Great Critical Thinkers Essay Example for Free

Great Critical Thinkers Essay Immanuel Kant 1724 – 1804 Kant was the last influential philosopher of the modern Europe. He became famous for his theory of knowledge during the Enlightenment. Kan’ts thought was very influential in Germany during his life, moving philosophy beyond debate between nationalists and empiricists. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 1869 1948 Ghandi was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of india during the the Indian independence battle with Britain. He pioneered Satyagraha , resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa, or total nonviolence! This concept helped India to gain independence, and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. He is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation!. Was cruelly assassinated during his daily meditation. Sigmund Freud 1856 1939 Freud is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind and the defense mechanism of repression,and for creating the clinical practice of psychoanalysis for treating psychopotology.He was early neurological researcher into cerebral function. Freud’s work remains influential in clinical approaches, and in the humanities and social sciences. He is considered one of the most outstanding thinkers of the first half of 20th century, in terms of originality and intellectual influence.Steve wozniak with Steve jobs and Ronald Wayne.Their inventions and machines are credited with contributing significantly to the personal computer revolution of the 1970’s. Edwin Hubble changed the way we see our universe! By demonstrating the existence of galaxies other than our own, the milky way. He is also famous for his Hubble LAW, and helped establish that the universe is expanding.

Forming a regional trade agreement advantages and disadvantages

Forming a regional trade agreement advantages and disadvantages Since World Trade Organization (WTO) was established in 1995, the number of its membership has increased to 153 countries by 2010. Recently, a phenomenon is observed. As countries pursue trade liberalization under the multilateral standard of WTO, more and more regional economic integration are conducted. Many members in WTO sign new regional trading Arrangements (RTAs) to deepen each regional trade reaction. Because positions and demand for different trade issue are often diverse to the regional member countries, the negotiations become more and more difficult. Consequently, the trend of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreement rises gradually. Besides, due to the bitter competition in the global market, countries also exert to obtain trade partners. Countries found thorough forming regional trade agreements could be an easy way to enhance trade reaction with their close trade partners. According to RTA database offered by WTO (2010), 371 RTAs related to WTO have been announc ed and 193 of them were in force by 31 July 2010Figure 1 shows the evolution of the average number of RTA partners for the current members of the World Trade Organization (WTO): the average WTO member now has agreements with more than 15 countries. Therefore, regional economic integration has become one of the main trends in the present global economic development. In recent years, the global economic system expands gradually by the reaction between the forces of regionalization and globalization. The following offer a general historical data of regional integrations. First, the trend of Regional Integration can be traced back to the 1950s. The 1950s saw European Communities (EC), the most important and representative regional integration case, was established. Then in the 1960s, numerous regional integrations were conducted by Africa, Latin America and other developing countries. Continually, United State is considered to be the main thrust of regional economic cooperation during the mid 1980s and the1990s. During this period, except for lasting the free trade agreement with Canada and Israel, also United State promoted to arrange North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Meanwhile, In Europe, the target of expansion and cross-regional cooperation are approached by European Union (EU). On the side of the expansion, Greece, Spain and Portugal were subsumed in the 1980s and the steps were followed by Sweden, Finland and Austria during the 1990s. Then, in the 2000s, Czech Republic and other eleven countr ies also attended European Union and four more countries, for instance, Turkey, are candidate to join. A growth in membership in European Union is expected. On the other hand, the aspect of cross-regional economic integration is also approached. To ensure the market share and position in America area, European Union urged to conduct free trade agreements with Mexico and MERCOSUR. As a result, the free trade agreement was announced with Mexico in 2000 and became the first free trade agreement conducted with Latin American Countries. Compared with Europe and America area, it is entirely reasonable to make the analogy in East Asia. One of the representative regional integrations in East Asia is ASEAN. ASEAN, namely Association of South East Asian Nations, was established in 1967, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand five countries. The original motivation of ASEAN is to prevent the spread of communism and to improve the regional trade reaction and cooperation. Since its establishment, there has been 40 year of its history. On 8 Jan 1984, the membership increased to six with the join of Brunei, and these six countries are called the founding members of ASEAN. Then they were followed by Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia in the 1990s so that current membership expands to 10 countries. The communism prevailed when the time ASEAN was formed. As a consequence, the political purpose was more than economic one in that period so there was no free trade agreement until 1992 the founding membe rs signed ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA). A gradually tariff reduction in member countries, which is called Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT), was planed to be achieved before 2008. As in 1999 the thirteenth meeting of the ASEAN Free Trade Area decided CEPT should be achieved earlier and decided non-tariff among members instead of the initial target. Then AFTA was in force with the founding countries of ASEAN in 2003 and non-tariff in all members was planed to be reached by 2015. Above is the development of ASEAN free trade agreement. Next, a difficult position of Taiwan will be introduced. Asian financial Crisis happened in 1997 and conduced the willingness of East Asia countries to cooperate. Since 1999, those important trade partners of Taiwan in Asia have committed to access the forming of free trade agreement. For example, Japan and Singapore signed Japan-Singapore in 2002 and in force in the same year. Also after AFTA was conducted, China, South Korea and Japan, three large economy countries in East Asia, had pursued to sign FTAs with ASEAN. In December 1999, ASEAN announced to impose cooperation in their economic with China, Japan, and South Korea, which is called ASEAN+3. According to Picture I, it reveals the ASEAN+3 member countries on the world map: the dark ink represents the members and, comparatively, Taiwan is circled to be pointed out. An interesting discovery is found: although being a country located in East Asia, Taiwan is excluded from ASE AN+3. Due to some political problem, Taiwan has just signed 5 free trade agreements with other countries and none of them are Asia countries. Table 1 see the export trade amount of Taiwan with ASEAN+3 countries. The export amount occupied 66% of total Taiwan export so that if ASEAN+3 non-tariff target is achieved (in fact ASEAN and China free trade agreement has progressed on 1 Jan 2010), Taiwan would face a difficult trade position. Therefore, to avoid being isolated away by other trade partners and to deepen the cooperation with them, accessing advantages and disadvantages of forming a regional trade agreement become necessary. To analyze those advantages and disadvantages of forming a RTA, an understanding in regional trade agreements is important. Also, to know whether any limit exist to forming