Factors that Relate to Student Persistence in a Two-Year Vocational Program at a Community College Essay Example for Free

Factors that Relate to Student Persistence in a Two-Year Vocational Program at a Community College Essay Student persistence is one of the many factors that educators try to consider in the goal making students succeed in their education. Schools cater to the academic needs of students and it is the primary role of schools to provide education to children, but nowadays there have been a number of children that have low interest in finishing an education (Smith, 2002). Community colleges are institutions that cater to those children who want to consider taking up a vocational course instead of a bachelor’s degree after graduating from high school. In institutions such as these, there have been a number of studies that shows that students enrolled in this program identified different factors that contribute to their success in the program. The references gathered in this study revealed seven thematic findings with regard to persistence of students enrolled in a community college. These first thematic finding that studies reveal relevant to the success of student enrolled in community colleges is support, this support comes from peers, family members and as well as support from mentors. The second thematic finding is financial support, wherein students saw that being able to be granting a support financially to cater to their education were beneficial for them to continue education. The third thematic findings discusses the different self-variables that contribute to their success, these factors include the determination of a child to succeed and the fear of failing as one of the important factors that made them continue schooling. The fourth thematic finding will discuss all about a student’s background or life experiences that contribute to their persistence in school. The fifth will tackle all about how different techniques that students use in coping with school are beneficial to their stay at school. The sixth will look into how students say that behaving in a professionally during their stay at school became beneficial for their success at school. The seventh and the last will dwell into the different challenges that students face in school, such as stress, as a major barrier in their success at school. All of these will be given corresponding analysis, discussion and interpretation as regard to their contribution to the success of students enrolled in community colleges. Thematic Finding 1: Support It has been well known that one of the factors that contribute to student success is the support which students get from educators as well as from their peers. Studies reveal that all participants believed that the support that they have received from mentors, peers and family members played a big role towards their success in school. Support from people surrounding a student is notably a factor to consider in ensuring success of a child at school. The first support that would surely boost student confidence in continuing their education comes from their own mentors. This is said to be true because if mentors or educators are providing support to their students, they would be able to have a sense of encouragement, and this encouragement boosts their determination and therefore makes the student persist school (Hu Ma, 2010). This kind of mentor-student support is viewed as a counseling support, wherein this kind of support is seen to be beneficial for student to persist school (Fralick, n.d). This type of support has been supported by mentors or educators as beneficial for student’s persistence in school. Aside from support that student’s get from educators it is also seen that peer support plays a big role in the persistence of students at school. The role that the peers of an individual play a big role is seen not only in the education of an individual but as well as in their own lives. This is why studies have shown how beneficial peer support plays in assisting a student not only in academics as well as personal matters (Quimbita, 1991). Peer support is also seen as a major factor that contribute to the persistence of a child at school because of the fact that students get to share the learning experience with their peers in other words, they experience shared learning (Holzer Nightingale, 2009). It is here that peer support is indeed a major factor that would contribute to the persistence of a learner. Aside from mentors and peers, the one and most special source of support would come from family members. Different studies have revealed that the support coming from parents and other family members have been beneficial for student success (Holzer Nightingale, 2009). It is in this kind of support that students would see that the people play a big part in their lives are supporting them, this kind of support provides encouragement, and this is what students take in order for them to succeed in school. The support that learners gain from these different types of groups evidently brings out one thing that is so important in one’s success at school, and that is encouragement that brings about determination. In analyzing the role of support in student persistence at school, it could be clearly seen that the one factor that students get from these support is encouragement. This encouragement from supports such as educators, peers and family members makes students determined to succeed academically because they know that people believe in them, this alone is big factor to consider in ensuring student persistence at school. Comments: Thematic Finding 2: Financial Support It is common that students that finish high school would not continue on going to universities and colleges, the primary reason for this is mainly on financial issues. This has been an issue especially among students that belong to poor families (Smith, 2002). Seeing financial issue as a barrier for children to acquire an education, different financial support is now granted to learners in order for them to acquire an education (Wan Ko, 2005). Different studies have revealed that majority of the total population of the participants saw financial aid or assistance as one factor that contributed to their success at school. Financial support or aid is said to be beneficial to student’s persistence at school because of the financial support it gives to cater to the different need of the students in the duration of their stay in the school (Wright, 2010). The various financial aids available primarily cater to the financial needs of individuals during their whole stay at school; this is especially beneficial for students that belong to poor families (Hu, 2001). Educators who avail such assistance are provided full financial support, from enrollment to different school related finances, they are provided with all of these things (Wright, 2010). Especially