MODERN JEWISH HISTORY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MODERN JEWISH HISTORY - Essay Example As a result, the individuals are likely to be converted, marry or get married and get full recognition into the said community as the process reaches advanced stages. However, in the case of the Jews, there have been historical issues that have surrounded their assimilation because of the various injustices they had to face. In the light of this observation, this paper will examine the various issues that led Jews to assimilation in order to shield themselves from persecutions given their minority status historically. The paper will be two phased with the first section discussing the assimilation process in the east and west, the second part will look at the case of assimilation in Poland. Assimilation in the East and West One of the great influences of the Jewish community in these regions was the impact of religious bearing between Judaism and the other religions For instance, the inferior nature of the community that practices Judaism as compared to their Christian counterparts is assumed to be a fact. As a result, the people who may be living in other nations may not be considered to belong because of the difference in culture or some mutual obligations that bind the group together. On the other hand, the assimilated groups in other nations may tend to treat their Jewish status as an embarrassment and therefore a non issue in the process of integration. As many people accepted these stereotypes, there were continued calls for assimilation into Christianity since it provided a good opportunity of the development of personal goals. In effect, Christianity therefore remained the dominant religion in such regions. Moreover, the desire to assimilate and become â€Å"terminal Jews† was popular because of the younger generations who were vulnerable to stigma and exclusion in the society. Through this, being a Jew was becoming meaningless in the eastern and western societies. Anybody with that identity was considered an outsider and therefore the hastening o f the assimilation process for fear of being abandoned or even persecuted. This in effect created a condition where the Jews in the regions dominated by other religions conform and re-align their faith and integrate with the others. As a result, there came â€Å"liberal Judaism† that seemed to have done away with the strict requirements of the Jewish law including all the theological guidelines and other religious beliefs and practices. By arguing that inclusiveness is the main foundation of Judaism, those in support for assimilation therefore were inclined towards the ethics of "prophetic Judaism". The Jewish intellectuals stressed individual moral independence, rational conduct and inclusiveness. Consequently, this idea became popular and gave rise to a ‘Judeo-Christian ethic approach’ in most of the regions of the western nations. Christians were comfortable with this approach because they were trying to reconnect to their ethics that emerged from the propheti c teachings of biblical Judaism. They also wanted to claim the legitimacy of Christianity as the designated owner of the Judaism as practiced in the biblical Israel. On the other hand, the Jews supported this because they wanted to demonstrate that in terms of ethics, they were similar to Christians and hence were supportive of them. In America, as opposed to Europe, Jews were not bothered with having to fight for their basic civil and human rights. Jewish ethics as fought

Nature vs. Nurture Essay Example for Free

Nature vs. Nurture Essay A lot of people wonder where they get their freckles from, or their edgy and thrill seeking personality. This type of curiosity about where people get their traits from brings about the worldwide debate on nature vs. nurture. There are scientists who argue that people develop characteristics mainly based on their genetic makeup, and then their are people who say that environment and social interactions has more to do with a person’s traits than do genes. People often question why people are the way they are. Nature and Nurture often have a big impact on a person, and can help in explaining why they are a certain way. The nature vs. nurture debate encompasses a variety of major topics, leading to the idea that both nature and nurture influences people in their behaviors and decisions. Criminals go through different reasoning processes for why they commit a crime. They may have been brought up in a rough environment and are acting out, or because they simply just can not control themselves or their minds. There is evidence which suggests that there could be such a thing as gene mutations that determine our traits. These mutations control how the mind and body react to anger , whether it’s aggressively or controlled. According to Adriel Bettelheim, â€Å"researchers studying a dysfunctional Dutch family announced in 1993 that aggressive behavior may be linked to a single faulty gene that causes a shortage of enzymes needed to break down serotonin molecules that transmit signals in the brain.† This idea that criminal behavior may be associated with genetics, opens the doors to many controversial topics such as the insanity defense or the possibility of gene therapy. â€Å"For many centuries, people have tried to craft legal distinctions for the mentall y ill based on the belief that they should not be held fully responsible for their actions† (). The insanity defense is believed to often be abused and is the easy way out for guilty criminals to be held accountable. There are also people who support the insanity defense and say that the law needs to protect people who are too mentally ill to understand their actions. For some criminals, it’s not just a matter of their genes but more their environment that contributes to why they commit crimes. â€Å"Many social scientists say researchers, in a rush to ‘biologize’ behavior, are ignoring environmental influences, such as poverty, broken families and  racism† (). A lot of times the reason why criminals get in trouble with the law, is because they are acting out. Being aggressive or going against authority is like their coping strategy for dealing with their problems. †The frequency and nature of todays violence can only point toward an inherent anger or frustration† (). Ultimately, both nature and nurture can affect criminals and people ma y never be able to fully understand what exactly leads them to make bad choices. In addition to criminal behavior, there are also many other controversial topics regarding nature vs. nurture, such as intelligence and what contributes to peoples intellectual ability. â€Å"Mental ability seems closely related to the volume of those little gray cells in the brain; and differences in that volume seem to be largely a result of heredity†().Scientists are finding that intelligence goes along with the amount of brain cells (gray cells) towards the front of the brain which can be inherited through the family. There is evidence which suggests that if a person does really well with one mental task, they are more than likely to do really well on other mental tests as well. This concept is considered the general mental ability which is associated with those gray cells. Although intelligence is found as being directly associated with the brain cells, many people believe that intelligence is also based on a person’s environment and how they learn. For a lot of people intellectual ability is not purely genetic. Their intelligence can have a lot to do with how they were brought up or their environment in which they learned. Someone who goes to school regularly will probably have a higher intelligence level, versus someone who doesn’t. How people start off learning is also important because often times, if a child is intellectually stimulated at earlier ages, their brain will mature as the child gets older and that child will have a higher intellectual ability because they started learning sooner. IQ testing is a very controversial topic because many people disagree over whether or not it is a good judge of a persons actual intelligence. â€Å"The rift between psychologists over the value of IQ tests stems from a stark difference in the w ay they define intelligence: One camp sees a central, dominant intelligence, the other envisions multiple types of intelligence† (). Although scientists have not found hard evidence to prove that IQ tests are  not liable, social scientists continue to go against certain theories, such as the idea of general mental ability. They choose to believe and promote that there are different kinds of intelligence and everyone excels in different areas regardless of genetics. While genetics does play a role in intelligence, if a person works hard in achieving their goals they can become just as intelligent through challenging themselves and excelling in certain areas. The worldwide debate on nature vs. nurture also encompasses addiction. In a study about drug addictions researchers found, â€Å"the correlations with psychoactive substance use largely resulted from social environmental factors in adolescence† (). Family environments are important to young children and can have a huge affect on them as they get older. An unstable family life can cause people to resort to drugs or alcohol to help them deal with their emotions. If a child has social issues with their friends when they are young, that can affect them as well and cause them to resort to substance abuse to deal with their problems. â€Å"As people aged, however, more of the correlation in psychoactive substance use resulted from genetic factors†(). As substances such as alcohol are more readily available to adults, genetics can influence them more and also their decisions. If there is a history of substance abuse in the family, that person is more likely to become addicted in their lifetime. In the 1920’s, â€Å"Alcohol prohibition lead to a rise in violent organized crime, a trend critics have compared to the ongoing war on drugs(). Because so many citizens used alcohol and a lot of them apparently became dependent on it, they felt they had rights to it; so they organized a violent crime movement to prove that. People who were involved in this war with drugs were not just the poor or downtrodden, but also the middle class and the wealthy. Addiction has no boundaries, and can affect anyone whether it is through nature or nurture. Nature vs nurture will always be a major dispute over genes and environment, but ultimately they both have an impact on people. The reasoning behind criminal behavior is often questioned. Evidence that suggests there are gene mutations, which contribute to aggressive behavior, argues that nature can have a major role in criminal behavior, just like nature affects criminals  actions. In addition to criminal behavior, another worldwide topic discussed in the nature vs nurture debate is intelligence. Like mentioned earlier, intelligence is thought to be determined by genes and general mental ability; but there are social scientists who believe that there are many different types of intelligence, determined by environment and not just genetic make up. Addiction is another controversial subject because addiction can run in families but it also can happen to someone who had no history of it. Addiction also is very much related to a persons environment and how they deal with their problems. For those who wonder where they get their intelligence and edgy personality, or more seriously why they feel aggressive, or become addicted to drugs, think about nature and nurture , which contribute to peoples personality and traits.

