My Vacation Essay Example for Free

My Vacation Essay There is one magical place where my family vacations to most summers. It is quiet, relaxing, beautiful, magnificent, and inspiring. Located in Saranac Lake, in rural New York, this is where my family has some of the best times. We stay in a calm and serene cabin where my Aunt and Uncle live. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Before I can explain what I do during this vacation, I must explain the background and history of this special family gathering. My family is not the type the goes on expensive or classy vacations to the Caribbean. We prefer memorable vacations, whether it is in Florida, Colorado, Cape Cod, or Saranac Lake. The places we go do not matter, but more the events that take place during them. Once my mom’s side of the family had grown, and all my grandparents, aunts, and uncles, had their children, everyone decided it would be fun to have a family reunion of some sort. My Aunt’s cabin sounded like a fun place to meet every summer- and that’s where we have met ever since. Now lots of the kids have grown up, and even though they are older they still enjoy some of the things we did when we first came. Some activities include hiking, swimming, fishing, canoeing, and boating on the lake. Also, playing board games and watching movies when it’s rainy, having cookies down on the dock, or playing a good game of hide and seek in the woods. Vacations to the lake are like an escape from the outside world, and a chance to see nature and still have fun. Every summer is guaranteed to be a blast, in rain or shine. To conclude, my vacations to the lake will always remain memorable and special. I hope that one day I will be able to continue the tradition for my family. Through the years, I have always been sort of jealous of my friends who told about their extravagant vacations to paradise, but I have soon realized that I would never trade my experiences for any of theirs. Why? Because I have something that they will never have. I have a family that loves and cares for each other, and would do anything to make everyone happy. I have a lifetimes worth of memories from only a few days. Finally, I have joy.

New Public Management and Health Sector Reforms

New Public Management and Health Sector Reforms Q. What is New Public Management? Explain the concept and application in relation to health sector reforms across developed and developing countries. 1. Introduction In the contemporary era, neo-liberal policies are given weightage attributing to their stance of limiting the work of government in the economy and its ability to introduce efficiency and effectiveness. We now witness an emerging trend of adopting neoliberal policies. The New Public Management is, therefore based on the neo-liberal views and attempts to introduce private sector efficiency in the public sector of a particular country. The use of New Public Management (NPM) has led to use of tools like decentralization, privatization, contractualism, total quality management, performance related pay etc. While adoption of NPM seems an attractive option for various economies, its applicability and success in developing and developed nations is highly debated upon. Popular examples reveal that the NPM techniques are likely to fail in developing nations because they do not have the preconditions required to harbor NPM. However, the success of NPM techniques purely depends upon the environ ment within which it is implemented and on the compatibility of the techniques with the countrys norms and values. This essay therefore aims to assess the applicability and success of NPM approaches in the case of developing and developed countries. The essay will begin with literature review that will emphasize on what paved the way towards NPM, definitional aspects of NPM and implementation of NPM as a steady reform process. The essay will then illustrate the case studies of Norway and Chile and analyze the degree to which NPM was successful in the two countries. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Road to New Public Management For long now, the public sector setup has been under pressure to bring about efficiency by adopting more market oriented and private sector practices (Dunleavy Hood, 1994). This has been argued to be due to multiple factors such as economic and fiscal dilemmas that brought about the need for states increased role in the economy (Ferlie, et al., 1996). The public sector crisis in the developed economies led to the search for new ways of organizing the public services and hence, redefining the role of the state to encourage competition and market oriented approaches. States indulgence in market type approaches in order to treat the problematic public sector led to the promotion of marketization, that was ought to be more efficient and effective as it tend to keep in mind needs of the individuals and consumers. The shift towards New Public Management (NPM) started in 1970s and 1980s in UK, under Margaret Thatchers regime when she called for the readjustment of the iron industry, and in US municipal government who were agonized at the hands of economic recession and tax revolts. NPM practices were next adopted by Australia and New Zealand, which brought NPM into limelight and brought them on the agenda of OECD countries. It was not until then, theorists started to identify the common characteristics of what is known as New Public Management today (Dunsire, 1995). 