Scoping report for the earthquakes in New Madrid, and Fulton City, Missouri

Introduction Earthquakes are not a new phenomenon in the U.S.: numerous parts of the country experience them. They are cause stress accumulation in the underground rocks. The accumulation of this stress is a clear indication of the slow but constant movement of the earth’s outermost rocky layers.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Scoping report for the earthquakes in New Madrid, and Fulton City, Missouri specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These are large sections of which move about earth as tectonic plates. The collision or grinding of adjacent plates leads to stressing of rocks. This stress is then released to the earth’s surface in the form of sudden shifts. Consequently, plate boundaries are the primary breeding ground for earthquakes. Earthquakes have many effects. They can cause deaths, injuries, and damages to buildings and other structures. They may lead to a wide range of long term economic or social impacts. As such, they should be addressed with a proportionate measure of seriousness and concern. Governments should use the past as a lesson on addressing any future occurrences of these disasters. This report examines the scope of the earthquake phenomenon in New Madrid and Fulton city, Missouri. Earthquakes in New Madrid: When did it all begin? The winter of 1811-12 was not an average humdrum winter to the residents of New Madrid. If anyone had been keen to record the events of that season, the manuscript would probably have been rejected as being just too fanciful for compelling fiction. In deed, seismologists call it the greatest release of seismic energy is so short a time ever witnessed and recorded by human beings. A few individual earthquakes have been bigger. In a few instances perhaps they have been more numerous within a short span. However, never so many were so big in so short a time (Braile et al., 1982). The drastic events that took place on December 16, 18 16 indicate that catastrophic earthquakes do not occur in the western [parts of the United States alone. In the last two and half decades, seismologists have come to learn that strong earth quakes that occur in the central Mississippi Valley are not mere events but have occurred repeatedly throughout the geologic past.Advertising Looking for report on geology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This area has come to be known as the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) (Pratt, 2009). The zone occupies the southeastern part of Missouri and the southern part of Illinois. The NMSZ consists of a number of thrust faults stretching from Marked Tree in Arkansas, to Cairo in Illinois. Earthquakes that occur in the eastern or central parts of the United States are worse than those of similar magnitude in the western parts. For instance, an earth quake that occurred in San Francisco, California in 1906 had some magnitude of 7.8 measured on the Ri chter scale. It was experienced some 350 miles away in the center of Nevada. However, an earthquake of almost a similar magnitude that occurred in New Madrid on December of 1811 went to the extent of ringing bells in Boston, a city that is 1000 miles away from the epicenter. Such geographical disparities in the east and west are caused by the Rocky Mountains. The large earthquakes, which occur in the region notably, affect the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The closest areas that are also affected by the zone earthquakes are Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois (Weznger 213). The southwestern parts of Indiana and the northwestern Mississippi have also declared to receive extraordinary shaking from the region’s strong earthquakes. The latest New Madrid fault system covers an area of 120 miles, cutting across the Mississippi River, as well as Ohio River (Braile et al., 1982). Geology of New Madrid Seismic Zone The New Madrid Seismic Zone is found in the northern region of Miss issippi embayment. The latter is a broad trough full of marine sedimentary rocks that are dated 50-100 million years ago. The top 30 meters of sediment that is in the embayment comprise of sand, silt, and clay. They were deposited by Rivers Mississippi, White, Ohio, and St. Francis. The NMSZ is composed of faults that were experienced when the area currently referred to as North America broke up. This occurrence occurred approximately 750 million years ago (Penick, 2001).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Scoping report for the earthquakes in New Madrid, and Fulton City, Missouri specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main cracks formed resulted to the present faults that are found in the zone. The magma that was pushed from inside the rocks came at the surface and formed themselves into igneous rocks. The rift that was formed when the earth was splitting off remained as a region of weakness underneath the earth su rface. Later, yet another unsuccessful rifting trial left the area weaker than before, hence, creating more faults. The second occurrence of unsuccessful rifting occurred approximately 200 million years ago (Pratt, 2009). The reel foot rift was realized because of geological structures that emerged after every rifting attempt. The large rocks that are found underneath the earths surface in New Madrid are feared to be mechanically weaker than most of other parts of North America, due to the past fault that were created. Chart 1. The geology of New Madrid Seismic Zone Source: Tuttle, M., Associates. (2011). ‘The geology of NMSZ’. The underneath weaknesses, together with the effects of stronger rocks, allow the east west condensed forces to reinforce the old faults. Although there are several rifts that are experienced in most parts of North America, not all of them are associated with the modern types of earthquakes that occur in the area.Advertising Looking for report on geology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For instance, the mid-continent rift system that starts from Minnesota and ends in Kansas may not be associated with any earthquake, as other processes may add to mechanical stress on the already existing faults (Braile et al., 1982). Some of the local processes that are suspected to cause earthquakes are downward pulling from underneath rocks that are below the fault. Other incidences include bending of the lithosphere because of continental glaciers melting. The earthquake experiences: a ground for further investigations Several suggestions are made concerning the heating that happen in the lithosphere, may result in making the big rocks inside more plastic. This heating may cause the concentration of compression force in the shallow underneath regions, where the faulting happens. There is also a model that describes local stress to happen because of a change in the passage of the mantle below the New Madrid Seismic Zone, due to sinking Carillon Plate. There are three types of tre nds realized when epicenters of modern earthquakes are presented in the form of a map. The first system of a trend is referred to as general northeast southwest. This trend is parallel to the drift of the Reel foot Rift in part of Arkansas. The second system of the trend is called southeast to northwest. This drift is experienced at the southwest part of New Madrid. The third system of a trend is known as northeast to northwestern. It extends to the farthest end of the Reel foot Fault (Penick, 2001). The New Madrid Seismic Zone recorded four of the largest earthquakes that have happened in North America. They were big earthquakes believed to be as large as 8.0. The largest earthquakes that were first experienced in this zone occurred between 1811 and 1812. The New Madrid Sequence is the overall effect of all the earthquakes that happened during that period. It has been always a challenge to measure the effect of one earthquake. The magnitude approximates and epicenters are based on the results of historical records, and this may vary from one period to the other. Earthquakes in the past or the recent ones that have happened for the last 10000 years have been caused by faults, which are not always micro seismically active. According to some of the researches done, it is evident that quiet faults are at times dangerous than the active ones. High built up stress blocks both sides of the fault, hence hindering the occurrence of micro seismic earthquakes. This process happens before the major rupture of the fault happens; investigations are still ongoing to define whether such types of faults do happen in New Madrid Seismic Zone (Weznger, 2010). Further investigations are required to proof, as it would be hard to locate such incidences. For the last 10000 years, people in this zone felt more than two thousand quakes. Crude seismograph instruments were used to detect these quakes, and most journalists managed to record these events in personal journals (Pratt, 2009) . In the central United States, rocks that are found there are hard, cold, and dry. The presence of such rocks makes earthquake in this region to be strong than the earthquakes that happen in California as well as in other areas. The earthquakes, which happen within the New Madrid Seismic Zone, cause damages, which are approximately 20 times larger than in other areas (Penick, 2001). The measurement challenge For many years, it has been a great challenge to estimate the recurrence of earthquake. With approximate locations, time and dates, and the size, it would be capable to provide a rough estimate of recurrence interval (Nixon, 2009)). Currently, some pale seismologists have provided people with information that two or more earthquakes of seven or more magnitude were experienced in the last 2000 years. They used some information to come up with a recurrence interval estimate of 3000 to 1000 years. It was estimated that, after 100 years, the New Madrid Seismic Zone would experience an earthquake of magnitude more than 6. These 100 hundred years were to be calculated since 1812, but this time has already elapsed. The estimates are not always accurate, and that is one of the major issues, which require further investigations. Effects of the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes The 1811-1812 earthquakes in the New Madrid Seismic Zone had many effects. The most obvious of these include sandy blows. These were due to the upsurge of water and sand to the ground surface. This phenomenon is known as earthquake-induced liquefaction (see chart below). This is the process by which a saturated soil substantially loses its power and strength due to a stress that is applied to it by an earthquake shaking. This makes the soil to act like a liquid. Soil liquefaction leads to a number of cascading hazards such as floods, landslides, and river debris (Tuttle Associates, 2011). During the 1811-12 earthquakes, sand blows formed over an extremely large area measuring about 10, 400 s quare kilometers. The effects of these were experienced 200km away in the northeastern part of the NMSZ. Even today, sand blows are visible in the New Madrid region. They