Criminalization Of Knowlingly Transmitting AIDS Essays - HIVAIDS

Criminalization of Knowlingly Transmitting AIDS Criminalization of Knowlingly Transmitting AIDS Brief History of AIDS and the Criminalization of Knowingly Transmitting It Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The virus was discoverd independently in France in 1983 and in the United States in 1984. In the United States, it was initially identified in 1981. In 1986, a second virus, now called HIV-2, was also discovered in Africa. HIV-2 also causes AIDS. AIDS is transmitted in three ways: From sexual contact without protection, from the mixing of ones blood with infected blood, and from an infected pregnant woman to her fetus. Infection can occur from blood transfusions of infected blood, or sharing 'dirty' needles. (Needles already used, in this case, by a HIV positive person.) The criminalization of intentionally spreading AIDS has been a big issue recently, and still remains so. As of September, 1991, legislation criminalizing AIDS transmission has been passed in 24 states. Among these states are California, Idaho, Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, and South Carolina. Under these current laws, it is a crime to knowingly transmit the virus through sex, sharing needles, donating infected blood, organs, or skin tissue. The first person to go to court under these laws in Michigan was Jeffrey Hanlon. Hanlon was a gay man who infected another man from Michigan while he was in New York. The American Civil Liberties Union, who agreed to take the case, agrued that the AIDS disclosure law is unconstitutional. Privacy of those with AIDS is what they were worried about. Opponents argued that "they're [those with AIDS] killing people. It's like rape." The maximum sentence Hanlon could have recieved was four years in prison and a $2000 fine. In addition, under the current New York State law, which dates back well before June, 1987, the knowing transmission of a venerial disease is a felony. However, at that time, and currently, AIDS was not classified as a venerial disease. Interviews Concerning the Issue Most people believe that the willful transmission of AIDS to others it virtually murder. I have interviewed **name** and **name**. Both of them feel that intentionally passing AIDS on to another person is murder. The recipient of the virus will, in almost every case, die rather quickly of an AIDS related disease. **name** feels that "if someone knowingly transmits AIDS to another person, it's like committing murder. He or she should be punished to the full extent of the law." In addition to personal interviews, I have found the opinions of Governor Cuomo and former President Ronald Reagan. On June 1, 1987, Cuomo revealed that state lawmakers would consider making the transmission of AIDS a crime. He was quoted at the time as saying: "If you know you have AIDS and you pass it on to someone who is not aware, that should be regarded as a very serious offense. I'm not talking about sins and morality; I'm talking about a sin against the community, a crime. We should look into that." However, nothing was proposed at the time. Former President Ronald Reagan called for"routine" AIDS testing of prisoners, marriage license applicants, immigrants, and possibly some hospital patients. His purpose was only to identify carriers of the disease; no comment concerning the criminalization of the transmission of AIDS was made. Reasons for the Criminalization of Knowingly Transmitting AIDS There are not many reasons for the criminalization of knowingly transmitting AIDS. However, they are very convincing arguments. The first and one of the most convincing arguments is because it will help stop the propogation of the virus. Ideally, if people know that it is a crime to transmit the virus, then they will not. The only way that AIDS will remain an epidemic is if it is continually spread. This is because those with AIDS will in most cases die rather quickly of an AIDS related disease. If they do not spread it, then the number of people with the virus will decline steadily without fail. Another reason is that someone who is intentionally transmitting the disease is doing it for their own satisfaction and/or to hurt others. Such is the case with a drug pusher. Many magazine articles have made reference to the analogy "a drug pusher is the same as an AIDS pusher." Their argument is that if drug pushers are treated as if they commit criminal acts, then so should the supposed 'AIDS' pushers. The Constitutional argument involoved is also a moral one. By transmitting the virus willingly one is usurping on others' rights to life and happiness. It is also seen as wrong by the public. In effect, it is murder in the second or

Turners Frontier Thesis essays

Turner's Frontier Thesis essays Prior to the Revolutionary War of 1776, the thirteen colonies of the eastern seaboard were uniformly recognized as an appendage of England. They were considered by many to be the Western segment of Great Britain. However, the colonial victory of the Revolutionary War depraved the Britons of their Western appendage. The United States had in fact begun its own establishment, developing the manifest destiny to grow Westward. The acquiring of the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleonic France overnight doubled the size of the infant nation and created a large sense of nostalgia. With the expeditions of Lewis and Clark came further expansion into the backcountry of the West. Eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean, the United States had accomplished its goal of reaching "from sea to shining sea". Yet they had attained far more than their original goal. Development of the Western United States had returned man to his Darwinian beginnings, making evolution inevitable. With each evolutiona ry stage came the increase of true American character and the decrease of European influence. Frederick Jackson Turner, in his remarkable "The Significance of the Frontier in American History", embraces that point and further analyzes it. Turner argues that it was the countless evolutions of the Frontier, from undeveloped lands to thriving towns and cities, and not European practices or influences that shaped American individualism, nationalism, independence, and democracy. In his thesis, Turner argues that the frontier promoted American economic and political independence. Even after the American Revolution, the United States still received much of its final goods from European nations. However, in order to promote economic growth and manufacture in the United States, the government had imposed a set of tariffs and other economic sanctions on foreign goods. Despite this, Turner argues that it was the West that largely aided American self-sufficien...

