Bush Jr. warmongers had to articulate another operational rationale for a war of aggression that they could then sell to the American people and Congress that was separate and apart from their fatuous â€Å"war against international terrorism. † So they resurrected the long-ago discredited Nazi doctrine of â€Å"preventive warfare,† once again using the terrible tragedy of 11 September 2001 as a pretext for doing so. The first overt step in their plan was the Bush Jr. aggressive threat to Iraq uttered during the course of his State of the Union Address to the United States Congress on 29 January 2002, in which he branded Iraq as part of a so-called â€Å"axis of evil† along with Iran and North Korea. By means of employing this provocative language harkening back to the World War II â€Å"axis† of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan, the Bush Jr. administration was deliberately preparing the ground for bogus claims to launch preventive wars against all three of these U. N. member states. Iraq was at the top of the Bush Jr. hit list. Having been materially and psychologically debilitated by over a decade of genocidal economic sanctions imposed upon its people by the United Nations Security Council acting at the behest of the United States and the United Kingdom, Iraq and its oil fields were finally ripe for the imperial picking by Bush Jr. and his right-hand henchman, Tony Blair. By contrast, North Korea and Iran could be expected to defend themselves by inflicting enormous casualties against an aggressor. As on the Southside of Chicago, bullies prefer to pick upon hapless victims. The Nazi doctrine of preventive warfare was publicly articulated by President Bush Jr. in his 1 June 2002 commencement address at the West Point Military Academy. Then in late August of 2002, Vice President Cheney signaled the formal commencement of the Bush Jr. war of aggression against Iraq by giving two public speeches before the Veterans of Foreign Wars (Aug. 26) and the Korean War Veterans (Aug. 29) in which he too publicly touted the Nazi doctrine of preventive warfare against Iraq. The U. S. news media were too obeisant to observe that though warmongering for a war against Iraq before these former soldiers who had actually gone to war, Cheney had ducked out of the Vietnam War, as had Bush, Jr. Wolfowitz and the rest of the Bush Jr. administrations Straussian Neo-Con cabal were too busy studying Machiavelli and Nietzsche with Strauss, Bloom, and their acolytes from the University of Chicago. Unlike the WWII American power elite, many of whose sons actually fought in combat (e. g. , Bush Sr. ), the contemporary American power elite prefers to send the children of poor blacks, Latinos, and whites off to kill and be killed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, as did their elitist predecessors a generation ago in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Indeed a Class war. Finally, in September 2002 the Bush Jr. Administration officially approved and adopted the â€Å"National Security Strategy of the United States,† fully embracing this reprehensible, criminal, and Nazi doctrine of preventive warfare, and transmitted it to the U. S. Congress as a declaration of official policy by the United States of America.. Certainly its most odious language is: â€Å"†¦ we recognize that our best defense is a good offense†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In other words, the United States government has publicly admitted in an official government document that it is now prepared to wage offensive warfare against adversaries of its choosing around the world irrespective of the requirements of, inter alia, the United Nations Charter, the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact, as well as the Nuremberg Charter, Judgment, and Principles. This official U. S. government document could be filed with the International Court of Justice in The Hague as proof-positive that it is now the official policy of the United States government to wage criminal wars of aggression against other U. N. member states in violation of the most elementary principles of the contemporary international legal order that would be too numerous to list here. The document is nothing less than what lawyers call an â€Å"Admission against Interest. † In brief, the Bush Jr. administration has officially incriminated the United States of America under international law and practice. Such is the arrogance of Power—which usually spells its downfall! Even more disturbingly, while it was publicly campaigning for a war of aggression against Iraq, in December 2002 the Bush Jr. administration released its so-called â€Å"National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction,† which was published on the web-page for the White House itself. This supplementary Nazi war plan calls for the first use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)–-chemical, biological, and nuclear—by the United States government under the justification of waging a preventive or preemptive war. Of course this Nazi Doctrine of Preventive Warfare is nothing more than a pretext for waging a war of aggression in the first place. So the Bush Jr. administration officially signaled that it is fully prepared to be the first to use WMD. It would do so against its chosen adversaries around the world as part of an offensive military operation, or even to launch a full-scale war itself, thereby evoking shades of Hiroshima and Nagasaki! North Korea took notice and responded accordingly to defend itself. Reference Page †¢ James Moore (2004) Book Title: Bushs War for Reelection: Iraq, the White House, and the People. Publisher: Wiley. Place of Publication: Hoboken, NJ.