appear as sandy patches that have a light color in cultivated fields. Chart 2. Sand blows and the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812. Source: Tuttle, M., Associates. (2011). ‘Sand blows and the New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-12’. Recent earthquakes of medium magnitude have led to loss of lives and destruction of property worth billions of dollars. For instance, in Northridge, California, an earth quake of magnitude 6.7 led to the death of 33 residents, and destruction of property worth $20 billion. In the following year, an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 occurred in Kobe, Japan killing 5, 500 people and destroying property valued at $100 billion (Penick, 2001). These statistics indicate that there is a need for the inhabitants of New Madrid Seismic Zone to be prepared in case an earthquake of such med ium magnitude happens in the future. This is because earthquakes of medium magnitude are likely to occur than those of great magnitude. In deed, seismologists approximate the likelihood of the occurrence of an earthquake that is of magnitude 6.0 or greater within the next 50 years ranges from 25% to 40% (Weznger, 2010). If such a disaster happens, it is bound to affect more people than the incident that occurred on December 1811. This is because the population of the central Mississippi Valley was smaller compared to the current one consisting of millions of people. In addition, the calamity is likely to be dangerous because many structures in the area were not designed to withstand earthquakes as is the case in areas that are more seismic active such as California (Pratt, 2009). Earthquakes in Fulton, Missouri Chart 3. Welcome sign of Fulton City, MO Source: Citi-Data.com. (2011). ‘Welcome to Fulton signs’. Retrieved from http://www.city-data.com/picfilesv/picv25526.p hp Fulton is the largest city in the Kingdom of Callaway County. As of 2009, it population stood at 12, 814. According to the 2000 census, the average household income is $32, 625. Callaway water district provides a lot of employment opportunities for the residents of Fulton City. Other institutions that are of economic value to the city include Fulton State Hospital and Missouri School for the Deaf. According to the 2000 census, the average household income is $32, 625 (City of Fulton, MO., 2011). Geology of Fulton. The city is situated on a low-lying land. Missouri River is the defining physical feature in Mid-Missouri, and it surrounds the southwester border of Callaway County. There are three dominant soil types in the Callaway County. These are alluvium, sandy clay, and clay loam till soils (Chalfant, 2008). Just like the rest of Missouri County, the weather patterns in Missouri are not constant. There are both extremes of temperature. The county has experienced a number of na tural hazards in the history of its existence. These include floods, severe weather conditions, tornadoes, and hail. In the recent past, the most memorial natural hazard that took occurred in this county is the Flood of 1993. This flood affected a large portion of Missouri State causing a lot of damage on commercial properties, public facilities, transportation, as well as agriculture. The geology of Fulton is similar to that of the central region of the U.S. It consists of cold, dry and less fractured rocks. Although the probability of an earthquake is not high as in the case of New Madrid, any occurrence of the same will be more hazardous than it would have been the case in other regions such as California. In the recent past, a number of earthquakes have been recorded in the area. On July 31, 2005, an earthquake of magnitude 3.3 was experienced 43 miles from the city center. On March 30, 2001, an earthquake of magnitude 3.1 was felt 98 miles from Fulton City center (Citi-Data.com , 2011). The above statistics indicate that the risk of, although the magnitude of earthquakes occurring in the city may be small and do mot occur in the city centre, there is a high probability of such occurrences in the future. Nevertheless, the occurrence of earthquakes in Fulton is way below that of the entire Missouri state. However, this does not imply that the phenomenon is not an issue of concern to the city. Although earthquakes in this area have not been very destructive in the past as compared to that in New Madrid, any occurrence of earthquakes in this region can destroy the Callaway Nuclear Facility, hence cutting off the livelihoods of many residents who work in it (American Services, 2011). Summary of main findings Earthquakes are always occurring, with some being too small to be felt while others are large enough to cause irreparable damages. On average, major earthquakes happen once in a year. This will depend on the location of a place on the planet. However, more seismic active areas like the New Madrid Seismic Zone have high risks of experiencing hazardous earthquakes than other areas in the state of Missouri. This high probability is of great concern to Fulton city as it predisposes the latter to this risk. The duration of earthquakes is generally short compared to other hazards such as floods. It could be minutes, or even seconds. The main earthquake event lasts for a short duration. The foreshocks and aftershocks linked with a single geological shift can be detected weeks before or months later. This was the case with the December 1811-12 earthquakes that span for a period of three months until March the following year. The amount of destruction that results from an earthquake depends on several factors, one of them is strength. Earthquakes vary remarkably in their power. Some can be barely felt while others can knock one off their feet or buildings off their foundation. There are two principal methods of measuring earthquakes. These are the Richter scale and Mercalli Scale. The Richter scale is more famous than the Mercalli scale. It was formulated in 1935 by Charles F. Richter, a seismologist. The scale indicates ground motion in an earthquake. Its values range from 0 to 9 (see appendix). However, theoretically, the range can be higher. The numbers are logarithmic, implying that each whole number is ten times greater than the preceding whole number. For instance, the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 were of magnitude (Heatwole, 2011). The second scale, the Mercalli scale, was developed in 1902 by Giuseppe Mercalli. The scale measures the intensity or violence of an earthquake in terms of damage caused to human-built structures. It is expressed by a series of Roman numerals ranging from I to XII (see appendix). An increase in the scale implies an incr4ease in intensity of the violence caused by the earthquake. Going by this scale, the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 were so intense such that the Mississippi Riv er changed its course, and an island in the river disappeared (Feldman, 2005). In addition, new land arose, forests were cleared, and the ground rolled in visible waves that swept houses away, gardens, and fields. Nevertheless, few people perished during the incident due to the fact the area was sparsely populated then (Missouri Department of Natural Resources, 2011). Mitigating the risks of earthquakes: Prevention is better than cure The decision for mitigation of lifelines against seismic hazard is a quite complex issue as different institutions such as government, local authorities, lifeline companies, or the insurance industry are involved. In addition, the decision is further complicated since it is based on the results of the seismic risk assessment of lifelines which include various uncertainties owing to seismic hazard, vulnerability, performance, and loss estimation. Considering that earthquakes are a natural phenomenon little can be done to adjust the natural events system . As such, any mitigation efforts should be directed to human use systems (Balassanian, 2000). A number of practices can be handy in the mitigation of earth quakes. These include regulation of land use, education of the population about possible extreme events, as well as outfitting infrastructure tom meet local building codes. The readability of structures to withstand stress caused by earthquakes can be. Soil liquefaction caused by earthquakes can be mitigated through the installation of drains or use of deep, resistant pillars in construction (Keith Petely, 2009). Conclusion This report has explored the earthquake in Fulton and New Madrid. It is evident that these two are at a great risk of experiencing an earthquake in the near future. However, the frequency of another big earthquake in New Madrid or Fulton areas of Missouri is debatable. Nevertheless, the undeniable reality is that the region has a high seismic action. There is a need for education programs to enlighten the re sidents on the precaution measures that are highly required in the event of an earthquake. In addition, buildings in these two areas should take into account the vulnerability of the regions. As such, they should be enhanced by use of smart designs along with appropriate materials such as steel and reinforced-concrete. If history is anything to go by, residents of these areas should not throw caution to the wind as far as earthquake mitigation is concerned. They should take the appropriate measure to avoid a repeat of the events December 1811-12. Although an earthquake is a purely natural phenomenon, prevention is of prominence in these earthquake-prone areas. As they say, prevention is better than cure, or even, to be for-warned is to be for-armed. References American Services. (2011). Callaway Plant Profile. Web. Balassanian, S., et al. (2000). Earthquake hazard and seismic risk reduction. Berlin: Springer. Braile, L., et al. (1982). ‘An ancient rift complex and its relation to contemporary seismicity in the New Madrid Seismic Zone’, Tectonics, Vol. 1. Chalfant, M. (2008). Soil Survey of Callaway County Missouri. Web. Citi-Data.com. (2011). ‘Missouri’. Retrieved from http://www.city-data.com/city/Fulton-Missouri.html City of Fulton, MO. (2011). ‘Demographics’. Retrieved from http://fultonmo.org/about-us/demographics/ Feldman, J. (2005). When the Mississippi ran backwards: empire, intrigue, murder, and the New Madrid earthquakes. New York: Simon and Schuster. Heatwole, C. (2011). Geography for dummies. London: Wiley Sons. Keith S., Petely, D. (2009). Environmental hazards- assessing risk and reducing disaster, 5th ed. Michigan: Routledge. Missouri Department of Natural Resources (2011). Web. Nixon, J. (2009). â€Å"Facts about the New Madrid Seismic Zone.† Natural Resources. Web. Penick, J. L. (2001). The New Madrid earthquakes. Missouri: University of Missouri Press. Pratt, T. L. (2009) ‘How old is the NM SZ’. Web. Tuttle, M., Associates. (2011). ‘The geology of NMSZ’. Web. Weznger, B. (2010). The New Madrid Seismic Zone: Whose fault is it anyway? New York: Bibliogov. This report on Scoping report for the earthquakes in New Madrid, and Fulton City, Missouri was written and submitted by user GwenStacy to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Infographic How to Apply for College, Step by Step