Structure And Anarchy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Structure And Anarchy - Essay Example Any organization has a structure and leadership. It is also recognized that an organization is primarily its people. In theoretical discussions it is widely agreed that social movements are not organizations. As Freeman (1978) says," Granted, most movements are not organizations and thus not able to make conscious decisions about their direction. Usually they consist of numerous core groups and a large penumbra of sympathizers. Nonetheless, these core groups serve as the foci of a movement's values and activities and determine much of its deliberate policy". It is here that the crux issue rises. Lacking a resolute structure a social movement always faces instability and the conflict between group maintenance needs and goal achievement needs. The core values of the movement can have a constellation of other values supported by differing groups. These values can be parallel or opposed to core values. The opposing values and their support groups can be in a consensus and form a noticeab le opposition. So long as the leadership and the majority that support leadership and movement's core values are able to outnumber and control opposing opinions and groups structure prevails and the movement sails along smoothly with foci values. The instability of movements and opposite values and opinions are particularly strong in movements with democratic values, where the structure is deliberately loosely defined and monitored as too much structure can suppress participation and inhibit eagerness.(Lenin,1901) So social movements offer incentives for order maintenance and also to increase membership. Wilson (1973) identifies four major categories of incentives that an organization can deploy in order to maintain its membership. These are material incentives (money, goods, and other tangible rewards); specific solidarity incentives (status, power, and other intangible benefits that are scarce); collective solidarity incentives (prestige, friendship, fun, and other rewards from be ing part of a group); and purposive incentives (value fulfillment, or the sense of satisfaction from contributing to a worthwhile cause).Maintenance of consensus becomes a major task of the movement leadership so as to remain on course to foci values.Graeber(2002) defines the consensus process as ," The basic idea of consensus process is that, rather than voting, you try to come up with proposals acceptable to everyone-or at least, not highly objectionable to anyone: first state the proposal, then ask for 'concerns' and try to address them". Anarchy When opposition in a movement becomes splintered with no conclusive or majority based foci value then chaos prevails. "Anarchy means without government, which is different forms of vertically organized, i.e. chaotic included, economic and/or political-administrative

British Petroleum Oil Spill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

British Petroleum Oil Spill - Essay Example Findings   3.1 Summary of findings of your analysis   4. Conclusion   4.1 Discussion of findings in context of theory and prior literature 5. References 1. Introduction   1.1 Theories used in case analysis The paper talks about the oil spill caused by British Petroleum’s (BP) in 2010 that occurred in the Mexican Gulf and caused irreparable damage to the environment and life in and around that area. It looks at the company’s behavior post the oil spill and their reaction in front of the media and as expressed in their annual reports. More specifically, this paper looks at how BP’s reaction post the disastrous oil spill ties in with the theories about company behavior. Some theories used as reference for this paper include the legitimacy theory, the stakeholder theory and the institutional theory etc. 2. The case   2.1 Context   Background information about the case   British Petroleum (BP) is the 6th largest oil and gas company worldwide. BP is invol ved in all stages including the extraction of oil to the retail of the final product (BP, 2012, p.1). In â€Å"2010† the company faced a ruinous crisis when the drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon blew up on April 20, 2010. This cataclysmic disaster resulted in the killing of 11 persons and critically wounded many others (BP Annual Report, 2010, p.6). The spill continued for almost three months, making this catastrophe the biggest disaster of its kind (Mason, 2010, p.1). The scientists who had been vigorously studying the possible repercussions were still not sure about the complete extent of the environmental damage even after a whole year had passed. Further research is still required to provide a holistic detail on the matter because the destruction caused by the BP oil spill is too far reaching in a ripple effect caused by direct environmental damages. (Kinver, 2011, p.1). 2.2 Data   description of corporate disclosure vehicles chosen for analysis The annual report for 2010 was highly reflective of BP’s reaction to the disaster. O’Donovan (2002, p.344) says that companies reveal information in the annual reports only with the purpose of gaining support from the society and to retain their legitimacy in society. Companies that find themselves in situations that BP found itself in often try to improve their image by providing more information in their annual reports that â€Å"concerns† ethics and environmental issues (Deegan et al., 2002, p.312). This information is used by the company to clean up the mess it has somehow created in a disaster that has happened on its watch (Deegan and Rankin, 1996, p.50). BP increased greatly the amount of environment related information in its annual report under the law of legitimacy and to counter the bad press it was receiving in the aftermath of th disaster. It kept repeating to the media how it would clean up its mess, compensate the people and make amends for its mistake, thus making sure th at all stakeholders, including the society and the government, continued to foster a positive image of the company, as explained by the stakeholder theory once more. These changes in the annual report were useful for the investors, accountants, regulators, environmental groups and the community because they provided these stakeholders with additional insight about the disaster and how BP proposed to go ahead with the scenario (Summerhays, 2011, p.3). BP’s reaction was timely, even â€Å"instantaneous† according to the institutional â€Å"theory† (BP, 2010, p.1) however they were condemned by the government because they failed to contain the spill before it reached the coast (Robertson

Drawing upon two research-based source documents, identify one Essay

Drawing upon two research-based source documents, identify one contemporary issue in HRM and critically analyse how these source - Essay Example The theoretical perspectives for strategic human resource management, on the other hand, provide a guide to a clear distinction of strategic human resource management and human resource according to McNeill and Chapman (2005, p. 98). They provide a review of theories that can be applied to elaborate strategic human resource management. The study aims to make a distinction between strategic human resource management and human resource management. The issue addressed by these two studies is strategic human resource management. These studies aim to provide further information on the issue of strategic to human resource management. The concept of strategic human resource management as addressed by the two studies is a contemporary issue in human resource management. In order to attain goals and objectives in an organization, it is essential to employ the concept of strategic human resource management. The importance of strategic human resource management and its application is addressed by the two studies. Strategic human resource management is a concept within the broad subject of human resource management. Strategies of human resource management incorporate the concept of strategic management in the planning and utilization of human resource. In order to improve efficiency in an organization, it is essential to use the concept of strategic human resource management in addition to the basic human resource management. Strategic human resource management implements changes to human resource management. This ensures a clear understanding of issues in order to sustain a competitive advantage and accomplish the desired results. Strategic human resource management involves the use of proper management tactics in order to meet the organizations best goals. Human resource management is the focus on aspects that affect employees and provide safety incentives and information in order to ensure productivity of employees. Strategic human resource management, on the other hand , provides a work environment and strategies that ensure that employees provide their services with consideration of the objectives of the business (Greer, 2001, p. 85). Even though strategic human resource management sometimes perceived as an independent issue for human resource management, it is necessary to note that the issue is within the broader subject of human resource management. Strategic human resource management requires that principles of human resource management employed before the adoption of strategic human resource management. It is, therefore, noteworthy that strategic human-resource management is an issue within the broader context of human resource of management. The theoretical frame work adopted by the study in the Journal of management applies micro level production to the theories to the human resource management field – therefore, a descriptive one. The method employed explains the concept of the study. The study adopts six theoretical models organiz ation with theories in economics and finance. The theories support the concept of strategic Human-resource management and connect human resource management activities proactive and strategically aimed decisions. The study of the impact of strategic human resource of management of the organizational success, on the other hand, uses the knowledge advancement theory to establish the competitive advantage as well as planned for the organization’