Social Networks among Teachers

Social Networks among Teachers CHAPTER 1 The Social Fabric of Elementary School Teams: How Network Content Shapes Social Networks [1] ABSTRACT Background. Social networks among teachers are receiving increased attention as a vehicle to support the implementation of educational innovations, foster teacher development, and ultimately, improve school achievement. While researchers are currently studying a variety of teacher network types for their impact on educational policy implementation and practice, knowledge on how various types of networks are interrelated is limited. Moreover, studies that examine the dimensionality that may underlie various types of social networks in schools are scarce. Purpose. The goal of this chapter was to increase our understanding of how network content shapes social network structure in elementary school teams. The study examines the extent to which various work-related (instrumental) and personal (expressive) social networks among educators are related. In addition, we explore a typology of social networks in schools and investigate whether the common distinction between instrumental and expressive social networks could be validated in the context of elementary school teams. Method. Social network data were collected among 775 educators from 53 elementary schools in a large educational system in the Netherlands. The interrelatedness of seven social networks was assessed using the Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) correlations. Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) was used to discern underlying dimensions that may explain the observed similarities. Finally, we describe and visualize the seven networks in an exemplary sample school. Conclusions. Findings suggest small to moderate similarity between the social networks under study. Results support the distinction between instrumental and expressive networks in school teams and suggest a second dimension of mutual in(ter)dependence to explain differences in social relationships between educators. The social fabric of elementary school teams; How network content shapes social networks INTRODUCTION The rapidly growing interest in social networks can be characterized as one of the major trends in social science research. According to scientific databases (ERIC, Picarta, and Web of Science), the number of publications in social sciences using the word ‘social network(s) in the title, keywords, or abstract, has increased exponentially over the last two decades (Borgatti Foster, 2003) (see 1). Evidence of this trend in education is exhibited by an increasing number of articles focusing on the intersection of social networks and education in a growing variety of settings and areas of emphasis. The thesis that ‘relationships matter is currently inspiring educational researchers around the world to study social networks in school teams (Daly, in press; Daly Finnigan, 2009; Daly et al., in press; McCormick, Fox, Carmichael, Procter, in press; Penuel, Riel, Krause, Frank, 2009) (see also 1). An important prerequisite for gaining insights in the potential of social networ ks for schools is the emergence of social network studies that provide a deepened understanding of the structure and content of teachers professional relationships (Coburn Russell, 2008). Social network scholars emphasize that social networks are shaped by the content or purpose of the social resources that are exchanged in the network (Burt, 1992; Coleman, 1990; Lin, 2001; Putnam, 2000; Scott, 2000; Wasserman Faust, 1997). Studies suggest that the distribution of resources in a network may depend on the content of the network (Haines Hurlbert, 1992; Raider Burt, 1996). For instance, a social network that is maintained for the purpose of exchanging work related knowledge and expertise may look significantly different from a social network that is created for personal support. Even though both social networks contain social resources that may be accessed and leveraged, both networks may be shaped quite differently. Several scholars have therefore voiced the need to examine multiple relationships simultaneously (Friedkin, 2004; Ibarra Andrews, 1993; McPherson, Smith-Lovin, Cook, 2001; Mehra, Kilduff, Brass, 1998; Monge Contractor, 2003; Pustejovsky Spillane, 200 9; Wasserman Faust, 1997). Yet, few studies have been conducted into the ways in which social networks are shaped differently depending on the content of their ties (Hite, Williams, Baugh, 2005; Moolenaar, Daly, Sleegers, in press). The goal of this chapter is to examine the extent to which multiple social networks among educators are shaped differently depending on their content. We will address this goal by exploring the similarity between multiple social networks in school teams and working towards a typology of social networks in school teams according to underlying dimensions. Our enquiry is guided by social network theory and the social network concept of ‘network multiplexity. In short, network multiplexity is concerned with the ‘overlap between social networks that transfer different content among the same individuals. With this chapter, we aim to contribute to recent knowledge on the nature of social networks in school teams by comparing and contrasting different networks (e.g., friendship, advice) in 53 Dutch elementary schools located in a single district. We will start with an overview of social network theory and network multiplexity as these provide the conceptual background to the stud y. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Social network theory A growing body of educational research points to the potential of social networks to affect teachers instructional practice, and ultimately, benefit student achievement (Coburn Russell, 2008; Daly et al., in press; Penuel, Frank, Krause, 2007; Penuel Riel, 2007). Building on social network theory, these studies examine the extent to which the pattern of relationships among teachers and the exchange of resources within these relationships may support or constrain school functioning and improvement. An important feature of social network theory is the focus on both the individual actors and the social relationships linking them (Wasserman Galaskiewicz, 1994). Through social interaction among educators, social relationships develop into a patchwork of ties that knit the social fabric of school teams (Field, 2003; Putnam, 2000). Social network theory argues that the quality and denseness of this social fabric eventually determines the speed, direction and flow of resources through a social network (Burt, 1992). In turn, it is through the flow and use of social resources that collective action may be facilitated and organizational goals may be achieved (Lin, 2001; Lochner, Kawachi, Kennedy, 1999). For instance, strong social relationships are suggested to facilitate joint problem solving, lower transaction costs, and support the exchange of complex, tacit knowledge among network members (Hansen, 1999; Putnam, 1993; Uzzi, 1997). Studies into social networks among educators have focused on various types of social networks that connect teachers within and between schools, such as discussion about curricular issues (content, teaching materials, planning), communication around reform, seeking advice, and friendship among teachers (Coburn Russell, 2008; Cole Weinbaum, 2007; Daly Finnigan, 2009, Hite, Williams, Baugh, 2005; Pustejovsky Spillane, 2009). While some studies focus on a single relationship (Coburn Russell, 2008), others include and contrast multiple relationships (Cole Weinbaum, 2007; Pustejovsky Spillane, 2009), although not for the purpose of explicating their similarities or differences per se. Therefore, what is less clear is whether educators social networks are shaped by the content that defines their ties (Hite, Williams, Hilton, Baugh, 2006; Podolny Baron, 1997). Insights in the way network content shapes collegial relationships is important for understanding the extent to which teach ers professional relationships may affect educational practice. As Little (1990) marks: ‘It is precisely such â€Å"content† that renders teachers collegial affinities consequential for pupils. This insight can be provided by investigating network multiplexity and exploring a typology of social networks in school teams. Network multiplexity In social network terms, multiplex relationships are relationships that serve multiple interests or are characterized by a multiplicity of purposes (Gluckman, 1955, 1965). In other words, multiplexity focuses on the extent to which there is overlap between different social relationships, for instance advice and friendship. Many studies focus on multiplex exchanges within a single relationship, for instance, whether a relationship between two individuals is characterized by the exchange of both work related advice and friendship (De Klepper, Van de Bunt, Groenewegen, 2007; Hansen, Mors, Lovas, 2005; Hite et al., 2006; Hite, Williams, Baugh, 2005, Koehly Pattison, 2005; Lazega Pattison, 1999; Lomi, 2002). Less attention has been paid to the issue of multiplexity in regard to whole networks. To advance social network theory in this direction, this chapter therefore focuses on multiplexity of whole networks. Meaning, we will examine the overlap between whole networks among the same s et of individuals that are characterized by a multiplicity of purposes. Multiplex relationships that serve multiple purposes are suggested to be stronger than relationships that only serve a single purpose, and individuals who are connected through multiplex networks will have greater success in accessing and mobilizing resources (Kapferer, 1969; Doreian, 1974). Multiplex, or multi-dimensional social networks have been studied outside education to validate name generator questions (Ruan, 1998), to examine the pattern of relationships among lawyers (Lazega Pattison, 1999), to differentiate between different types of support networks (Bernard et al., 1990) and advice networks (Cross, Borgatti, Parker, 2001). Yet, knowledge on the extent to which social networks in school teams can be differentiated is scarce. Towards a typology of social networks in school teams Teacher-to-teacher exchange can be captured by a variety of references that all refer to some form of collegiality (Little, 1990; Rosenholtz, 1989), such as sharing, giving advice, discussing work, and collaborating. Little (1990) argues that these exchanges are not just a straightforward collection of activities, but rather ‘phenomenologically discrete forms that vary from one another in the degree to which they induce mutual obligation, expose the work of each person to the scrutiny of others, and call for, tolerate, or reward initiative in matters of curriculum and instruction (p. 512). Little (1990) places various collegial forms on a dimension of mutual interdependence, with storytelling as an example of collegiality that entails low mutual interdependence, and joint work as an example of collegiality that involves high interdependence. She poses that a shift on this dimension toward increased interdependence relates to changes in the frequency and intensity of teachers in teractions and the likelihood of mutual influence. Moreover, increased interdependence poses rising demands for collective autonomy and teacher-to-teacher initiative (Little, 1990). While this dimension of mutual interdependence could serve as a valuable guide in typifying various forms of social relationships in school teams, it has not yet received much empirical attention. Given the popularity of social network studies in education, the question in which forms the amorphous concept of ‘collegiality permeates teachers daily practice is more relevant than ever before. Another useful dimensionality of social relationships that has become common practice in social network research is the distinction between instrumental and expressive relationships (Ibarra, 1993, 1995). These distinct relationships are believed to provide different kinds of support and transfer unique knowledge and information (Erickson, 1988). Instrumental relationships encompass social interactions that are ultimately aimed at achieving organizational goals, such as work related advice or collaboration. Instrumental ties are believed to be ‘weak ties through which work related information and knowledge is exchanged between experts and people who seek information (Granovetter, 1973). Expressive relationships are formed through social interaction that is not directly aimed at work related issues, that often places the individuals interest above that of the organization (Burt, 1997), and that is mostly characterized by an affective component, such as personal support and friend ship. In general, expressive ties are believed to be stronger, more durable and trustworthy, and offer greater potential to exert social influence (Granovetter, 1973; Ibarra, 1993; Marsden, 1988; Uzzi, 1997). Increased understanding of a typology of social networks in school teams is indicated as social network studies often examine various types of networks without specifically addressing differences between the social networks under investigation[2]. By exploring multiple social networks this chapter not only aims to deepen our insights in the social fabric of school teams, but also addresses the validity of the common instrumental-expressive distinction in the context of education. The boundaries between instrumental and expressive relationships are fuzzy and often tend to overlap (Borgatti Foster, 2003). In addition, recent research has suggested that one type of relationship can in part determine or reinforce another type of relationship (Casciaro Lobo, 2005). Since a systematic investigation of multiple networks in school teams is missing, this chapter is one of the earliest to explore a typology of social networks in school teams. In addition to advancing social network theory, t he study thereby offers a unique insight in the social fabric of Dutch elementary schools. METHOD Context We conducted a survey study at 53 elementary schools in south of The Netherlands. The schools resided under a single district board that provided the schools with IT, financial, and administrative support. The schools participated in the study as part of a district-wide school improvement program focused on school monitoring and teacher development. The 53 sample schools were located in rural as well as urban areas and served a student population ranging from 53 to 545 students in the age of 4 to 13. While the schools differed slightly regarding students SES and ethnicity, the schools student population can be considered as rather homogeneous in comparison to the Dutch average. Sample All principals and teachers were asked to participate in the survey study. A total of 51 principals and 775 teachers responded to this call, reflecting a return rate of 96.8 %. Of the sample, 72.9 % was female and 52.5 % worked full-time (32 hours or more). The age of educators in the sample ranged from 21 to 63 (M = 45.7, sd = 10.7). Additional sample characteristics are included Table 1 and 2. Instruments Social networks. To discern common types of interaction among teachers in elementary education, we interviewed seventeen elementary school teachers, two principals and one coach[3] who volunteered in reaction to a canvas call among the personal social network contacts of the principal researcher. We asked the educators to describe a regular work week and give examples of the types of social interaction they had with their colleagues. The hour-long interviews were audio-recorded and conducted using a semi-structured interview guide (Patton, Table 1. Sample demographics of schools and educators (N = 53, n = 775) Individual level Gender Male 210 (27.1 %) Female 565 (72.9 %) Working hours Part time (less than 32 hours) 368 (47.5 %) Full time (32 hours or more) 407 (52.5 %) Experience 1-3 years 152 (19.6 %) at school 4-10 years 256 (33.0 %) > 11 years 367 (47.4 %) Grade level[4] Lower grade (K 2) 353 (45.4 %) Upper grade (3 6) 422 (54.5 %) School level Team experience 6 months to 2 years More than 2 years 20 (37.8 %) 33 (62.2 %) Table 2. Sample demographics of schools and educators (N = 53, n = 775) N Min. Max. M Sd Individual level Age 775 21 63 45.7 10.7 School level Gender ratio[5] 53 57.0 100.0 76.8 10.7 Average age 53 35.4 52.8 45.3 3.7 Number of students 53 53 545 213 116.6 Team size 53 6 31 14.8 6.8 Socio-economic status (SES) [6] 53 0.4 47.3 7.9 9.5 1990; Spradley, 1980). We analyzed the interview data using a constant comparative analysis method (Boeije, 2002; Glaser Strauss, 1967). We compared perspectives of educators with different formal roles and at different grade levels, grouped different forms of social interaction mentioned by the educators, and checked and rechecked emerging types of social interaction (Miles Huberman, 1994). From this preliminary analysis, we deduced seven social networks that capture the forms of social interaction as described by the interviewed educators. As a member-check procedure (Miles Huberman, 1994), these social networks were then shared with a new group of educators. This group comprised eleven principals and six teachers who formed a pilot sample to establish face validity of the social network questions. Based on their comments, slight adjustments were made that resulted in the final questions to assess social networks of educators in elementary school teams (see Table 3). We include discussing work as social interaction concerning the discussion of work related issues. The nature of teaching requires the accumulation, transfer and exchange of ideas, experiences, expertise, and knowledge, all which can be shared through the discussing of work with colleagues (Monge Contractor, 2003). Discussing work can be regarded a general form of resource exchange related to work and can pertain to various topics, such as instruction, planning, or use of teaching materials. Collaboration refers to joint work among educators who are collectively responsible for the product of collaboration, and as such, collaborative relationships address collective action among teachers (Little, 1990). Interaction through collaboration may offer valuable opportunities for the exchange of knowledge and ideas, and the alignment of shared goals and expectations. Given the nature of schools as ‘loosely coupled systems (Weick, 1976) and the relative autonomy that teachers have in their classrooms (Lortie, 2002), collaboration in Dutch elementary schools often follows formal task hierarchy and is prescribed by formal roles, such as coaches or social support specialists. However, collaboration may also be voluntary, such as participating in a committee for a specific event. Asking for advice is of interest to the study of teacher networks since receiving advice may be part of ongoing teacher development and may facilitate the adoption and implementation of reform and innovation in schools (Moolenaar, Daly Sleegers, in press). Asking for advice addresses the issue of ‘who seeks out whom for work-related advice and thereby, in contrast to the previous types of instrumental interaction, implies an interdependence of knowledge, expertise, or information between the advice-seeker and the advice-giver. For the advice-giver, advice relationships are a powerful tool to gain social control as they convey information and disclose vulnerability and risk-taking on the part of the advice-seeker. Research has indicated than advice-seekers often seek advice from people with a higher status than the advice-seeker (Blau, 1964; Lazega Van Duijn, 1997). Table 3. The seven social network questions to assess social networks in Dutch elementary school teams Social network questions (in Dutch) Met welke collegas kunt u goed over uw werk praten? Met welke collegas werkt u het liefst samen? Aan welke collegas vraagt u meestal advies over uw werk? Met welke collegas brengt u graag pauzes door? Met welke collegas heeft u wel eens meer persoonlijke gesprekken? Met welke collegas spreekt u wel eens buiten het werk? Welke collegas beschouwt u als vrienden? English equivalent of the original Dutch question Whom do you turn to in order to discuss your work? With whom do you like to collaborate the most? Whom do you go to for work related advice? With whom do you like to spend your breaks? Whom do you go to for guidance on more personal matters? Who do you sometimes speak outside work? Who do you regard as a friend? Network Discussing work Collaboration Asking advice Spending breaks Personal guidance Contact outside work Friendship The interviewed educators mentioned spending breaks as another important form of social interaction. During breaks, teachers may exchange many types of resources, both work related and personal. Relationships based on spending breaks may be seen as mostly expressive since, according to the interviewed educators, breaks imply ‘off the job moments in which teachers may discuss personal issues or social conversation more easily than during formal meetings. Another social relationship among educators involves going to a colleague for personal guidance and to discuss personal matters. This form of interaction explicitly addresses the informal, personal nature of relationships. A relationship around personal guidance and the discussion of personal matters implies a certain level of trust between the people involved in the relationship. Such a personal bond is believed to be more strong and durable than work related relationships such as work related collaborative exchange (Granovetter, 1973). Whereas ‘spending breaks and ‘personal guidance may be described as ‘friendly relationships, the next two relationships tap into interaction that more specifically addresses ‘friendship (Kurth, 1970). The next social relationship, according to the interviewed educators, entails having contact outside work. When teachers have frequent contact with one another outside school, this may indicate a relationship that is built on more personal grounds than work. Therefore, having contact outside work may be a good indicator of some sort of friendship or strong bond, even though both individuals may not define the relationship as a friendship relationship (Ibarra, 1992; Zagenczyk, Gibney, Murrell Boss, 2008). The final social relationship addresses friendship. Friendship is included in many social network studies as the prototypical expressive relationship (e.g., Cole Weinbaum, 2007; Lazega Pattison, 1999) as friendship expresses personal affect and social support (Gibbons, 2004). Individuals depend on friends for counseling and companionship (Krackhardt Stern, 1988), and friendship ties facilitate open and honest communication that may boost organizational change (Gibbons, 2004). These seven social network questions were included in a social network survey to assess social relationships among educators. Respondents were provided with a school specific appendix that contained the names of the school team members of their school, accompanied by a letter combination for each school team member (e.g., Mr. Jay Hoffer[7] = AB). They were asked to answer each social network question by writing down the letter combination(s) of the coworker(s) they would like to indicate as being a part of their social network as specified by the question. The number of colleagues a respondent could answer was unlimited. Data analysis Social network analysis. The data were examined using social network analysis. Social network analysis is a technique to systematically analyze patterns of relationships in order to understand how individual action is situated in structural configurations (Scott, 2000; Valente, 1995). We first constructed matrices for each network question for each school. The matrices were compiled following the same procedure, namely if educator i nominated educator j as an advice relationship, a 1 was entered in cell Xij. If educator i did not nominate educator j, a 0 was entered in cell Xij. This procedure resulted in an asymmetric matrix that summarized all directed relationships among the educators within a single school. To explore and describe the networks, several social network properties at both the individual and school level were calculated based on the matrices using software package Ucinet 6.0 (Borgatti, Everett, Freeman, 2002; Borgatti, Jones Everett 1998; Burt, 1983). Individual level properties include raw and normalized scores for out-degree and in-degree, and ego-reciprocity. Out-degree depicts the number of people nominated by the respondent, and can therefore be interpreted as a measure of individual activity. In-degree represents the number of people by whom the respondent was nominated, and can be read as a measure of individual popularity. The raw scores of in- and out-degree encompassed the actual number of educators that were named by the respondents. Because the average in-degree is the same as the average out-degree (each out-going relationship for one educator also implies an in-coming relationship for another educator), we only report the average in-/out-degree. The standard deviations of the out- and in-degrees reflect the variability among educators in the amount of out-going and in-coming relationships, and may thus be different for the out-degrees and in-degrees. For instance, educators may vary greatly in the number of relationships they indicate to have, but there may be less variability in the number of relationships that educators receive. The range of the average raw scores varies from 0 to 14.8 since this is the average team size of the sample schools. Besides these raw scores, we also report normalized scores for out-degree and in-degree to facilitate comparisons among schools with different team sizes . The normalized scores can be interpreted as the percentage of relationships of the whole network that an educator maintains. The normalized out- and in-degrees range from 0 (the educator has no relationships) to 100 (the educator has a relationship with all of his/her team members). Again, the average percentage of out-going relationships is the same as the average percentage of in-coming relationships. The standard deviations of the normalized out- and in-degrees mirror the variability among educators in the percentage of relationships that are sent (out-going) or received (in-coming). Ego-reciprocity is a measure of reciprocity at the individual level. Ego-reciprocity is calculated as the number of reciprocal relationships in which in educator is involved, divided by the total number of his/her relationships. Ego-reciprocity thus reflects the percentage of ties of an educator that is reciprocated. Ego-reciprocity ranges from 0 (none of the individuals relationships are reciprocated) to 100 (all of the individuals relationships are reciprocated). At the school level, we calculated the network measures of density, reciprocity, and centralization. Density represents the concentration of relationships in a social network, and is calculated by dividing the number of observed relationships by the total number of possible relationships in a given network. This means that the greater the proportion of social relationships between school staff members, the more dense the social network. The density of a schools network may range from 0 (there are no relationships in the school team) to 1 (all school team members have indicated to maintain a relationship with each other). The density of a network can be thought of as a measure of cohesion (Blau, 1977). A dense network is believed to be able to move resources more quickly than a network with fewer ties (Scott, 2000). Reciprocity captures the extent to which the relationships in a social network are reciprocal, and is calculated as the number of reciprocal relationships in a team, divided by the total possible number of reciprocal relationships. Higher levels of reciprocity have been associated with complex knowledge exchange and higher organizational performance (Kilduff Tsai, 2003). The reciprocity of a schools network may range from 0 (none of the relationships in the school team are reciprocated or mutual) to 1 (all of the relationships in the school team are reciprocated or mutual). In-centralization was included to examine the central tendency of the social networks. This measure assesses whether the relationships in a given network are evenly dispersed in a network, or whether the relationships are centralized around one (or a few) very central people, who receive many nominations. In-centralization is based on the variability of in-degrees within a given team. High in-centralization reflects a high variability in the school team between educators who are often nominated and educators who are seldom nominated. As such, centralization of a social network refers to the difference between one or a few highly central person(s) and other (more peripheral) people in the network. Centralization ranges from 0 (no variability all members of the network are chosen for advice as frequently) to 1 (maximum variability every educator in a network only nominates a single person in the network, while these educators themselves are not nominated at all). The more centralized the social network is, the more resources are disseminated by a single or a few influential people to the rest of the network. In contrast, relationships and resources in a decentralized social network are much more evenly shared among all school team members. Examining multiplexity To determine the similarity between the seven social networks within each school, we estimated a series of Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) correlations in Ucinet (Borgatti, Everett, Freeman, 2002; Hanneman Riddle, 2005; Krackhardt, 1987). The QAP is a procedure to calculate correlations between social networks. When conducting social network research, statistical assumptions of independence are violated because relations between individuals are nested and embedded within the same network. Social network data are often interdependent, thus limiting the use of ‘conventional statistical techniques such as Pearson correlations. The QAP was designed as a variation on conventional correlational analyses for the use with social network data. The QAP follows a specific process. First, a Pearson correlation coefficient is calculated for two corresponding cells of two matrices that contain network data. Then, it randomly permutes the rows and columns of one of the matrices hundreds of times (each time computing a new correlation coefficient), and compares the proportion of times that these random correlations are larger than or equal to the original observed correlation. A low proportion (p