a RTA, a good way is to review the international trade criteria given by GATT and WTO. Hence, in the discussion, a two-phase study was designed to explore the advantages and disadvantages of forming regional trade agreements. First of all, there are three branches in the former phase. In the first branch, to realize what regional trade agreement is, the paper examines the theories of regionalism and all types of regional economics integrations. It is worthy to understand regional trade agreement from its original intention and distinguish those differences. Second branch provides an overview of the organizations, which aim for improving international trade. For example, a comparison between World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Europe Union and Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) will be made to clarify their objectives of the establishment. We will see a conflict between the globalization and the regionalization. Last branch reveals two forces which against each others, namely trade creation and trade diversion. These two forces determine the gain or loss of a regional economic integration. In the second part of the study, an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages will be offered, based on the knowledge provided in the first part of the studies. The remainder of this paper is divided into four sections. The next section of the article is a review of the literature; addressing both empirical and theoretical aspects of regionalism, worldwide trade organizations, trade creation and trade diversion. Section III describes the development of regionalism and provides empirical economic integration to support that. Using the background provided in the section III, section IV analyses the advantages and disadvantages of forming regional trade agreement. In the end of the paper, section V concludes. Trade Creation and Trade Diversion Trade economists have being going the effort on whether the formation of a regional trade agreement will lead member countries to be better off. A common concept to analyze gain or loss of a RTA was given by Viner. In his crucial work, The Customs Union Issue, two forces, which decide whether a RTA better off the member countries, were well indicated, namely trade creation and trade diversion. Viner noted that preferential agreement member countries would have lower tariff barrier than non-members due to the preferential tariff and therefore trade creation effect and trade diversion effect are produced. Trade creation effect is generated because the bloc members increased each others intra-bloc import and export when a preferential tariff reduction or removal is induced, and consequently bilateral trade amount increases. In addition, the low-efficiency production in domestic provider would be replaced by high-efficiency providers in other bloc countries so that home countries can con sume this product with lower social cost. In contract, Trade diversion might be happened when a preferential treat is offered in member countries. Originally home country imports products form those high-production efficiency countries; however, due to the preferential tariff home town might import products from those low-production efficiency countries so that the social cost to consume this product rise and decrease domestic social welfare. Trade creation is a positive effect to domestic social welfare and trade diversion is negative. If trade creation effect is greater than trade diversion effect, home social welfare increase. Conversely, it would be harmful if trade diversion is greater. In The Customs Union Issue, Viner made a crucial conclusion that the formation of customs union has no certain welfare effect to members welfare due to these two trade forces. Accordingly, economists doubt whether we can prevent trade diversion as forming an RTA. Ohyama , Kemp and Wan proved customs union improve the welfare of members as given a fixed trade amount between members and non-members. On the contrast, if a change in nonmember trade amount would lead an uncertain welfare effect. Even Kemp and Wan theoretically showed that members improve their welfare completely in the fixed trade amount with outsider, that sounds once given an unchanging treat to outsider, the world must be better off. It implies through a negotiated optimal tariff we can create economic benefit and prevent being hurt from trade diversion; however, many empirical observations reveal that countries usually choose the trade policies which results trade diversion when they forming a RTA, namely RTAs benefit members and worse off nonmembers. The implication is Kemp-Wan result might not be the trade equilibrium. In fact, there exist other factors influencing the trade outcome of RTAs. The formation of an RTA related to political, economic and regional factors, the external tariff might be influenced not only economically but also politically. For example, lobbying might cause a distortion in government optimal external tariff adjustment. Thus, as we analyze the trade effect we better to account those factors in. In these few decades, economists focus on these two trade effects in RTAs and question whether RTAs generate more trade diversion or trade creation. Is RTA more trade diverting? Freund and Ornelas noted in principle RTAs can generate either net trade creation or net trade diversion, we must remember that participation in any RTA is a political decision. Thus only some types of agreements will be formed, depending on the objectives of governments. Except for the intension to maximize the social welfare, the decision whether to take RTAs might be influenced by specific-interest groups. Some literatures indicate domestic political factor might be a better way to explain FTA phenomenon. Grossman and Helpman reckoned domestic powerful specific-interest group usually lobby their government with huge money and resources to conduct RTAs which advantage them. Milner offered a similar viewpoint as well. He considered those export-oriented companies usually push government to enter a preferential trade agreement (PTA) to enlarge the bloc market which disadvantage outside companies. The powerful domestic companies have influences to the government election outcome so th at the relationship between lobbying and election outcome is another factor to be taken to examine the influence on RTAs. Above sounds RTA generates more trade diversion due to non-trade effects, but it still needs evidences Empirics of trade creation and trade diversion Unfortunately, the estimation of trade diversion is not an easy work. As above mentioned, the estimation has to account into both trade and non-trade factors which influence RTA outcome, therefore, a gravity equation is used to help this issue. The equation provides a theoretical way to examine whether a RTA generates more trade creation or trade diversion. The concept of natural trading partners were first proposed by Wonnacott and Lutz . They pointed that the agreements, which are conducted with those geographically close countries and similar culture countries, are likely to attain more trade creation. Tinbergen and Poyhonen successively used gravity model in international trade analysis and used it to research world trade flow and size. Tinbergen hence pointed bilateral trade flow and bilateral economic size have a positive relationship and have a oppose relationship with their geographical distance. Frankel applied gravity model to examine the natural trade partner hypothesis. He analyses the trade flow effect in different regional integrations by using different dummy variables like culture, whether they have common border or same languages etc. He reckoned gravity model is the best instrument to judge trade creation effect and trade diversion effect. Frankel used the data between 1965 and 1992 to examine the regional effect. When two countries belong to the same regional integration, then regional dummy effect is 1; therefore 0. The estimated correlation coefficient represents how many trade flows can be attributed to specific regional trade effect. The empirical result revealed the correlation coefficient in each variable was all significant. He found two-country GNP coefficient is less than 1. That means trade amount will not rise proportionally when the