Effect Of Temperature On Plasma Membrane Red Cabbage

Effect Of Temperature On Plasma Membrane Red Cabbage The major model associated with this experiment is the fluid plasma membrane structure. It is a phospholipid bilayer, where has hydrophilic (polar) head and hydrophobic (non-polar) tail (Pickering, 2000). As non-polar tail does not dissolve in water, that structure controls the function, by making a barrier between two aqueous environments and selectively controlling the materials movement into or out of the membrane. Pickering (2000) said that due to the different solubility properties of the two side of phospholipid, large molecules and aqueous containing ions can not pass the membrane freely. Small and uncharged molecules, like water and oxygen, can go across by passive diffusion. Diffusion is an automatic and passive process where molecules and ions dissolved in water move randomly from high concentration region to lower one and no energy is required. Fluidity is another essential property of a membrane, lipid composition includes unsaturated fatty acids and participates in incre asing membrane fluidity. Proteins makes up a massive proportion of the membrane approximately exceeds 50% (Raven Johnson, 2008a). proteins are primarily employed for the materials movement control. Protein channels and carrier proteins are favorable for ions and large molecules transportation, particularly, from low concentration to higher one against gradient. In addition, denaturation will happen to protein if the environmental temperature increases to a high degree (Raven Johnson, 2008b). The change of unfolded structure and distortion can ensue. All of the properties of the plasma membrane will determine results of this experiment. The main pigment of red cabbage is anthocyanins which makes the body appears purple (IHW, 2003). The pigments are found in the vacuole, which is surrounded by plasma membrane called the toroplast. The membranes have approximately 68% proteins have similar structure to cell membrane and prevent the pigments leaving the cell (Marty Branton, 1980). Method Apparatus 7 test tubes Cork borer Thermometer Small beaker Large beaker Mounted needle Burner Tripod Gauze Sample: red cabbage Procedure Firstly, fresh red cabbage tissues were cut into discs with almost same shape (approximately 3 mm wide) by cork borer. After 42 red cabbage discs were collected, they were washed with water in a small beaker. Then 7 test tubes were labeled 30à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, 40à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, 50à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, 60à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, 70à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, 78à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ and 97à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™. The same amount of water was added to each tube. Meanwhile a large beaker with about 200cm3 water was heated, using burner, tripod and gauze. A thermometer was used to measure temperature of each tube. 6 red cabbage discs were impaled together on a mounted needle, then put in the large beaker when the water inside reached 60à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ (the beaker was preheated to 50à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™). After 1 minute in the water bath, 6 red cabbage discs were dropped into the test tube labeled 60à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ then the tube was removed to a rack. This process was repeated until finishing the tube labeled 97à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™. The 4 test tubes were shaken and observed their colour. The discs were left into the tubes until the end of this experiment. Finally, the temperature of water in big beaker was waited to decrease to 50à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, 40à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ and 30à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ successively in order to rework following correct process. Discussing The results are out of expectations that the colour of the solution gets darker as the temperature increases. The observations suggest that the leakage of pigment from the red cabbage was at 70à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, precisely in the range between 60à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ and 70à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™. Afterwards, the leakage continued to 100à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, however, the colour of solution was not consequently darker. From 30à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ to 50à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, the colour of both samples and solution did not change at all. The plasma membrane under this condition is likely to be functional and available for the control of materials movement. The temperature may sustain the cooperation of all the composition of membrane. As a consequence, there was little noticeable change in the external solution at these temperatures. These result can roughly help to infer that high temperature (may be 65à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™) is likely to denature proteins in membrane structure or to allow pigments (large molecules) to go across uncontrollably. Around this temperature, energy may be given to the plasma membrane, molecules including water molecule consequently collide more actively and strongly. Similarly, lipid becomes more active as energy is added allowing activation energies for active transportation and the whole phospholipid bilayer therefore increases in fluidity. As a result, the rate of materials transportation tends to rise. Proteins within the membrane are also influenced substances. Although they can withstand