Essay examples --

Over het opeten van twee boterhammen doe je langer dan over à ©Ãƒ ©n. Je huiswerk maak je sneller als je niet tegelijkertijd tv kijkt. Een reclame die je dagelijks ziet, onthoud je beter dan een die je minder vaak ziet. Kijk nu naar 2 kinderen, waarvan de à ©Ãƒ ©n tweetalig opgroeit en de ander à ©Ãƒ ©ntalig. Het tweetalige kind heeft het dubbel zo druk, ook is het taalaanbod verdeeld over twee talen. Betekent dit ook dat meertaligen daardoor langzamer zijn in hun taalverwerving? Wat is het effect op de spraak- en taal ontwikkeling? Welke factoren hebben invloed op taalproblemen bij meertalige kinderen? Op al deze vragen zullen we proberen antwoord te geven in deze deelvraag. Wat is tweetaligheid? Tweetaligheid betekent het kunnen gebruiken van twee verschillende talen in diverse communicatievormen. Het komt niet vaak voor dat beide talen even goed beheerst worden, oftewel een gebalanceerde tweetaligheid. Meestal is er sprake van een dominante taal, deze wordt makkelijker gebruikt dan de tweede taal. Er bestaan twee verschillende soorten tweetaligheid: simultane en successieve tweetaligheid. Simultane tweetaligheid Er is sprake van simultane tweetaligheid als een kind twee (soms drie) talen gelijktijdig aanleert. Vanaf jongs af aan worden de talen aangeboden. Van beide talen moeten de woordstructuur, woordvorming en zinsleer worden verworven. In allebei de talen gaan kinderen door dezelfde taalontwikkeling als kinderen die à ©Ãƒ ©ntalig worden opgevoed. Simultane opvoeding vergt een bepaalde structuur van de ouders. In bepaalde situaties moet een bepaalde taal worden gesproken. Thuis bijvoorbeeld Engels en op school Nederlands. Successieve tweetaligheid Als een kind tot op een latere leeftijd à ©Ãƒ ©ntalig wordt opgevoed en dan pas in aanraking komt met ... ... in het onderwijs voorkomt. Vaak draait het in zulke gevallen om groepen die minderwaardig worden gezien in een samenleving, zoals Marokkanen in Nederland. Dit wordt ook wel subtractieve tweetaligheid genoemd. Dit houdt in dat een kind 2 talen kan spreken en gebruiken maar beide talen zijn van (te) lage kwaliteit. De andere vorm is additieve tweetaligheid, de eerste taal/moedertaal wordt op een voldoende manier gebruikt en daarom kan er een tweede taal aan worden toegevoegd. Op deze manier van het gebruiken van twee talen ontstaan positieve effecten. Doordat meertalige kinderen al vanaf jongs af aan zich veel bezighouden met taal en verschillen in talen, zijn zij zich er snel bewust van wanneer er bepaalde taalverschijnselen voorkomen. Zij kunnen dit verbinden aan verschijnselen die zij in verschillende talen kennen en daardoor leren ze de nieuwe fenomenen snel aan.