economic size of both countries increase 1. Also the distance coefficient is negative, that represents the trade decrease with an increase in distance. The distance result is similar to the result of Tinbergen. Frankel also found the same language and the same border has a positive influence to trade flow. For each regional variable, the outcome shows the regional trade effect is significant in Europe Union, MERCOSUR, Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relationship, and Andean Group, yet not significant in NAFTA. Frankel provided evidence for natural trade partners hypothesis by using gravity equation. Clausing used HS-10 digit import data of United State to access CUSFTA. She found due to the agreement signed in 1994 the import of the US from Canada had increased 26 percentage. the import from Canada increased half amount since 1989 to 1994 and Clausing attributed it to tariff reduction decision in CUSFTA. She found that trade creation are more general than trade diversion in most of cases. Furthermore, RTAs increase bilateral trade between members . Their research points there is no significant trade reduction between members and non-members be found. Other studies also examined the impact of regional integration to trade effect. For Europe Union, Kreinin pointed the establishment and east-expansion of EU would cause little trade diversion and huge trade creation. A distinct evidence was provided by Chang and Winer . They found the formation of MERCOSUR do hurt non-members but as Calvo-Pardo et al. pointed, MERCOSUR is a customs union (CU), which is different from CUSTA, NAFTA those FTAs. According to the literatures above, we found in most cases RTAs except MERCOSUR are likely to trade creating more than trade diverting. As well, if countries, which are natural partners, sign an RTA, it would benefit them. That is because the similar culture, for example, language, may reduce transaction cost. Consequently, the trade creation effect has more opportunity to be greater than trade diversion. That gives the incentive of government to negotiate an RTA with their close countries. Adjustment in External Tariffs Another issue trade economist cared is optimal external tariffs after forming a RTA. The original Vinerian assessments of trade creation and trade diversion are normally constraint to the policies fixed. However, there is at least a trade policy those RTA members would use: external tariff policy. Kennan and Riezman (1990) were the first to examine the optimal external tariffs after RTA was formed and they found the formations of RTAs are usually with external tariff reduction. Also, the same result was in several literatures. To avoid the welfare costs of trade diversion, optimal external tariffs seem to be lower in RTAs. Kennan and Riezman pointed there is coordination of common external tariff under CU. Unlike CU, FTA members have authority to set their external tariff unilaterally. Kennan and Riezman use this key different chrematistic between CU and FTA to see the external tariff adjustment outcome after the formation of RTAs. Another issue we will discuss in this section is the influence of lobbying to the formation of a RTA. In section II we reviewed those structural characteristics, which lead to more trade creation or trade diversion, of RTA members. Intuitively, bloc countries are willing to attain more trade creation and to reduce more trade diversion so that they can achieve the objective of social welfare maximizing, yet as mentioned in Section II the formation of RTAs are not only economically, more important, also politically. There are some incentives bloc countries hold to adjust their specific product external tariff rate so that they can achieve their objectives (no matter what that is). Thus, this section will introduce those incentives that members are likely to alter their external tariff and the reaction to members external tariff under the formation of RTAs, which is what we concerned. That will help us to figure out whether the political force would lead distortion among the RTA formati on. Incentives to alter external tariffs in RTAs with empirics The incentives to alter external tariffs in RTAs can be clarified generally in three main parts: the incentive due to CU, due to FTA and due to domestic producer influence. We will discuss them in the following content. The external tariff policy adjustment might be influenced by different types of RTAs. In CU their external tariff are coordinated by all members, on contrast, FTA members have more authorities on their own external tariff. Thus, the motivation in different types of RTAs might be different. Firstly, we examine the incentive to alter external tariff rate of CU members. According to Kenan and Riezman , the equilibrium external tariffs are also observed being higher than FTAs. They concluded two points. One is a custom union allows its members to internalize their tariff externality when bloc members import the same product. Another, a customs union makes several countries into one larger one and enlarges their market power. Similarly, the analysis of Bond, et al. also clarified the external tariff in an FTA would be lower in a CU due to the lack of external tariff coordination. Preferential margin is the differences between external tariff and preferential tariff rate. Higher external tariff leads to higher preferential margin. Also, the higher the preferential margin is, the larger the discrimination and trade diversion effect are. Therefore, inter-bloc countries benefit more from the CU agreement due to the discrimination effect. As what Kennan and Riezman found, Richardson indicated there is an intention of external tariffs to be reduced under FTA. The phenomenon is called the tariff complementary effect. Relative to customs union, there is neither large market power nor external tariff coordination effect under FTAs. Even so, motivations to alter external policies still exist. A simple way to think is that: trade creation is created due to the preferential tariff among the FTA members and trade diversion is generated simultaneously. An effective trade policy against trade diversion that government holds is external tariff policies. Hence, if a preferential trade agreement comes with a reduction of external tariff, it would enhance both the total welfare in the world and reduce a hurting on non-members. However, an issue is whether the external tariff should be removed under a FTA. Bond, et al. reckoned the implication of the lack of external policy coordination is that the optimal external tariff for an FTA should be positive. Logically, a principle is that external tariff for outsider should no less than preferential tariff for insider so that the agreement would not be meaningless. As what have mentioned in Chapter 2, there are some non-trade factors also affect the trade effects. The one which is broadly discussed is the effect of lobbying to external tariff in a RTA. When political motivations are concluded in, the net trade effect will become ambiguous. Empirics of external tariff adjustment in RTAs With protection, are RTAs more trade diverting? The impact of regionalism on multilateralism Kyle and Robert examined whether exceptions from MFN for the purpose of forming preferential agreements can lead to lower external tariffs, and thereby to a more efficient tariff structure unter the multilateral agreement. imply that the formation of the FTA benefits ROW. These findings differ from those that arise under a CU where typically there is a smaller external tariff reduction (or even an increase). This occurs because CU members jointly choose the external tariff to maximize union welfare, thus internalizing the positive tariff externality that exists whenever two countries import the same good from ROW. With the objective function that we consider, a CU will always be preferred to an FTA for symmetric member countries because of its more favorable market power effects25. Thus, while this model does not provide a positive theory of FTA formation, it does point out how international distributional effects differ between FTAs and CUs. It also suggests that, in the short run, FTAs are more appealing from a world welfare perspective because they imply relatively less aggressive tariff setting for their members.