Infographic How to Apply for College, Step by Step SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The college application process can be a long and difficult journey for high school students. Organizing your application materials well in advance and paying attention to deadlines is critical. You should also start researching colleges earlier rather than later so that you can account for each school's specific application requirements. In this infographic, I've broken down the actions you need to take to be prepared for college applications starting at the beginning of your junior year through to your senior spring. Applying to collegeisn't as intimidating as it might seem! There are certain basic steps you will need to take beginning in your junior year. Ideally, you should take the SAT or ACT for the first time your junior fall to give yourself plenty of time to improve your scores before you apply to college. The early to middle part of junior year is also the best time to begin researching colleges. This ties into potentially retaking the SAT or ACT if you find that the colleges that interest you are looking for higher scores. In the spring of your junior year, it's a good idea to ask teachers if they are willing to write recommendation letters for you. Asking for letters early on will ensure that the teachers you've chosen are on board, and the letters themselves may turn out better since your teachers will have more time to think about what they want to say. In the summer before senior year, you can make your final college list and start looking at the specific requirements for each school. This is also a good time to prep for your last chance at standardized tests and begin thinking about your college essay. You should write a first draft of your essay in the summer so that you won't have to worry too much about it during the school year. When you're trying to fill out applications and manage your classes at the same time, the essay can seem like an overwhelming responsibility. Once your senior year starts, you should submit formal requests for recommendation letters to the teachers who agreed to write them for you in the spring. If you're planning on taking the SAT or ACT one last time, your final chance will be in October or November if you're applying early decision. Most early action and early decision applications are due by November 15th, and you will get back the decisions about a month later in mid-December. Regular decision applications are typically due around January 1st, but colleges have different policies for how late you can submit your SAT or ACT scores. Often, students are permitted to submit scores from tests taken as late as February, but make sure to look up schools individually to see what's allowed. You should be notified about the status of your regular decision applications by late March.All that's left after that is to choose your favorite college out of the schools where you were accepted. This might be the hardest part of the whole process (but in a good way)! What's Next? Are you interested in highly competitive colleges? Find out more about the most selective schools and how to ensure that you have the best chance of being accepted. If you're struggling to start writing your college essay, read this article to learn which prompt you should choose and how you can being the brainstorming process. Extracurricular activities will be an important aspect of your college application. Find out more about extracurriculars and why you should have them! Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Psychology - Essay Example They encounter serious kinds of attacks frequently while some overcome them with consummate ease, depending upon the nature of stress one has to go through over a period of time. Workplace stress also entails within it issues of anxiousness at work whereby it is regarded as another kind of mental anomaly, which tears down the mind and the body in a number of different ways. Workplace stress leads to different kinds of depressions within oneself on top. The employees start feeling alienated with the tasks and feel their bodies having all forms of aches every now and so often. These people also comprehend the pressures from their job settings which in reality are of a normal nature and have little bearing on them in the real sense. The pressure-exertion effect makes them feel more stressed at the end of the day, which then again is a very perilous thing. Workplace stress can be reduced when employees know that the task they are putting their best energies at, are worth the shot and in the end, the same will help them to grow exponentially. In fact they must be apprised of their hard work and the rewards that they get. This is indeed a nice gesture which means a lot on the part of the hard working and committed employees and workers (Harmon 2003). The hard working employees should balance their work commitments with their physical and mental needs as 100 percent commitment can only be made possible when there is zest and enthusiasm from within and not when a person is made to do one thing or the other by force or against his wishes. The reason why one should believe this approach will work is because in the initial sense, it will build a strong rapport between the firm and its employees and also it will convey a strong message that the organization does not compromise on the needs of the employees who are working for it day in day out just for having that extra bit of work completed by them (Bergman 2003). It also means that the organization is thorough and profes sional in its approach and is not willing to surrender in a rat race when the talk goes out loud of competing within the relevant industry or even with companies just for the sake of nothing but competition. The intensity within organizations is pretty much understandable but the madness should not be substituted on the part of the employees and getting work done out of them so that the figures could be reached and new records could be broken within the shortest possible time is nothing but insanity to say the least. Other useful workplace stress removing remedies are accounted for in the form of exercising regularly, having an intake of healthy diet, taking proper sleep, developing trustworthy social support regimes and more than anything else enjoying quality family time (Linton 2000). The physical and psychological implications thus have direct and serious effects on the way the employees look after their work tasks and thus the bottom line remains all jammed up for a number of r easons – most of which are related with stress in one way or the other. It is true to state that workplace stress affects employees at all levels which could include the physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioral stages. The physical indications entail the speech difficulties and complexities, headaches, ulcers, infertility issues, fatigue and sudden weight loss and