Greek and Roman Contributions to Modern Society

Both Greece and Rome made significant contributions to Western civilization. Greek knowledge was ascendant in philosophy, physics, chemistry, medicine, and mathematics for nearly two thousand years. The Romans did not have the Greek temperament for philosophy and science, but they had a genius for law and civil administration. The Romans were also great engineers and builders. They invented concrete, perfected the arch, and constructed roads and bridges that remain in use today. But neither the Greeks nor the Romans had much appreciation for technology.The technological society that transformed the world was conceived by Europeans during the Middle Ages. Greeks and Romans were notorious in their disdain for technology. Aristotle noted that to be engaged in the mechanical arts was â€Å"illiberal and irksome. † Seneca infamously characterized invention as something fit only for â€Å"the meanest slaves. † The Roman Emperor Vespasian rejected technological innovation for fear that it would lead to unemployment. Greek and Roman economies were built on slavery. Strabo described the slave market at Delos as capable of handling the sale of 10,000 slaves a day.With an abundant supply of manual labor, the Romans had little incentive to develop artificial or mechanical power sources. Technical occupations such as blacksmithing came to be associated with the lower classes. With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD, a Dark Age in philosophy and science descended upon the Mediterranean region. But the unwritten history of technological progress continued. In northern and western Europe, there was never a period of regression. As early as 370 AD, an unknown author noted the â€Å"mechanical inventiveness† of the â€Å"barbarian peoples† of northern Europe.The Christian ethic of universal brotherhood slowly spread through Europe, and slavery began to disappear. Tribes and peoples became united under a common creed. Euro peans not only embraced technology, but they also developed the idea of a universal society based upon respect for the dignity and worth of the individual human being. From the sixth through the ninth centuries AD, Europeans adopted new agricultural technologies that dramatically increased productivity. One of these innovations was a heavy wheeled plow that broke up the soil more efficiently than the Roman â€Å"scratch† plow.Formerly unproductive lands were transformed into arable cropland. The Greeks and Romans had harnessed horses with a throat-and-girth harness that consisted of a strap placed across the animal's neck. As soon as the horse began to pull, he would choke himself. In the ninth century, Europeans began to use a padded horse collar that transferred the load of a draught animal to its shoulders. Horses harnessed with collars were able to pull four to five times more weight than those with throat-and-girth harnesses. Horse power was also facilitated by the intro duction of the iron shoe.With fast-moving horses harnessed efficiently, it became possible to transport goods up to 35 kilometers in one day if a sufficiently good road was available. There was now a way to dispose of agricultural surpluses and create wealth that could be used for investment in technology and infrastructure. Thus, the introduction of the lowly horseshoe and collar fostered commerce, civilization, and the growth of towns. Under the Roman system of two-field crop rotation, half the land was left fallow and unproductive at any given time. In the eighth century, Europeans began to practice three-field crop rotation.Fields lay fallow for only a third of the year, and grains were alternated with legumes that enriched the soil with nitrogen. The cultivation of legumes such as peas and beans added valuable protein to European diets. In the tenth century, the climate began to warm, and Europe entered the High Middle Ages. By the thirteenth century, the new agricultural techn ologies had doubled per acre yields. Population surged; architecture and commerce flourished. Europeans began a program of aggressive territorial expansion. They reclaimed Sicily in 1090 and systematically drove Muslims out of Spain.The First Crusade was launched in 1095, and Jerusalem was captured from the Seljukian Turks in 1099. The prosperity created by the new agricultural technologies subsidized education and the growth of knowledge. In the late eighth century, Charlemagne had revived education in Europe by setting up a general system of schools. For the first time, not just monks, but also the general public were educated. As the European economy prospered, students multiplied and traveled, seeking the best education they could find. Christian Cathedral Schools evolved into the first universities.The Universities of Paris and Oxford were founded c. 1170, Cambridge in 1209 AD. The harnessing of water power began around 200 BC with the invention of the quern, a primitive grain mill consisting of two rotating stones. The Romans had been aware of water power but made little use of water wheels and mills. In contrast, by the tenth century, Europeans had begun a wholesale conversion of their civilization from human and animal power to water power. The water-mill came to be viewed not just as a grain mill, but as a generalized source of power that could be adopted for many uses.This new approach was to fundamentally alter the fabric of human civilization. By the thirteenth century, water power was being utilized in sawmills, tanning mills, and iron forges. Mechanical power derived from moving water was used to process beer mash, to turn wood lathes and grinding stones, to power bellows, to drive forge hammers, and to manufacture paper. Because water power was available only where streams were located, Europeans developed other sources of mechanical power. Tidal power was used in Dover and Venice in the eleventh century. The first windmill in Europe appeared in 1085 AD.Over the next hundred years, windmill technology spread rapidly over the plains of northern Europe. Windmills provided power in the cold of winter, when water mills were shut down by frozen streams. The utilization of mechanical power in these many forms required that Europeans develop methods for transferring and redirecting power, crucial technologies for the Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth century. Most important of these was the crank. The crank is a device that allows rotary motion to be converted into reciprocal motion, or vice-versa.For an industrial or technological civilization, the importance of the crank is second only to that of the wheel itself. Without the crank, â€Å"machine civilization is inconceivable. † Water clocks had been known since ancient times, but they were notoriously inaccurate and inconvenient. Near the end of the thirteenth century, it became possible to construct the first mechanical clock when some unknown genius invente d a device known as the verge escapement. The verge escapement enabled the power delivered by a falling weight to be modulated and delivered evenly at a constant rate.The techniques developed in clockwork for regulating and transferring power were essential for the complex machinery of the Industrial Revolution. The introduction of mechanical clocks also made it feasible to adopt standardized timekeeping. This was a necessary step for the eventual development of a technological civilization that needs to coordinate complex administrative and commercial interactions. Modern science traces its roots to the natural philosophy of the ancient Greeks and the pre-Socratic enlightenment c. 600-400 BC.The Greeks began the evolution of what became modern science by introducing naturalism and rejecting supernatural explanations. Describing epilepsy, a Hippocratic author noted that the disease was â€Å"no more divine nor more sacred than other diseases, but has a natural cause from which it o riginates like other affections. † But neither the Greeks nor the Romans ever hit upon the experimental method. Greek philosophers favored the deductive logic used in geometry. They had several reasons for being skeptical of a science based on observation.The world was in state of continual flux, different people observed things differently, and the only data available to them were anecdotal. Modern science began in the thirteenth century when Christian theologians such as Robert Grossesteste became seduced by Aristotelian logic and the Greek principle of demonstrative proof. But when Grossesteste and his student Roger Bacon contemplated the mysterious properties of the magnet, they were forced to conclude that logic alone could never uncover the secrets of the cosmos.Magnetism was a phenomenon that could never be predicted by logical reasoning. It could only be observed. Thus the need for a systematic experimental method. Gunpowder originated in China, but firearms were a Eur opean invention. Cannon date from the first part of the fourteenth century in Europe, and they were common by 1350. The use of cannon in particular helped break up feudalism, as it made central fortifications obsolete. Even the strongest structures were now vulnerable. The protection offered by a stone castle was eviscerated.The possession of personal firearms gave individuals more political power and was an engine for social and political change. The firearm was also the first internal combustion engine and demonstrated the enormous potential power that lay in confined and controlled combustion. Like gunpowder, many of the technologies developed and utilized by Europeans originated in China. But the Chinese were never able to fully develop the promise of these inventions because their economic development was strangled by a â€Å"bureaucratic, state controlled economy. â€Å"In Europe, the leaders in developing medieval technology were not philosophers, but craftsmen, merchants, and businessmen — in a word, entrepreneurs. There were profits to be derived from the new technologies. A water-powered mill required a considerable capital investment, but the investment was likely to return a significant profit. Inventive, free people looked for ways to improve their productivity. Individuals profited, and society prospered. Thus, the Industrial Revolution that began in England c. 1760 was the inevitable outcome of a thousand years of European technological progress fostered by economic freedom.During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the technological innovations pioneered in Europe began to spread throughout the world. This process continues today, most notably with the transformation of the world's most populous countries, China and India. The most undeniable benefit of the technology that Europeans bequeathed to the world was a dramatic increase in life expectancy. Before the Industrial Revolution, average life expectancy at birth was only 25 year s, no higher than it had been in Roman times.But as of 2009, life expectancy in the world had reached 69 years. And Japanese women now enjoy a record life expectancy at birth of 86 years. Thus the world was transformed — not by philosophers, scientists, or politicians, but by engineers, craftsmen, and entrepreneurs. Writing in 1768, Joseph Priestley predicted that â€Å"whatever was the beginning of this world, the end will be glorious and paradisaical, beyond what our imaginations can now conceive. † Thanks to European inventors, Priestley's prediction was fulfilled.