Dealing with Substance Abuse in Mentally Ill Patients

Dealing with Substance Abuse in Mentally Ill Patients Alizah Al-aman In a course of time the brain has developed in a way to ensure our survival. This survival system incorporates brain’s unique reward system liable for satisfying person’s essential desires (Horvath, n.d.). Unfortunately, substance use is operated within these reward systems that engages an individual in addictive activities. According to Edward (2000) substance use is the hazardous use of psychoactive substances, including alcohol and illicit drugs. It is the dependency that deteriorates individuals physical and mental health. Consistent with the continuum of chemically mediated responses, substance use is a maladaptive coping manifested by frequent use and dependence of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs (APA 2000, p. 198; Stuart, 2009). WHO reported that globally 3.86 billion people are involved in substance abuse in which US has the utmost prevalence whereas in Pakistan it is prevalent among 6.4 million people (Stuart, 2009). If substance use co-occurs with any mental illness it’s regarded as dual diagnosis. Literature proposes that roughly 50% of the people with psychiatric problems also suffer from substance abuse disorders (chrome et al., 2009). In UK three quarters of drug and 85% of alcohol service users have mood and anxiety disorders (NIDA, 2007). It’s a dilemma that which problem occurred first. However precipitating factors like loneliness, family disturbances, psychological illness, illiteracy trigger substance use in psychiatric clients (Donald Gail, 2009). In my view to resolve the misery of such pain and mental illness people engage in substance abuse which grants them pleasure as highlighted in the below mentioned scenario. On my clinical rotation at C0 ward in AKUH, I encountered a middle aged patient with the dual diagnosis of depression and drug abuse. He was a chain smoker since 30 years and recently had angioplasty. According to the patient he developed gastric ulcers 5 years back for which a local physician prescribed him Inj. Nubain. He wasn’t conversant that the drug should be used till certain time as associated with the risk of addiction. Patient continued taking that medication and developed addiction. The medication not only lessened his pain but made him calm and relieved during his depressive episodes. After angioplasty he was constrained for not using that drug which results intense craving. Patient became unmanageable and restless. Then he was admitted in C0 ward but intense craving made his situation worst resulting in tremors, sweating, insomnia, hypertension and mydriasis. When I visited that patient, he verbalized â€Å"I need drug, am very restless, this craving will end my life† so to reroute his mind and lessen his suffering, I along with OT members planned to engage that patient in different activities. We taught him some coping strategies and there was a mild change observed in his performance and condition after psychotherapy and cooping. Glancing the social context in light of scenario, substance abuse is judged as bad deed because it violets societal norms and values by precipitating ferocious acts, poverty, family disturbances etc. In the above case unmanageable behavior lead the admission of the client in ward. In contrast some communities illustrate acceptability too. Furthermore Canadian mental health association (2006) and Steve Susan (2003) proposed the comparable fact that patients with dual diagnosis can provoke violence and peace less situation in a community by sevenfold as well as for those who are caring or living with them. Moreover substance use is 65% prevalent in mid adulthood and my patient’s age was in same age group which predisposed him towards this (Stuart, 2009). Furthermore religion exhibits a fundamental role in an individual’s life. In Islam alcohol is forbidden that’s why researches highlighted less incidence of alcohol abuse in Muslim society whereas higher incidence in western world (Haider Chaudhry, 2008, p.82). Beside this in Pakistan opioids and marijuana is predominantly abused (UNODC, 2013). Opioid use primarily grants relieve in mental illness but its withdrawal encompasses acute depression, chronic craving, tremors, sleep problems, high BP and dilated pupils as evident in my client’s case (Stuart, 2009). Moreover marijuana also serves as a source for decreasing negative symptoms in schizophrenic clients however in response it exacerbates their suffering (Archives of General Psychiatry, 2011). Survey conducted in Pakistan summarized that 53.6% of the adults smoke shisha (Sameer et al, 2012; Khan, 2010). This percentage illustrates the acceptability of tobacco and shisha in eastern world that results psychosis in individual’s already predisposed for developing it (Archives of General Psychiatry, 2011). Bhang use is also predominately practiced in Indian festivities that generate euphoric and hallucinating effects as encompasses psychotomimetic substances (Thacore, 1977). In Western world and Roman Catholics drug abuse is more socially acceptable in females but referred unmasculine in males whereas the consumption of alcohol is considered masculine (Donald Gail, 2009). In US the extreme alcohol use is the 3rd leading cause of death and it also precipitates mental illness by triggering depression, euphoria, mood disorders. Its unavailability would end up leading general depressant withdrawal syndrome. Furthermore 43% of people in US are tobacco abuser however smoking opium is marked deviant (Donald Gail, 2009). Tobacco smoke is twice more common in depressive clients while thrice in schizophrenic patients. Besides granting pleasure it amplifies the chances of relapse in psychiatric patients (Ash, 2013). So while assessing the client with dual diagnosis HCW’s should take these sociocultural aspects in consideration. When my client tried to drop the addiction, he felt intense craving. Craving is evidently depicted in the light of neuroadaptive model as prolonged use of drugs induces specific alterations in the brain cell or neurotransmitters which regulate neural drives and grant pleasure. During abstinence neuroadaption consequences in imbalance in brain function which results craving and this craving is accountable for relapse in individuals (Eliason et al., 2007). Interventions for such clients could be executed within individual, institutional and community level. In my patient therapeutic interaction assisted me to perform MSE effectively. Dealing with craving was challenging nevertheless I taught him some coping techniques, mind diversional exercises. In addition the intervention that can be carried out is drug testing and if the patient has severe withdrawal history so referral can be made to detoxification program (Stuart, 2009). Furthermore the nurse should develop awareness about the state and feelings of substance abuser in