Significance Of Teamwork In Organizational Competitiveness Case Study - 1

Significance Of Teamwork In Organizational Competitiveness - Case Study Example Members of the teams benefit from knowledge sharing, which is important in career development and workplace learning. Teams may or may not be effective depending on their formation and leadership. Successful teamwork is characterized by a high team spirit in which every member is contented and willing to take part in accomplishing the tasks. Moreover, the employees working in a successful team tend to be enthusiastic about identifying with it. They also demonstrate loyalty to its leadership as well as among each other, as well as a willingness to work together. Everyone is usually focused on the accomplishment of a shared vision and owns the goals of the team. For this reason, organizations that promote strong teamwork are able to maintain competitiveness by offering effective services to the customers. Beardwell & Holden (2001) observe that customers are attracted to an organization in which they are served in a similar manner regardless of the staff member that deals with them. This paper presents a critique of the view that teamwork is always positive. It highlights U.S and UK organizations that exhibit teamwork in the workforce. It also compares these organizations with others that operate in the international markets Many organizations engage in projects targeted at particular target segments in the market and hence the strategies for the accomplishment of particular organizational goals need to be understood by all the people involved among the workforce. For example, if an organization has engaged 12 people as marketing representatives, it is important for them to work as a marketing team that is composed of employees with similar objectives.

Being young is just difficult Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Being young is just difficult - Essay Example Since its publication in 2007, Beah’s book has gained significant popularity given that there are a lot of meanings as well as lessons that can be drawn from it. It is not just a story about childhood of a young man who lived in a certain place and certain situation; it is an example of a real story where children are seen to be converted to act like killing machines where the orders to kill people are driven by the owners of these machines and drugs are used as the catalyst to fuel the situation. This particular kind of situation happened to many children in Sierra Leone and the author of this book, Ishmael Beah, personally experienced it. This can happen anywhere else other than Sierra Leone in as far as humanity is absent. This book describes the difficulties faced by young people who are forced to be part of the fight against tyranny by those in authority. This is despite the fact that they are still young and still need to be carefully looked after by their parents.