among students that belong to poor families, this kind of support is something that would really help them in their pursuit of obtaining an education (Scrivener, 2008). Financial support is evidently a need amongst students, because of the fact that as years pass, the price of education n also increases and the less fortunate are deprived of an education because of this (Li, et.al, 2008). Such financial support is evidently needed in community colleges, because of the fact that most of the population of students enrolled in community colleges belongs to financially challenged families (Wright, 2010). Some financial aid or services not only provides financial assistance, most services also provide rewards for academically high performing students (Holzer Nightingale, 2009). The additional perk from financial support makes students motivated to perform well academically (Holzer Nightingale, 2009). Such rewards are not only provided for financial sake alone, this kind of reward also provides learners with an opportunity to perform well academically (Holzer Nightingale, 2009). This shows that such financial assistance would not only provide the student with the chance to have an education, but as well as provide motivation to perform well in class. This kind of motivation brought about by financial support allows students to improve their grades, as well as provide enough motivation to bring about a sense of persistence in school. Studies and reports have revealed that indeed financial support plays a big role in student persistence in school. Financial support is seen to be one primary factor in student persistence in school because of how this service caters to the needs of students who are financially troubled and at the same time this service provides learners with an opportunity to do better at school and provide enough motivation for students to persist school

Foraging Strategies of the Common Day Critter

Foraging Strategies of the Common Day Critter Mark FreyFebruary 16, 2014 The foraging strategies of the common day critter Abstract: The reason for this lab is to comprehend foraging creatures methods and strategies. We will test the strategies and methods by imitating both biotic and abiotic deterrents. The material and routines were utilized as a part of request to develop a zone to imitate a foraging range. I utilized a 10m x 10m zone cornered off by tape and called it the foraging zone. 3m far from that zone were marked as a protected zone for the foragers to hold their chips throughout each trail. The calories gathered the forager’s marked plastic chips with numbers on the front and backs keeping in mind the end goal to demonstrate the measure of calories. For the outcomes I took the effects from the trials and utilized them to get the chi-squared value and attempted to demonstrate or discredit the null hypothesis. After the gathering of results and putting them into tables on excel; I found the calories per chip and the calories per forager. I then made two graphs to better display the numbers per tri al. The effects were fruitful in demonstrating our hypothesis. The numbers indicated that biotic and abiotic variables intensely influence gathering proficiency. The information could be identified with numerous creatures that search for survival. Introduction: All creatures need to look for food sooner or later to survive. This methodology can get to be extremely entangled because of numerous distinctive variables. While carrying limit, foraging distance and predation assume an enormous part in foraging proficiency; climate and experience or learning assumes a drastically overwhelming part on foragers. As the temperature falls the battle to survive becomes worse, however Foragers with broad information know how to battle climate and different obstructions. For instance, the different searching tactics of passerine birds foraging among the foliage of a northern hardwoods forest result in the capture of different kinds of prey. Five major searching modes are employed by the 11 foliage-foraging bird species. (Robinson and Holmes 1982) This unmistakably shows experience assuming a big time part in genuine foraging circumstances. In the lab we test trails mimicking the battles of commonplace foraging. It will uncover distinctive sorts of situat ions and the capacity to search for food successfully is corresponded specifically. Methods: A 10 m x10m square zone was made as the foraging zone and cornered off by tape on each of the four sides. This territory is utilized to give the foragers the results. A sheltered range is likewise built in the area of 3m far from the foraging territory, giving the foragers shelter. This region was utilized as a place of refuge throughout the trail periods. Plastic poker chips represented the food in this experiment. Three sorts of chips were utilized as a part of the test; they were blue, white, and red. Each of the chips was stamped with calories content on each side. Throughout each trail I included the totaled numbers of calories on each side of the chip and noted them. Before every trial started the chips were randomly disperse onto the foraging region before testing. Every trial was set up for diverse test conditions, which was dependent upon rivalry, no predators, and minimal handling time. Trail one started with a singular forager leaving the place of refuge and gathering two chips at once. The forager wasnt permitted to convey an unfathomable amount chips. This trial included no rivalry, predators, and minimal handling time for the forager. The forager is timed by 1 minute for each gathering trip. After each trail we count each color separately with the calories content on both sides. Trail 2 conditions were the same as trail 1 with predators being the expansion to the set. The predators partition in this trial included alternate people tossing balls at the forager as they attempted to gather the chips. Foragers were allowed to convey any amount of chips they saw fit throughout the trial as possible. However they needed to hold up 10 seconds in the safe area if the predators hit them. Trail 3 was intended to reproduce cruel winter conditions for foragers. They were given no rivalry, predators, and expanded taking care of time. Gloves were utilized within this trail to depict pitiless winter conditions. This restricted me to one chip throughout each trek. In this trial I was restricted to gathering chips in a 30 second interim. Trail 4 had exploitative rivalry, no predators, and no minimal handling time. All the people in the trail were going up against one another. Gathering one chip at a time throughout the trials minute time limit. After the time is finished you need to count the sum of the information in the same estate as in the recent trials. Trail 5 has a contest rivalry, no predators, and no minimal handling time. The greater part of the foragers in this trial will be