order to eradicate biasness in caring. Assessment of withdrawal symptoms should be carried out every shift. On institutional level integrated treatment for dual diagnosis verified as evidence based practice (Stuart, 2009). My client was treated simultaneously for both depression and substance abuse. Moreover medicines should be administered to alleviate craving as Methadone was been administered to my patient for plummeting his craving. Moreover individual counseling and CBT prove as a constructive approach for client’s rehabilitation and relapse prevention. Since 2000 AAS is also working for the rehabilitation of substance abusers using the same treatment methodologies such as psychotherapy and drug toxification Besides AAS there should be more rehabilitation centers in those areas where substance abuse is more prevalent in order to restore mental health. Community level interventions would embraces the conduction of school base awareness programs and workshops for eradicating the risk of substance abuse from initial ages and making individuals realize that substance use is not the accurate coping for alleviating mental illness. Developing religious and social norms would converse an obvious message for drug avoidance in mentally ill clients to whom religion serves as a protective factor. Moreover campaign against substance use on national level would present as example for people in recognizing the harmful effects of it (Reno et al., 2000). Implementation of strict Governmental policies and legislation on consumption and sale of alcohol and illicit drugs can help in reducing the occurrence of dual diagnosis. Detoxification and methadone maintenance programs can be arranged in communities with the assistance of governmental authorities (Stuart, 2009; Reno et al., 2000). In conclusion, substance abuse can co-occur with mentally illness which impact an individual’s life dreadfully. To get rid of this is difficult but not impractical. Diverse prevention strategies and early detection would assist its control and management. Moreover strong motivation from family, health care providers and especially self can immensely facilitate the individual to cope up and live a healthier life (Harrison, 2006).

communications :: essays research papers

With communication continuing to change forms every day, we have seen many different theories and explanations to try and explain communication. Communication is an interaction between two objects in any way, as long as there is a connection between the two objects. With the ever changing theories of communication, Marshall McLuhan’s theory of the medium is the message and his Playboy interview create a very interesting question. Why does Marshall McLuhan see the development of communication as a downfall to our society as seen in the Playboy article where Adler, Johnson and Lakeoff show many ways communication can have long lasting positive effects on society? The three points that McLuhan brings up are the phonetic alphabet, extension and the electric age. This paper will critique the different points McLuhan has made by using material from Adler and Lakeoff and Johnson. The Phonetic Alphabet: Marshall McLuhan has a negative view towards the invention of the phonetic alphabet while Adler and Lakeoff and Johnson used the alphabet as a tool to get their theories of communication to work. An example of McLuhan’s words is from his interview with Playboy where he said â€Å"Before the invention of the phonetic alphabet, man lived in a world where all the senses were balanced and simultaneous.†(McLuhan, 1995) In this quote Marshall expresses his view that before the phonetic alphabet was created man lived in a world where each sense that humans had were used evenly. Now that the alphabet had been invented different senses were being used for different reasons and now man was not in a balance of senses. He seen this as a negative outcome, and it will effect the culture in a negative way. On the other hand, to use this point in Adler’s words â€Å"different groups deal with conflicts in different ways†(Adler, 2000) So the way that a culture can adapt to the living style will tell if they will be effected as McLuhan said the culture will be effected, and that is there senses will not be in a balance anymore. Also, in the playboy interview McLuhan states â€Å"The modes of life of nonliterate people were implicit, simultaneous and discontinuous, and also far richer than those of literate man.†(McLuhan, 1995) In this quote Marshall suggests that it was easier to live life by being nonliterate and just stay the way man used to be with the senses being balanced.

lord of the rings :: essays research papers

The Fellowship of the Rings   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I read The Fellowship of the Rings for my book report. It is the first book to the Lord of the Rings, written by J.R.R. Tolkien. The settings in this book changed many times from the hills of the Shire where the hobbits live, to the deep darkness of the mines of Moria. The book takes place in a place called Middle Earth, which is described by Tolkien as a mysterious place full of good and evil. The way Tolkien described each place is amazing and it is as if u were looking at a picture and copping it down into your head. The Shire, a peaceful place, full of little people, known as hobbits. The hobbits are friendly folk who don’t pay attention to the outside world. They live in little holes dug in the sides of hills. The hobbits have large gardens of, pipe weed, corn, and their favorite, potatoes. The hobbits are used to their everyday life, and are very content with the lack of adventure. Most do not travel farther then Bree. Bree is a small town mixed with big and little people, (men and hobbits) who live together through the hard time that trouble the old town. The Forest of Lothorien is where the elves live in peace, hidden for the evil not far off. The forest is very magical and full of beautiful trees. The trees were described to have silver bark and rich golden leaves. These were the homes of the elves that had built platforms in the center of the trees, like tree houses. In Lothorien the weather is always as if it were a warm spring day even in the dead of winter. Lothorien is unaffected by time, as if the days just repeat them selves but the people go on with their lives. The lady of the land, Galadriel, has another magical ring that the dark lord is seeking. The magic ring kept the forest protected and healthy along with everyone that lived there. Darkness, silence, emptiness describes the Mines of Moria. The mines cut through the Misty Mountains, and connect the fields of Rohan to the forest of Lothorien. The mines were abandon by the dwarfs in a war with the orcs, who worked for a wizard who wanted the same ring that the dark lord wanted. The are many passages that were crafted bye the dwarves to mines and lookouts but only one way out.