The Origin and History of Tuberculosis

The Origin and History of Tuberculosis Tuberculosis has been with human kind since ancient times. There is much evidence of this bacterium throughout history. Many bodies have been found with traces of the disease from all over the world, from Greece to South America. The strand has evolved and grown with humans to continue to threaten us, and will continue to do so. However lately with recent findings and aid from technology we have almost removed the threat entirely. Tuberculosis has haunted humanity since its very beginning. The earliest known finding of tuberculosis is from a specimen found in a 500,000 year old homo-erectus. In earlier times tuberculosis affected many people, and has recently dwindled in numbers. This used to be a major part of deaths up until the twentieth century, which is when the United States started coming out with vaccines and other forms of treatment and cures for tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is still a major disease in the rest of the world, with a third of the worlds population expected to be infected with the disease (Robert M. Jasmer). This is largely in third world countries where they do not have access to the modern cures and treatments for the disease. Every year, there is an average of nine million cases of tuberculosis worldwide (Elimination). This disease still plagues the modern world today with over 12,000 cases reported in the United States in 2008 (Elimination). Tuberculosis is a disease caused by mycobacterium, which is a genus of bacteria known to cause many infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy (Kumar).The specific name for tuberculosis is mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is unknown as to how the disease carried over to humans; however there are cases of humans having evidence of tuberculosis up to 9,000 years ago. Tuberculosis starts out with symptoms somewhat like the flu. These include coughing, sneezing, and a fever, as it advances blood begins to show up in the phlegm that is expelled from the lungs, which is the classic sign of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis can also move into other major organs such as the kidneys, liver, and spine. Once infected with tuberculosis there is a fifty percent death risk if one does not seek treatment, however if one does then there is a very high chance of survival and the disease will be cured. There are two main classifications for tuberculosis. The first of which is latent tuberculosis infection. A person with this is basically a carrier of the disease, they show no symptoms, and the bacteria cannot be spread to others. However, those with the latent infection have a risk of eventually developing the tuberculosis disease. These carriers will test positive if tested for tuberculosis and if given treatment their infection will not advance to tuberculosis. In order to be infected with latent tuberculosis one is suspect to the same thing that would infect them with the tuberculosis disease; direct contact with someone that is infected. The reason this becomes a latent infection instead of tuberculosis disease is due to our immune systems ability to battle the bacteria and it will prevent the bacteria from growing (Elimination). The tuberculosis disease is the second classification, which is the disease that is in direct relation to tuberculosis. This is the disease which consists of coughing up blood and a high death rate as explained before. Tuberculosis can be attained through direct contact with the disease, or if latent tuberculosis infection was already present and the immune system was weakened from some other cause. People infected with tuberculosis can spread the disease to others which may infect them with the disease or only the latent infection until they receive treatment or the bacteria start to multiply and it becomes a disease. Tuberculosis disease is now just commonly known as tuberculosis, even though this can be attributed to two different classifications. The exact origin of tuberculosis is still unknown however it is known that it branches from the genus Mycobacterium. The earliest finding of tuberculosis was discovered recently in a Homo erectus fossil found in Turkey. Although most scientists believe tuberculosis emerged only several thousand years ago, new research from The University of Texas at Austin reveals the most ancient evidence of the disease has been found in a 500,000-year-old human fossil from Turkey. (Most Ancient Case of Tuberculosis Found) Photo by Marsha Miller View of the inside of a plaster cast of the skull of the newly discovered young male Homo erectus from western Turkey. The stylus points to tiny lesions 1-2 mm in size found along the rim of bone just behind the right eye orbit. The lesions were formed by a type of tuberculosis that infects the brain and, at 500,000 years in age, represents the most ancient case of tuberculosis known in humans. (Most Ancient Case of Tuberculosis Found) This recent find has increased the origin of tuberculosis date greatly. Earlier it was thought that the earliest evidence of tuberculosis was found in a Neolithic settlement in the Eastern Mediterranean which dated back to about 9000 years ago (Hershkovitz). There have also been discoveries in Egypt of mummies that have evidence of mycobacterium tuberculosis, which date back to 4000 years ago (Zink). Early Greek literature was when evidence is first discovered of the recognition of tuberculosis as a disease. The Greeks started to call is phthisis which means consumption. The term consumption was used to describe this disease for thousands of years beyond that time. Consumption was used to illustrate this disease because from the observer, it seems as if the victim was being eaten from the inside out. This observation was due to coughing up blood and the poor health of anyone infected, it also described the high death rate of those who had fallen victim to consumption. Hippocrates, a highly renowned philosopher and writer of the time, also observed the disease. Around 460 BCE, Hippocrates identified phthisis as the most widespread disease of the times, and noted that it was almost always fatal (Center). As time goes on more evidence is found of tuberculosis being noted by writers, most famous of them all being Shakespeare. In Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare brings up consumptio n and he refers to tuberculosis as scrofula in his play Macbeth. This was due to the widespread infection of peoples in Europe in Shakespeares time. Although knowledge of tuberculosis, or at that time consumption, was known, it wasnt until the seventeenth century that scientific descriptions of the disease began to form. In his Opera Medica of 1679, Sylvius was the first to identify actual tubercles as a consistent and characteristic change in the lungs and other areas of consumptive patients (Center). However, the biggest early breakthrough of tuberculosis was by English physician Benjamin Marten. In A New Theory of Consumption he wrote that tuberculosis was caused by tiny creatures that, once in the body, could create abscesses and cause the other symptoms. Even with these breakthroughs in understanding the disease, scientists and doctors at the time were not able to find a proper cure or prevention for tuberculosis. Robert Koch is considered one of the founders of microbiology, the study of microorganisms. He was also the first to discover tubercle bacillus, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, in 1882, which later gained the name of mycobacterium tuberculosis (Brock). In his work he was the first to stain the bacteria to be able to view them under a microscope. This was a difficult task due to tubercle bacillus having a waxy outer shell that would not allow simple dyes of the time to stick to is and therefore could not be seen under a microscope. Kochs work was quickly accepted throughout the world, contrary to his beliefs that it would take time for it to be generally accepted. Koch then moved onto a new project, a cure for tuberculosis. He began his work in late 1889 and in 1890 he announced that he had found a cure, what he called tuberculin (Brock). This sparked a huge flock of European tuberculosis patients to Berlin, where Koch had made the tuberculin. This cure had worked in the guinea pigs he tried it on, or so he thought. Tuberculin seemed to work on humans, for when it was injected in the affected reason, the area would react, and then the tubercular tissue would begin to be destroyed. However, this was not a cure, it only decreased the tissue for a certain amount of time, and it did not destroy the bacterium that caused the disease. Koch was disappointed in this discovery, but did not put all the blame on himself. He did not intend on his work being released as early as it did, but he was pressured to do so, and was unable to conclude his research before it was being widely used on humans. Although