slightly higher temperature, once they are heated intensely their structure will decomposed to become unfolded and then destroyed (Raven Johnson, 2008b). Since proteins make up a massive proportion of permeable membrane (Marty Branton, 1980), the destruction of them can result in the formation of large holes in the membrane. Therefore, the ruined membrane of the cell and the vacuole can not control materials movement as usual, and begin to leak the anthocyanins pigments from red cabbage to outer environme nt. Actually, its colour is not obviously dark and did not became darker from 70à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ to 100à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™. One crucial factor that may cause this phenomenon may be that the sample were placed in the water for excessive time (an example of not following the instructions carefully) so that the pigments were released during this period. As a consequence, there are not sufficient pigments present in the test tubes. Another possibility is that proteins in the membrane were completely denatured and destroyed; the pigments were therefore totally released at these temperature. Pigments in plant cells seem not to be so temperature sensitive. IHW (2003) said that the colour anthocyanin pigments is changed by different PH. They can sustain under not so high temperature. To evaluate this experiment, a serious mistake is that a half process was wrong and result in waste of time and inaccuracy of following process. Moreover, the time of the practical (about 1 hour) is not sufficient. That may mainly result from that the heating process takes considerably time as the environment sustain the loss of heat. It took at least 15 minutes to heat water from 70à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ to 80à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™. Therefore, the experiment may be improved if the samples preparation time is shortened that a preheated 100à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ water bath may be necessary. In addition, the discs should not have left into tubes for long time and the stay time need exact calculation. Conclusion It can be concluded that temperature can have a substantial effect on membrane. Pigments of the samples in aqueous were released without control from the phospholipid bilayer. Higher temperature seems to increase permeability of membrane. The normal structure of membrane may alter after 60à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, involving protein denaturation.

An Inspirationally Destructive Red Pen Essay -- Essays Papers

An Inspirationally Destructive Red Pen When children first start school they begin a new extensive journey, first meeting all new people and then having to learn a broad array of new things. One of those new things is how to read and also write. Teachers start out slow by having students write in big capital letters on funny looking red and green striped paper, next moving on to cursive letters with still that same silly paper. After a short while the students are on their own, writing notes for classes, notes to friends and family, along with research papers and stories for their teachers in school. And that is where my story begins, room 216 on the second floor of Pottsville Area High School. School had just started; it was the fall of my sophomore year. I was excited about having new teachers and being able to boss around those little freshmen since I had finally lost that ridiculous title of â€Å"freshy.† Although one class did turn all that excitement right into knots in my stomach, it was English 10. Ugh I hated English, partially because I could never remember all those rules of writing, which I had just thought of as â€Å"dumb.† I figured, â€Å"Why would I ever need to know all them? Computers will be able to fix all my mistakes for me!† As I would soon find out, boy was I ever wrong. Surprisingly, class was going good; our teacher Mr. Mieckowski seemed to be a little weird and quite boring at times but all in all not too bad I mean who isn’t boring occasionally? He had a shiny head with very little hair and never wore long sleeves to class. He was also quite tall and skinny, so everyone had his or her own conclusion about Mr. Mie ckowski’s personal life. A lot of the time this ended up being the topic of conversation for his students, along with his hatred towards icicle lights, white reindeer, and especially technology; the thing I loved most. We spent most of the first month in Mr. M.’s class just going over â€Å"the infamous page one† as he liked to call it and just reading some great pieces of literature, including Of Mice and Men and Julius Caesar. Then one winter day, we all came into his cool green room and sat down, chatting with our neighbors as usual until the bell rang to signify the start of class. When the bell rang, our teacher began talking about our upcoming assignments; he told us we would be writing 3 essays during the next ... .... My faced turned pale, I knew for sure I was one of those exceptions. He began to discretely pass our papers back to us. Everyone was getting his or her papers except me. Sure enough I was on the bottom of the pile. I didn’t even want to look at it. While everyone was asking their friends how they had done, I just sat there. Griff then asked me how I did and I replied, â€Å"I dunno, you tell me† and handed him my paper. He looked at it and said, â€Å"Damn you beat me† I was shocked I looked at it; I had received a 97%. I just felt as though I wanted to jump out of my seat and scream. I would have had a 100 except for a few spelling errors, probably due to how fast I had written the final copy. Disregarding those lost 3 points, I was ecstatic. My paper was a work of art to me I wanted to frame it and hang it on my wall at that point. As time went on that excitement