Tiberius and gaius gracchus

Tuberous and Gauss Gracious When Tuberous and Gallus Gracious became an authority, Rome was no longer a Republic, being controlled by the nobles throughout the empire. A reformation was desperately needed. But who would lead it? Tuberous Gracious would, a man of noble blood. Also, being the Great Nephew of the remarkable general, Gossip Africans, and the son of a noble Censor, he would have an influence and great effect upon the people of Rome and the world.Throughout the lives of Tuberous and Gauss Gracious, the Karachi brothers brought In many ideas that changed Rome and future enervation. At the time, Rome had been corrupt; enough that It would even affect the military itself. Rome was at constant war and the people of Italy were being drafted into the armies of the Roman Empire. To have war, one must have men. The drafting of men was quite common at the time considering that a large mass of men was needed to convey the actions of Rome. If one was to serve in the army, one must ha ve owned land.When the men had left to war, which would watch over their land or run their farms? The Nobles took this Law to their advantage by acquiring the land of the oldie's enlisted in the armies of Rome. When soldiers returned home, they had nothing. A man of great influence was needed, one with a background of great authority and noble blood; to lead the reformation of a corrupt and unbalanced Roman Society. But to lead the revolution, one must take authority while not being seen as a king; which the Romans absolutely despised. Land being acquired by noble men was making many homeless and shifted the Roman economy.A boundary was clearly made between the upper class and the lower classes; the power was no longer in the hands of the people but in the hands of the nobles. As the country continued its downfall â€Å"thoughtful Romans began to realize the need to attempt some alleviation of the economic Those in high positions saw the corruption throughout the empire that would eventually drive Rome into the ground. The Illegal actions throughout the empire did not go unseen; though few realized the situation, which Included the leader of the Revolution, Tuberous Semipro's Gracious.The goal of the revolution was to reform the land laws of Rome, creating a once again stable society and economy. Tuberous Gracious â€Å"a noble tribune in an influential position† (Plutarch) had a task of reorganizing and stabilizing the Roman economy. Everything was continuing to be affected because of the loss of land experienced by the Roman peoples; and something needed to be done. A bill by Tuberous Gracious would be the first step Into the reformation. It was called the Leg Grain, a bill that put a limit on the acres that one could own.Which helped soldiers gain their land back and to provide homes for returning war veterans. This bill was absolutely necessary and if shut down; Rome would continue to downfall. Many said if only because it affected Romeos Military strength†(Richardson). The armies were having shortages of men; because almost none owned land due to the noble theft of property. To have an army, men must be a well-supplied resource. If an army Is conquer. Therefore, by creating stable economy, Rome would not only strengthen its military, but alleviate its struggling economy.After taking veto after veto by the tribune, Marcus Octavo's, the senate was sidestepped and defeated by a popular vote. His reformations were carried out and funded by the government of Rome; his influences upon many were broad. According to Plutarch, Octavo's himself was a possessor of a large amount of public land and was thus liable to the provisions of the Leg Grain† (Richardson). Many of the senators were bound to this law and were affected by it, and hatred for Tuberous was brewing in the hearts of many.His reformations would have to be passed on to his younger sibling after the physical outrage of the Senate and the death of Tuberous Compr omise Gracious himself. His reformations were broadly welcomed by those of the middle and lower classes but hated by those of noble families, land was distributed and Rome was slowly turning to a stable economic situation. In the Event of the death of the political leader, Tuberous Gracious, of the reformation, Gauss Gracious took over the cause of the once living Tuberous Gracious.Having a partial failure, Tuberous Gracious' currently unsuccessful operation due to the political biases against him and his reformation, â€Å"failure is in itself no sign of lack of spirit and ability' (Riddle). The idea of equality and reformation was in the air, and the reformation had been far from over. Gauss Gracious; being the younger brother of Tuberous Gracious had been a strong supporter of him and had a good political aground making him the best fit to take charge in the reformation. Continuing in the reformation â€Å"Gauss then turned to further economic reform. He re-enacted his brother' s Agrarian Bill (Seculars, 32). He had the bill of his brother enforced throughout Italy and â€Å"much of the land available had no doubt been distributed by this time, Gauss supplemented this bill with a plan to establish some colonies in Italy, some were to come from the lower and middle classes in order to provide some capital for the promotion of industries in the colonies† (Seculars 33). † Gauss had a Lana to raise the status by establishing a system that would uplift the Republic and create an idea of fairness and equality in Rome. Using the Bill of his brother Tuberous, Gauss was able to bring ideas into Rome that would change it for the better.Taking position of Tribune in the Senate (like Tuberous before him) Gauss was considerably more successful than his brother Tuberous by gaining the support of the equestrian class and many high political leaders. Gauss had brought forward the ideas of citizenship for all Italians, economic competition, continuation of lan d reformations, an age limit for those to be drafted in the army, topping Judicial bribery, expanding Francine to the Latinist, and slowly began to give power back to the people. But many of these ideas were vulnerable from the attack of senators, which opposed the Karachi. During Gauss' second tribune the senate at last moved to the attack but at first by an indirect method (Seculars, 35). Another Tribune sent by the Senate had the assignment of winning over the supporters of Gauss through attractive proposals. â€Å"Gauss' position simply was to be undermined by others and his ideas shut down† (Seculars, 35). Gauss went through the same trials and fire that his brother had to endure. Through the deaths of other consuls and threats of Gauss' life his ideas still remained and were recognized by the people of decrease in popularity and support. The Karachi was in true sense martyrs: they had witnessed to their belief in the need for reform and they had suffered for their faith † (Seculars, 37). † The two men; Tuberous and Gauss Gracious had brought in ideas that had not only shaped the Republic, but took the dominant power out of the hands of the Senate and put it back in the hands of the people. At least this was a realization of what Rome truly was and why reformations were necessary and essential to the Roman Empire. Though problems were still within the armies and economy, the Karachi created a realization and example for the people of Rome to follow.The reality of the Karachi reformations were that they were short lived, for many of these laws and reformations only lasted for a short period of time and not throughout all of the Roman Empire. â€Å"The Karachi received some direct results, though many of the economic difficulties remained, they at least helped to relieve, those main problems in