Kochs remedy was not as successful as he wished i t to be it still held great value in the medical world. It later became a test to find if someone had tuberculosis and was one of the most reliable tests to date (Brock). Sanatoriums were the first major movement in attempting to help the victims of tuberculosis. Hermann Brehmer was the first to have the idea of putting those infected into sanitary conditions with good nutrition and clean air and did so in Gorbersdorf (Center). This idea was formed when he isolated himself after having tuberculosis himself. He went to an area with a healthy climate and eventually was cleared of the disease. The same idea was carried out in sanatoriums; infected patients would be put in a place with clean air, and a good diet, in order for their body to become healthy and battle the infection on its own, which was currently the only way to cure tuberculosis. With no antibiotics or current cures for the disease, the only way to rid oneself of tuberculosis was time and good health. In 1884 the first sanatorium was built in America; it was the Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium, and was located in Saranac Lake, New York. This became a trend and soon sanatoriums were popping up everywhere. Many big cities had at least one sanatorium or a specialized tuberculosis center. Sanatoriums were in heavy use from the early 1900s until the middle of the century. They were not a cure for tuberculosis; however it isolated individuals with the disease which decreased the spread, and also put them in a healthy environment which aided in their immune systems to be able to fight the disease. In 1948 antimicrobials were introduced, which was accompanied by a cure for tuberculosis, and a severe drop in the need for sanatoriums. Before the introduction of antimicrobials the first vaccine for tuberculosis was created; called Bacillus Calmette-Guà ©rin. Since this was a vaccine, it was not effective on those who were already infected by the disease. This vaccine was created by a bacteriologist and a veterinarian, Albert Calmette and Camille Guà ©rin respectively. Their work consisted of finding a non-virulent bacillus to use as the vaccine. They eventually found a strain and began human use in 1921 (World Health Organization). Although the first vaccines carried a lot of risk, it was effective in many studies. Bacillus Calmette-Guà ©rin was widely used in Eastern Europe after World War II and successfully vaccinated millions of babies. This vaccination was used against tuberculosis until recently when advances in medicine gave way to much more efficient vaccines. In 1943 the first cure for tuberculosis was introduced. Streptomycin was created by Dr. Waksman at Rutgers University (Wallgren). This was also the first human-safe antibiotic to ever be created, in fact Dr. Waksman introduced the word. This antibiotic successfully healed an average of 80% of all tuberculosis patients (Wallgren). Recently, there has been debate on whether Dr. Waksman deserves the credit that he has been given, including the Nobel Prize. One of his assistants, Albert Schatz, challenged Dr. Waksmans credit to the entire discovery of the drug. After a legal battle over streptomycin, Schatz was recognized as streptomycins co-discoverer and has received his share of rewards and benefits in this matter (Wainwright). Although this antibiotic was not a cure for all tuberculosis patients, it was a major step in the eradication of the disease. Current drugs that will treat and cure tuberculosis have stemmed from the first antibiotic previously mentioned, streptomycin. There are ten drugs that are approved by the Federal Drug Administration to treat tuberculosis (Elimination). The most important of these drugs is the first-line anti-tuberculosis agents. These antibiotics are the marines in the tuberculosis war. They go in and destroy all visible signs of mycobacterium tuberculosis, and after this treatment, an after-treatment is administered to prevent any return of the bacteria and eliminate any leftover bacterium. This fleet of antibiotics has proven to be very effective in treating tuberculosis. Recently, tuberculosis has been on the rise yet again in the United States. Strains of drug-resistant tuberculosis have been surfacing which make it difficult to find the right cure. These strains occur due to evolution of the strain if it is able to live through a treatment. This can happen if a tuberculosis patient does not complete their full treatment, misuse the drugs, or use damaged drugs (Elimination). Along with drug-resistant tuberculosis is also extensive drug-resistant tuberculosis. Unlike normal drug-resistant tuberculosis which is only resistant to one type of first-line antibiotic, extensive drug-resistant tuberculosis is resistant to almost all drugs used to treat the disease (Elimination). This is a major problem because treating a patient with extensive drug-resistant tuberculosis becomes almost impossible, and it is very difficult to find a drug that will work since using the wrong drug could prove to worsen the problem or even be fatal. Tuberculosis originated 500,000 years ago in Homo Erectus, before the modern human had even walked the earth. Up until recently, it has been a major cause of death in Europe and the surrounding area. Luckily, it never got a full foot into the United States and it was largely avoided here, although there are still many cases reported every year. A cure for the disease was not created until merely 60 years ago by Albert Schatz and Dr. Waksman. Currently there are ten drugs on the market used to treat and cure tuberculosis; however that is only available in the United States and other major countries. Third world countries like those in Africa and Asia still suffer greatly from this disease and it is thought that nearly one third of the entire world population is infected with some form of tuberculosis. This disease has haunted humanity since our very beginning and will continue to be with us for a while until, if at all possibly, eradication is acquired. Although I have not had any direct exposure to tuberculosis, I have been lucky enough to visit a sanatorium near my home. Henryton State Hospital is located about 20 minutes from my house in a slightly remote area of Carrol County. This hospital was originally created as a tuberculosis center for African Americans in 1922 by the Maryland Board of Mental Hygine (SaveHenryton). This area is composed of many buildings, all of which are abandoned and beginning to fall apart. There is little distinction in the buildings from the outside, but upon exploring the internal areas of Henryton it is quite simple to find what areas were for what purpose. What I have found and distinguished are the nursing dormitories, what seems to be a classroom building, a hospitalization building, a power plant/boiler room, and a cafeteria and auditorium. It is an amazing area to explore and to be able to reach into the past of how things were. Just as any abandoned place, Henryton State Hospital is filled wit h mystery and possible cover-ups. There are little to no records on this hospital, especially once it was transformed into a mental institution. Recently records of a nearby mental institution Rosewood Center have been discovered to show that the mental institutions in Maryland showed below minimal standards in treatment of the patients. Henryton is one of many sanatoriums that show the past of what tuberculosis used to be. Works Cited Brock, Thomas D. Robert Koch: A Life in Medicine and Bacteriology. Washington, DC: American Society for Microbiology, 1999. Center, National Tuberculosis. Brief History of Tuberculosis. 26 July 1996. 15 December 2009 . Elimination, Division of Tuberculosis. CDC Tuberculosis. 13 October 2009. 15 December 2009 . Hershkovitz. Detection and Molecular Characterization of 9000-Year-Old Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a Neolithic Settlement in the Eastern Mediterranean. PLoS One (2008). Kumar, Vinay. Robbins Basic Pathology. Philadelphia: Saunders/Elsevier, 2007. M, Wainwright. Streptomycin: discovery and resultant controversy. History and Philosophy of Life Sciences (1991): 97-124. Most Ancient Case of Tuberculosis Found. The University of Texas at Austin (2007). Robert M. Jasmer, M.D. Latent Tuberculosis Infection. The New England Journal of Medicine (2002) Rothschild, Bruce M. Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex DNA from an Extinct Bison Dated 17,000 Years before the Present. Clinical Infectious Diseases 1 August 2001: 305-311 . Save Henryton. 2008. 15 December 2009 . Wallgren, Professor A. Presentation Speech. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1952. Stockholm: The Nobel Foundation, 1952. World Health Organization. 2009. 15 December 2009 . Zink, Albert R. Characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex DNAs from Egyptian Mummies by Spoligotyping. American Society for Microbiology (2003).