Quality Care In The NHS

Quality Care In The NHS 1. What is meant by quality in the phrase quality of care? Quality, broadly speaking, is a subjective measure of excellence and when applied to health care, quality can be understood as systems and provisions of care said to be free from defects, deficiencies, and significant variations. Within the NHS, this encompasses the provision of high quality primary, secondary and community care in which the interests of patients are protected through a comprehensive set of nationally aligned policies. Lord Darzi defines quality of care as clinically effective, personal and safe. How is this achieved? Within the NHS, quality is achieved through robust regulation, inspection, standard setting, change management, community and patient advocacy, alongside continual assessment of clinical competency (Leatherman and Sunderland, 2003). Quality is about effectiveness of care, from the clinical procedure the patient receives to their quality of life after treatment. The Equity and excellence: Liberat ing the NHS white papers assertion is that to achieve our ambition for world-class healthcare outcomes, the service must be focused on outcomes and quality standards that deliver them. Leatherman S, Sutherland K, (2003) The quest for quality in the NHS: a mid term evaluation of the ten year quality agenda. London: The Stationery Office, 2. In 2008, the Department of Health published the report High quality care for all: NHS Next Stage Review final report. 30 June 2008. (a) Please summarise the main approaches to improving quality proposed by the report (b) compare and contrast these approaches to those described in Gwyn Bevans editorial (quoted from above). The Department of Health report approaches improving quality by: High Quality Care for All proposes that all providers of NHS healthcare services should produce a Quality Account: an annual report to the public about the quality of services delivered. The Health Act 2009 places this requirement onto a statutory footing. Stringent regulation from bodies with increased statutory powers. The Care Quality Commission will have new enforcement powers. NICE will be expanded to set and approve more independent quality standards. New Quality Observatories will be established in every NHS region to inform local quality improvement efforts Strategic health authorities will have a new legal duty to promote innovation. This will be twinned with a portal to share evidence-based, best practice among clinicians and other NHS staff. Devolvement of power to ensure the involvement of clinicians in decision making at every level of the NHS. The introduction of medical directors and quality boards feature at regional and national level Increasing patient information and choice will be introduced in the first NHS Constitution. Patient information will include the systematically measure and publish information about the quality of care from the frontline up. Individualisation will become the key to the way in which patients are handled with a personalised care plan. Noting that one size doesnt fit all. Incentivisation of care outcomes will include a new best practice tariff and the paper suggests this will make funding reflect quality of care. Partnership will be embraced, utilising local authorities, with the services offered personalised to meet the specific needs of their local populations Prevention not just treatment will be paramount with focus on improving health as well as treating sickness. Bevans editorial evaluates the internal market systems that have been tested within the NHS according to the Audit Commission and the Health Care Commissions paper Is treatment working? Suggesting that despite the core intention of the internal market models to improve quality and efficiency of services for patients, as Black insists, there is little evidence to suggest that this has resulted from past models or alternatively the scrapping of the internal market when Labour came to power in 1997; i.e. formation of foundation trusts, increased commissioning autonomy, patient choice or the incentivisation of health outcomes (payment by results). The NHS internal market models aimed to keep healthcare costs low by forcing providers to compete for patients not compete on the basis of quality. A stark contrast in rhetoric is seen in the proposals that are raised in the report, where marketization is the key driver of systemic improvement in quality of care. The High quality care for all: NHS Next Stage Review final report shows the need for a more market-orientated strategy: a patient choice-led approach to hospital funding, the removal of barriers preventing the use of private health providers to carry out NHS work, and the devolution of management and budgetary control from Whitehall to local communities. It appears reform is circular and the report bears a resemblances to pre-1991 measures where received funding was based on local populations. While the Report is indicative of the need for a tripartite arrangement for achieving quality, with stakeholders as informants and agents for change, Bevan argues that the internal market model proposed, although attractive, relies on the assumptions that purchasers can be effective commissioners and that failing providers will be removed from the market. The centrepiece of the White Paper reforms and Operating Framework is the handing over of decisions on care, treatments and commissioning solely to GPs, ultimately creating a stable internal model where there will be a quality equilibrium. GPs will be burdened with the challenge of acting as a middleman between the patient and provider, ultimately as a gateway to funding and care. They with fundamentally be dismantling the current monopoly of care provision. Their decision making will be accountable to local communities and a board. This new buyer position is thought to remove duplication of population care commissioning and streaml ine decision making to where the Government foresees a natural place to put this responsibility. Propper et al, (2003) noted that in 1991, the Conservatives created a set of buyers, funded by central government, who were free to purchase health care for their populations from both public and private sector suppliers. Public sector suppliers were therefore not given direct funding, but were set to compete with each other, alongside a small private sector, for contracts from these public buyers. The autonomy of Foundation Trusts as buyers, in Bevans opinion, has led to a free market of care with little standardisation, with the private sector benefitting from the poor levels of governance most. Bevanss editorial suggests this may have benefit to the population because so much healthcare cost is driven by decisions that GPs make and should not be guided by ministerial change. Unviable providers will be pushed out of the market by new entrants, creating a self-regulated, internal market. The White Paper suggests there is evidence that health systems work better where budgets and spending power are moved as close to patients as possible. Providers will be paid according to their performance. Furthermore, that a bottleneck on the road to driving the quality agenda is linked to ministerial involvement in the day-to-day running of the NHS. This new public management gives GPs greater autonomy, placed them at arms length from the government, interlinks purchasing and providing functions, and increases competition with quality in mind. GPs will be responsible for all aspects of performance; acting as bureaucratic gatekeepers for all care needs their patients, and potential scapegoa ts for ministerial politicking. As it stands, effectiveness of this system is being hindered by hierarchical bureaucracy and political micromanagement on both a local and national level, including politically driven reforms with each new government. The report suggests the forced autonomy of GP Consortia, comparatively to Bevan whom notes the earned autonomy system, in which, the independent health care inspectorate awarded each NHS provider an annual star rating of zero to three stars. Providers that scored well on the star ratings gain small financial bonuses but win much greater operational freedom, and the ability to apply to become an independent not-for-profit NHS foundation trust status. Autonomy was the incentive as this gave managers more choice. At the other end of the spectrum, providers that score zero stars are placed on special measures, and if progress is not soon forthcoming, their management is replaced. Bevan suggests that measures of Provider performance (cost, equity of access, outcomes, patient satisfaction etc.) have proved difficult to progress forward and that only patients acting as consumers has left a marked change on the system. I think it is questionable whether in the short term, GP buying powers wi ll drive quality in a market in which there are few providers. The 2008 DH report takes note of such and relays the importance of an individualised service in which patient information to inform choice will breed quality. Patient choice and measures of satisfaction will simultaneously puts more pressure on providers to increase performance of measured care outcomes, which in turn become incentivised by cash rewards. They foresee GP consortia, evaluating Services considered to be sub-standard and withdrawing them from service if patient satisfaction and quality care outcomes are not met. Propper, C., Burgess, S., and Gossage, D. (2003).Competition and quality: Evidence from the NHS internal market 1991-1999. Unpublished paper, University of Bristol. 3. As one of the accompanying papers to the White Paper Liberating the NHS, the DH has recently published Transparency in outcomes a framework for the NHS.http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Liveconsultations/DH_117583 Please summarise the main approaches to improving quality proposed by this consultation. The NHS Operating Frame is an accountability framework which should, if followed, ensure that the NHS Commissioning Board works to deliver better healthcare outcomes. This will be through measures that are valid, reliable and sensitive to change, notably evidence-based outcome measures, not process targets. The outcomes and incentives emerging from the frameworks will be organised around 5 national outcome goals /domains that cover all treatment activity for which the NHS is responsible. Outcomes appear to be related to feasibility, cost of improvements and pre-existing data sets. Quality of care as advocated by Lord Darzi in realised in three of the domains; patient experience, safety and effectiveness. The domains fail to include outcomes of access/equity, expediency in service or efficiency, which seems to underlie previous national reforms imposed by the Labour Government in 1997. The Operating Framework fails to identify purposeful ways of addressing deficiencies and poor outcom e performance. Incentives and regulation are suggested but may not be drivers. Each of these five areas will have: outcome indicators improvement areas according to evidence (collected data, patient surveying of experience, etc) Quality standards, developed by NICE, will inform the commissioning of all NHS care and payment systems. Measuring and reporting on outcomes will focus the attention of clinicians and managers on how well they are doing, where the gaps might be between actual performance and the high aspirations of those who use the NHS. I dont believe all the outcomes are necessarily reliable measures of quality. In Domain 2, for example, there is a focus on functional outcomes and qualities of life for long term illness, which may lead to patients to receive care they do not want. A great deal of the outcomes will be developed through incrementalism, for example those related to compassion, dignity and respect as indicators of the quality of care. The measured outcomes should represent the overall quality of healthcare provided by the NHS, as well as being responsive to population need and demand. The outcomes should also be attributable directly to the actions of health care provided within the NHS, to enable accountability. Best practice should be identified and used as a basis for ensuring that the framework itself does not propagate practice that in itself leads, however indirectly, to inequalities. Key to the five high level outcome/domains is the need for a whole system approach in aspiring for complete transparency, effectiveness and patients exercising appropriate choices, alongside a need to balance local priorities. Seven principles underpin the framework which are intended to improve the quality of health care, these are: Balanced between need and demand Accountability and transparency Internationally comparability Patient and clinician centred environments and service delivery. Excellence and equality promotion Adaptability and focus on outcomes that can be forged in partnership with other public services. International comparability The Health Secretary will be able to hold the new independent NHS Commissioning Board to account for securing improved health outcomes, and measuring the outcomes that are most important to patients and healthcare professionals. These will be backed up by authoritative, evidence-based quality standards that will ensure everyone understands how those outcomes can be achieved Based on past experience, what do you think are the likelihoods of success of this latest initiative? Please ensure that you consider these in the context of the likely challenges for the NHS over the next few years. (Please cite references if referring to evidence of the impact of previous initiatives). The attention of policymakers is always firmly fixed on the future and rarely on documented measures of progress to assess the impact of one set of reforms, before the next wave of organizational change. Political values dominate empirical evidence for reform. With such levels of political uncertainty, it is hard to evaluate if in five years time, a general election will lead to a change in leadership and new Health Minister. With this in mind, change often does not necessarily make best use of available resources, skills and knowledge. The direct influence of research evidence on decision making is often tempered by factors such as financial constraints, shifting timescales and decision makers own experiential knowledge (Elliott 1999). With devolvement of power to local government, there is need for a precise balance to be struck between strategies based on choice and competition on the one hand, and local voice and democratization on the other. On its own, I dont think the NHS reforms will create a patient-led system. It is the people, the leaders and staff of the NHS, who will make or break the change process. Central to this, is the way in which the White Paper reforms will radically change the way in with GPs work collaboratively with providers to better the health and social care of the population they serve. Reorganisation will ultimately mean GPs will have to create new organisations and learn new skills. This will take behavioural change that is likely to be unwelcomed, as theres a shift towards increased paperwork and decreased patient time. GPs have shown considerable levels of apathy towards working reforms and changes in service delivery in the past, including contracted hours. For example, previously published opinion has indicated that the medical profession were predominantly opposed to the package of NHS reforms outlined in the Working for Patients and were especially opposed to the administration of hospital s by self-governing trusts (Lister, 1990). GP consortia will be exactly that, self-operating. As the Operating Framework enters its live consultation it will be important to gather evidence as to strength of feeling with which those opinions, either for or against various aspects of the NHS reforms are held. Reform is costly, since managers and other NHS professionals invest a huge amount of time and effort with each re-organization. The NHS faces the need to make cost savings of  £15-20 billion over the next four years. It is faced with the challenge to create better health outcomes with less resources. Moving to the new system, maintaining control of day-to-day services, and implementing these savings is going to require skilled management. This at time when the NHS is shedding much of its management workforce and when managers have been under political attack. Introduced in 2004 as part of the General Medical Services Contract, the QOF is a voluntary incentive scheme for GP practices in the UK, rewarding them for how well they care for patients. the higher the score, the higher the financial reward for the practice. The very suggestion that this was voluntary implies that not everyone welcomed such change. The introduction of a free market, in which providers can tender for supplying a service as opposed to an internal market, could serve to drive efficiency savings and quality of care. However, accountability and patient choice would require considerably management and information sharing across GP consortia. Department of Health. Payment by Results. London: DoH, 2002. 5. One of the differences in the current UK coalition governments approach to improving quality, compared to previous governments, is in the use of targets. Targets are defined by the DH (DH 2004) as: Targets refer to a defined level of performance that is being aimed for, often with a numerical and time dimension. The purpose of a target is to incentivise improvement in the specific area covered by the target over a particular timeframe. List the possible benefits of using targets to improve health/health services and then list the potential disadvantages of using targets. Use examples (either from your experience or from what youve heard on the media) to illustrate your points. On balance, are you for or against publication? The benefits of health/ health services targets include: Supports priority setting Promotes consistency Improves commitment and fosters accountability Guides allocation of resources Milestones for incremental improvements The disadvantages of health/ health services targets include: Priorities may be misdirected and are often politically engineered Not always evidence based Hard to measure/quantify Not always related to health care outcomes Often cost related, not need related. Clouded by bureaucracy Often incentive driven ie pay to treat. One such health target in the Labour Governments Health Policy, the four-hour target, imposed in Accident and Emergency Departments has received mixed reviews. It was just one of a range of centrally imposed standards, most of them designed to speed up treatment. With such a target, volume of patients being treated and the expediency of their treatment is implied to be of greater importance that the quality of care or health outcomes of patients. The Guardian, (2010) reports In opposition Lansley had been critical of the way that targets distorted the behaviour of doctors, saying in the case of AE that people should be treated in relation to the severity of their injury not an arbitrary time limit. 6. The current government is strengthening the role of the regulator. Please summarise the role of the Care Quality Commission (CQC). What challenges do you think the CQC will face over the next few years? In April 2009, as the result of passing of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (2008 Act), the outcome-based regulator, Care Quality Commission (CQC) was officially established. Their primary role is to act as an independent regulator of the quality and capacity of health and adult social care. They are responsible for registering, reviewing and inspecting health, adult social care and mental health services to judge the clinical quality of healthcare. Regulation directly relates to the quality of care experienced by people, so called end users, who use the services and align to the Coalitions vision of a user-centred, integrated service with a strong focus on quality (CDC, 2010). Indeed, when services fail to meet the health and safety legal requirements of their compulsory registration, action against them is taken through strict enforcement powers. In the next few years, as we transition from one governance model to the next, exchanging power to a local level, improvements must be closely aligned to quality and substantial, evidence-based research. Research grants are being cut and it is likely public sector research, including health research, will suffer as result of such austerity. The CDCs broad remit to oversee NHS organisations is not limited to particular service areas or functions, like that of many of the existing regulators. They may find themselves over extending and unable to fully engage with the public in a transparent and meaningful way. As quality of care is embedded to offer assurance and to deliver improvements over time, there is potential for major disruption to be caused by the scale of the change management discussed within the White Paper. The CQCs model of regulation puts user involvement and community level accountability at the core of their actions. Though this is consistent with the changes implied within both the White Paper and Operational Framework, there is still considerable ambiguity surrounded where responsibility will lie across all regulated services, especially with the introduction of GP consortia. Until this is resolved and clarity found, ambiguity will only be escalated by poor engagement of stakeholders and insufficient information dissemination through the crucial transitional points. As patterns of service provision change, consistently identifying providers and commissioners, and then allowing for local communities to hold them to account for the services they provide may prove difficult. Once established within a professional capacity, the CDC will need to be aware of the information on outcomes and how it should be presented in a format that is accessible and meaningful to influence patient choice. Furthermore, in their role as an advocate of patients, as a consumer champion, the CDC will also be required to ensure that people who use services understand the care choices available to them and are involved in making decisions about their own care and support. The CDC (2010) note that Patient and public involvement in health organisation will be strengthened by the creation of HealthWatch England a new independent consumer champion within the Care Quality Commission. As a so called consumer champion, this suggests end user expectations may be heightened. Questions must be asked of how HealthWatch England shall be regulated.