contending with one another in the minute time limit. We were permitted to gather one chip at a time, but to lift it up you needed to contend in a rock, paper, and scissors challenge to get the chip. Much the same as trail 1 the foragers are subjected to the minute time limit and every forager had their place of refuge. Trail 6 sole object was to discover the impacts of dangerous searching. With conditions dependent upon no competition, minimal handling time, and high scavenger possibility; there was no confinement to the amount of chips you can convey immediately. I had the chance to carry the chips to my sheltered range or gather as numerous chips in the minute interim. An alternate forager a die 30 seconds before the time was up and took the amount of chips that was rolled every five seconds. Trial 7 was the last trail and then we knew the distinction in the chips. Conditions like no rivalry, no predators, and no minimal handling time were an advantage. I was permitted to convey 2 chips to my protected zone, in a minute time limit. My null hypothesis was that the foragers productivity wasn’t influenced by biotic or abiotic elements. However the theory wasnt true after the information was gathered for the trial. After the information was put into statistical results the critical value was only greater then the chi squared value twice. Therefor the null hypothesis was rejected 5 times out of 7, ensuing in another theory. Foraging proficiency is influenced by biotic and abiotic components. Results: The data from the experiments demonstrate that the type of environment and type of outside factors heavily influence the forager. In the trials inclement weather and predators determined what type of chips the forager would get and how many calories a forager would get per trip. In table 1 the values for each trials chi-squared are compared to the degrees of freedom and determined if the null hypothesis is rejected or accepted. To get the chi-squared value the observed value of chips taken in the experiment is multiplied by either .25 or .50 depending on the chip color to find the expected value. The formula observed- expected squared divided by the expected is used to find the values of the white, red and blue chips. These numbers are then summed together to find if the value of the observed rejects or accepts the null hypothesis; seven trials were ran in this experiment only two of the trials accepted the null hypothesis. (Table 1 Chi^2) In table 2 the values that are used for the graph are the number of calories per chips over the seven trials. In the raw data the calories of all the white, red and blue were added up and were averaged out to get each trial’s average calories per chip. After gathering up all the results they were put into an ANOVA test and many other factors were found. The d.f is equal to 2, the f is equal to 3.574, and the probability of the result is .0026. (ANOVA test 2, Table 2 Calories/Chip graph) In table 3 the values that are used for the graph are the number of calories the foragers got over the seven trials. In the raw data the calories for each forager was added up and averaged for each trial’s calories per forager. After getting all the results of the trials it was put in an ANOVA test and three other factors were found. The d.f. is equal to 2, the f= is equal to 47.35, and the probability of the result is .001. (ANOVA test 1, Table 3 Calories/Forager graph) Discussion: In the results about what we have acquired we understand that there were exceptionally removed contrasts in each of the trials. Some were more probable and clear then others. Such as in the winter reproduction where foragers were constrained by severe climate like obstacles and the increase of foraging effectiveness from absence of predation or convey limit. In one of the trails, information of the assets that are foraged assumes a part in the trial. The information brought about an increased effectiveness and number of calories acquired. Indeed squirrels additionally react emphatically towards territories theyre acquainted with or have a more knowledge of. The squirrels selected patches yielding high rates of energy intake even though these patches were not sites of concentration of the preferred food(lewis, 1980). In trail 7, because of the information of the higher indicated chips foragers went acquire the higher chips rather than the typically ones. Foragers whether it was no hol ds barred, taking from one another or even predators take after the principles of optimal foraging were as picking up a benefit controls as the most astounding necessity. The theory of optimal foraging (Emlen, 1966; MacArthur Pianka, 1966) predicts a predator will select an item when the ‘gains’ from eating it exceeds the ‘costs. (Hernadez et al, 2002) regardless, the effects were great in recreating genuine circumstances with genuine outcomes. Works Cited Dewitt et al . 2002. Coyote diets in the Chihuahuan Desert. Journal of Arid Environments 51: 613–624. Lewis R.. 1980. Patch Use By Gray Squirrels. The Ecological Society of America 61 1371-1379. Robinson K., Holmes T.. 1982. Foraging Behavior Of Forest Birds. Ecological Society of America. Table 2 Table 3

Impact of Teratogens Affecting the Prenatal Child

Impact of Teratogens Affecting the Prenatal Child Tracy Morrissey The aim of this discussion is to explore the impact of teratogens affecting the prenatal child and the interventions available to assist in preventing teratogens. For the purpose of this discussion three particular and prominent teratogens are highlighted including malnutrition, drugs which include alcohol/cigarettes and lastly exploring sexually transmitted diseases. These teratogens are highlighted because of the effects of the recession on Irish society today. A report by The Economic and Social Research Institute (ERSI) tells us that 22% of people living in households are unemployed, double the average within Europe. (ERSI 2012). The effects of this crisis includes further poverty which can lead to malnutrition and often a reliance on substances for comfort in these difficult times. ‘’Knowing, is not enough, we must apply, willing is not enough, we must do. ‘’ (J.W. Von Goethe). A teratogen, a Greek word, meaning monster is anything that creates a birth defect. (Santrock 2005). Teratology is the study of such teratogens. Teratogens can include environmental toxins, alcohol, drugs, incompatible blood types, diseases, inadequate nutrition, stress and advanced paternal and maternal age. (Santrock 2004). Exposure to potentially hazardous agents throughout pregnancy is common. Many exposures are unavoidable, as pregnancy is often unplanned or unnoticeable for a period after conception. (Queenan et al 2010). Abnormalities in prenatal development can be an outcome from exposure to teratogens. Each organ structure is at its most vulnerable to harm when it is developing at its quickest, during