2.2 Defining New Public Management Advocates of the traditional bureaucratic system declared the term New Public Management as a misnomer at its very emergence. There have been claims that what is characterized to be New Public Management is practiced in the public sector since quite long now and thus, there is nothing new in the practice. Moreover, it is also argued that NPM tends to target the core values of the public sector an, is therefore little about public management and more of an attempt to wipe out public administration as a subject in social sciences (Farazmand, 2000). However, despite heavy criticism and attempts to minimize its use in the field of public administration by traditional bureaucrats, there is consensus among scholars that NPM tends to dominate majority of contemporary era public settings. New Public Management, in itself, is a reform process, undertaken at the administrative level where structural, organizational and managerial changes are targeted in the public sector. As per Pillott (2011), it is a bunch of management appraoches and techniques and a vission, an ideology. Thus, NPM basically is a set of mangerial actions generated from the private sector and applied in the public sector in order to yield similar level of effciency and effectiveness. Different scholars tend to provide different ideas for conceptualising NPM. Hood (1991) however, brings them under a common banner by summarising the key elements of NPM under 7 main characteristics. He claims that NPM is inclusive of; entrepreneurial management rather than traditional b ureacracy, as highlighted by Clarke Newman (1993), benchmarked standards and performance measures as highlighted by Oshborne, et al. (1995), pays attention to output control as highlighted by Boyne (1999), calls for shift towards decentralization as highlighted by Pollitt, et al. (1998), advocates competition in public sector workings, superiority of private sector style of working as highlighted by Wilcox Harrow (1992) and advocates discipline in the allocation of resources as highlighted by Metcalf Richards (1990). Thus, NPM is inclusive of privatization, decentralization, outsourcing, contractionalism, competitive mechanisms like performance related pay, total quality management etc. Scholars argue that New Public Management has therefore, emerged in response to the Old Public Management and in order to understand NPM, it is of utmost importance that we fitst understand Old Public Management and its principles. Old Public Management is in line with the ideas of Max Webers bureaucratic setup. It emphasises on exante and procedural control and the traditional hierarchial setup where functions are divided among different functional units (Osborne Gaebler, 1993). While the old public management was based on strict hierarchies and rules, new public management looks into political and accountable management and thus advocates contracts and market superiority. Morover, while old public management used stability and permanence at its very foundation, new public management is based on contracts. Institutionalisation is at the very core of Old Public Management, whereas new public management requires more of strategic management and thus doenst require strict institutiona ization (Peters, 1996). 2.3 NPM as a Reform Process Many scholars shed light upon reform process that has incorporated elements of new public management in the public sector. Advocates have argued that public settings can achieve their goals if flexibility is introduced in the system and public officers are given significant autonomy. This will not only lead to effective management of the functions of the units but also enhance the performance of departments and agencies working together in a contractual capacity. Autonomy will therefore allow them control their resources and use them in the best possible manner as to achieve the required results. Hence, it will enable department to make best use of private sector tools such as contracting, outsourcing, accrual accounting, total quality management, user survey etc. (Osborne Plastrick, 1997). While the bureaucratic systems are rigid and answer back to orders, decentralization and autonomy will allow creative thinking by pushing the decision making authority down the hierarchy. Thus NP M has been able to promote accountability though encouraging shared missions and systems, by freeing organizations from the control of central agencies and allowing workers to adopt a problem solving approach (Osborne Plastrick, 1997). A large number of developing countries are still trying to make use of NPM approaches in the public sector. For e.g. Malaysia has adopted Total Quality Management in their production processes in order to minimize wastage and ensure good quality of products (Fei, 2003). However, the implementation and spread of the NPM process has not be unanimous around the globe. The major differences have been as per the context of the country. While some countries have resisted to NPM attributing to the strong bureaucratic culture, others have just restored their national initiatives under the label of NPM, when in essence old public management is still followed there. Thus, adoption and introduction of NPM is seen as a complex process where the context within which the country is, matters (Christensen Laegreid, 2006). Adoption of NPM has also differed as per the nature of the countries being developing and developed. While the process was initiated by developed countries at the first place, the ir public sectors are now stable with accomplished NPM practices for e.g. in the case British health care system. Moreover, developed economies tend to meet the preconditions, such as well function markets and economic development, required for the implementation of NPM principles. However, the implementation in developing countries has been troublesome. It is argued that developing nations are still struggling to stabilize their economies, ensure imposition of rule of law and