Dialogue and Monologue in the 1798 Lyrical Ballads :: 1798 Lyrical Ballads Bicentennial Essays

Dialogue and Monologue in the 1798 Lyrical Ballads Commemorating the bicentennial of the 1798 Lyrical Ballads implies something about the volume's innovations as well as its continuity. It is no longer possible to believe that 'Romanticism' started here (as I at least was taught in school). Even if we cannot claim 1798 as a hinge in literary history, though, there is something appealing about celebrating the volume's attitude to newness, as well as the less contentious fact of its enduring importance to readers of Romantic-period poetry. What one risks, of course, is the currently ubiquitous accusation that one is repeating the self-representations of an inappropriately authoritative version of Romanticism, as my school-teacher certainly was (though none of us knew it at the time). There is indeed something innately Wordsworthian about the bicentennial, with its celebration of the endurance of a single past event. We recognise this rhetoric of revisitation and futurity: it is the language spoken by the affirming voice of 'Lines writt en above Tintern Abbey', the concluding statement of the 1798 volume. The poem reads rather like the recitation of a liturgy. Wordsworth recollects his own faith by restating it, and in doing so he discovers its truth and its guarantee of continuity: "in this moment there is life and food / For future years" (ll. 65-6). However sceptical readers have become about the Wordsworthian-Coleridgean creed, the monumental quality of the volume is not entirely a figment of a literary history in search of Great Traditions; 'Tintern Abbey' writes its own future—and the future of Lyrical Ballads 1798 as a whole—as well as writing Wordsworth's (and Dorothy's). We may no longer assent to the idea of 1798 as a new beginning, but we still have to accommodate the volume's own assertions about continuity and change. Perhaps the temptation to go on marking the date arises from the presence of these assertions. Even without the extended prefaces of the later editions, the 1798 Lyrical Ballads is a strikingly self-conscious collection. It opens and closes with a pair of manifestos. The 'Advertisement' announces a new poetic practice; 'Tintern Abbey' bears witness to the final achievement of imaginative, moral and domestic security. Together, these two documents act like a set of quotation marks. They frame the stylistic and rhetorical character of the volume as a whole within another kind of voice, instructing, guiding, and (re)assuring. However we choose to take the grand Romantic