Costco Pay and Benefit Essay

Consequently, many of them are part of a union and hold strikes known as â€Å"Black Friday Strike†, to fight against their job dissatisfaction. Furthermore, Weissmann (2012) goes on to state that Costco is paying their employees â€Å"commendably† better. As demonstrated in figure one, the average wage for a Cost Co cashier, after 5 years of employment is approximately 64% higher than that of an employee at the Wal-Mart Empire (McArdle 2012). Moreover the commentary of Business Week Magazine quotes â€Å"At Costco, it’s better to be an employee or a customer than a shareholder,† says Deutsche Bank†. By showing generosity to employees, they are able to retain them (Commentary:The Costco Way 2004). This is unlike at Wal-Mart where are higher focus is made on shareholder value (Weissmann 2012). Additionally, no Costco employees are part of a union in Washington State (Frey 2004). This only goes to show that employees at Costco are generally satisfied and as such they have no need to join a union, as they have no criticisms on employee treatment. Despite remarks that Costco has more employee value than shareholder value, figure two demonstrates otherwise. Where Costco’s market price had risen constantly over the past 5 years, Wal-mart’s market price has been relatively constant (Yahoo Finance 2013). One particular employee was offer a biannual bonus and had been given time off paid after suffering health issues (Frey 2004). Moreover, Costco offers health care and life insurance although it should be noted that most companies, particularly in USA where health care is not free. As depicted in figure one, Cost co pays for 82% of their employee’s medical costs. However at Wal-Mart, only 50% of health care expenses are paid for, meaning the employee bears 50% of the costs. Additionally, Employees at Cost co can also add family members and de-facto partners to the program and increase their package (Costco 2013). Furthermore, they offer mental care to employees and their families (Costco Wholesale 2011). The 31 December 2012 annual report goes on detail that they do not attempt to minimise wages and benefits but to ensure their satisfaction and reduce employee turnover (Costco 2012). However Costco also has a share scheme where by employees at Costco are offered shares if they have been employees for a substantial period of time (Costco 2012). Additionally, employees also benefit from â€Å"retirement plans† if they complete at least 90 days on the job (Costco 2012). Although it is not offered to employees who are members of the California Union (Costco 2012). One could assume that this retirement scheme was offered to employees to reduce their turnover. Hence Costco will replicate in act of good faith. DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH In terms of the development and growth of their employee’s one motivator factor that creates much satisfaction is the fact that Costco promotes internally (Katsarski 2008). The chance of a promotion may motivate employees to perform better and to persevere with their employment. This is reflected by their low turnover rate (Katsarski 2008). In 2009, the turnover rate, for the average employee at Costco, was 12%, which was considerable lower than the industry average (Ruggeri 2009). (REQUIRE MORE STATISTICS) For instance, Sinegal explains that many managers started out at 19-20 years of age and have been employed by Costco for at least 10 years (Staff 2012). . It appears as though the CEO of Costco understands that employees have needs and desires to grow professionally. For this reason, opportunities for development are not only offered to long-standing employees, but also t. Figure ONE: Comparison Table | Cost Co| Wal-Mart(Including Sam’s Club)| Difference| Employee Starting Rate| $11| $10| $1| Wage after 5 years| $19. 50| $12. 50| $7| Health Benefit Costs paid for| 82%| 50%| 32%| Profit per Employee| $10,623| $7,428| $3,195| McArdle, M 2012, ‘Why Can’t Walmart Be More Like Costco? ’, The Daily Beast, 26 November, viewed 13 May 2013, Figure TWO: Movements in Market Price (listed share price) Yahoo Finance (2013) Costco Wholesale Corporation share price data 2008-2012, Yahoo Finance, viewed 13 May 2013 Figure THREE: Equity Theory Applied for Costco Ruggeri, A 2009, ‘Jim Sinegal: Costco CEO Focuses on Employees’, US News, 22 October, viewed 20 April 2013, Reference Costco Wholesale Corporation 2012, Annual Report 2012, Costco Wholesale Corporation, viewed 19 April 2013, Frey, C 2004, ‘Costco’s love of labor: Employees’ well-being key to its success’, Seattlepi, 28 march, viewed 20 April 2013, Weissmann, J 2012, ‘Who’s Really to Blame for the Wal-Mart Strikes? The American Consumer’, The Atlantic, 22 November, viewed 20 April 2013, Costco Wholesale 2013, Costco Employee Benefit Program Annual Open Enrolment 2013, Costco Wholsale, viewed 20 April 2013, Costco Wholesale 2011, Costco Employee Benefits Program Summary Plan Description, Costco Wholesale, viewed 13 May 2013, Commentary:The Costco Way 2004, accessed 30 April 2013, Ghillyer, A (2010), Management Now, McGraw Hill Higher Education Katsarski, S 2008, ‘Employee Motivation – The Key to Success’, Ezine Articles, 18 September, viewed 20 April 2013, Staff, M 2012, ‘Jim Sinegal on Costco’s â€Å"Promote From Within† Strategy and Why It Needs to Think Like a Small Company’, Daily Finance, 21 June, viewed 13 May 2013, Ruggeri, A 2009, ‘Jim Sinegal: Costco CEO Focuses on Employees’, US News, 22 October, viewed 20 April 2013,

Hush and Just Do It

Hush and Just Do It You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do. ~Henry Ford Recently, I had a young family member tell me that his grades were down because he hadnt adapted this special way of studying, and that next semester, hed have better grades because of this new-found method of learning. In a nice but firm way, I told him that I didnt want to hear what he was going to do. I only wanted to see what hed done once he accomplished it.   Social media abounds with promises and plans on how someone is going to create, be better, make great strides. In my experience, we lose the energy surrounding those goals Derek Sivers, in a 2010 TED Talk, suggests we keep our goals to ourselves. https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_keep_your_goals_to_yourself Tests done since 1933 show that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen. Announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you’re less motivated to do the hard work needed. Theres somewhat of a myth, a common suggestion, that if you tell people what you are going to do  that it makes you more accountable. Ive never seen that proven. Sure, we have our writers groups and critique groups, but do they make you follow through? Not really. You are the only person who can make yourself follow through. And its nobody elses fault that you dont. A journalist with Forbes, Jamie Farrell, curiously wondered what would happen if she quit talking about herself and what she planned to do. For one day, I decided to stop talking and start doing.   And here’s what I found: First, I found that I was lonely.   I was so accustomed to my ego being stroked And Im not giving you permission to blame social media, either. What Id love for you to do is talk less about the doing  and just do more. On this, our last newsletter in 2017, in a year I did so much less than I have in over a decade, I am making 2018 about DOING. Not talking about doing, but following through. And I look forward to hearing from you when you have all those new announcements to make about what you DID. Happy New Year!

Free Essays on Experience That Changed My Life

According to the America Immigration Department, there are more than thousands of people from foreign countries immigrating to America every single day. You may immediately wonder, â€Å"why there are so many people coming to our country?† As long as I also came to America from Hong Kong a few months ago, let me tell you the reason. It is because America is the strongest country in the world. As you can see the national defensive system and the education system are so well-developed. Undoubtedly, going to America has affected my life not only physically, but also mentally. It seems to me that Hong Kong education system has messed up since China rules over Hong Kong from 1997. In support of this, I have an example. Sadly, there was an educational reform occurred within these several years in Hong Kong, which has totally destroyed the well-developed educational system; furthermore, a lot of people in my country started leaving Hong Kong for other countries because of the economic recession. Conversely, I know that America has the best colleges, like Harvard, Yale and University of Pennsylvania, which is the antithesis to Hong Kong; in addition to that, the education system is better than any other countries in the world. As a result, I want to apply for America colleges and universities in order to get higher quality educations, which can help me to get a better career in the future. Compared to Hong Kong, America is an enormous country that the environment is so nice, especially in the suburban places of Philadelphia. The sky is clear, the wind is mild and the houses are less dense than Hong Kong. Hence, the pollution problem is not as serious as Hong Kong. Therefore, this can help me to have a healthier body that impacts me physically. Unfortunately, every coin has two faces. Imagine that if you leave your homeland for a few years, would you miss your family and friends who you love and c... Free Essays on Experience That Changed My Life Free Essays on Experience That Changed My Life According to the America Immigration Department, there are more than thousands of people from foreign countries immigrating to America every single day. You may immediately wonder, â€Å"why there are so many people coming to our country?† As long as I also came to America from Hong Kong a few months ago, let me tell you the reason. It is because America is the strongest country in the world. As you can see the national defensive system and the education system are so well-developed. Undoubtedly, going to America has affected my life not only physically, but also mentally. It seems to me that Hong Kong education system has messed up since China rules over Hong Kong from 1997. In support of this, I have an example. Sadly, there was an educational reform occurred within these several years in Hong Kong, which has totally destroyed the well-developed educational system; furthermore, a lot of people in my country started leaving Hong Kong for other countries because of the economic recession. Conversely, I know that America has the best colleges, like Harvard, Yale and University of Pennsylvania, which is the antithesis to Hong Kong; in addition to that, the education system is better than any other countries in the world. As a result, I want to apply for America colleges and universities in order to get higher quality educations, which can help me to get a better career in the future. Compared to Hong Kong, America is an enormous country that the environment is so nice, especially in the suburban places of Philadelphia. The sky is clear, the wind is mild and the houses are less dense than Hong Kong. Hence, the pollution problem is not as serious as Hong Kong. Therefore, this can help me to have a healthier body that impacts me physically. Unfortunately, every coin has two faces. Imagine that if you leave your homeland for a few years, would you miss your family and friends who you love and c...

Protection and Conservation of the Yosemite National Park and its Essay

Protection and Conservation of the Yosemite National Park and its architecture - Essay Example Protection and Conservation of the Yosemite National Park and its architecture Some of the places are Mariposa Grove, Curry Village, Parsons Memorial Lodge, Wawona Lodge and they represent a vital part of American history. With steep cuts in funding and the budget, it will be impossible to maintain the places. In the next few paragraphs, I will try to explain the architectural significance and cultural importance of these places. Curry Village: Curry Village is an unincorporated community based in the Mariposa County of Yosemite national park. The camp had its origins in 1899 when David Curry and Jenny Foster set up a tented camp for which they had obtained permission and rights. It was a bed and meal camp for 2 USD/ day. The camp gradually extended and it now includes wooden cabins for visitors, dining rooms, lodge and a post office. The architecture includes heritage grade structures such as rustic wood framed cabins with hipped roofs that are installed on stone foundation. Some of the old structures still available are the 1914 entrance, the registration off ice of 1904, the dance hall built in 1913, the Foster Curry cabin constructed in 1916 along with the Mother Curry Bungalow of 1917 and other structures. These are unique structures untouched by today’s commercial constructions and remind us of how our forefathers lived in the past century (Curry Cabin, 1978). Please refer to the following figure that shows the Curry Cabin. Figure 1. Curry Cabin at Yosemite Park (Curry Cabin, 1978) Parsons Memorial Lodge: The Parsons Memorial Lodge was built in 1915 by the Sierra Club in the Yosemite national park. It is one of the first structures built of stone in the park and it was built in memory of Edward Parsons, one of the clubs directors. The architecture is worth noting since it encloses 1400 square feet area and this is a one story structure. The walls are constructed with rubble masonry and concrete core with gray granite, pink feldspar for the mortar. While the base is more than thee feet, it gradually tapers to two foot at the to p. A strong stone archway is used for the door and the low pitch roof is made of peeled log rafters. Interior and exterior log braces are rested on the external buttresses. Smaller peeled logs are placed on top of the rafter logs. It is regarded as a National Historic Landmark (Parsons Memorial Lodge, 2010). Please refer to the following image of the structure. Figure 2. Parsons Memorial Lodge (Parsons Memorial Lodge, 2010) Wawona Lodge: The Wawona Hotel was built in 1876 at Wawona in the Yosemite national park. The Victorian style hotel was meant to house tourists who visited the Mariposa Grove and other areas of the park. The structure is made of seven buildings with a circular drive and centered fountains. The external walls are aligned to the four cardinal directions. The buildings have a wood frame construction with painted exteriors. There are multiple porches and decorative woodwork. The architectural importance is that it is the largest Victorian hotel complex in America. Th e format used has a rural placement while the buildings have a Greek Revival style, stick style and Eastlake styles, evident in railings, brackets, cornice returns and decorative balustrades. Most of furniture are period pieces though not antique (HABS, 2010). Please refer to the following image of the hotel. Figure 3. Wawona Hotel, Yosemite National Park (HABS, 2010) Mariposa Grove: The Mariposa Grove is one of the natural wonders of Yosemite Park. The grove is made up of more than 30 giant