instill proper bureaucratic structures, that introduction neo-liberal techniques disrupts the entire process and causes instability (Akhtar, 2016). Hughes (1998) argue that implementation of NPM in developing countries may yield opposite results than what is required. While NPM approaches may be adopted to promote greater transparency and eradicate corruption, a greater degree of autonomy to officers may lead to chances of corruption. Similarly, in case of contracting out, absence of appropriate laws and rules can limit the use of contracts as they may not be fulfilled in their true essence. Moreover, it is also claimed that there is not standard model for implementing NPM in totality, across the countries. Developing countries, especially, tend to adopt particular elements of NPM that are best suited and are most beneficial for them. Two popular and evident elements adopted as a part of NPM have been privatization, downsizing. Moreover, corporatization has been an another successful element of NPM for e.g. in the case of African countries where customs and income tax departments have been merged together under the corporatized national revenue authorities, which has brought about internal efficiency in the unit (Chand Moene, 1999). 2.4 Implementing NPM inspired Reforms Different schools of thought draw upon various theories in order to explain the adoption and implementation of reforms that are inspired by NPM. Olsen (1992) provides 2 main reasons for the implementation of NPM techniques. He argues that NPM techniques can be adopted by countries as internationally set standards and examples only because they have become a prevailing trend. Such a change will only be based on pressure and will take place as a part of diffusion process. Secondly he suggests that NPM techniques can be implemented because of the dire need to introduce technical efficiency and hence, it would serve as the optimal solution to the large array of problems existent in the very department. A contrary view, however, argues that the NPM techniques adopted must be in line with the national norms and values held by the countrys public sector. Thus, this makes applicability of all the elements of NPM difficult and only a few elements remain relevant considering the situation from country to country. It is argued that if this is not ensured, the changes introduced may be incompatible with the setting and thus would lead to conflicts among stakeholders within the public sector. NPM elements are not in line with the traditional norms and values of the public sector and this may lead to agitation among officers making it difficult to implement the reforms. Thus, it is of utmost importance that reforms are introduced such that they integrate with the existing culture of the public setup (Selznick, 1984). 2.5 NPM in Health Care Sector A wide variety of literature provides us with insight into how NPM is being incorporated in the health sector or various developed as well as developing economies. However, Cairney (2002) in his study specifies the difficulties in assessing the usefulness of NPM approaches in the health care sector of economies around the globe. He specifies that this can be attributed to lack of data available to carry out the study and as well as the geographical differences that make it difficult to form a standardized analysis. Literature however reveals that health care reform efforts have proved to be little fruitful in African countries. In Ghana, according to Larbi 1998, structural changes have made few alterations to the popular practices. Management has limited autonomy, government doesnt have the capacity to reach performance targets, and IT systems are obsolete to measure the performance. African health systems do not have enough funds to support the NPM scheme, which makes it difficult t o bring about change. Any efficiency gains fail to bridge the gap between resources need and availability. Hence, the budget allocation serves as the only way to ensure whether performance targets can be met or not. This is a popular example of issues face by developing countries when implementing NPM reforms. 3. Case Study: Norway Vs Chile 3.1 NPM and Health Sector Reforms in Norway Norway being a welfare state and a developed economy has believed in the equal access of services to its people, irrespective of the socio-economic status of the individual and this therefore has been true in case of their health sector as well. The Norwegian health system is structured into 3 levels: national or state level, the 4 health regions and municipalities. While at the state level, Ministry of Health ensure policy making, the health regions and municipalities implement the policies. The major health sector reforms in Norway were undertaken in 2002 and before that the system was just a tax based decentralized version of British NHS. As Selznick (1984) theorises about the context within which reforms are implemented, weak evironmental pressures in Norway made it difficult to implement reforms at the first place. Although, Norway is a developed country, it is a welfare state as well which holds strong central control in order to ensure the welfare of its people. Their Rechssta at culture and norms were less compatible with the values of NPM. However, post 1990s when the devolution culture started gaining popularity, reforms within healthcare seemed more inevitable. The Norwegian Healthcare Sector experienced the introduction of Unitary management systems, with quasi markets and performance measurements models through principles of free patients choices. Other reforms included, the activity based funding system based on diagnosis and a more comprehensive and transparent quality control system. The most important