mathew shepard :: essays research papers

I think that Mathew Shepard was a good person. That stupid church guy that said gays are evil, Matt’s in hell, and stuff like that are the â€Å"evil people. It’s not evil to be gay. All that stuff religious people say about gays is nothing that really is true. The religious people take in everything that the bible says about everything so hard. The bible wasn’t even written by god. The people that beat Matthew up were just raised to hate gays. It’s not right to kill a gay person for hitting on you, and that’s not even what it sounded like. Sounds like there were just being stupid. They sounded like they were just doing it for fast cash or something. Knowing that someone would do such a thing isn’t that great. It feels like this world is full of hate. Bin Ladin, the Matthew Shepard thing, and the list goes on. The real reason I think stuff like this goes on is because people aren’t raised right and the parents expose the bad stuff, and that’s why a lot of people kill. That’s what I think caused Matthew Shepard’s death. The parents were not very good if the kids took drugs and killed and beat people up. The aids thing didn’t surprise me. All my life I’ve been told from various places that 1 in 5 gay men have aids. First I heard about it in school in sixth grad I think. Then I hear it on the radio. Then I hear it on the TV. Matthew Shepard seemed like a good person. Doesn’t have bad habits as far as I saw. The incident made me think of how people use the word gay or fag. I have used those words a lot. I used them in the sense of stupid and ahole. When I was mad that’s what I would say. You can’t help saying it. You hear it all the time. I never used it to offend a gay person. I heard at my old school millions of times. I don’t think I’ll use that word any more.