SEA Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

SEA Statement - Essay Example Although the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 (the Act) has now come into force, the first preparatory act of the Draft Strategy was undertaken prior to commencement of the Act, and therefore the SEA has been undertaken in accordance with the Regulations and not the Act. Strategic Environmental Assessment, "a systematic method for considering the likely environmental effects of plans, programmes and strategies, during their development" (Walker, May 2007, p.1), aims decision-making after integrating environmental factors, environmental protection improving plans and participation of common people. Moreover, a formal consultation concerning SEA process is being undertaken. The utmost criteria of the SEA process: "[s]coping Report sent to Consultation Authorities in October 2006 and Final Strategy and Post adoption SEA Statement" (The Scottish Government, 2008). The Dublin City Council made a study in quest of available scopes for developing a new major water source for the Greater Dublin Area in 2005 and the council adopted the findings found by the SEA after considering ER and stakeholder issues. SEA Directive was transposed in England to carry out strategic environmental assessment for transport plans and programmes in England following requirements set by SEA which integrates the Directive's requirements with existing transport appraisal processes. Basically the objective of the SEA Directive is described by Article 1: "the SEA Directive is to provide for a high level of protection of the environment and to contribute to the integration of environmental considerations into the preparation and adoption of plans ... with a view to promoting sustainable development." (TAG, December 2004) Guidance thus can be mentioned that SEA has been securing new plans for transportation which will include the transport plans, and now, centralised to local plan implementation for transplantation. Again, the guidance is not willing to be used as a law rather provides a "basis for understanding SEA, but is no substitute for giving

Feedback after reading the banking concept of education by Paulo Essay

Feedback after reading the banking concept of education by Paulo Freire - Essay Example In this regard, this paper gives a response to the article "the banking concept of education" by Paulo Freire, clearly and analytically discussing this system of education. Although it is true that students especially in the contemporary world, flourish academically as a result of their ability to master what their teachers have taught them in class, it is worthy also to note that such memory is very instrumental in many fields of study and ought to be nurtured. Generally, the system of formal education has inculcated in the schools through teachers that the students who have the exceptional ability to memorize and master harvested concepts, vocabularies, and outlines are the best academically. While this could be true to some extent, there is a significant need to be cautious in relating this to the academic potential of the concerned students, as sometimes the opposite is true. The banking concept of education is not only harmful to the education sector as a whole but also to the students who merely act as the recipients of knowledge rather than contributors to knowledge. In addition, this system of education normally turns out to be ineffective majorly due to the fact that some of the so called ‘A’ students do not normally perform well in institutions of higher learning and even in the professional world. This is because there is no direct correlation between the ability for one to memorize others’ opinions and the application of the same in real world situations. Such scenario only means that the teachers only use this method of education to assist students pass their examinations and proceed to the next level. Since there is not a single person who has the monopoly of knowledge, it is not a good idea for the teacher to pose as one by being the narrator. The students, who due to their naivety humbly submit to

Triumph over Lifes Challenges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Triumph over Lifes Challenges - Essay Example Currently, she runs an organization that seeks to help other girls from her continent to make it in life. Vanessa’s family was of a humble setting in the African continent. She was her mother’s only child with no siblings. However, she lacked the privilege of meeting her mother who passed on her after birth. She grew up to find herself in the caring hands of her aged grandmother. Growing up was not an easy thing for her, because the economic status in her home country was not easy. Despite all the challenges, the young girl seemed to be coping well in life and making the best out of the little they had. She was an above average student in school, and financial challenges did not stop her from shining. At the end of her primary schooling, she emerged as a top achiever in the final examinations. This was no meager achievement for her because she lacked most of the basic resources but remained resilience, believing that she would excel. Her exemplary performance saw her re ceive an admission into one of the best schools in her country. The grandmother lacked sufficient funds to support her, but Vanessa was an epitome of determination. Nuns owned the school that she joined, a factor that later worked out very well for her. She remained an exemplary student through high school, a factor that earned her a scholarship organized by the nuns. The first two years of high school lacked major events. However, while she was sixteen, she lost her grandmother, the only family that she ever knew. Although devastated, she knew that it was not time to give up her dreams (Georges). Somehow, she managed to get over the loss and focused on her education. At the end of her four years, she emerged top of the country again. Despite the achievement, she experienced immense loneliness because she lacked family.

Critical Thinking as the Basic Tenets of the Scientific Method Assignment

Critical Thinking as the Basic Tenets of the Scientific Method - Assignment Example What strengthens the connection between the reliability and validity of claims is when the observations in phenomenon are properly and logically explained via thorough interpretation of the results using ideas which were previously proven to be true in the past by repeatable methods and results (Tittle 235). A short process of critical thinking is mentioned in the following list: It is noticeable that in this stepwise manner, observation comes first before interpretation, and this is important because this helps in the development of logically establishing the validity, reliability, and strong value of the results (236). Learning how to think critically is a challenging way of setting up the validity of certain events or phenomenon, especially during the times when the Earth happens to move and shake, or when the atmosphere seems to become ominous or poses a danger to its inhabitants. For example, it is through repeated observations of natural events such as tornadoes or thunderstorms that people can be advised on what to do when these strike places (Wicander & Monroe 11). If not for critical thinking, people would constantly panic or run around, endangering themselves in the process. Also, because certain events have strong tendencies to be the same wherever they occur, such as volcanic eruptions or earthquakes, much more sensitive ways of observing such phenomena can be developed, which in turn not only increases reliability of observed information but also helps in better understanding the reasons why and how such natural geologic phenomena affects and shapes the  planet.

The Other mother Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Other mother - Essay Example Abrams writes out of her true experience, reconstructing her life together with her partner and daughter from her own personal journals, a record of her emotions and thoughts about the situation, and from her memory and the people around her during the time that the events took place. Abrams, in her author’s note in the book, reveals to the reader that she wrote the book during the time when she had no contact with her daughter. The story is told in a first-person narration. The narrator starts out with telling how her relationship with Norma blossomed from friendship to love, from being friends to starting out a relationship. Eventually they moved in together despite the narrator’s indecision because of Norma’s seemingly untruthful revelation of herself, her past life and who she is. While their relationship is going to the road of partnership, Norma decided that she wanted a baby of her own. At first, the narrator didn’t like the idea of her partner getting pregnant and herself being a mother. She had doubts but Norma was able to persuade her to the idea and they began planning it out. They searched for a sperm donor, bought baby clothes and items and attended childbirth classes as preparation. The narrator recounted the difficulties she had experienced during Norma’s pregnancy. She needed to face the hormonal instability of her partner, the whims and tantrums, including the ad ditional chores she needed to do because either Norma didn’t want to do it or was not allowed to do it. She also recounted her family’s reaction and other people’s reaction towards the pregnancy. Some approved, most expressed their concern. It was not a normal situation, lesbian partners strolling around, with one partner with a large belly carrying a child within. While Norma was having hormonal imbalances and tantrums, the narrator was also having emotional turmoils of her own, though eventually, Norma’s pregnancy brought excitement of her

Triumph over Lifes Challenges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Triumph over Lifes Challenges - Essay Example Currently, she runs an organization that seeks to help other girls from her continent to make it in life. Vanessa’s family was of a humble setting in the African continent. She was her mother’s only child with no siblings. However, she lacked the privilege of meeting her mother who passed on her after birth. She grew up to find herself in the caring hands of her aged grandmother. Growing up was not an easy thing for her, because the economic status in her home country was not easy. Despite all the challenges, the young girl seemed to be coping well in life and making the best out of the little they had. She was an above average student in school, and financial challenges did not stop her from shining. At the end of her primary schooling, she emerged as a top achiever in the final examinations. This was no meager achievement for her because she lacked most of the basic resources but remained resilience, believing that she would excel. Her exemplary performance saw her re ceive an admission into one of the best schools in her country. The grandmother lacked sufficient funds to support her, but Vanessa was an epitome of determination. Nuns owned the school that she joined, a factor that later worked out very well for her. She remained an exemplary student through high school, a factor that earned her a scholarship organized by the nuns. The first two years of high school lacked major events. However, while she was sixteen, she lost her grandmother, the only family that she ever knew. Although devastated, she knew that it was not time to give up her dreams (Georges). Somehow, she managed to get over the loss and focused on her education. At the end of her four years, she emerged top of the country again. Despite the achievement, she experienced immense loneliness because she lacked family.

The Other mother Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Other mother - Essay Example Abrams writes out of her true experience, reconstructing her life together with her partner and daughter from her own personal journals, a record of her emotions and thoughts about the situation, and from her memory and the people around her during the time that the events took place. Abrams, in her author’s note in the book, reveals to the reader that she wrote the book during the time when she had no contact with her daughter. The story is told in a first-person narration. The narrator starts out with telling how her relationship with Norma blossomed from friendship to love, from being friends to starting out a relationship. Eventually they moved in together despite the narrator’s indecision because of Norma’s seemingly untruthful revelation of herself, her past life and who she is. While their relationship is going to the road of partnership, Norma decided that she wanted a baby of her own. At first, the narrator didn’t like the idea of her partner getting pregnant and herself being a mother. She had doubts but Norma was able to persuade her to the idea and they began planning it out. They searched for a sperm donor, bought baby clothes and items and attended childbirth classes as preparation. The narrator recounted the difficulties she had experienced during Norma’s pregnancy. She needed to face the hormonal instability of her partner, the whims and tantrums, including the ad ditional chores she needed to do because either Norma didn’t want to do it or was not allowed to do it. She also recounted her family’s reaction and other people’s reaction towards the pregnancy. Some approved, most expressed their concern. It was not a normal situation, lesbian partners strolling around, with one partner with a large belly carrying a child within. While Norma was having hormonal imbalances and tantrums, the narrator was also having emotional turmoils of her own, though eventually, Norma’s pregnancy brought excitement of her