reform that was inline with NPM was, hospitals being introduced as enterprises, which seemed as a shift towarsd neoliberal and private sector models. Five regional health enterprises were formed which were independent entities with their own boards and managing directors. The main aim in doing so was to devolve managerial processes in order to enhance efficiency to sub-levels in the hospital. Moreover, it aimed to stimulate the flow of information in order to enhance efficiency and ensure financial responsibility is delegated evenly among the health objectives. The structural changes were intended to minimize the impact traditional bureaucratic structure and introduce private sector like management and efficiency. However, the Ministry of Health was responsible for appointing the board which depicts that in pratice the control remained in the center, as ministry controlled the boards at an arms length. Thus, the reforms that aimed to devolve power to the lower levels actually ended up creating a hybrid which included both the elements of devolution as well as centralisation. The central government ensured that the ministry maintains control through the use of article of association, contracts and throguh regular enterprise meetings. In addition to this the allocation of resources in the form of funds was also controlled by the government. A performance monitoring system was implemented that included issuance of task sheets mentioning objectives that were to be fulfilled. Contracts too mentioned targets and objectives for the employees and results were measured using quantitative indicators. The reforms were implemented at the first place to improve resource utilization and coordination so that easy and equal access to health care can be ensured for norwegian citizens. However, the confussion in division of responsibility only increased the use of resources while leavinf financial problems. While the devolution meant that counties were suppose to be the owners of health care, in practice the enterprises were heavily influenced by the central governement. In this confussion, counties exercised their control in multiple ways. While some practiced management by objectives (a popular element of NPM), others just practiced excessive control over the hospitals. Thus, NPM approach was falling apart in Norwegian Healthcare System and what was required was clearly defined targets and goals for the hospitals and roles for every tier in the system. While changes were made to the structure, no significant change was made to the financing methods. Policy frameworks dictate management procedures of the enterprises, which means that enterprises still work on direction of the central government. The culture of responding to superiors, rather creative approach to problem solving, still maintains. Thus, introductin of NPM techniques and approaches were a myth in Norwegian Healthcare System. This can be referred back to Selznicks (1984) as well as Christensen Laegreids (2006) theory. The context within which NPM was implemented was resisting the change. Norway being a welfare state had central control in its core foundations. Thus, in such a situation, not the ability to implement the reforms is relevant, rather the environment within which it is implemented and its acceptance are of greater concern. 3.2 NPM and Healthcare Reforms in Chile Chile being a developing nation in Latin America, was one of the first few country which began its health sector reform at the earliest. Chile has been known fro adopting NPM techniques and incorporating them in their health sector in order to introduce efficiency. Since the health reforms in 1980s ensured decentralization of the services such that 13 regionald and 26 local health service divisions were formed which held administrative responsibility of the health care system. Each of the decentralisaed units were therefore responsible for curative and presventive services. Just like other secotors of economy, health care in Chile also experienced privatization of public health care system and promotion of market oriented privtae health insurance plans that came to be known as ISAPREs (Berman Bossert, 2000). Although these were privately administered, their funds were still taken out from wage withholdings and employer contributions. Chile reformed its health sector into a dual heal th care system where citizen had the option to either cover their health expense through National Health Insurance Fund or through private health insurance companies. The national health insurance scheme is funded by the government, through acquiring revenues through taxation. The duality in the health care system has therefore caused private and public health care to have different objectives rather than common goals. While the public insurance scheme focuses on primary services, private insurance schemes focus on secondary and territiary services. Primary services are however, decentralised to municipalities. The duality in the health care system, however, ensured that the low income poor individuals of the country have easy access to health care facilities. Moreover, the public sector not only served as the provider of the health facilities but also ensured that it offers large scale easy access of health facilties to all (Berman Bossert, 2000). Moreover, Chiles reforms were a l egitimate process which systematically separated that health service provision and regulation, imposed regulation on private health provision, and ensured fund raising to finance the health care scheme. On the other hand, reforms established proper monitoring mechanisms which included inspections by independent agencies, of financial department and quality assurance of the health care units working