‘Blackout’ by Roger Mais Essay

‘Blackout’ is a short story by Roger Mais. It is set in Jamaica and is about racism and the contrast of two different races, sexes and cultures! The story starts off explaining the blackout in the city and the general atmosphere of uncomfortable and tense over the city. At this point the story builds an expectation of some sort of conflict. An American women was waiting at a bus stop. Suprisingly she was not bothered by the darkness, and she was not nervous. A black man slowly approaches her and asks for a light for his cigarette. As she does not have matches she offers her cigarette and as he thanks her she flicks the cigarette away. She does that because she is disgusted that a Black man touched her cigarette and therefore she doesn’t want to smoke it anymore. After the flicking, there’s a moment of discomfort and she asks him why he was still there. He replies with an apology as a comment on her action. He stays and keeps talking about her apparent wealt h and as he talks she becomes more uncomfortable. The conversation between the two then focuses on gender and race. At that moment the reader can sense that actually the woman is interested in the current situation and she might actually be looking for an adventure, but he tells her that she is not his type of women which undermines her. During the conversation the reader can also see that the woman has some very racist thoughts. After a while he sees the bus coming and points at it. She gets on the bus and as it starts moving, she urges herself to look back at him and challenge her prejudices, but thinking of the society and worrying about how unacceptable it would seem she can’t succeed and doesn’t look back while the man picks up the cigarette from the gutter. During this short story there is always this feeling of menace and some kind of threat which is created by the blackout and the odd conversation between the two. This feeling is created especially at the beggining, introduction of the story when the blackout and the loneliness were being described by Mais. He used words and phrases such as; wave of panic, bands of hooligans roaming the streets after dark and assaulting unprotected women, slinking black shadow, to reinforce his point. Telephone Conversation ‘Telephone Conversation’ by Wole Soyinka, the poet talks about two people on the phone and the story goes on to narrate how the African man is looking  for a house and the land lady has proposed a considerable price for the same. The poem strikes a positive note as the man gets to know that his privacy won’t be hampered as the landlady doesn’t stay on the premises. The African man is happy to know that and just before he makes up his mind to consider the offer, he drops in to mention that he is black. On the other end of the line, there was nothing but silence which the African man takes it to be an impolite gesture of refusal. However, the silence is soon broken as the landlady starts to speak again asking him to explain exactly how dark he is. First, the man think that he might have misheard the question but when the landlady repeats, he understands that this is something very important for her to know before she allows him to rent her house. This is so mething that came out entirely devastating for the African man and for a moment he felt disgusted with the question and fancies himself to be a machine, like the phone and that he has been reduced to being a button on the phone. He could also smell the foul from her words and he sees â€Å"red’ everywhere all around. The idea of Telephone conversation is to depict how brutal it can be for a man who is subjected to racial discrimination. The Afro-American man is reduced to shame by the sudden silence from the other side and he gets into a state of make belief where he sarcastically thinks that the lady broke her silence and gave him option to choose and define ‘how dark† he is. â€Å"Like chocolate, or dark or light?† Then, he goes on to answer that he is defined as â€Å"West African sepia† in his passport. The lady not knowing how dark it could be didn’t want to embarrass the man further by resorting to silence. So, she asks him to define what he means. The man replies, that it is almost similar to being a brunette but a dark brunette. All this while, the man has been holding on to codes of formality which breaks loose at the landlady’s insensitiveness. The African man now shouts out loud saying that he is black but he is not that black for anyone to be put to shame. He also says that the soles of his feet and the palms of his hand are all white but he is a fool that he sits on his rear which has turned black due to friction. He knows that the landlady will never be convinced with his black complexion and he senses that she might slam down the receiver on him. At such a crucial juncture, he makes a desperate and silly attempt to plead her to come and take a good look at him but couldn’t help the situation from getting worse. Finally, the landlady slams down the  receiver on his face. Harlem ‘Harlem’ by Langston Hughes reflects the post World War II mood of many African Americans. The Great Depression was over, the war was over, but for African Americans the dream, whatever particular form it took, was still being deferred. Whether one’s dream is as mundane as hitting the numbers or as noble as hoping to see one’s children reared properly, Langston Hughes takes them all seriously; he takes the deferral of each dream to heart. Harlem simply asks, and provides a series of disturbing answer to the questions, â€Å"what happens to a dream deferred?† A closer reading reveals the essential disunity of the poem. It is a ground of unresolved conflict. Five of the six answers to the opening questions are interrogative rather than declarative sentences. The ‘dream deferred’ is the long- postponed and frustrated dream of African Americans; a dream of freedom, equality, dignity, opportunity and success. This poem concentrates, on possib le reaction to the deferral of a dream. The whole poem (Harlem) is built in the structure of rhetoric. The speaker of the poem is black poet. Black people were given the dreams of equity and equality. But these dreams never came true. Despite legal, political and social consensus to abolish the apartheid, black people could never experience the indiscriminate society. In other worlds, their dream never came true. Blacks are promised dreams of equality, justice, freedom, indiscrimination, but not fulfilled. They are delayed, deferred and postponed. Only promissory note has been given but has never been brought into reality.The speaker rhetorically suggests that the dreams will explode and destroy all the limitations imposed upon them. After that the society of their dream will be born. When the dream is postponed or deferred or delayed, it brings frustration, it dries up like a raisin in the sun but there is wet inside, likewise it stinks like rotten meat, it becomes fester like a sore and one day it will explode and cause larger social damages. The poem is in the form of a series of questions, a certain inhabitant of Harlem asks. The first image in the poem is â€Å"dream dries up like a raisin†. The simile likens the original dream to a grape, which is sound, juicy, green and fresh since the dream has been neglected for too long, it has probably dried up. The next image in the poem â€Å"fester like† a sore and then run† conveys a sense of infection and pain. Comparing the  dream to a sore of a body, the poet suggests that unfulfilled dreams become part of us, like a longstanding injury that has gathered pus. The word â€Å"fester† connotes something decay and â€Å"run† literally refers to pus. From this viewpoint of the speaker, this denotes to the pain that one has when one’s dreams always defers. A postponed dream is like a painful injury that begins to be infected. The next image â€Å"Does it stink like rotten meat† intensified the sense of disgust.