wore off and I realized it just wasn’t a paper I had written, it was a story along wit h an instructional guide I had written in my mind on how to write a paper. From that point on I knew I could tackle any paper those teachers could throw at me and it was all thanks to Mr. Mieckowski and his inspirationally destructive red pen. An Inspirationally Destructive Red Pen Essay -- Essays Papers An Inspirationally Destructive Red Pen When children first start school they begin a new extensive journey, first meeting all new people and then having to learn a broad array of new things. One of those new things is how to read and also write. Teachers start out slow by having students write in big capital letters on funny looking red and green striped paper, next moving on to cursive letters with still that same silly paper. After a short while the students are on their own, writing notes for classes, notes to friends and family, along with research papers and stories for their teachers in school. And that is where my story begins, room 216 on the second floor of Pottsville Area High School. School had just started; it was the fall of my sophomore year. I was excited about having new teachers and being able to boss around those little freshmen since I had finally lost that ridiculous title of â€Å"freshy.† Although one class did turn all that excitement right into knots in my stomach, it was English 10. Ugh I hated English, partially because I could never remember all those rules of writing, which I had just thought of as â€Å"dumb.† I figured, â€Å"Why would I ever need to know all them? Computers will be able to fix all my mistakes for me!† As I would soon find out, boy was I ever wrong. Surprisingly, class was going good; our teacher Mr. Mieckowski seemed to be a little weird and quite boring at times but all in all not too bad I mean who isn’t boring occasionally? He had a shiny head with very little hair and never wore long sleeves to class. He was also quite tall and skinny, so everyone had his or her own conclusion about Mr. Mie ckowski’s personal life. A lot of the time this ended up being the topic of conversation for his students, along with his hatred towards icicle lights, white reindeer, and especially technology; the thing I loved most. We spent most of the first month in Mr. M.’s class just going over â€Å"the infamous page one† as he liked to call it and just reading some great pieces of literature, including Of Mice and Men and Julius Caesar. Then one winter day, we all came into his cool green room and sat down, chatting with our neighbors as usual until the bell rang to signify the start of class. When the bell rang, our teacher began talking about our upcoming assignments; he told us we would be writing 3 essays during the next ... .... My faced turned pale, I knew for sure I was one of those exceptions. He began to discretely pass our papers back to us. Everyone was getting his or her papers except me. Sure enough I was on the bottom of the pile. I didn’t even want to look at it. While everyone was asking their friends how they had done, I just sat there. Griff then asked me how I did and I replied, â€Å"I dunno, you tell me† and handed him my paper. He looked at it and said, â€Å"Damn you beat me† I was shocked I looked at it; I had received a 97%. I just felt as though I wanted to jump out of my seat and scream. I would have had a 100 except for a few spelling errors, probably due to how fast I had written the final copy. Disregarding those lost 3 points, I was ecstatic. My paper was a work of art to me I wanted to frame it and hang it on my wall at that point. As time went on that excitement wore off and I realized it just wasn’t a paper I had written, it was a story along wit h an instructional guide I had written in my mind on how to write a paper. From that point on I knew I could tackle any paper those teachers could throw at me and it was all thanks to Mr. Mieckowski and his inspirationally destructive red pen.

Leadership in the African American Community Essay

Since slavery, African Americans have gone through a lot to reach their current state. In the early 20th century, African Americans faced discrimination, isolation, and were segregated according to their skin color. It started when Europeans brought the first Africans to America, and continued throughout the Civil War. The American government made some changes in policies. A variety of leaders shaped the successful struggle toward black equality in America (Bowles, 2011). Ever since slavery begun, African Americans have been determined to end segregation, discrimination, and isolation. Activists such as, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and others, joined together to put an end to segregation, discrimination, and isolation to attain civil rights and equality. Slavery had changed dramatically in the late 1600s. About this time the slave trade to American colonies also began increasing to meet the demand for cheap labor. Traders sold slaves to the Northern colonies, but English and other European immigrants satisfied the demand for labor there (Echerd, 2009). Slaves in America came from western and central Africa. African tribes sometimes enslaved those defeated in intertribal wars and sold their captives to European slave traders. The tribes raided villages to obtain slaves to trade for European goods. Slave traders had even offered the Africans guns and other goods for the slaves. Slaves lived a rough, hard life. Cheap labor was a huge part of their lives. They had to work from sunrise to sunset. The work consisted of clearing land, tended to fields of tobacco, rice, and vegetables. They also performed many other tasks that had helped make plantations almost completely self-sufficient. No slaves saw any money for their tasks that they had performed, but they did receive food, clothing, and