in Chile. The reform process in Chile, therefore has not been withouth crtitique. NPM techniques like private health care schemes brought about positive changes in the health results as the infant mortality rate significantly went down in Chile. In addition ot this, there reforms also positively contributed towards improving life expectancy and, nutrition and sanitation. While the NPM techniques seem to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the services, the reforms were criticised for harbouring inequality (Bruce, n.d.). As the health insurance is funded from wage withholding, poor who did not have enough income could not pay for the secondary and teritiary health services provided by the private sector. Chile being one of the first Latin American country to adopt market oriented approaches in the health sector reforms, provides an example of how health reforms should be adopted. Limited success and agitation against the reforms in Chile can be attributed to its nature of being developi ng. Chile had undergone military dictatorship where the government struture had not have the opportuity to stabilise. Thus, Chiles environment and context make it difficult for the NPM techniques to work out beause for NPM techniques require a well functioning market and economic development to be successful. However, Chiles health sector was succesfully marked by privatization of helth care fields, economic stability and international environement that made neoliberalist reforms inevitable. Conclusion Conclusively, we have established the success of NPM techniques in countries depend upon the environement within which they are implement and the degree of resistance they face. It s of utmost importance that the norms and values of the country are compatible with that of the NPM based reform, otherwise reforms are likely to face resistance. For e.g. a country which a centralised economy and a strong bureacratic structure is less likely to accept privatization of central machinery. This has also been explained by Christensen Laegreid (2006) and Selznick (1984) in their theoretical frameworks. Thus, in the case of Norway and Chile, while one was a developed country while the other was developing, both faced difficulties in successfully implementing the NPM techniques. Even after the implementation, the reforms were able to achieve little which can be attribute to the incompatibility of the reforms with the environment within which they were applied. Thus, it is of utmost importance t hat reform process if backed by a preliminary study that ensure the applicability of the reforms and reflects upon the expected success rate of the reform in the particular country. Akhtar, S., 2016. Academia.edu. [Online] Available at: http://www.academia.edu/8099444/Application_of_New_Public_Management_in_Developed_vs_Developing_Countries Berman, P. A. Bossert, T. J., 2000. Learned? A Decade of Health Sector Reform in Developing Countries: What Have We, s.l.: Harvard School of Public Health. Boyne, G. A., 1999. Introduction: Processes, Performance and Best Value in Local Government. Local Government Studies, 25(2), pp. 1-15. Bruce, N., n.d. Teh Chilean Health Care Reforms: Model or Myth?, s.l.: Yale Center for International Area Studies. Cairney, P., 2002. New Pubic Management and Thatcher Healthcare Legacy: enough of theory, what about implementation. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 4(3), pp. 375-398. Chand, S. K. Moene, K. O., 1999. Controlling Fiscal Corruption. World Development, 27(7), pp. 1129-1140. Christensen, T. Laegreid, P., 2006. Autonomy and Regulation: Coping with Agencies in the Modern State. s.l.:Edward Elgar. Clarke, J. Newman, J., 1993. The right to manage: A second managerial revolution?. Cultural Studies, 7(3), pp. 427-441. Dunleavy, P. Hood, C., 1994. From old public administration to new public management. Public Money Management, 14(3), pp. 9-16. Dunsire, A., 1995. Administrative Theory in 1980s: A Viewpoint. Public Administration, 73(1), pp. 17-40. Farazmand, A., 2000. Building Partnerships for Governance. Manila, UN. Fei, T. L. K., 2003. Total Quality Management in Malaysian Government Agencies: Conditions for Successful Implementation of Organizational Change. International Public Management Journal, 6(2), pp. 145-172. Ferlie, E., A. P., Ashburner, L. Fitzgerald, L., 1996. The New Public Management in Action. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hood, C., 1991. A Public Management for all Seasons?. Public Administration, 69(1), pp. 3-19. Hughes, O. E., 1998. Public Management and Administration: An Introduction. s.l.:Palgrave Macmillan. Metcalf, L. Richards, S., 1990. Improving Public Management. London: Sage. Olsen, J. P., 1992. Analysing Institutional Dynamics. s.l.:Nuttfield College Oxford, Center for European Studies. Osborne, D. Gaebler, T., 1993. Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector. s.l.:Plume. Osborne, D. Plastrick, P., 1997. Banishing Bureaucracy: The Five Strategies for Reinventing Government. s.l.:Addison-Wesley. Oshborne, S. P. et al., 1995. Performance Management and Accountability in Complex Public Programs. Financial Accountability and Management, 11(1), pp. 19-37. Peters, B. G., 1996. Future of Governing: Four Emerging Models. s.l.:University Press of Kansas. Pillott, C., 2011. Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis New Public Management, Governance, and the Neo-Weberian State. s.l.:Oxford University Press. Pollitt, C., Putman, K. Birchall, J., 1998. Decentralsiing Public Service Management. s.l.:Palgrave. Selznick, P., 1984. Leadership in Administration. s.l.:University of California Press. Wilcox, L. Harrow, J., 1992. Rediscovering Public Services Management. London: McGraw Hill.