Euthinasia essays

Euthinasia essays The topic of euthanasia was frontline news in 1992 when a woman named Sue Rodriques challenged the Supreme Court of Canada. Ms. Rodriques suffered from Lou Gehrigs disease and wanted a court order that would allow someone to provide the means to assist her in taking her life at the time of her choosing. Due to this many Canadians began to discuss, and debate, the issue of euthanasia or assisted suicide. Jack Kevorkian has also been a high profile advocate for assisted suicide and has challenged the laws in the US and brought worldwide attention to this issue. The term euthanasia means easy death inducing a gentle, painless death. Euthanasia is the deliberate painless termination of life to prevent unavoidable suffering. Involuntary euthanasia is the deliberate taking of a suffering persons life without the persons explicit request. This is done by administration of painkillers, usually morphine; with the intent to ease a dying persons pain and remove distress symptoms with the understanding the drug may unintentionally hasten the persons death. Active voluntary euthanasia requires the consent of the patient and is putting to death a person who, due to disease or extreme age, feels they can no longer lead a meaningful life. Both Ms. Rodriquez and Kevorkian address the issue of active voluntary physician assisted euthanasia or assisted suicide. Most people I know have had the discussion about a living will and what they would like to happen to them if they were to be in a position, either by accident or disease, they were to become incapacitated and unable to voice what they wanted to happen for their care, or if they would want to have the right to die. Most often the term dignity comes up in the conversation and stories of witnessing a friend or family member go through a prolonged death when their suffering could have been ended sooner. In 1990 the US Supreme Court ruled that people who...

Candide Abstract Essays

Candide Abstract Essays Candide Abstract Essay Candide Abstract Essay Essay Topic: Candide Candide Voltaire, a French philosophe and writer, wrote this document during the Enlightenment. He illustrates his opinion on many Enlightenment ideas, such as Leibnizian optimism, deism, and religious tolerance. He impacted many people, including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson with his belief of religious toleration and civil rights. His view on organized religion also influenced the French Revolution. One of the Enlightenment views Voltaire addresses is Leibnizian optimism, or the iew that the world men live in is a perfect world. Everything that happens is supposed to happen and all will turn out for the best. Voltaire mocks this view by having unfortunate things happen to Candide and other characters in the novel. Pangloss is a representation of his view, and often impedes other characters from taking positive action. One such instance was when Jacques the Anabaptist was drowning and Pangloss prevented Candide from saving him by saying, the Lisbon harbor was formed expressively for the Anabaptist to drown in. Also, when Candide was trapped under the rubble after the earthquake, he requests Pangloss to bring him some oil and wine, however the philosopher is too busy debating cause and effect. Finally, Candide encounters a slave in Surinam with one leg and one hand. He finally loses his faith in optimism by saying it is mania for saying things are well when one is in hell. Voltaire also expresses deism through the city of Eldorado. Deism is the belief that God created the world, but then left it to run on its own. Eldorado is free of crime and suffering with decent equality and advanced sciences and mathematics. Deism is illustrated by showing how this civilization tapped into nature and God and became incredibly successful. Voltaire is showing the ideal society in Eldorado. Finally, Voltaire mocks organized religion. In many instances, he shows the hypocrisy of religions. The Old Woman was the daughter of the Pope, however, the Pope is supposed to be celibate. Also, the Catholic Inquisitor was a hypocrite for aving a mistress and the Franciscan friar was a Jewel thief even though he was supposed to live a life of poverty. The Catholic Inquisition also displayed religious oppression for a small reason when they held an auto-da-f? © after the earthquake and attempted to kill Pangloss and flogged Candide. However, Voltaire does not completely condemn religious believers because Jacques the Anabaptist was the most virtuous and good character in the whole novel. Candide Abstract By sophiarita366

Personality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 11

Personality - Essay Example In additions, managers should mostly engage staff with proactive personality. Workers with this type of personality look for opportunities and act on them. They exhibit initiative and stop at nothing until the opportunity effects a change in the organization, In Personality psychology, Burger, Jerry (2010) identifies five broad dimensions or domains of personality. These domains are broadly referred to as the Five Big traits of personality. Personality experts and scholars broadly support the theory known as the five-factor model on which the Five Big traits of personality derive their base. The five big traits of personality, according to the theory, include openness (O), extraversion (E), conscientiousness (C), neuroticism (N) and agreeableness (A). Burger, Jerry (2011) suggests the use of acronyms such as OCEAN and CANOE to identify the five traits collectively. The chief purpose of the theory is to give an account for different characteristics and traits in personality. Empirical research on the Big Five personality characteristics has shown, to a large extent, consistency in observations, interviews and self-description. The research, therefore, indicates that the personality tests are very accurate and reliable. Burger, Jerry (2011) defines openness as the appreciation for emotions, art, imaginations, unusual ideas, curiosity and other experiences. They reckon that staffs that are open to new experiences are willing to try new ventures, intellectually curious and sensitive to changes in the organization. Unlike closed people, open people are very creative and more conscious of their feelings. Burger, Jerry (2011) adds that open people not likely to hold conventional beliefs. Open people prefer novelty to familiarity, and they do not resist change. A conscientious person acts dutifully, is self-disciplined and achieves above the expectations.

Geology Tour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Geology Tour - Essay Example Since, numerous studies have contended that numerous creatures, for instance, furred elephants (American mastodon) inhabited the snow region prior they were extinct. This information and much more coupled with diverse timelines of when they occurred usually characterizes the entire â€Å"Page Museum, La Brea Tar Pits† (McNassor 97). As one proceeds inside, does not stop to wonder because various ice age fossils excavated from the â€Å"backyard† (Tar Pits) of the museum (McNassor 13). It is intriguing how some animals looked like prior to the emergence of people in Los Angeles region, which prompted to their extinct. For illustration, Bison Antiquus, this was the first herbivore in N. America and its existence and emergence marked the mammal age in the region. According to diverse staffs who are in every stand ready and busy explaining to keen admirers regarding diverse life forms, many of the fossils originate from Tar Pits (McNassor 97). This was after its discovery, which also has its own information regarding why it is rich in diverse extinct forms that fill the entire museum. Hence, museum has allocated a stand meant to offer to visitors’ adequate information regarding Brea Tar Pits (McNassor 25). Research about the site argues that, Asphaltum from other regions seeped up into the pits for a long time where wild animals inhabited. Dust, leaves or water covered the Asphaltum in the pits, which trapped the animals and other smaller forms like rats while grazing or searching for water. Therefore, resulting to numerous animals trapped in it. The museum boasts of possessing numerous species starting from those of the great cats to the tooth of a rat besides plants that normally characterized the Tar Pits prior extinction of the big animals (McNassor 22). The cats encompass small-tailed Smilodon Fatalis, which are a distant cousin to the present cats.