the first eight weeks of pregnancy, carrying the greatest risk of exposure to teratogens during this critical period. If a teratogen interferes during a critical period, a certain body structure will not form correctly. (Boyd and Bee 2012). The first twelve weeks of foetal life is a time of remarkable cellular configuration and development that is not fully understood, even to this day. By the completion of this time, the main anomalies that can affect the foetus are already in place and the sooner they occur, the more extreme the damage. There are pregnant women with the belief that everything they do has an effect on the unborn child and there are others who assume that nothing, or little, affects the unborn child. In fact, the truth is, it lies somewhere in the middle of both of these extremes. (Santrock 2005). A substantial number of already pregnant women are compromised or at risk symptomatic of things such as inappropriate nutrition, smoking, consumption of drugs and alcohol, medications, genitourinary infections, inadequate dental health and anaemia (WHO 2002). The most important factor in development of the foetus is the mother’s diet. (Carlson et al 2004). Maternal malnutrition during gestation can cause foetal growth limitations. Changes in foetal nutrition can result in developmental variations that can permanently alter the physiology and structure of the unborn child, predisposing people to endocrine, pulmonary and cardiovascular illnesses in adult life. (Lee 2011). Under normal conditions, the prenatal environment supplies the foetus with ample nutrients, this is the foetus’s single source of nutrition. An insufficient diet alone can be a factor in abnormal occurrences in the developing foetus. (Carlson et al 2004). The growing foetus relies completely on its mother for the nutrients it requires. The nutrients are released from the mother’s blood. (Santrock 2004). The reproductive system and its hormonal control structures are mainly formed in foetal life. There is an arising concern if this prenatal compromise t ranslates into any major functional deficit in reproductive functioning in adulthood. Epigenetic and possible intergenerational effects signify an exciting section of interdisciplinary research for the development of novel nutritional methods during pre and postnatal stages ensuring reproductive well-being in adult life. Maternal malnutrition can have substantial results on the developing foetal lung, this goes through rapid cellular differentiation and multiplication just before birth. (Lee 2011). Foetal growth is affected by the amount and the quality of maternal nutrition and the ability of the mother to aptly absorb and dispense maternal cardiorespiratory function, digested micronutrients, uterine blood flow, placental blood flow, placental transfer and suitable delivery and treatment of oxygen and nutrients by the foetus. (Queenan et al 2011). Studies from Holland and Leningrad during World War II imply that when maternal calorie intake fell to 800 kcal per day, birth weight was reduced to 535g in Leningrad and 250g in Holland. In modern day, the urban war creates comparable stress through domestic violence, lack of social supports and drugs. In 2011, the same as 1944-5, the connection between pregnancy and maternal nutrition status relies on a moderate weak proxy for women’s nutritional status, BMI (Body Mass Index). (Queenan et al 2011). A malnourished woman during pregnancy has a larger chance of delivering a low birth weight infant who could have intellectual problems in childhood and can be an important risk factor for mental illness as an adult. (Bee and Boyd 2012). Children who are born to malnourished mothers are more prone to having malformed offspring. (Santrock 2004). The largest impact of malnutrition appears to be on the developing nervous system. Some studies have shown severe prenatal malnutrition can even cause death in the foetus or new-born. (Bee and Boyd 2012). Folic acid (a B-complex vitamin) is very important for normal prenatal development, insufficient folic acid can be associated with neural tube defects in the unborn child, such as spina bifida. It is advisable to consume a minimum of 400 micrograms per day. It is also advisable to take a multi vitamin prior to pregnancy. (Santrock 2004). It is important for the pregnant woman to take adequate calories and protein to prevent malnutrition. (Bee and Boyd 2012). Maternal medical conditions during pregnancy can have a vast effect on foetal development, this can be compounded by drugs, smoking and alcohol use in pregnancy. Parents using opiates or misusing alcohol may also have additional difficulties, predisposing them to their lifestyle of choice, which can include a range of mental health and neurodevelopmental health problems. Mothers abusing drugs and alcohol often do not look after themselves during pregnancy, and their chaotic lifestyles do not permit optimum health. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is an umbrella term for outcomes in pregnancy in relation to alcohol, including Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), partial FAS and Alcohol related Neurodevelopmental Disorder. (Pacey 2010). Alcohol during pregnancy signifies the typical form of behavioural teratogenesis which can cause not only bodily malformations but also interference with development of the brain, attention control, substantial impairments in behaviour and language development. There is also an increased risk of behaviour difficulties throughout life. (Preece and Riley 2011). Studies have shown that alcohol can adversely affect the ovum before ovulation or whilst on its journey down the fallopian tube into the uterus. A zygote can also be affected by alcohol even before implantation in the uterine lining. (Bee and Boyd 2012). Up to 50% of women in the UK continue to drink alcohol in pregnancy in spite of many advisory bodies recommending avoidance of alcohol use. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists state that binge drinking in early pregnancy may be of particular harm. The larger the consumption of alcohol, the greater risk. There is double the increase in small for gestational age (SGA) when the mother consumes more than 52g of alcohol per day and a 23% increase in premature birth with more than 36g of alcohol per day. A particular study of alcohol and the effects on pregnancy which included the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia showed that in Ireland and the UK 65-80% of the participants consumed alcohol in pregnancy in comparison to 38% in New Zealand and Australia. (McCarthy et al 2013). Mothers who drink heavily, or alcoholics, are at a much greater risk of delivering infants with FAS. These children are usually smaller than average, having smaller brains. They often have heart defects and loss of hearing. Their faces are characterised by a rather flat nose and a long space between the nose and the mouth. Their intelligence scores when older indicate mild mental retardation. They often have behaviour and learning difficulties that sometimes continue into adolescence and adulthood. (Boyd and Bee 2012). The estimated incidence of FAS in Europe is 0.4 per 1000 births. (Mullally et al 2011). According to the British Medical Association (BMA) in 2007 FAS is the primary known source of non-genetic intellectual disability in the western world. The BMA recommends nurses make formal diagnoses of FAS in order for early intervention and programmes for treatment. Early interventions from midwives, nurses, better education from the teaching professions and more support for the families will improve life and opportunities of young people, especially moving into adulthood. (Callanan 2013). Doctors have not identified safe levels of alcohol consumption, but experts do know that FAS is preventable by not drinking any alcohol during pregnancy. It is also advisable to refrain from drinking alcohol if trying to conceive and if there is an alcohol problem, to address this before conceiving. (Mayo Clinic 2011). According to the U.S. Surgeon General, it is recommended that no alcohol is consumed during pregnancy. (Santrock 2004). There is an association between smoking throughout pregnancy and low birth weight in infants. (Boyd and Bee 2012). The main problem with smoking is nicotine, it constricts the blood vessels, reduces nutrition and blood flow to the placenta. (Boyd and Bee 2004). The infants of mothers who smoke are on average about half a pound smaller than infants of non-smokers, the same can be said of marijuana users. (Boyd and Bee 2012). The older the smoking mother is, the higher chance of lower birth weight. (Boyd and Bee 2004). The exposure to tobacco can also have long term effects on a child’s development, with larger rates of learning difficulties and behaviour problems. Moreover, there is a likelihood to be diagnosed with an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Infants of marijuana users seem to have little interest in their surroundings for approximately two weeks after birth. At age six, these children are smaller in height than six year olds who were not exposed to marijuana. (Boyd and Bee 2012). Research shows the amount of nicotine and the severity of consequences for the unborn child. If a pregnant woman cannot quit smoking, she should at least cut back. (Boyd and Bee 2004). Some helpful ways to quit include, setting a quit date, use clove oil, this will reduce the need for a cigarette, rub a few drops onto the throat, the back of the neck or on fingertips and suck on a whole clove in order to lower cravings. The homeopathic remedy Nux vomica helps with irritability associated with the withdrawal from nicotine. (Kane 2009). Intervention programs devised to assist pregnant women discontinue smoking can help to reduce the negative effects of smoking, particularly in order to raise birth weight. (Santrock 2004). Cessation advice by health care providers, one to one, group and telephone counselling can all assist in the cessation of smoking. (Malarcher et al 2011). Use of cocaine All too often rubella and cervical cytology status is unidentified. Prenatal care and promotion is of significant importance. (WHO 2002). http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/131521/E79235.pdf 1

The Flat Tax :: Essays Papers

The Flat Tax TITLE: THE WRONG WAY TO SELL A NEW IDEA Many people would like you to believe that flat tax is so named because it will flatten your finances. That at the least is the intended conclusion. By eliminating personal deductions like mortgagee interest payments, the study claims, the flat tax would reduce housing values in this country by upwards of 10 percent. The study's methodology is shaky at best, and the jury on housing values is still o ut. Despite the forces allied against the flat tax, tax reform has grown steadily because the current tax system is so unpopular and the alternatives promise so much. But in addition to the possibility of lower housing values, the flat tax poses several other serious problems too easily dismissed by its advocates.

Internet :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Recording Industry   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We all listen to music wether we want to or not. Its in our homes, watching TV, driving in our car, going to the store, its unavoidable. Then why is the recording Industry trying to make people feel guilty about burning â€Å"illegal† CDs, when we can go to the mall and hear as much music for free as we want . I for one will never feel guilty because I always support the artist I download, by buying his/her cd’s or going to their concerts. The industry has always been about money instead of music. They are just mad because consumers have finally figured them out.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first record created was in eighteen-seventy-seven. The song was Mary Had a Little Lamb. The artist/Inventor was Thomas Edison. Edison had created the worlds first phonograph, capable of playing back up to two to three minutes worth of recordings. His invention started a cultural revolution that went hand in hand with its cousin, the industrial revolution. The idea that sound could be recorded and played back at our pleasure was astonishing. I’ am sure no one had in mind the endless profits one could make. Profit was a word that would be associated with music about thirteen years later, because in eighteen-ninety the jukebox was first introduced at a bar in San Francisco. In it’s first six months of operation the coin operated machine grossed over one- thousand dollars. It did not take a genius to realize that the United State’s was home to thousand’s of bar’s each capable of making equal or greater value. Thus music and mone y became synonymous. Singer’s and songwriter’s were no longer artists, but commodities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Along with money comes greed and in nineteen-hundred when Thomas Lambert invented a way of mass-duplicating his patent of â€Å"indestructible† phonograph cylinder’s, and although the patent was upheld in court, costly lawsuit’s filed by Edison put him out of business just seven years after his invention.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Record’s became an instant hit with the American public. People were flocking to bar’s to listen to recorded sound. The library of congress began recording and saving â€Å"Sounds of America† to preserve popular and influential music of the time, everything from bluegrass to classical. It was no surprise that the general public soon yearned for their own way of playing record’s from the comfort and privacy of their home’s. In 1906 a company called victor introduced a enclosed phonograph player that had been designed to look like a piece of furniture.