Essay --

Who would have ever thought that a black boy from the wrong side of town in New Orleans would turn out to be one of the greatest jazz musicians to ever live? Louis Daniel Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in a place called â€Å"the Battlefield† New Orleans, to Mary and William Armstrong. However, when Louis was still an infant his father left their family and he went to go live with his grandmother. After Louis turned five, he moved back in with his mother and sister, Beatrice, who Louis had come to call â€Å"Mama Lucy.† At just 7 years old, Louis purchased his very first cornet, which he taught himself to play, and with it created his first vocal quartet. Then when Louis was 13, in celebration of the New Year, he set off a gun in the middle of the street. Police arrested him, and sent him to the New Orleans Colored Reformatory, also known as The Waifs Home for Boys. During his sentence at the Waif Home, the Director of the band there took Louis under his wing. Th e Director, Peter Davis, taught young Louis how to play the bugle. Mr. Davis also gave Louis his very first trumpet. It was at this point in Louis’ life that music gave him a direction and a purpose. After spending three years in the Waifs Home, Louis was released, he was 16 at the time. During this time, Louis had odd jobs like singing on corners, working on a junk wagon, cleaning graves, and selling coal for money. He used his earnings to help his family. In 1918, Louis married a prostitute by the name of Daisy Parker, they divorced in 1922. According to Combo USA, Louis mentioned later on that he believed it was a mistake to have married Daisy. After a bit of reflection, he did not think that they were old enough to have gotten married. Louis met Joseph Oliver shortly bef... ...you are still able to pick out certain instruments. In fact, the first sound that I noticed was the piano, then the trombone and the clarinet. Their harmonized sound is very distinct. Just as the lyrics, I am sure if you were to hear just the instrumental portion you would recognize it right away. Overall Louis Armstrong made some great music during his time. Songs like, What a Wonderful World, were commercialized, and put into movies. Disney, in fact, used quite a few songs by Mr. Armstrong in their movies. Sadly, music is not created this way anymore. Many artists use digital recording today, but that was not available for people like Mr. Armstrong and others. Mr. Armstrong also has a strong live performance. You can tell by his facial expressions, and interaction with the audience. If only musicians today appreciated music, the way people did 20 or 30 years ago.

American Indian Studies :: Free Essay Writer

American Indian Studies AIS Why do Indian college students have high dropout rates? Why do Indian college students have hard times in college, and university atmospheres? Why do Indian college students have difficult times when it comes to making good grades? Maybe it’s because they have no role models in the home. Maybe they can’t relate to individuals with different cultures and backgrounds? Perhaps it is something simple as having poor study habits. The answers could Possibly be that Indian college students are just uncomfortable in a college environment, and don’t have an Indian studies program to go to, as in Reyhner’s essay. Whatever the reason may be Indian college students are scarce within the college scene, just as Indian people are in the United States of America. Native American Studies departments, according to Jon Reyhner, â€Å"are critical to providing a positive university environment for Native students†¦(NAS) help keep Indian students in school by providing them with a university home†(Reyhner 106). I don’t believe that American Indian Studies programs will keep Indian students in college. I believe, the desire of wanting to achieve and excel in academics for what it has to offer, will keep Indian college students in college. I believe that Jon Reyhner gives excellent points in defining the reasons for Indian students dropping out of college, but I have to disagree about his ideals on keeping them in. It seems Reyhner feels that Indian Studies Programs will give Indian students a place to show their truest identity, in turn giving them enough comfort to strive through and finish a college degree. Native college and university students, just as any other student in higher education, have distinct backgrounds and dif ferent ways of thinking. Although many Indian people come from similar histories of assimilation, cultural disappearance, slaughter, and sacrifice, the adaptability of an Indian person within college depends upon their perspective, attitude, and envolvment, in such environments. I wish American Indian Studies departments in colleges and universities could keep Indian Students from quitting, but the reality of the matter is that Indian people have little to relate to in the college world. Colleges and Universities, in a way, are businesses selling financial stable futures. There are many futures to buy, some a little more expensive than others, but in all, with a college degree, individuals have the chance and opportunity to achieve certain success.

Reflections of the Past Essay -- French Revolution, French Politics, B

Edmund Burke is considered one of the most influential intellectuals, best known for criticising the French revolution in his 1790 publication, â€Å"Reflections on the Revolution in France.† It is a book that has been the topic of a variety of debates and disagreements, but has always had the distinction of being able to influence a number of different groups, including the classic liberal. The text criticizes the French revolution on a number of different principles. One of Burkes main problems with the revolution is that the revolutionary leaders attempted to change the entirety of Frances political system overnight rather than take it gradually and change things one by one. He claims that the New France has little chance of succeeding (230) because of what he sees as impulsive. He also states that, innovation is not reform, which also requires reflection (119). He compares this to the view the philosophers, where the approach lacked realism during a time when abstractness could be fatal. The complete abolition of the entire political system in 1789 ended with an immense amount of confusion during transformation. The prior political system, Feudalism, was declared void and so the entirety of the governmental institutions was dissolved. This includes the army, the local government, the judicial system and the clergy. This all relates to the political ideology of the philosophers, which held that a revolution was good at destruction, but not so good at the rebuilding process. Though it is debateable if Burkes critique of the revolution was right or wrong, the even did stimulate him to devise his political ideology. His ability to insinuate logical points of politics makes this a rather important book. The main idea behind this ... ...ore spectacle rather then substance (283), which isn’t what France needs. Instead there is a national assembly that Burke states isn’t qualified to form a government and which will eventually become more extreme (374). In Burkes opinion, France made a lot of mistakes when they revolted against their king and country. For society to be liberty it requires wisdom, which then requires virtue (373), both which Burke believes the France are missing. He ends his book commending Britian â€Å"on the basis of longstanding existence and reforms† (375) or the ability to gradually change the country for the better, much more so because many of the past reforms were an attempt to recover past privileges and traditions, which are positive. Regardless of how one feels about the French Revolution, â€Å"Reflections on the Revolution in France† is a book that is still an important read.

