Political Stability and the History of Weather in Brazil Essay

The political stability of Brazil has always relied heavily on the abundance of natural resources to be found in the Amazon rainforest, and has been severely tested in eras of colonization, periods of boom-and-bust, world wars, and civil wars. Populations migrated from Asia to the Americas when sea levels were lowered by 100 meters due to the expanding glaciers and ice sheets of the last ice age, and dry land linked Alaska to Siberia (Lamb 112). One group, the Incans, settled along the Andes. Since the only beast of burden, the llama, was too small to carry a man, they lived mostly sedentary lives. They also stratified their populations on the sides of the Andes to take advantage of the different capacities of the land (growing cotton at sea level, maize on the piedmont, and potatoes in the highlands). For people living in the Amazon basin, the climate induced them to be even less materialistic. Belongings left in a thatch-and-pole hut by semi-nomadic people would be destroyed through a combination of humidity and insects by the time the roamers returned to the settlement (Place 22). The Indians also developed a social structure in which each individual Indian would be responsible for possessing mentally all the necessary information for making a living in a tropical rainforest: hunting practices, habits of particular game animals, rituals, food manufacture, and crop varieties (Roosevelt 23). After the arrival of the Europeans, indigenous peoples died from new diseases like smallpox, measles, and typhus in what was eventually called the â€Å"largest demographic collapse in history† (Webb). While the indigenous populations were struggling to survive, European colonizers were moving in with horses, dogs, cattle, chickens, and slav... ...ssed 20 November 2004. Place, Susan E., ed. Tropical Rainforests: Latin American Nature and Society in Transition. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 1993. Roosevelt, Anna. Amazonian Indians from Prehistory to the Present: Anthropological Perspectives. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1994. â€Å"Rubber: War.† Pulse of the Planet. National Science Foundation. Program #2233, September 2000. http://www.pulseplanet.com/archive/Sep00/2233.html. Accessed 20 November 2004. â€Å"Rubber: Boom.† Pulse of the Planet. National Science Foundation. Program #2232, September 2000. http://www.pulseplanet.com/archive/Sep00/2232.html. Accessed 20 November 2004. Steffen, Alex. â€Å"Fome Zero.† WorldChanging: Another World is Here. 4 December 2003. http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/000168.html. Accessed 20 November 2004. Webb, James. Lecture. Colby College. 7 March 2004.