Industrial Hemp

Legalize Industrial Hemp General Purpose: To inform the class on why industrial hemp is illegal and the benefits of legalizing industrial hemp. Specific Purpose: To provide my audience with a better understanding of how useful industrial hemp could be for the economy. Central Idea: Due to the war on drugs, hemp production is severely limited; however, with the proper legalization and regulation of this plant the U. S. economy would prosper due to job creation and the environment would benefit by the amount of tress saved. Introduction Attention A.Imagine if scientists discovered a new plant, a plant they say has the potential to both save money and conserve the environment. B. The plant grows quickly, is easy to cultivate, and can be used as a staple in virtually any industry. 1. Textiles, building materials, food, paper, and cosmetics, even fuel can be made from this seemingly magical crop. C. This plant is a renewable resource that ecologically benefits the environment it is plante d in. D. But here’s the punch line: this plant exists, and humans have been using it for thousands of years. * II. Orientation A. I am a US consumer and a user of hemp products.B. The legalization of Industrial Hemp would give the U. S. an opportunity to become stronger economically, strengthen national security and help heal the environment. C. Due to its high content of beneficial oils and natural emollient properties, hemp is becoming a common ingredient in lotions and many other skin, hair, and cosmetic products. 1. It is a good alternative to toxic chemicals present in many petroleum based lotions and cosmetics. Main Body * I. It is illegal to grow industrial hemp in the United States, with the exception of a few states that have passed legislation allowing the crop’s cultivation.This is because of hemp’s unfortunate cousin, marijuana. A. The main difference between the two plants is the amount of tetrahybrocannabinol (better known as THC), the chemical in marijuana that induces psychoactive effects in users. 1. Industrial hemp and marijuana are not the same plant, and there is nothing anyone can do to turn a hemp plant into a marijuana plant. 2. Industrial hemp is less than one percent THC, while marijuana generally has a THC content between five and 20 percent. This makes it nearly impossible to get high from smoking hemp. B. To receive a standard psychoactive dose of THC from hemp, according to naihc. rg, one would have to smoke 10 to 12 hemp cigarettes in an extremely short period of time. C. The large volume and high temperature of the smoke would be almost impossible for a person to withstand. * II. Growing industrial hemp in the U. S. would be extremely beneficial environmentally. A. Industrial hemp as been used as paper as far back as 770 AD in China and drafts of the United States Constitution was written on hemp paper. 1. Hemp can yield as much as four times more pulp per acre compared to trees. 2. Hemp takes 120 days to mat ure, compare that to trees that take decades to mature. 3.Countless trees would be allowed to remain standing for oxygen production and carbon sequestration, which would reduce global warming. B. Amongst it's thousands of uses, Hemp is an eco-friendly alternative to producing food, oils, body care products, cosmetics, consumer and industrial textiles, building materials, industrial and technical products too numerous to name here. C. Hemp requires no harmful chemicals such as pesticides and fungicides, grows extremely fast in any climate and also replenishes the soil with nutrients and nitrogen which helps control erosion of topsoil, a serious agricultural problem in the U.S. and globally. III. Growing industrial hemp in the U. S. would be highly beneficial economically. A. It would put more Americans to work and the U. S. would not have to import industrial hemp from other countries anymore. 1. Industrial hemp can create jobs in these counties where unemployment is well above the n ational average. 2. With a North American market that exceeds $300 million in annual retail sales and continued rising demand, industrial hemp could generate thousands of sustainable new jobs, helping America to get back on track. B. Hemp is stronger than normal fiberboard.In France, a mixture of hemp, water and lime is used to make cement that is used in the building of 300 homes per year. C. Industrial hemp as a cash crop in the United States has a history as old as the United States itself. 1. The Founding Fathers grew hemp and it was an integral crop in the economic structure of the colonial United States. 2. Industrial hemp supported our economy during World War II. Conclusion I. Summary A. There are many uses for industrial hemp and there are many economic and environmental advantages with industrial hemp.B. We can import it, we can sell products made from industrial hemp, but we cannot grow it. II. Clincher A. It makes no sense to ban growing a plant that has enormous economi c and environmental potential, grows naturally by the millions, and is impossible to exterminate. B. There are no good reasons why the growing of industrial hemp in the United States is illegal at this time. C. Considering the benefits growing hemp, not only should it be legalized, the government should actually encourage farmers to grow it. D. U. S.Presidents and founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp, used hemp products, and were hemp advocates. 1. â€Å"Make the most of the hemp seed, sow it everywhere. † – George Washington, first president of the U. S. and hemp advocate. * Works Cited Colwell, D. (2009, Mar. 25). AlterNet. Retrieved Nov. 01, 2012, from Hemp Is Not Pot: It's the Economic Stimulus and Green Jobs Solution We Need http://www. alternet. org Curran, D. (2010, Nov. 16). The Massachusetts Daily Collegian . Retrieved Nov. 4, 2012, from Legailize industrial hemp. Golden, S. (1996). The Hemp Industry Source Book. Sebastopol: Mari K ane.