Deception Point Page 52

Only fifteen feet away, Gabrielle Ashe stood in the shadows, rigid. From the den came the harmonious clink of crystal snifters and the crackle of the fire. 58 In a panic, the young NASA technician dashed through the habisphere. Something terrible has happened! He found Administrator Ekstrom alone near the press area. â€Å"Sir,† the technician gasped, running up. â€Å"There's been an accident!† Ekstrom turned, looking distant, as if his thoughts were already deeply troubled with other matters. â€Å"What did you say? An accident? Where?† â€Å"In the extraction pit. A body just floated up. Dr. Wailee Ming.† Ekstrom's face was blank. â€Å"Dr. Ming? But†¦ â€Å" â€Å"We pulled him out, but it was too late. He's dead.† â€Å"For Christ's sake. How long has he been in there?† â€Å"We think about an hour. It looks like he fell in, sank to the bottom, but when his body bloated, he floated up again.† Ekstrom's reddish skin turned crimson. â€Å"Goddamn it! Who else knows about this?† â€Å"Nobody, sir. Only two of us. We fished him out, but we thought we better tell you before-â€Å" â€Å"You did the right thing.† Ekstrom exhaled a weighty sigh. â€Å"Stow Dr. Ming's body immediately. Say nothing.† The technician felt perplexed. â€Å"But, sir, I-â€Å" Ekstrom put a large hand on the man's shoulder. â€Å"Listen to me carefully. This is a tragic accident, one I deeply regret. Of course I will deal with it appropriately when the time comes. Now, however, is not the time.† â€Å"You want me to hide his body?† Ekstrom's cold Nordic eyes bore down. â€Å"Think about it. We could tell everyone, but what would that accomplish? We're about an hour off from this press conference. Announcing that we've had a fatal accident would overshadow the discovery and have a devastating effect on morale. Dr. Ming made a careless mistake; I have no intention of making NASA pay for it. These civilian scientists have taken enough of the spotlight without my letting one of their slipshod errors cast a shadow over our public moment of glory. Dr. Ming's accident remains a secret until after the press conference. Do you understand?† The man nodded, pale. â€Å"I'll stow his body.† 59 Michael Tolland had been at sea enough times to know the ocean took victims without remorse or hesitation. As he lay in exhaustion on the expansive sheet of ice, he could just make out the ghostly outline of the towering Milne Ice Shelf receding in the distance. He knew the powerful Arctic current flowing off the Elizabethan Islands spiraled in an enormous loop around the polar ice cap and would eventually skirt land in northern Russia. Not that it mattered. That would be months from now. We've got maybe thirty minutes†¦ forty-five at the most. Without the protective insulation of their gel-filled suits, Tolland knew they would be dead already. Thankfully, the Mark IXs had kept them dry-the most critical aspect of surviving cold weather. The thermal gel around their bodies had not only cushioned their fall, but it was now helping their bodies retain what little heat they had left. Soon hypothermia would set in. It would start with a vague numbness in limbs as the blood retreated to the body's core to protect the critical internal organs. Delirious hallucinations would come next, as the pulse and respiration slowed, cheating the brain of oxygen. Then, the body would make a final effort to conserve its remaining heat by shutting down all operations except the heart and respiration. Unconsciousness would follow. In the end, heart and respiration centers in the brain would stop functioning altogether. Tolland turned his gaze toward Rachel, wishing he could do something to save her. The numbness spreading through Rachel Sexton's body was less painful than she would have imagined. Almost a welcome anesthetic. Nature's morphine. She had lost her goggles in the collapse, and she could barely open her eyes against the cold. She could see Tolland and Corky on the ice nearby. Tolland was looking at her, eyes filled with regret. Corky was moving but obviously in pain. His right cheekbone was smashed and bloody. Rachel's body trembled wildly as her mind searched for answers. Who? Why? Her thoughts were muddled by a growing heaviness inside her. Nothing was making sense. She felt like her body was slowly shutting down, lulled by an invisible force pulling her to sleep. She fought it. A fiery anger ignited within her now, and she tried to fan the flames. They tried to kill us! She peered out at the threatening sea and sensed their attackers had succeeded. We're already dead. Even now, knowing she would probably not live to learn the whole truth about the deadly game being played out on the Milne Ice Shelf, Rachel suspected she already knew who to blame. Administrator Ekstrom had the most to gain. He was the one who sent them out on the ice. He had ties to the Pentagon and Special Ops. But what did Ekstrom have to gain by inserting the meteorite beneath the ice? What did anyone have to gain? Rachel flashed on Zach