Mckinsey Report July 2012

Day of reckoning for European retail banking McKinsey report July 2012 The dynamics of the global banking sector have been in flux since the beginning of the 2008. Irate creditors everywhere have called for more stringent regulation to ensure that that the interests of financial institutions are more closely aligned with those of their customers and shareholders. The global, European and national authorities have responded with vigour and the regulatory reform to which all banks, wholesale and retail, will be subject in the coming years will have an important impact on their bottom line. The single biggest cause of a reduction in retail banks’ ROE will come from the global regulatory mechanism Basel III, which will place greater capital requirements on banks and more emphasis on adequate funding and liquidity. Furthermore, three important European regulatory instruments, the EU Mortgage Directive, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), Payment Service Directive, will also considerably diminish ROE. Finally, the implementation of new national regulation will create further downward pressure on ROE, though this will vary considerably from country to country. This report provides estimates on the impact on capital, revenues, costs and profit margins of all the relevant regulations on each product (both asset- and liability-based) in each of the four biggest European markets – France, Germany, Britain and Italy – which combined constitute 66% of the EU27 retail-banking market. ROE is the standard metric used and the report calculates the cumulative effect of all regulation as if it were all put in place immediately, using 2010 as the baseline year. The paper reaches some important conclusions. Firstly, with regard to national and continent-wide retail banking markets, ROE will fall from approximately 10% to 6% when all four markets are taken as a whole. Below is a breakdown of the effect in each of the national markets: Country France Germany Italy UK ROE Pre-Regulation 14% 7% 5% 14% ROE Post-Regulation 10% 4% 3% 7% Delta -29 -47 -40 -48 The impact in the UK is particularly caustic as national regulation is extensive. In terms of the effect of regulation on the different product offerings of retail banks, asset-based products are generally the harder-hit. In the UK and France, mortgages and small-business loans will be the most adversely affected. Similarly in Germany mortgages, personal and small-business loans will be the most negatively influenced. In Italy, the value of every asset-based product will be impaired. The disheartening truth of the matter is that across the board the ROE of asset-based products will fall below 10%, which is currently the estimated cost of equity for retail banks. On the other hand, liability-based products will prove more resilient. Deposits will become more valuable to retail banks as they are an advantaged form of funding and liquidity under new regulation. Geographically speaking, in France and Germany only investment products and debit cards will be negatively affected and in Italy most liability-based products will escape relatively intact. However, once again domestic regulation in Britain will play a role in reducing retail banks’ ROE, to the extent that all liability products in the UK will be adversely affected. An important section of the report discusses global systemically important financial institutions (GSIFIs). Such pecuniary establishments are considered too interconnected and universal to be subject to the new regulation imposed on smaller-scale retail banks. The Financial Stability Board has therefore proposed additional capital requirements for G-SIFIs, which will induce a further reduction of their ROE of anywhere between 0. 4 percentage points and 1. 3 percentage points depending on the institution. In addition, it will be obligatory for all G-SIFIs to prepare a recovery and resolution plan (RRP) that will provide a strategic map for authorities to wind down the bank in the event of dissolution. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) is also developing new global rules on risk IT for G-SIFIs which are expected to be issued by the end of 2012. Such regulation will mean that these organisations will be subject to exhaustive supervision and many ad hoc requests, thus amplifying costs and absorbing management resources. The general conclusion of this paper is that it is improbable that banks across the board in Europe will return to pre-regulation ROE levels in the short to medium term. The UK will be particularly adversely affected due to its inflexible domestic regulation. Nevertheless, the paper proposes four mitigative measures retail banks can employ in order to cushion the blow of new regulatory forces on their ROE levels. The first is â€Å"Technical Mitigation†, which essentially involves improving efficiency of capital and funding. Secondly, â€Å"Capital – and funding-light operating models† seek to further improve funding efficiency and reduce risk-weighted assets (RWAs) by implementing changes to their product mix and characteristics and ensuring more vigorous pursuit of collateral and better outplacement of risk. Thirdly, and although they will be severely limited in doing so by regulatory authorities, banks can execute â€Å"repricing† in order to compensate the shortfall in ROE. The paper predicts more repricing in fragmented industries, which implies that the scale of repricing will be limited in the UK, a highly concentrated industry. Types of repricing include new fee-based pricing, modular pricing, partial performance remuneration and value-added packages. Finally, and perhaps most dramatically, financial institutions can engage in â€Å"Business-Model Alignment. Such restrategizing would involve two principle shifts. The first centres on a new, rigorous focus on ROE in retail banks, meaning greater investment in management systems and strengthening their resource allocation processes. The second important shift can be denoted as â€Å"Sustainable Retail Banking,† and comprises four key elements: expansion into new revenue sources, creation of advice for which customers w ill pay, reconfiguration and refocusing of the distribution system to render it leaner and simpler and cutting absolute costs by 20 – 30%. By exercising the above levers, retail banks can create a bulwark against the weight of new regulation and cushion the inevitable reduction in their ROE. Anticipatory forward-planning of mitigation measures is central in adapting to the new regulatory environment engulfing retail banking and will help banks that are fully committed to returning to pre-regulation ROE levels to achieve their post-regulatory reform potential.