In a book written by Goldscheider Essay Example for Free

In a book written by Goldscheider Essay Studying the Jewish Future, the author revealed the reasons for the unexpected results, that instead of a vanishing race, the reality is that of a thriving community. And the explanation can be broken down into the following: 1. Conversion – It is surprising to find out that a considerable number of non-Jewish spouse opted to be converted to Judaism. It must be noted though that the said conversion may be formal or informal but true conversion is rather marked by a following community norms and values. 2. Acceptance – the Jewish community is now more open to the idea of intermarriage and this has resulted in a more openness which predictably made it easier for non-Jewish spouse to get exposed to Jewish ways. 3. Deliberate Outreach – the Jewish community and its institutions are forced to reach out to intermarried couples and by doing so encouraged non-Jews to be respect their beliefs and for some a desire to be counted as Jews. Ambivalence There is a dramatic change in perception and outlook that resulted in an improvement in how the Jewish community in general is treating intermarried couples. Still, the Jewish faith would never have reached its current position, a survivor of the Holocaust and many other forms of persecution without creating a defense mechanism that ensured the survival not only of its lineage but also of its beliefs and customs. It is this defense mechanism that made it hard for other to jump on the â€Å"accept the intermarried couples bandwagon† and prevented some to see the possibilities not only in finding a novel way of thriving in a modern society like America but also a novel way of finding new converts. In one extreme, intermarriage is one valid form of proselytizing whose impact is not yet fully measured. But as mentioned earlier, not everyone is convinced that the time has come for the Jews to fully open its house to the Gentiles. Bayme and Rosen provided an example of this ambivalence when they cited the popular Mordecai Kaplan who at one point encouraged intermarriages: Jews must meet all situations that might lead to mixed marriages, not fearfully or grudgingly, but in the spirit of encountering an expected development †¦ With a belief in the integrity and values of his own civilization, the Jewish partner to the marriage cold †¦ make Judaism the civilization of the home†¦ And yet two years later the same person said: Since Jews are a minority and Judaism is exposed to tremendous disintegrative forces from non-Jewish environment †¦ it cannot approve of uncontrolled intermarriage with non-Jews. If however, a non-Jew who desire to marry a Jew, after studying what is involved in being a Jew and what are the principles and practices of Judaism, he should be given every encouragement and should be welcomed into the Jewish community (Kaplan, as qtd. in Bayme Rosen, 1994, p. 268). Conclusion After thousands of years since God has declared them the â€Å"chosen people† the Jews continue to struggle and to find their place in the world. Every generation is pressured to find ways to pass on what they have received from their ancestors to the next generation of Jews. Each time the baton is passed the more it becomes more difficult to continually display integrity, commitment, and consistency. Just like other ancient religions, Judaism is finding it extremely difficult to solve the dilemma of identity and relevance. The present generation can enforce and strengthen their spiritual identity and dig deep into their past to find that old familiar path that will lead them to their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. But every time they struggle to keep their ancient traditions and beliefs together they risk losing their relevance to a fast evolving world. This is especially true in America; the world’s most advanced and most powerful nation. As a result the new generation of Jews are abandoning ancient traditions and exchanging it with new ideas. But this is just a part of a bigger problem. What they are most concern about is the marriage of Jews to non-Jews or interfaith marriages. As mentioned in the introduction part of this paper, the Jews can directly trace their lineage to an ancient people, the Israelites, children of Jacob. A long time ago, they co-existed with ancient people groups but they are the only fortunate ones to have survived the passage of time. It can even be argued that they are the only surviving, direct descendants of ancient tribes. This made them a special group. A fact that is not lost in the collective psyche of the Jewish people. This ability to survive against all odds does not come without a price. They have developed a sort of defense mechanisms against the â€Å"melting pot† effect of the world. The world is like one giant sponge of conformity, sucking them in to make them conform to popular trends and standards. The Jewish people, for thousands of years were able to resist that pull. They have their strict diet, their festivals, their rituals, and their traditions that must be strictly followed wherever they are. Whether they are in the midst of prison, or in a land filled with racism they have to remember who they are and by doing all these things they have fought back extinction and remained a distinct people group. The Jewish race also has one major secret weapon and it is the implied rule that they should not marry non-Jews. At first glance it is easy to believe that they perpetuate this rule for the sake of practicality. It would be impossible for an outsider to keep up with their way of life unless one has learned of these things since early childhood. But a close look into this code of conduct reveals a religion that is so exacting that it sees intermarriage as a threat to the continuity of this particular group. For thousands of years they had succeeded in maintaining the status quo. Wherever they went they formed a close knit community of fellow believers that find support and strength from one another. The long history of persecution and anti-Semitism forced them to band close together as one family. It is understandable why for a long time outsiders are reluctant to penetrate their strong defenses so that they can get an idea as to what Judaism is all about. Moreover, anti-Semitism is a serious problem that strongly discourages a potential suitor from risking his life for someone that is as enigmatic as a Jewish girl. Everything went fine until after World War II. It seems that the Holocaust has placed the Jews in the limelight and not to discount also the successes of the Holocaust survivors in the field of finance and business that may well have contributed to their fame in the international stage. Another factor is the settling of Jews in America, first coming in droves as refugees and then finally establishing a place they can call home. In the New World the Jewish community was able to thrive in an environment where anti-Semitism is denounced as something belonging to a bygone era. Then an unexpected thing happened. The lessening of anti-Semitism no doubt changed the way Americans see the Jews. In short Jewish men and women became desirable in the eyes of modern day Gentiles. And since they are in the land of the free, the new generation of Jews can find nothing wrong in interfaith marriages. But for the elders, especially communal leaders have a different perspective. They are perhaps remnants of that era where Jews are considered as the persecuted one in Europe and in many parts of the world. It may have been a difficult notion to entertain for these old folks – that a Jew can finally live with a non-Jew and yet retain its identity and continue practicing their faith. They cannot see the gray area, only the black and white shades that says either one is fully committed Jew, focused on his religious duties or none at all. Moreover, the increasing rate of intermarriages was seen as a black-eye for the Jewish community. They interpret it as a growing weakness in the institution that teaches Jewish beliefs and traditions. It was also interpreted as rebellion towards parents and to their way of life. In modern times, there are researchers like Goldscheider who contends that the elders made a fundamental error in judgment. He argues that the reason for the negative assessment of intermarriage is a wrong perspective. He hastens to say that if the elders and the whole Jewish community can see what intermarriage is doing to the community in general then they will be more open to the idea of intermarriage. Firs of all, intermarriages are means for increasing the number of Jews in America. This is because studies have found a significant percentage of non-Jews willing to learn more about the Judaism, willing to let their children grow up as followers of Judaism and in many instances non-Jews are getting converted formally or informally. Goldscheider warns though that in order for this new trend to be a source of joy for communal leaders and elders they need to have a paradigm shift. They no longer have to limit their idea â€Å"Jewishness† on the basis of birth but they must be willing to accept that a true Jew is not someone with a direct lineage to the ancient people found in the Jewish Bible, but they are people who are in love with Jewish customs and tradition and that they are eager to lead their children in following their lifestyle. For Goldscheider this is what 21st century needs and for him this is what intermarriage brings to the Jewish experience. Works Cited Bayme, Steven. Jewish Arguments and Counterarguments. New Jersey: KTAV Publishing House, 2002. Bayme, Steven Gladys Rosen. The Jewish Family and Jewish Contiunity. New Jersey: KTAV Publishing, 1994. Goldscheider, Calvin. Are American Jews Vanishing Again? Ed. Put Name of Editor of the book article was taken from. Place of Publication: Publisher, year of publication. _____________________. Studying the Jewish Future. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2004. Jewish Bible. Retrieved 13 November 2007 from http://www. breslov. com/bible/Joshua3. htm#3 Shapiro, Edward. A Time for Healing: American Jewry Since World War II. MA: The John Hopkins Press, 1992. Sklare, Marshall. Understanding American Jewry. New Jersey: Transaction Books, 1982.