Rome† (Seculars, 38). The corrupt Roman Empire, suffering by economic and social decay, had alleviation by two Tribunes of the time, who was Tuberous and Gauss Gracious. Their reformations and ideas helped the people of Rome realize the corruption of Rome.The ideas and events of the time had been the sign of a great awakening. Though their relief of the economic and social conditions was short-lived, the dominant power no longer rested in the hands of the Senate as it once did, but now, in the hands of the people. Works cited Richardson, Keith. Daggers in the Forum: The Revolutionary Lives and Violent Deaths of the Gracious Brothers. London: Classes and Company Limited, 1976. Seculars, H. H. From the Karachi to Nero: A history of Room 133 B. C. To A. D. 68. London and New York: Methuen and Co.Ltd, 1959. Riddle, John. Tuberous Gracious: Destroyer or Reformer of the Republic. Massachusetts: D. C. Health and Company,1970. â€Å"When Tuberous and Gauss Gracious sought to establish the liberty of the common people and expose the crimes of the oligarchs, the guilty nobles took fright and opposed their proceedings by every me ans at their disposal† – Cicero. The Karachi brothers were clearly well intentioned men who had the interests of Rome at heart, instead of their own, which was a common attitude amongst the other senators.The reforms of the Karachi were long over-due and their programs were genuine attempts to deal with Romeos problems. During the Graphics existence, Rome was facing a number of social, selfishness of the oligarchy and so adopted methods which threatened the balance between the senate, the magistrates and the people which had existed for a very long time – in this way they can be regarded as revolutionary. It is likely that they interpreted the problems far too simply, and they failed to see Thurman society had changed.The Senate also failed to see these changes and reacted to the Graphics actions in the only way they could – violence. The senate felt threatened by the Graphics methods, and as a result violence was used for the first time in Roman politics. In order to understand why the Karachi attempted to solve these problems, one must examine the circumstances of Rome at the time, as well as the background of the two brothers. After the Second Punic War, the Senate became the supreme power and as a result, many changes occurred throughout Rome.Most notably, the ruling Oligarchy (specifically the nobles) abused their power, caring more for their own eternal interests and Gloria than the welfare of the republic. As a result major problems occurred throughout Rome. Serious economic social problems occurred, both rural and urban, causing grave distress among many Roman citizens. There was a military crisis, with lack of eligible recruits for the legions, aggravated by the Spanish and Sicilian wars. There was tension in the oligarchy between leading factions (Claudia / Compression and the Copies) as they struggled for political superiority.And amongst all these problems was the failure of the ruling nobility within the senate to deal w ith these problems. In order to determine the significance of both Karachi, one must examine both Tuberous' and Gauss' actions and the effects they had at the time. In 133, Tuberous Gracious attempted to solve Romeos problems, specifically the land crisis. He introduced the Leg Agrarian, a bill for land reform, which proposed that a commission of three people should allocate small holdings of land owned by the state (eager publics) to landless citizens.The bill was met with great controversy, however, it wasn't the content of the bill that provoked the reaction, rather the means with which it was proposed. As Stockton notes â€Å"It ceased to be a struggle about the rights and wrongs of a particular land bill and became a fundamental question about the true nature of Roman politics†. Tuberous met great opposition to the bill itself because the ruling Nobles were those benefiting the most from the current situation. Therefore, Tuberous used his tribune in an unprecedented mann er, and in proposing his bill, bypassed the senate going directly to the continuum plebes.Whilst technically legal, this action threatened the senate's guitarists and dignities, and their superiority with regards to legislation and matters concerning the state. Tuberous also went further in his provocation of the senate by deposing Octavo's after the senate attempted to use Octavo's to veto Tuberous' land bill. Again, Tuberous was perfectly within legal constraints, claiming that since the Job of a tribune was to represent the people, he had done nothing illegal, and was Justified in deposing Octavo's because Tuberous believes he failed to do so.Previously, Tribunes such as which Tuberous proposed his bill (as well as Gauss' services), it became possible to use tribunes as instruments of change, undermining the traditional powers of the senate s well as providing potential for ambitious men to promote their own political careers. As Seculars notes, â€Å"the original function of th e tribunes had been to protect the people against patrician domination, but this need had long passed and they had become useful agents for the nobility, often using their veto to check the popular assemblies†.Whilst Tuberous was eventually killed by the senate before he could pass his three other revolutionary reforms, Tuberous was an incredibly powerful tribune, and as Cicero notes â€Å"was not a mere plaything of oligarchic government†. As stated y Cicero, â€Å"Tuberous Gracious shattered the stability of the state†. It is also important to note that Tuberous Gracious laid the groundwork for his brother Gauss to achieve considerable success. In the year 123, Gauss Gracious became tribune, and took over his brother's quest to solve the problems that plagued Rome at the time.However, Gauss learned from his brother's mistakes in releasing that in order to overcome the senate's opposition, he would have to gain far more support than his brother Tuberous did, app ealing to the classes of the equities, allies and plebs. Gauss was also a superb orator, which is articulacy pertinent in the example of his speech to the senate, where as Plutarch notes, â€Å"he roused the people's emotions with sentiments and he possessed a powerful voice and spoke with overwhelming conviction†.Gauss Gracious covered a broader area than his brother did, dealing with the subject of the Italian and Latin allies. Gauss attempted to further the Agrarian settlements initiated by Tuberous, to relieve the suffering of the urban unemployed and poor, to reduce the power of the ruling nobility and to resolve the increasing discontent of the Latin and Italian allies y offering them Roman citizenship. All the above-mentioned laws in one way or another, weakened or undermined the power of the senate.The harshest law in this respect was the Leg Cilia, which highlighted the Senate's corruption and incompetence. According to Plutarch the law â€Å"more than any other red uced the power of the senate† and formed the basis for the struggle over law courts which was to continue in future years. Gauss also introduced the Equestrian class as a third political force, which would further balance the government and weaken the power f the senate, and within ten years of the Graphics death they would ally themselves with either the senate or the people for their own political gain.Gauss also dealt with the increasing discontent of the Italian and Latin Allies by offering them Roman citizenship. This proposal was vetoed by Lives Drugs (a tribune who was used by the senate to outbid Gauss for the support of the people) and opposed by a large section of society; the Nobles feared that this would jeopardize their control of the