The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act in South Africa

The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act in South Africa The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (no. 55 of 1949) was one of the first pieces of apartheid legislation enacted after the National Party came to power in South Africa in 1948. The Act banned marriages between â€Å"Europeans and non-Europeans,† which, in the language of the time, meant that white people could not marry people of other races. It also made it a criminal offense for a marriage officer to perform an interracial marriage ceremony. Justification and Aims of the Laws The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act did not, however, prevent other so-called mixed marriages between non-white people. Unlike some other key pieces of apartheid legislation, this act was designed to protect the â€Å"purity† of the white race rather than the separation of all races. Mixed marriages were rare in South Africa before 1949, averaging fewer than 100 per year between 1943 and 1946, but the National Party explicitly legislated to keep non-whites from infiltrating the dominant white group by intermarriage. Both the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act and the Immorality Act of 1957 were based on then-active United States segregation laws. It was not until 1967 that the first U.S. Supreme Court case rejecting miscegenation laws (Loving v. Virginia) was decided. Apartheid Marriage Law Opposition While most white South Africans agreed that mixed marriages were undesirable during apartheid, there was opposition to making such marriages illegal. In fact, a similar act had been defeated in the 1930s when the United Party was in power. It was not that the United Party  supported interracial marriages. Most were vehemently opposed to any interracial relations. Led by Prime Minister Jan Christiaan Smuts (1919–1924 and 1939–1948), the United Party thought that the strength of public opinion against such marriages was sufficient for preventing them. They also said there was no need to legislate interracial marriages since so few happened anyway, and as South African sociologist and historian Johnathan Hyslop has reported, some even stated that making such a law insulted white women by suggesting they would marry black men. Religious Opposition to the Act The strongest opposition to the act, however, came from the churches. Marriage, many clerics argued, was a matter for God and churches, not the state. One of the key concerns was that the Act declared that any mixed marriages â€Å"solemnized† after the Act was passed would be nullified. But how could that work in churches that did not accept divorce? A couple could be divorced in the eyes of the state and married in the eyes of the church. These arguments were not enough to stop the bill from passing, but a clause was added declaring that if a marriage was entered into in good faith but later determined to be â€Å"mixed† then any children born to that marriage would be considered legitimate even though the marriage itself would be annulled. Why Didn’t the Act Prohibit All Interracial Marriages? The primary fear driving the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act was that poor, working-class white women were marrying people of color. In actual fact, very few were. In the years before the act, only roughly 0.2–0.3% of marriages by Europeans were to people of color, and that number was declining. In 1925 it had been 0.8%, but by 1930 it was 0.4%, and by 1946 it was 0.2%. The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act was designed to protect white political and social dominance by preventing a handful of people from blurring the line between white society and everyone else in South Africa. It also showed that the National Party was going to fulfill its promises to protect the white race, unlike its political rival, the United Party, which many thought had been too lax on that issue. Anything taboo, however, can become attractive, just by virtue of being forbidden. While the Act was rigidly enforced, and the police endeavored to root out all illicit interracial relations, there were always a few people who thought that crossing that line was well worth the risk of detection. Repeal By 1977, opposition to these laws was growing in the still white-led South African government, dividing members of the liberal party during the government of Prime Minister John Vorster (Prime Minister from 1966–1978, president from 1978–1979). A total of 260 people were convicted under the law in 1976 alone. Cabinet members were divided; liberal members backed laws offering power-sharing arrangements to nonwhites while others, including Vorster himself, decidedly did not.  Apartheid was in its painfully slow decline. The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, along with the related Immorality Acts which prohibited extra-marital interracial sexual relations, was repealed on June 19, 1985. The set of apartheid laws were not abolished in South Africa until the early 1990s; a democratically elected government was finally established in 1994.   Sources Curbs on Interracial Sex and Marriage Divide South African Leaders. The New York Times, July 8, 1977.  Dugard, John. Human Rights and the South African Legal Order. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978.Furlong, Patrick Joseph.  The Mixed Marriages Act: a historical and theological study.  Cape Town: University of Cape Town, 1983.Higgenbotham, A. Leon Jr., and Barbara K. Kopytof. Racial purity and interracial sex in the law of colonial and antebellum Virginia. Georgetown Law Review 77(6):1967-2029. (1988–1989).  Hyslop, Jonathan, â€Å"White Working-Class Women and the Invention of Apartheid: Purified Afrikaner Nationalist Agitation for Legislation against Mixed Marriages, 1934-9† Journal of African History 36.1 (1995) 57–81.Jacobson, Cardell K., Acheampong Yaw Amoateng, and Tim B. Heaton. Inter-Racial Marriages in South Africa. Journal of Comparative Family Studies 35.3 (2004): 443-58.Sofer, Cyril. â€Å"Some Aspects of  Inter-racial  Marriage s in South Africa, 1925–46,†Ã‚  Africa,  19.3  (July 1949): 193. Wallace Hoad, Neville, Karen Martin, and Graeme Reid (eds.). Sex and Politics in South Africa: The Equality Clause / Gay Lesbian Movement / the Anti-Apartheid Struggle. Juta and Company Ltd, 2005.Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, 1949. (1949). Wikisource.