Skeletal Specimens for Scientific Studies

Skeletal Specimens for Scientific Studies This report is about the proper techniques for preparing, cleaning, whitening and articulation of skeletal specimens for osteological, biological, veterinary or zoological study. It will explain the three usual techniques used to clean the bones of soft tissue and a few of the more uncommon ways to do so. It will go slightly in depth in each category and then move onto the proper ways and improper ways that the bones themselves are whitened and all lipids are removed from the bones, than it will discuss how to seal the bones to protect them from the elements. Then it will discuss actual articulation and go into detail on the types of articulation commonly used. Lastly it will go over common uses for prepared articulated skeletons. Skeletal articulations have been going on since museums first started displaying taxidermied animals. Many times the animals bones didnt want to be wasted so either the skulls or entire skeletons would be saved in archives to help accurately catalog specimens kept in the museum. Eventually the idea was had to reconstruct these skeletons into lifelike poses and display them in the museum as well, this is where skeletal articulation found its roots. In the picture below is an example of an articulated skeleton of a Potto, a species of primate There are multiple ways to clean the specimens that are used for articulations. There are three common ways that it is done with satisfactory results, the first and most common method is with the use of the beetle Dermestes maculatus, otherwise known as the dermestid, or skin, beetle. These beetles start their life as a small microscopic egg typically laid near dried animal material, which than hatch out as small furry larvae which are black to brown in color. The eggs typically take a day to hatch and the larvae go through multiple stages, or instars, before finally pupating and emerging as an adult. Post, L (n.d) Bone Builders notebook. Pg. 21 Homer, AK, Author published. The male beetle attracts the female with pheromones, which is a common method in the insect world. There is no intermale aggression or territorial aggression. These beetles are useful not only in skeletal articulation but also in the field of human forensics. The main way these beetles assist in the cleaning of bones for articulation is they eat the flesh fairly quickly, the larger the colony the faster the job gets done. With a colony of one thousand beetles an animal the size of a weasel could be cleaned overnight, as opposed to some of the other methods which take considerably longer. An example of a small colony cleaning a deer skull can be seen in the below picture The beetles are also extremely delicate and thorough in the job that they do, being able to clean even the skeletons of young animals without fully formed bones while doing little to no damage. B. Shaver P.E Kaufman (2009). They also allow articulators to perform ligamentary articulations. A drawback to using beetles for cleaning is they often leave a lot of fat in the bones, making for a longer whitening and degreasing process. Beetles usually live for around 6 months in their adult form, however they breed very quickly. I have personally raised a colony of these beetles from just eighteen beetles to well over five thousand in a little over a year. A second common method for cleaning bones for use is maceration, which requires less maintenance than a beetle colony but also takes a lot more time to fully clean the bones. Maceration is the submersion of the specimen in water to decompose fully. This is further broken down into two categories, cold water maceration and warm water maceration. Cold water maceration typically takes a longer period of time to completely decompose the specimen, however it is easier maintenance and is typically used in warmer climates. Warm water maceration usually uses some form of heating element in the water to speed up the process of decomposition. It also has the added benefit of helping to melt some of the lipids left in the bones, helping to degrease the bones while cleaning them at the same time. Maceration when used properly results in much cleaner bones than the other methods of cleaning, however it takes a considerable amount of time to complete. Times can vary from a week or two for a small animal like a mouse to a few years for larger animals such as horses and cattle. Generally the water temperature is kept at or above 80 degrees for warm water maceration. This dramatically lowers the degreasing time by melting and liquefying the lipids in the bones, making it easier for the bacteria to consume and for physical removal of the fat. This techniques major drawback is mostly the smell it produces, which if never smelled before has been known to produce ill responses. Most of the time maceration is done in small containers with separate bone groups separated from each other, for example the arm bones separated, the leg bones separated, and the ribs and spine separated. This makes it much easier to rearrange the bones after the cleaning process is done. These sections are often placed in mesh bags made of some form of plastic, as if it were a form of cloth it could potentially also be digested and consumed by the bacteria in the water. Other times specimens may be placed in wire cages and placed in streams, rivers, or ponds to macerate, which also allows natural scavengers to help do the work, however there is a far greater potential to lose bones this way, or have it tampered with. A third common technique for cleaning bones is boiling. This technique involves actually cooking the specimen for multiple hours until the soft tissues become soft enough to come away from the bones. There are several problems with this method and the main one being that people tend to actually boil the bones, damaging them with the heat and making them soft and flaky. It is best to simmer the bones on low heat for a long period of time to help avoid from damaging the bones. Often times the heat tends to leech the fat directly into the bones, making for a terribly long degreasing process. This technique is commonly employed by taxidermists for European mounts, which is keeping the skull and horns of game animals such as deer or antelope. A European mount may be seen in the below picture Some people will also add baking powder to help strip the soft tissue from the bones, this is highly damaging to the bones and though initial results may look alright, without proper sealing the bones will soon turn dusty and deteriorate overtime, until you are left with nothing more than dust. This process is also usually done in pieces so as to make organization of the skeleton a simpler process. Times can vary from a few hours for smaller sections of bone to well over twenty four hours for larger animals or sections of bones. Often times the spine of the animal will present a problem as there is much cartilage, nervous tissue and muscle tissue holding them together. Manuel removal of flesh is required for this technique, often involving fine scalpel blades and knives, as well as stiff wire brushes. Overall this technique is the least efficient of the three common techniques and has the most potential for damaging the specimen, therefore it is often not recommended to be tried by those first starting skeletal articulations, as they are more prone to make careless errors and mistakes. The most efficient and time efficient method of the three common methods is using dermested beetles. There are many more ways to clean the bones of specimens for display however now I will discuss just two of the more uncommon ways of doing this. The first less uncommon way of cleaning bones is simply burying the specimen in the ground and allowing nature to do the work. Often times the specimen is placed in a cloth bag and buried so as to not lose bones, however the cloth bag can also be effected by decay, and be eaten away in the soil by invertebrates and bacteria naturally present there. Bones are commonly lost using this method and it may take several years for the soft tissue to effectively be decomposed even in small specimens. A large problem with using this method is the fact that minerals are naturally found in the soil and often will leave orange or rusty red stains on the bones due to the presence of iron in the soil. These stains can be removed but not always thoroughly using strong chemicals which also damage the bone; this is not an optimal situation. Sometimes after removing the bones from the ground it will be discovered that the soft tissues have mummified to the bones, making it very hard to remove. This happens frequently in warmer dryer climates. The dried tissue than has to be removed manually with tools and than most of the time needs to be boiled or put into a dermested colony, defeating the purpose of putting the specimen in the ground to begin with. A second uncommon technique used for cleaning is using chemicals to remove the soft tissues. L. Post (n.d) Bone Builders notebook. Pg 24. Homer, AK, self published. Commonly household drain cleaner is used for this process, as it eats away at the soft tissue by either being strongly acidic or basic. Other times fifteen percent or higher hydrogen peroxide is used as it oxidizes the flesh. A drawback to this technique is the obvious danger of using strong chemicals which may severely burn the user. These chemicals if not used in proper percentages can completely eat away a small specimen in just a few hours, so a close eye has to be kept on the entire process. Often times the ligaments are the last parts to be dissolved and with proper timing can be used to make a ligamentary articulation. The benefit of these techniques are they are fairly hands off, however there are often multiple things that can go wrong and ruin a specimen or possibly even harm the articulator. Some of these techniques are still new to practice and must be tuned a bit more to get proper results. Often times it is best just to use those techniques which are proven safe and effective as they are the ones that have most likely been around the longest. Those who wish to start skeletal articulations are often suggested to ask the area museum of natural history what their opinion is or which technique they employ for their own skeletal displays, they will often be more than happy to help you. After proper cleaning of the specimen has been achieved it is necessary to remove all fat from the bones and make them as white as possible for a clean looking display. By removing the fat not only are you making the skeleton look better but also you are removing a possible source of bacterial growth and unsanitary conditions. This also helps to lessen the risk of possibly having the skeleton have any off odors of decay, not what is wanted for proper display of specimens. Often the first step to degreasing is doing a preliminary soak in hydrogen peroxide, three percent for smaller skeletons or up to thirty percent for larger bones or skeletons, though thirty percent hydrogen peroxide can be an extremely dangerous chemical, and all proper precautions must be taken. Hydrogen peroxide works on the principal of oxidization, which is the removal of one or more electrons from a chemical composition. Basically oxidization is what causes rust to occur on certain metals. By removing an electron, the chemical composition of the substance is changed. In this instance it makes bones turn from a natural color to a brighter white. This first preliminary soak in hydrogen peroxide whitens the bone in areas where less natural fat deposits are occurring, typically at the ends of the bones away from the marrow in the center of most long bones. By whitening these areas first it reveals the areas with the most fat present, thus making an area to target for the actual degreasing process. Without doing this first preliminary soak it would make the process of degreasing longer and require more water changes than what might truly be necessary. There are a few different ways to go about degreasing the bones of specimens used for articulation. The two most common methods are using ammonia and using some form of detergent in warm water, both being an effective means of degreasing bones, however the detergent method is a bit more complicated. When using ammonia to remove lipids from bones it is usually done using uncut household ammonia, though this is not the strongest form of ammonia that can be used, it does the job and is the safest to use. It does not need to be warmed to be effective, however the warmer it is the faster it acts on the fat molecules in the bone. When using the detergent method for degreasing it is common to use one cup of detergent per five to ten gallons of water. Using straight detergent has been done before but often leaves less than desirable effects, such as discoloration of bone. An aquarium heater or other form of water heater can be used to warm the water in the container, making the detergent act upon removing the fat a bit faster. With small skeletons this method may take a few weeks to a month, but with larger bones and skeletons it may take several months and several water changes to reach the desired effects. With the ammonia method it usually takes a shorter period of time than if you were using the detergent method, from a few days for small bones to a month or two for larger skeletons. It is very important to protect the bones and skeletons that are being worked on from the elements and the natural passage of time. There is more than one way to do this and most are effective. The first and most common way to seal bones is using a dipping technique using a mixture of Elmers glue and water. The glue tends to be soluble in water and it is a very natural and non-harsh way to treat bones. The whole skeleton or bone is dipped into the mixture and allowed to dry, the glue naturally forms a clear protective layer over the skeleton however if it needs to be removed all that need be done is for it to be re-dipped in hot water and the glue will melt off. Reasons why the glue, or any sealant, might need to be removed range from grease coming to the surface of the bone or skeleton after it was thought it was all removed, which can be a frustrating and disheartening occurrence, to the skeletons position needing to be changed, for any number of reasons. Sometimes the sealant might need to be removed because a new, more reliable sealant has been found, with the first being used temporarily to protect the bone from harm. Sometimes damaged skeletons can be salvaged if using the correct sealant. If the bone was compromised during cleaning, often from harsh chemicals or too much heat being applied, the sealant will keep the bones from coming apart or further cracking. The teeth of large carnivorous mammals have a tendency to crack over time due to moisture in the teeth slowly evaporating, and when a liquid evaporates into a solid it takes up more room, cracking the tooth. This can be avoided by placing the tooth in a drying material such as rice or cotton, and letting it sit for a few weeks to a few months. The tooth is than covered in a clear strong sealant, clear nail polish being a good example of this. Several coats are applied to make the tooth very strong and stable. The same procedure can be applied to the keratin sheath on the claws of animals. Another method of sealing bones or skeletons involves buying a clear spray paint from a reputable brand that is known to not yellow over time. The skeleton or bone is laid out in a ventilated area and sprayed in several coats of the spray paint and allowed to dry. Depending on the type of paint used the sealant will either appear dull and non-reflective, keeping the natural properties of the bone, or it will appear to be shiny and reflective, which often times may be applied to teeth and claws for those who keep private collections of skeletons for their own research. Typically in a museum quality specimen a flat coat is used to keep the bones looking as natural as possible. Other times no sealant is used at all on bones which have been professionally cleaned, and the bones or skeletons are simply kept under glass or in a display case, to protect them from dust and the oils found on human fingers and skin. Several types of articulations exist and are used in different manners for different institutions or research. Articulations and collections can be broken down into personal collections, museum or educational collections, or veterinary models, though often times in recent years replicas and reproductions are used for this purpose as they are often cheaper and far less fragile. Articulations and collections for personal use can be found in the homes of hunters, taxidermists, medical and veterinary students or just those people who are interested in natural history, anatomy or biology. Skull collections are often a simple and less complicated means of having an inventory of collections for certain species without having to do full skeletal articulations, these are fairly common in the homes of hunters and taxidermists. Those who keep full skeletal articulations often times have them on bases or in a natural habitat type setup. Often, those who are more interested in the general anatomy of the skeletons themselves have free standing skeletal articulations or those without bases, These are simpler to complete and may sometimes require bars to keep the articulation stable and from falling and possibly becoming damaged. Free standing articulations of smaller animals may be done through the use of ligament articulations. This involves letting a dermested beetle colony clean the skeleton, and watching the process very carefully so as to know the precise time to take the skeleton out of the colony. This takes practice to do, but when done right can make articulations much easier to complete. Essentially the beetles eat away all soft tissues except those ligaments which are holding the skeleton together. Often one or two bones may break away from the main skeleton but can easily be reattached at the time of the actual articulation. Than the entire skeleton goes through the degreasing process and during this time the ligaments are kept hydrated, making the skeleton very flexible and easy to manipulate. A stand may be built and pins used to put the skeleton into the position that you want it to dry in, though as ligaments dry they begin to contract and become hard, and on small enough animals such as mice, may not be visible at all. It is often necessary to re-align bones that shift during the drying process, as contraction of the ligaments causes them to move around, but if it dries in a position not right, all that need be done is for the skeleton to be re-hydrated and posed again. Once the skeleton is dried in an acceptable pose the pins and remove the support frame and often times the skeleton may be free standing. With larger skeletons, more tools and work may be involved. Common tools used for articulation of larger skeletons include drills, pins, eye screws, and metal pars or wiring. Where ligaments would normally hold bone to bone, metal pins sunk into the joints may be necessary, and these are often siliconed into place so as not to come apart again. An example of a cougar skeleton on a base may be found below A bar is often ran up the neural canal of the spine and reshaped to form the natural arch and support found in the spinal column of most vertebrates. The rod terminates after entering the foramen magnum of the skull, and may then be epoxied into place to keep from coming apart. There is naturally cartilage which attaches from the ventral end of the ribs to the sternum, to be as accurate as possible this cartilage must be rebuilt. The cartilage is often rebuilt be using thin wires which come from the sterna end of the ribs and attach to each other and to the sternum, and are than covered in layers of clear silicone to replicate cartilage. Another interesting articulation which is rarely seen is known as the Beauchene skull, which was first developed for human skeletal articulations by a French anatomist named Claude Beauchene in the mid eighteen hundreds. Cult of weird staff (n.d) Beauchene skull, retrieved from Cult Of Weird website http://www.cultofweird.com/medical/beauchene-skull/. This type of articulation is where the individual bones of the skull on one side of the skull are removed from each other in an exploded manner, so that the internal anatomy and the individual bones may be studied. This is a very infrequently seen articulation in animal skeleton articulations. Young animals may also be used in skeletal articulations, and though it may be sad to think that a young animal lost its life before it could grow into an adult, they are also an important research for the continuation of Osteological study. The bones of young animals are often much softer and not fully connected which makes for a more difficult articulation. Young animals also usually contain more bones than adults, as the individual bones grow they form together to make larger bones. These skeletons may be used in comparative anatomy with the skeleton of an adult of the same species of the animal. Young animals require a much finer touch and can usually only be cleaned through the use of beetles, as other cleaning techniques that were previously discussed will most likely be too harsh on the young bones, resulting in damage or complete disintegration of the bones. Skeletal articulations may also be used in area nature centers in parks, to help demonstrate the local wildlife in that particular area. They are found in taxidermist shops to help promote business and show the skill of the taxidermist who owns the company. Often times larger universities have a colony of dermested beetles to help demonstrate to students the natural life cycle of the beetle for entomology students while also having an inventory of bones or skeletons for other majors of the college, such as anatomy biology or zoology. Skeletal articulations are a necessary component of anatomical and other fields of study. Without the use of skeletons for research we would never know how bones connect to each other, how different teeth of animals are used for different food that the animals ingest and how certain animals from certain families have unique evolutionary adaptations, such as the cat family, with their retractable claws, or the pinniped family, whos limbs have evolved into flippers, but are still able to haul out on land to escape predators from the ocean. Skeletal anatomy is important to most if not all biological sciences, and without skeletal articulators there would be far less to look at in your favorite natural history museum, and we may never have known what dinosaurs skeletons may have looked like properly articulated. The next time you take a look at a skeleton in a museum, think about the hard work and patience that went into putting that skeleton together.