shelter. The slaves had resided in small one-room huts, which had no windows and the floors were all dirt. Most slaves accepted their living condition, however, they knew no other way of life (Koehler, 2009). However, white Southerners regained control of state governments in the South during the late 1870s, however, and reversed most of the previous gains made by former slaves. For example: segregation. What is segregation? According to Webster’s Dictionary, to segregate is defined as to separate or set apart from others; isolate or to require, often with force, the separation of a specific racial, religious, or other group from the body of society. Segregation has been a part of our American heritage, almost from the moment slaves arrived on the shores of the New World (Bowles, 2011). In 17th century Virginia, the theocratic government feared that racial mixing between freed and enslaved blacks and white indentured servants would become a means to usurp government power. They passed laws in which the color line was clearly defined in any criminal punishments. By treating whites and blacks separately and unequally, these Virginian leaders set up a system of white supremacy that would become an essential component of American slavery. Separation and segregation was the order of the day, with African Americans being forced to ride in separate railroad cars, have their own hotels and courthouses, and even get water out of their own drinking fountains. Their children could not attend the same schools with the White children. To further push the color-line, they then added in segregation with the Jim Crow Laws. This is mainly because the Whites were considered to be superior, and hence were thought to deserve better schools with better facilities. African Americans on the other hand were considered inferior, and hence their children attended low-quality schools that lacked adequate facilities (Sitkoff & Franklin, 2008). The Northern States, which had grew and prospered during the war, believed the former slaves to be equal as any other person. The Southern States, still angry over the loss of the war and their firm belief in White superiority, took a different approach. They created and enforced what were known as the Black Codes. These were legislations passed in Southern states to control labor, migration and other activities of the freed slaves. Black Codes allowed legal marriage, property ownership and limited access to the court systems. It prohibited them from testifying against whites, serving on juries or militias, voting and publicly expressing any form of legal concerns ( www. history. com). Any former slave that did not sign yearly labor contract with the plantation owners could be arrested and hired out. The Black codes in short allowed for the continued and legal discrimination against the former slaves (www. history. com). Congress quickly responded to these laws in 1866 and seized the initiative in remaking the south. Republicans wanted to ensure that with the remaking the south, freed blacks were made viable members of society. But the strong southern legislatures finally gave in; in 1868 they repealed most of the laws that discriminated against blacks. Things were starting to look up. But by 1877 Democratic parties regained their power of the south and ended reconstruction. In 1882, southern states passed Jim Crow laws that enforced strict segregation between blacks and whites and limited African-American civil rights. This was devastating to the blacks. After all the strides they made were reversed. From holding political offices, the right to vote, and participating as equal members of society was changed. The south gradually reinstated the racially discriminatory laws. The two main goals they wanted these laws to achieve: disenfranchisement and segregation. To take away the power that the blacks had gained, the Democratic Party began to stop Blacks from voting. There were many ways to stop blacks from voting. Some of these things were poll tax, which were fees were charged at voting booths and were expensive for most blacks, and the literacy test. Since teaching blacks were illegal, most adult blacks were former slaves and illiterate. And the other goal, segregation, causes the democrats to create laws that segregated the schools and public facilities. The Northern States, which had grew and prospered during the war, believed the former slaves to be equal as any other person. The Southern States, still angry over the loss of the war and their firm belief in White superiority, took a different approach. They created and enforced what were known as the Black Codes. These were legislations passed in Southern states to control labor, migration and other activities of the freed slaves. Black Codes allowed legal marriage, property ownership and limited access to the court systems. It prohibited them from testifying against whites, serving on juries or militias, voting and publicly expressing any form of legal concerns. Any former slave that did not sign yearly labor contract with the plantation owners could be arrested and hired out. The Black codes in short allowed for the continued and legal discrimination against the former slaves. Just like some African Americans activists fought this segregation, some Whites had some groups of their own to carry the segregation on and on. The Ku Klux Klan was one of them. The Ku Klux Klan, Knights of White Camellia, and other terrorists murdered thousands of blacks and some whites to prevent them from voting and participating in public life. The KKK was founded in 1865 to 1866. They directed their violence towards black landowners, politicians, and community leaders. They also did this to people who supported Republicans or racial equalities (Anti-Defamation League, 2012). After the abolishment of slavery in the U. S. the KKK formed. They