Herney, wondering if the President was a coconspirator or an unknowing pawn? Herney knows nothing. He's innocent. The President obviously had been duped by NASA. Now Herney was only about an hour away from making NASA's announcement. And he would do so armed with a video documentary containing endorsements from four civilian scientists. Four dead civilian scientists. Rachel could do nothing to stop the press conference now, but she vowed that whoever was responsible for this attack would not get away with it. Summoning her strength, Rachel tried to sit up. Her limbs felt like granite, all her joints screaming in pain as she bent her legs and arms. Slowly, she pulled herself to her knees, steadying herself on the flat ice. Her head spun. All around her the ocean churned. Tolland lay nearby, gazing up at her with inquisitive eyes. Rachel sensed he probably thought she was kneeling in prayer. She was not, of course, although prayer probably had as good a chance of saving them as what she was about to attempt. Rachel's right hand fumbled across her waist and found the ice ax still bungeed to her belt. Her stiff fingers gripped the handle. She inverted the ax, positioning it like an upside down T. Then, with all her energy, she drove the butt downward into the ice. Thud. Again. Thud. The blood felt like cold molasses in her veins. Thud. Tolland looked on in obvious confusion. Rachel drove the ax down again. Thud. Tolland tried to lift himself onto his elbow. â€Å"Ra†¦ chel?† She did not answer. She needed all her energy. Thud. Thud. â€Å"I don't think†¦,† Tolland said, â€Å"this far north†¦ that the SAA†¦ could hear†¦ â€Å" Rachel turned, surprised. She had forgotten Tolland was an oceanographer and might have some idea what she was up to. Right idea†¦ but I'm not calling the SAA. She kept pounding. The SAA stood for a Suboceanic Acoustic Array, a relic of the Cold War now used by oceanographers worldwide to listen for whales. Because underwater sounds carried for hundreds of miles, the SAA network of fifty-nine underwater microphones around the world could listen to a surprisingly large percentage of the planet's oceans. Unfortunately, this remote section of the Arctic was not part of that percentage, but Rachel knew there were others out there listening to the ocean floor-others that few on earth knew existed. She kept pounding. Her message was simple and clear. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD†¦ THUD†¦ THUD†¦ THUD. THUD. THUD. Rachel had no delusions that her actions would save their lives; she could already feel a frosty tightness gripping her body. She doubted she had a half hour of life left in her. Rescue was beyond the realm of possibility now. But this was not about rescue.

Body Worlds Exhibit Essay

The body worlds exhibit is a traveling exhibition of conserved human bodies and human parts they have prepared by plastination. Plastination is when the water and fat inside the body is replaced with plastic so that human specimens can be touched, do not smell, or decay. The creator of plastination was German his name was, Dr. Gunther Von Hugens. The three main reasons why body worlds exhibits are a good and bad idea to have around the world are, educational but disturbing, artistic but odd, and can help with medicine and patients but can sometimes be personal. To begin, body world exhibits should exist because, they are educational. They give you a visual imagery on your whole body three dimensional using real human bodies. Young students training to be in the medical field could relate to these exhibits and learn a lot, like where your organs are placed, which muscles flex when you move a certain muscle, what it looks like to have smoker’s lungs and not have smoker’s lungs, you could learn many things by going to these exhibits and just examine the bodies. One of the bad reasons why body world exhibits should not exist is because, they can be disturbing. For some cutting up and cleaning out the inside of a dead human body and have it prepared for plastination might just be a bit too extreme. To continue, body world exhibits should exist because, it is artistic. Some of the human bodies are placed in different shapes and forms. For example, there is a human body faced upside down with a skateboard in hand doing a trick it is showing the different kinds of movement in your muscles. Some bodies just have nerves covering their entire body, there are 8th month old fetus’s, and two placsinated bodies meshed together. To make these exhibits interesting you would have to be very creative and artistic. Another bad reason why body world exhibits should not exist is because, their odd. Who would want to go pay $30 for an exhibit that shows thousands of dead people carved out into presentable form so you can see their insides? They were alive just like you a few years ago, and now their a mannequins posing for people to take pictures and jot down notes? You would either have to be artistic, smart, or brave to walk around with plastic corpses.