Buddhism in America

Buddhism is above all the religion of illumination. It seeks to aid those who study and practice at its feet to break throughout all that can fetter or delude in the monarchy of conditioned reality, and become free in Nirvana, Unconditioned Reality. Buddhism does this by leading one to identify the Four Noble Truths the Buddha himself discovered some twenty-five hundred years ago on the eve of his enlightenment. Beneath the numerous sectarian forms and rich accruals the faith of the Enlightened One has acquired in its journeys through numerous cultures and many centuries, Buddhism eventually depends on these principles.First, life as it is typically lived is unsatisfactory, shot through with anxiety, suffering, and insignificance. Second, this state is the result of attachments or desires, for in a universe of frequent flux and change, seeking to cling to anything from the grossest passion to the subtlest idol of the mind to the idea of being a permanent separate self can never bring anything but sorrow in the end. Third, the condition of suffering and desire can be struck at its point of origin ; there can be an end to desire. Fourth, that can be attained by following the Eightfold Path, which culminates in Right Concentration or Meditation.For meditation is the condition of mind that reverses the mind's ordinary outflow toward entangling objects of sensory or mental attachment. Zen has been the best-known form of Buddhism in America. This is first of all since it has been fortunate in producing a remarkable series of advocates on these shores: Soyen Shaku, Nyogen Senzaki, above all D. T. Suzuki. That in turn owes to Zen's relative tolerance and emphasis on humanistic culture and education in its homelands, and its relation to China and Japan's great custom of arts and letters.But it is also no doubt true that no other account of Buddhism would have communicated itself quite so well to the American mind. Zen's boast of breaking through words and philosophies i n favor of â€Å"direct pointing† and â€Å"immediate experience,† its artistic minimalism and rapport with nature, all appealed to major strands of American consciousness. â€Å"Senzaki, certainly, considered Zen none other than the American practicality of William James or John Dewey in another guise† Rick Fields, 1992, p14.Yet that other guise was not without significance, for while Zen could hark to the American images of ease and self-reliance, it also offered entree into another world of spiritual and cultural wonders, from the inscrutable Zen â€Å"riddles† or koans to the Zen-related martial arts. Zen's draw for Americans has lain first in its spiritual efficiency, second in its combination of otherness and homeliness. Its greatest spokesman in the West, D. T. Suzuki, like his disciple Alan Watts, subjugated the mix with a sure hand, offering the reader now a whiff of the exotic, now a supportive correlation with a motif of the West.Different aspe cts of Zen have appealed to diverse segments or generations of Americans. The age of Soyen Shaku and Senzaki Nyogen was, to judge from their own words, eager to hear of the sensibleness of Buddhism as well as its pointing to that beyond all reason. In the 1950s, the image of the â€Å"Zen lunatic† came to the fore in the work of such â€Å"Beat† writers as Jack Kerouac, who summed it all up in The Dharma Bums. The 1960s and 1970s, the era of the great Zen centers and the counterculture, was involved in Zen as a spiritual discipline and total, often communalistic, way of life.All through, still others, from poets like Gary Snyder to composers like John Cage, have been mostly interested in the relation of the Zen vision to artistic creativity. The tensions of these varying Zens are well spoken, and perhaps resolved, in the essay by Alan Watts here reproduced, Beat Zen, Square Zen, and Zen. Whether in tragic conflict or massively lucrative trade, seldom have two nations o f such diverse cultural heritage been as intensely involved in one another's lives as have Japan and the United States in the twentieth century.The diffusion of Zen to America, though but a tiny fragment of that exchange, helps divulge the spiritual dimensions, too seldom yet appreciated, of this significant meeting. From a historical perspective, American Buddhism is also an era making undertaking. One of the great spiritual traditions of Asia is moving west. For about four hundred years, western missionaries, explorers, scholars, and seekers explored Asia, wondered about Buddhism, and studied it. A few even practiced it.The foundation for the transmission of the dharma to the West was ready by many people over many years, but the appearance of the dharma as a significant element in American religion is a development that by comparison occurred only very lately. During the eighties and nineties, many Americans were debating amongst themselves what Buddhism was in this country and w hat they required it to be. They came up with many diverse ideas about how to form American forms of the dharma, so there is not a single answer to that question, nor is there likely ever to be.There is not one American Buddhism, any longer than there is one American Judaism, Islam, or Christianity. Zen meditation is valuable among Americans, Western associate with Zen has now reached a point where an understanding of the larger historical framework within which Zen articulated itself is also necessary. Such an understanding is significant not only for a more balanced academic view, but also for a more staid appraisal of the meaning of Zen practice for modern American life. The fundamental character of Zen emerged as part of a complex dialectic within Buddhism, and we cannot understand Zen until we realize what it is critiquing.If we take its statements out of their Buddhist context and construe them instead within our own cultural context, they are apt to mean something quite diver se, particularly in the realm of ethics. Zen's iconoclasm had a different meaning within a cultural context where Buddhist moral teachings were extensively affirmed than it does today to contemporary Americans who lack any such background and who are perhaps already suffering from an excess of moral relativism (Rick Fields, 1992, 194). Buddhist meditation developed and practiced