assemblies, whilst the equities wanted to avoid giving any advantages to their Italian commercial rivals.Although this law ended up unsuccessful in the short term, the long term effects of this resulted in the Allies becoming more aw are of their rights which would then lead to a war in which the outcome had Latin and Italian Allies receiving Roman citizenship. Measures, the passing of the USC (senates consult ultimatum) which was the first time violence was officially used as a political weapon. This became the start of violence in Roman politics, being used more frequently by the senate when they had no other means to resort to, and would drastically change the nature of Roman politics for the years to come.After Tuberous' and Gauss' deaths, the consequences of their actions were still in effect, most notable in the example of Marcus and Usual. The lowering of property qualifications in Gauss' reforms led to the rise of a professional army creating a nexus between the land, army and the commander. Soldiers no longer became dependent on the state for land grants, but on their commander. This led to commanders such as Marcus and Usual commanding powerful armies with political weight.Marcus however can be conside red a better example as Marcus used the precedent set by the Karachi to initiate his own reforms, particularly once again awakening the hold of senatorial aristocracy on Roman politics. By examining the Karachi and their accomplishments, it becomes apparent that the Graphics most significant contribution to Rome was recognizing the flaws in the Republic, particularly the senate and its reliance on the notions of Moms Moratorium.The Karachi set out to expose these weaknesses, as well as attempting to solve many of Romeos largest problems, as a result of the senate's inactivity, selfishness and negligence. This resulted in the Senate's hostile reaction to the Karachi, which therefore allowed the Karachi to make revolutionary changes to the face of Roman elitist, as a direct and indirect result of their actions, including the notion of a tribune as an instrument of initiative and reform, and more importantly, the introduction of violence in Roman politics.

Proposal for Library System

ACLC College Balanga City, Bataan CAPSTONE PROJECT TITLE PROPOSAL In Partial Fulfillment of the Program Requirements In Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Proposed Start Date: Anticipated Date of Graduation: Engr. Carmencita O. Savella Thesis Adviser 1. Tentative Thesis Title: This needs to be succinct, reflecting the appropriate scope of work you are undertaking.For instance, â€Å"Investigations in the Applications of XML† is so broad as to be meaningless, â€Å"Using XML for Data Representation† is a little more focused but is still too broad, but â€Å"Using XML for Data Representation in Financial Service Brokerage Systems† might be reasonable, and â€Å"Comparing XML Data Representation to Traditional Data Representation in Financial Services Brokerage Systems† would be much more appropriate. At this point, consider your title a working title, since changes in direction along the way will affect the results you finally achieve. 2. A bstractDescribe, in one or two sentences, what the central theme, or thesis, of this project is to be. Then, in only two or three paragraphs, give a summary of what you hope your project will show, what technologies are relevant, and what your approach is. 3. Thesis Project Description In this section, elaborate on the summary above. This gives you a chance to describe how background work you have already done in narrowing down your thoughts to a thesis topic of a reasonable scope. Include references to material you have used to help you define this proposal (use the References section to give a complete description of the references).Begin by describing the context in which this project is being done. This includes relevant course work, research sources, your own background and readiness for the topic, other research that is like yours or upon which your project is based (use references if need be). Next, describe how you will approach the project and related implementation work. F or instance, you can give a description of background information you have already gathered, and other sources you expect to tap into.Then describe the implementation vehicle (for instance, an application you will build) that will either illustrate your thesis or form the core of your demonstration. If you have any preliminary requirements or design information (including object models, data models, algorithms) describe them here. This chapter should cover the following: †¢ Background of the project †¢ Comparison of your approach to other approaches †¢ A description of the application or software components that will be written as part of the project †¢ A brief description of your technology choicesToo often, a student will present a diagram showing a set of tiers, such as Presentation, 3 Business Logic and Data Access. This is usually accompanied by text that explains the well-known purpose of each tier. While this is a useful way to organize one's implementatio n that is supported by many platforms, there are two problems with this diagram as â€Å"the architecture for my system†. First, most people who use this don't include a single word on the diagram that refers to any specific feature of the application; that is, the diagram is application-independent. An nalogy is that of a housing architect sending you a model for your new house that shows four tiers: a foundation, two floors with walls, and the roof. What you really need to see are diagrams that show how the house fits into its surroundings and the elements of the house and their relationships to one another – the style of the doors and windows, the location of rooms, stairs, hallways, and so on, so that you can imagine how you might live in the house. Second, although these multi-tier diagrams have been around and are available from many sources, no citation of the source used is present.So you need to think carefully about the major functional components of the appl ication you're building from a user perspective (e. g. , a Customer Information Service, an Order Subsystem, a Business Rule Interpreter) and also indicate how these components depend on one another. Only then can you convey to a potential user what the system will do when it's built and how you are planning to design and stage the implementation. 4 Work Plan In this chapter, describe what your overall work plan is.Be as specific as you can as to how the parts of your project work will come together so that you and your thesis director can make better decisions about changes as new information comes to light. 4. 1 Assumptions, Risks and Alternatives Describe the development environment you require (language, OS, system) and other tools you expect to use. Also describe any assumptions you have made about what it will take to finish your work. Describe the risks you now see as inherent in your work and alternatives you might have to take to ameliorate these risks (e. g. , project scop e and alternatives for scope reduction) 4. Preliminary Schedule Give a breakdown of the activities that lead to completion of major milestones in your work, and give rough time estimates for completing these activities. These should be at the level of detail of 2-4 weeks each. 5 Glossary You should not assume that all readers are familiar with the technology or terminology referred to in your thesis proposal. This section should include definitions of major terms and an explanation of acronyms. 6 References Be sure to adhere to the format for references in the Thesis Guide. Also, use the proper format for citations of references in the document.