hated blacks and would commit crimes against them. Murders, hangings, and lynches are just some of the crimes against the blacks (www. kkk. bz, n. d. ). The Ku Klux Klan claims to be just defending their people like other races do. What is a lynching? Lynching is a form of punishment with no legal permission. Most times lynching occurred against African Americans by hanging them. This was very popular during the Gilded Age after the American Civil War when African Americans were freed from slavery. Many White men would use lynching against Black men for being in a mixed relationship with a White woman. However, because lynching had no legal basis, it was thought to have been a tool that was used against freed slaves that had achieved financial stability and authority in order to remain a White-dominated nation. Lynching was most likely performed by White Supremacy groups like the KKK. Lynching was done by hanging or shooting, or both. However, many were of a more hideous nature. Burning at the stake, maiming, dismemberment, castration, and other brutal methods of physical torture are all part of a lynching. Lynching therefore was a cruel combination of racism and sadism, which was utilized primarily to sustain the caste system in the South. Many white people believed that Negroes could only be controlled by fear. To them, lynching was seen as the most effective means of control. Defending your people is one thing, but to torture another human being is inhuman. The KKK has several stories out there today on how they treated the blacks, whether they did anything wrong or not. For instance, a Louisiana woman is in critical condition after she was set on fire, resulting in burns on roughly 60 percent of her body, and her car appears to have had racial slurs written on it at the time of her attack (Mach, n. d. ). They had even gone as far as church bombings. The KKK launched a bomb into a church during a Sunday service, which left four innocent teenage girls dead. The men responsible hid behind the cloak of secrecy, intimidation and the white robes of the oldest terrorist organization in the world, the Ku Klux Klan (Gado, n. d. ). Therefore, until the Civil Rights Act of 1964, racial discrimination is an issue that was not seriously tackled. The act was a successful result of most wide-ranging civil rights legislation and Civil Rights Movements for close to a century (Finkelman, 2009). The act declared discrimination on the basis of color, race, ethnicity, religion, and many other aspects as unconstitutional. During the critical years from 1954 to 1963, a variety of leaders with different backgrounds, such as lawyers from the NAACP, women sitting on buses, ministers from southern black churches, militants from black power organizations, and youth from colleges had shaped the successful struggle toward black equality in America (Bowles, 2011). In 1896, the Supreme Court’s Plessy v. Ferguson decision established that â€Å"separate but equal† facilities for whites and blacks were allowable under the U. S. Constitution. Local governmental officials could designate separate public facilities like drinking fountains, restrooms, and schools. Even courthouses often had separate Bibles according to the defendant’s race. The problem was that separate usually meant unequal, and segregation subverted the freedom of every African American (Sundquist, 1993). Now, it is time for the African- Americans to fight back. The incident that made them want to make a difference was the Rosa Park bus ride. After a long day of work on December 1, 1955, Parks, feet hurt, looked forward to sitting on the bus for her ride home. At the time, there was a city ordinance stating that African Americans had to give up their seats on a train or bus if a white man asked for them. When a white man approached Parks and told her that he wanted her seat, she simply said no. Although she acted as a private citizen, her response was as an informed, committed member of the NAACP movement. The bus driver had asked Parks to move. When she did not, the bus driver said, â€Å"Look, woman, I told you I wanted the seat. Are you going to stand up? † When Parks again said no, the driver threatened, â€Å"If you don’t stand up, I’m going to have you arrested. † She gave no reply but at the next stop, Rosa was arrested (Garrow, 2004). A pastor known as Martin Luther King Jr., organized a boycott, the Montgomery bus boycott. King Jr. took this to a higher level and maintained and organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which coordinated similar bus boycotts in other cities. Shortly after the boycott, King had found a bomb on his porch. King went to Birmingham, Alabama, where he continued his nonviolent protests and marches. However, the police authorized force to disband King’s followers by using electric cattle prods, tear gas, and fire hoses (Bowles, 2011). King was arrested with the others, but upon his release from jail he went to Washington, D. C., where he and demonstrators met at the National Mall and addressed them with his famous â€Å"We Shall Overcome† speech on August 23, 1963. King’s words at the capital that day were a defining moment of the Civil Rights movement. Other demonstrations and civil disobedience campaigns sought to increase African-American voter registration and win better jobs. Malcolm X actively promoted the Black Muslim cause. Even after speaking about non-violence and wanting peace, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The civil rights movement dramatically increased participation of African- American voters in both the South and the North today. By the mid-70s some 4000 African-Americans have been elected to political office at all levels of government. Qualified African-Americans now have a wider range of opportunities than ever before. Whether you are White or African-American, each group