in East Asia.It thus seeks to balance our acquaintance with Zen meditation which, as it is the only East Asian practice with which many Westerners are familiar, is often held up as the archetypal form of East Asian Buddhist meditation by placing it alongside other, evenly representative and vital forms of meditation: the invocation of the Buddha's name (nien-fo) in Pure Land; visualization (as exemplified by Hsuan-tsang's visualization of Maitreya); and Chih-i's monumental T'ien-t'ai synthesis of Buddhist ritual, cultic, and meditation practices.Meditation has been a notoriously vague and multivalent ideaâ⠂¬â€a circumstance that stems, no doubt, from its comparative lack of elaboration and systematization in the Western religious traditions, particularly in their post-Enlightenment forms. That the concept lacks any clearly defined and usually accepted referent in our own general cultural experience does not restrict its attractiveness indeed, it in fact enhances it. Meditation is a very useful category in particular as it can be understood in so many ways.In America it is believed that we should employ â€Å"meditation† in the broadest possible sense in the same sense that we find Buddhists using the term â€Å"dhyana† to include both samatha-bhavana and vipasyana-bhavana (Kapleau, Philip, 1980). There are two reasons for doing this both significant, and both inextricably consistent. First, we must recognize that such an inclusive conception of meditation is required if we are not to obscure what is most distinctive and characteristic about the Buddhist viewpoint on re ligious practice.Second, only by coming to terms with what is distinguishing and characteristic in Buddhist culture can we gain a better understanding of ourselves. The understanding we seek must not only inform our perception of the alien culture; it should also change our own experience, the understanding of our own culture. The true value of any cross-cultural exploration, after all, lies not in how successful we are in reducing the alien culture to the terms of our own experience.True understanding, rather, is born only when we should expand our own perspective to hold what initially appears to be alien. Yoga is also very significant type of meditation that is very popular among Americans. In yoga, lengthy meditations lead first to the telepathic powers such as those the Buddha attained and eventually to the realization of the illusoriness of all material appearances. In the Yogacara view, there is a sense in which any experience is just as real as any other, whether actually in ternal and hallucinatory or ostensibly external and objective.All that is eventually real and continuous of the individual is the pure subject, the mind store (alaya-vijnana), although it, too, changes. â€Å"It is this mind store, or alaya-vijnana, that experiences, judges, contemplates, and remembers, thus comprising a locus of identity and continuity through many obvious bodies, or lifetimes†. Ellwood, Robert, 1986. It might well be argued that the alaya-vijnana concept is just a rehabilitation of the old Hindu notion of atman, without the persistence on its ontological permanence and immutability.The early Buddhist perspective says that phenomenon are all that exist and that the apparent self is dogged by the phenomena that it encounters. The Yogacara philosophy, by contrast, says that mind is all that exists, and all obvious phenomena are merely its own projections. Coupled with the belief in medium teachings, the concept that all is only mind has tremendous implications for Vajrayana Buddhism. If all is only mind, the procedure of death and rebirth is no longer an inevitable feature of an external reality to which all must submit.It then becomes unnecessary to actually undergo a long succession of lifetimes, for by changing one's conscious thoughts, the whole succession can be broken or abridged. Even the law of karma is elevated to a completely different level. No longer are physical actions seen as having expected physical effects. Rather, mental acts are the only acts that have any effects at all, either in actually external happenings or in apparently internal feelings and visions.Karmic determination of an individual's future good or ill can thus also be evaded or aborted by mental purification and concentration. Mantras, mudras, and samadhi are requisite to affect this change of consciousness necessary to attain nirvana. Here, too, the Vajrayana departs from conventional Samkhya Yoga, in allowing the consumption of meat and wine, and even in tercourse with women, encouraging at each step the understanding that none of these phenomena are ultimately real.Under the tutelage of a Vajrayana Lama (guru), the student expects to develop psychic powers, to leave his body, and to experience the Absolute in reverie. Thus, he will prepare himself for the moment of death when he will direct his consciousness out of his body and into final union with Truth (dharmakaya), rather than permitting any further cycles of rebirth. Though, many Americans think that Zen is a Buddhist tradition without formal ritual, which is not actually the case.Zen was first introduced into this country in books that led lots of Americans to think of it as a philosophy rather than a spiritual tradition along with concepts of meditations especially yoga. People also be apt not to think of Zen sitting meditation, while a practitioner might face a wall or sit with downcast eyes for hours, as ritual activity. But every day or even twice-daily stints of yoga, du ring which a practitioner notes the movement of his or her mind, help to structure the lives of numerous American Buddhists, one of the primary functions of rite.In America, Zen calls up particular genus of art and verse, ink wash, tea ceremonies, haiku poetry, whose special genius is to portray nature just as it is, without theory or theology, yet so vividly as to leave one deeply moved without being quite sure why. Work Cited Ellwood, Robert, ed. Zen in American Life and Letters. Los Angeles : Undena Press, 1986. Kapleau, Philip. The Three Pillars of Zen. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965, rev. ed. 1980. Rick Fields, How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America, 3rd rev. ed. ( Boston: Shambhala, 1992), 194.