Colonization of Mars Essay Example

Colonization of Mars Essay Example Colonization of Mars Essay Colonization of Mars Essay Colonization of Mars What does a planet need to have in order to support life? Earth is unique in our solar system because it is the only planet that is supporting life. Some scientists go so far as to say that the Earth is a â€Å"perfect planet† because it has features that are the perfect environment for living organisms; these features include our atmosphere, water, and a single moon. Earth is also in a place in our solar system where the Sun gives off the right amount of energy to drive the life. The distance from the Earth to the Sun determines how much of that heat we receive. If it weren’t for our ozone layer and Earth’s magnetic field, harmful rays would penetrate our surface and life would be exterminated. Everything the Earth has to offer us is balanced perfectly to keep life continuous. Humans would not be able survive on planets such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune because those planets are Gas Giants. There is no surface, the planet is made up entirely of gas and atmosphere and the cores would thus most likely be liquid. Mercury, the innermost planet in our solar system, is a terrestrial planet which means it has a hard rocky surface. And although that is true*, humans still would not be able to live on Mercury. There is no atmosphere and because Mercury’s distance is substantially closer to the Sun, temperatures are exceedingly high. Venus is the second planet from Sun and is also a terrestrial planet. The size and mass of Venus is relative to Earth in that they are similar under those characteristics. But due to Venus’ dense carbon dioxide atmosphere, living on its surface would be quite impossible. Venus also has dense sulfur dioxide clouds which makes this planet have the strongest greenhouse effect. And because of this Venus is actually hotter in temperature than Mercury. But what about Mars? Are we able to colonize and inhabit the planet Mars? Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, roughly 1. 5 AU and it is a terrestrial planet with characteristics similar to that of Earth *except the size*. It has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, that orbit close to the planet. When compared to Earth, Mars is a relatively small planet. It is approximately half the size in diameter and one/tenth the mass. Because of Earth’s strong atmosphere and magnetic field we are able to withstand cosmic radiation as opposed to Mars which has a very thin atmosphere and a weaker magnetic field. There are geological similarities between Mars and Earth and our Moon. Impact craters and evidence of volcanic activity is reminiscent of the Moon and polar ice caps are like that of Earth. Other similarities between Mars and Earth include the surface area, that being almost the exact same as the dry land on Earth. In addition to these geographical features, the seasonal cycles and rotational periods are similar to Earth’s as well. Of all the planets in our solar system, Mars is the most Earth-like. There is a debate amongst scientists and astronomers about whether or not Mars can sustain life. According to Trudy E. Bell’s and Tony Phillips’ â€Å"Once Upon a Water Planet†, Mars has the most capability of harboring life because of the ice water found by the Phoenix Mars Lander. Phoenix was sent to gather information about the past and potential of Mars being habitable. It has two main objectives while scouting: searching for the best places for humans to inhabit and to look for ice-water. And it has thus far given us data that we need, having landed near the Northern polar cap where it was proven that ice-water does indeed exists***. With this much information given the thought of terraforming the planet does not seem so far-stretched. There are reasons for the hypothetical process of expanding Human life. Firstly, the population of the Earth is growing to immense amounts and the ratio of population to sustainable resources is thinning**. Another reason is the Sun. We all know that eventually our Sun will become a red giant star, but even before that we have an issues**. All the stars in the main sequences become increasingly brighter throughout their life-period which will cause Humans to migrate to other places that can sustain life, if they want to survive. The demands for resources pressure humans to thinking outside-the-box in regards to relocating or creating not habitual places*. Suggestions for these places are areas such as the ocean, sea-floor, the moon, and of course Mars. Right now, people would not be able to live on Mars, because of its thin atmosphere and lack of green and liquidized water*. One way to go about terraforming Mars would be to build a stronger atmosphere. We would send rockets of chemical compounds that are strong with greenhouse gases; the rockets we would send for these chemical compounds would have to be sustained for just over a decade for the process to really flourish and for the planet to become warmer. Mars would inevitably become so warm that the polar caps solidify, although still not able to develop liquid water. There will come a point when the dust storms die down, and then the planet will finally be able to sustain small forms of life, such as algae and bacteria. There are plenty of ideas that scientists are brainstorming. But a person doesn’t wake up one morning and think â€Å"I’m going to move to Mars today†. Migrating humans to Mars is difficult on many levels, that being the terraforming and equipment needed. But there is also the psychological aspect. The demands placed upon the humans will be harsh and brutal. The people would have to be chosen for very specific and diligent reasons, looking closely at each persons‘ attribute and skill. They would have to get along with each other, for one. You don’t want to put a group of people that don’t get along into a confined spacecraft for several months. They will have to be optimistic people, who understand the treacherous journey ahead of them. The team will have to endure all sorts of tests; tests in a physical sense and mental sense. The task to colonize seems impossible but with scientists and astronomers working harder than ever on this topic, the thought does not seem so far stretched. Work Cited Educational , Mission To Mars. Mars Academy. November 6th, 2008 http://library. thinkquest. org/11147/index. htm. Ashish Jain, Matt Struck, Neil Christopher, Mars General Information. November 2nd, 2008 . American Scientist Online: The Magazine of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society.  © Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. November 2nd, 2008 . Ahrens, Peter. Terraforming of Worlds. November 3rd, 2008 . Fogg, Martyn J. . Terraforming Mars: A Review of Research. November 8th, 2008 .

Camp happy valley Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Camp happy valley - Article Example Camping was advantageous to many residents in Ontario with the greatest advantage going to the smaller communities residing in the province. The entire camping process ensured gross revenue of 460 million dollars, with the bigger percentage of the amount fuelling the smaller communities’ economies. Other beneficiaries of the camping process were outdoor sporting goods companies and different suppliers because of the purchases made by the camp attendants. Attaining these benefits mostly depended on the willingness of the parents to allow their children to attend the camp. The camp happy valley did not indulge into advertising, but relied on spreading of their services from the people who had benefitted from the experience. The Ontario government alteration of the Employment Standards Act, R.S.O.1990 received minimal acceptance with the Ontario Camping Association explaining that it might have negative impacts on the camp as a whole. By 2001, the camping experienced had difficulties especially with their staff

The importance of obtaining patient informed consent to intervention Essay

The importance of obtaining patient informed consent to intervention in physical therapy practice - Essay Example The process of obtaining informed consent can be conducted as a single event or a series of multiple discussions in hospital wards, for inpatients or outpatients. This paper is determined to provide detailed information about the meaning of informed consent to intervention and the significance of obtaining patient informed consent to intervention in physical therapy practice. Additionally, it further describes how patient informed consent to intervention reflects the ethical principle of respecting the patient’s autonomy and its legal aspect. Valid or informed consent has history in ethical theory, law and clinical and research practice. Its determining factors in clinical theory include the disclosure of the information by a healthcare provider, understanding and consent from the patient and a patient’s competence and preconditions of voluntariness (Delany, 2007). On the other hand, the philosophical theory that underlines valid consent is the issue of autonomy that is defined as the self-rule or self-governance. This is the freedom of people to express individual preferences and aspirations, or the capacity of people to choose or reflect (Delany, 2007). Before a clinician or a therapist to approve a patient’s informed consent to be valid, he or she must ensure that the patient is competent; meaning that he or she must be of sound mind to make valid and correct judgments, which must also be voluntarily provided. Voluntariness can be enhanced by making a clear statement to the patient that he or she is part icipating in a decision-making process, but not merely engaging in a simple talk to receive a treatment. This is a significant means of making it clear for the patient that informed consent process is an invitation for her or him to participate in a healthcare decision-making process (Delany, 2007). Likewise, a clinician is also mandated to give a recommendation and share his thoughts with the patient.