has faced its own peculiar challenges on its approach to democracy (Rappaport, 2001). This racism is wrong and unconstitutional. The 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery, which some people still went against it. The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to the former slaves and forbade states from denying any person life, liberty, or property without due process of the law. The 14th Amendment also guaranteed equal protection of the law for all citizens. The 15th Amendment barred states from denying citizens the right to vote based on race, color, or previous servitude (Hertz, 2009). In a perfect world, everyone would be equal. The color of one’s skin, religious beliefs or sexual preference would mean nothing. We would accept everyone for whom and what they are. We would rejoice in the differences between each other instead of belittling, hating and discriminating against those differences. We don’t however live in a perfect world. We live in a world filled with distrust and hate. If we don’t know or understand it in our society, then it is wrong. It will be discriminated against in one form or another. We as a country have made major strides in overcoming racism, however we still have far to go. In conclusion, African Americans faced isolation, discrimination, and segregation during the post-construction period. Racial discrimination was also prevalent in the military where back soldiers were considered inferior to white soldiers and hence poorly trained and equipped. The issue of racial discrimination, isolation and segregation was not seriously tackled until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted. Civil rights activists such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. organized the famous 1963 protest in Washington that eventually forced President John Kennedy to pass the Act. It is therefore, clear that the journey to end isolation, discrimination, and segregation to attain equality and civil rights has been hard but worthwhile. ? References Bowles, M. (2011). American History 1865- Present End of Isolation. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint. Retrieved at: https://content. ashford. edu/books/AUHIS204. 11. 2 Finkelman, P. (2009) Encyclopedia of African American history, 1896-present, Madison Avenue, New York: Oxford University Press Rappaport, D. (2001). Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sitkoff, H. , & Franklin, J. (2008) The Struggle for Black equality. Hill and Wang Publication http://www. adl. org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default. asp? LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=kkk http://www. history. com/topics/black-codes Civil Rights Act of 1964 http://www. ourdocuments. gov/doc. php? doc=97&page=transcript.

Case Study: Starbucks

1. Starbucks laid down its Market Segmentation in the following ways: a. Geographic Segmentation: Starbucks primarily laid down its segmentation in order to spread its outlets around various parts around America. It was not only targeting to settle its bases all over the country, but basically planning to be easily accessible, which is why it was also placed enormously in the same zone. b. Demographic Segmentation: Age= 24- 44 yrs. Gender= Predominantly Female Income= Comparatively Wealthier Race= Predominantly Caucasian c. Psychographic Segmentation: Social Class= Upper Middle Class Lifestyle= Better Educated and/or More Professional . Behavioral Segmentation: Benefit Sought= Premium Coffee, Customer Service, Friendly Environment User Status= Potential and Regular Users Loyalty Status= Strong 2. With the overflow of options, Starbucks grew into a lesser quality place. The Starbucks experience thus, changed first before the customers made their way. Although, Starbucks primarily focu sed on Concentrated Marketing, with the maximization of stores, changing economy, and competitions, it took a different turn. Starbucks was rather following Undifferentiated Marketing, as traditional customers were no longer as loyal as they were with the changing environment.Instant beverages were on demand, so Starbucks had its Market segments spread out to a larger segment, whose focus was not a premium product, but an instant, faster service. 3. Starbucks Market Segmentation is based as follows on the present day: a. Geographic Segmentation: Starbucks today, is not only a part of American culture, but also many different nations worldwide. Although its revenue is majorly sourced from within America itself, it has its grounds set internationally, as a huge potential is identified. b. Demographic Segmentation: With the broadened market segmentation, the demographic segment has taken a pace too.It is no longer consumed by only people of higher income. Having set up less-expensive p roduct lines with availability instance, there’s a larger segment of population who make up potential consumers disregarding the age, race, gender, or generation. c. Psychographic Segmentation: Social Class: Larger class expansion including Lower-Middle to Higher due to less-expensive products Lifestyle: Consumers with high preference of instant and/or household consumption. d. Behavioral Segmentation: Benefit Sought: Accessibility, Brand Value, Instant Consumption, Home Products User Status: Wide range . Starbucks is a potential company with a strong legacy behind its coffee-making. It has now, a higher target markets, and has spread not only limited to its franchise outlets, but also various contractors and other franchises. It can generate its revenue through potential consumers of all social classes and economic ranges, as its products are no longer high-end expensive as it primarily was. It is a big name in Coffee business, and is a developing, high-yield company. Thus, it can potentially return to its previous successful revenue it once enjoyed.