Tips on Writing Statement of Purpose for Graduate School

Tips on Writing Statement of Purpose and Personal Statement Essays for Graduate School and Fellowship Applications Examine samples written by other students. The Undergraduate Research Programs office on the 4th floor of Sweet Hall has a binder with sample statements of purpose for a wide variety of fields. You cannot take the binder out of the office, but there are comfortable chairs and you can read through the binder there. One thing you will notice: every student has a different history, different strengths and weaknesses, so there is no one way to write this type of essay. Arrange for individual editorial consultation.After you have absorbed the tips suggested here and you have developed some kind of draft, send an email to Renee Courey at [email  protected] edu with a Word attachment of your draft (with your name on it) along with days and times that you’re available, and either she or another associate will set up an appointment. Avoid doing this at the last minute. T he schedule may be booked, and very often essays need to be re-conceived or there are other major revisions. So, when you make an appointment, allow for plenty of time for follow-up meetings. You can also set up an appointment at the Stanford Writing Center – check with SWC on how to do this.Personal statements and statements of purpose are perhaps the most important parts of applications. There is little you can do to change your GPA or your curriculum vitae (the academic version of a resume), but these statements can be written in many different ways, emphasizing different aspects of your interests, goals, personality, and style. They present the unique qualities that make you the candidate that a committee wants to select, and a good statement of purpose can also affect those professors who will write letters of recommendation for you.Consequently, you need to pay particular attention to their composition. Admissions and approval committees have been known to accept candid ates with uneven academic records or reject otherwise excellent candidates on the basis of these statements. Essays for law school and medical school applications have their own unique characteristics. While many of the tips outlined here are useful for these essays, the demands of graduate school and fellowship essays are different. Law school and medical school essays are closer to the type of essay you wrote for undergraduate admissions.Admissions committees are not that interested in how much you know about law or medicine, since they don’t expect you to know very much, and research, while important to write about, is not as crucial as for graduate programs. For law, you are expected to demonstrate that you can reason and write, and that you have some kind of intellectual capacity and drive and a sense of human connections, and that you are motivated to become a lawyer. For medicine, you are expected to recount any experience with medicine (such as shadowing doctors), tha t you have compassion, in addition to demonstrating that you can reason and write.Again, the tips here are primarily directed at graduate school and fellowship essays, and if you are interested in these professional schools you can extrapolate from these suggestions – and consult with the appropriate staff at UAP. Read the description of the essay carefully, and make sure that you answer the question in the way that it is worded. Pay attention to the word length indicated in the instruction and do not exceed it. These essays are usually very short, and you need to be concise and strategic about which interests or goals you decide to highlight.Do not try to â€Å"fudge† the prompt: answer the question as stated (although most will simply say something like â€Å"Write a short statement of purpose†). Some fellowship applications may require a personal statement that addresses concerns of the fellowship. For example, the Udall asks for an essay responding to Sen. U dall's speeches and writings concerning the environment, the Soros seeks a personal account of what it means to be a New American and how the Constitution and Bill of Rights affect your life, and the Truman asks a series of interlocking questions.Such essays call upon all your critical capacities to present an analysis, opinion or personal reflection, and they are similar to other essays you have written in college. Statements of purpose are required of all fellowship and graduate school applications. These essays require you to describe clearly your interests, your proposed intellectual projects leading towards major research or dissertation, as well as your plans for the future. They are the committee's introduction to you as a scholar and potential colleague.A statement of purpose or interest is very different than the personal essay you wrote for undergraduate applications. It is NOT a general biographical sketch, nor is it primarily a personal reflection upon your decisions to enter a field, nor does it focus on your extracurricular activities (unless those activities pertain to your scholarly interests). You will not be asked something like â€Å"View a photograph and describe it. † Being a scholar, researcher or teacher will demand your best communication skills, so your essay should reassure the committee that you can communicate effectively and with a deep understanding of your field.You should write in a personable manner but this is somewhat different than writing a personal essay for undergraduate admissions. Keep in mind that you are writing to a particular audience, usually of faculty in your field (unlike your undergraduate admissions essay, which was directed to a general admissions committee). In other words, if you are applying for a chemistry PhD program, you will be addressing fellow chemists, for history, fellow historians, etc. If you are applying to an interdisciplinary program (e. g. History of Consciousness at Santa Cruz), your audience is a diverse group of scholars (literature, history, philosophy, etc. ) all united by a similar concern. If you are applying to a fellowship, your audience is liable to be more general or interdisciplinary. Be prepared to produce many drafts. These essays are among the most difficult pieces of writing you may do related to graduate school (other than your dissertation and your first job letter) because you must make so many strategic decisions on how to present yourself in such a short amount of space.Allow yourself a lot of time for drafts, and do not get frustrated because of the many times you will need to rewrite. Making multiple revisions is an inevitable part of the process. Show your drafts to faculty members, particularly those writing letters of recommendation, fellow students, and others. Accept criticisms with as little defensiveness as possible. On occasion you will get conflicting opinions on the presentation of your ideas and you will have to decide which dire ction to take.If you have a leading faculty mentor, you may defer to his or her opinion over others. The â€Å"trick† of this essay is to transform supplication into conversation, to change begging into exchange. Readers want to get a feeling of your intellect, and in a successful essay they will want to continue the discussion you’ve initiated, which they can only do if they admit you into their program. They will want you to be a part of their community of scholars because you have something to offer. They ask: â€Å"Would I be interested in talking to this student about her research over lunch? Concentrate on demonstrating what you know about your field and what you hope to accomplish in graduate school and even beyond. Is there a particular area of the field that you find interesting? What do you hope to contribute to the field? Avoid digressions. Demonstrate your knowledge of the field by making appropriate references to leading scholars, major writers, and curre nt debates or concerns, employing appropriate technical terminology. Avoid jargon that you believe is fashionable in order to appear flashy: most committees can tell superficial use of buzz words.You usually do not need to explain concepts in depth, since admission committees are usually already familiar with the field (although brief explanations for a more general reader may be necessary for fellowship applications). If you do write about an aspect of the field that may be somewhat unusual or controversial, your ability to briefly explain technical or theoretical aspects is a crucial component of how your essay is judged. You are not simply offering a summary of a field, so your ability to present your own arguments demonstrates how creatively you engage the entire field.Make concrete references to the program you are applying to and to the faculty you would like to study with. However, make sure these references are sufficiently broad so that you do not sound as if you want to st udy with just one person or have an excessively narrow interest in the field. You may not realize it, but that one person you want to study with may be on sabbatical for two years. Very often, the question is not whether or not you are capable, but whether or not you are a good â€Å"fit. So, don’t make your interest with the program so narrow as to allow any excuse for an awkward fit. Investigate the program – review their web site, talk to graduate students, visit in person, if you can – to discover its focus, how graduate students are involved in research, its â€Å"politics† vis-a-vis the field. Do not inadvertently position yourself on one or other side of a controversy within the department or field. Often, the discussion of the particular program is at the very end of the essay (which allows you to simply place the appropriate paragraph for each school).This is a regular convention of this genre, everyone expects it, and you do not need to worry b ecause you too write your essay this way. However, you can write it differently: references to a particular program can be woven into the body of the text, as well. This is far more difficult – and requires an original essay for each school – but it can be very effective. While you should discuss the particular area of your field from which you may develop a dissertation topic, do not present an overly detailed proposal of your anticipated dissertation.Most young scholars do not have their dissertation topics determined yet, and admission committees anticipate that. Many committees will regard a detailed description of a dissertation topic with suspicion, even deciding that a young scholar who has so determined his or her topic without advanced work is not open-minded enough to other influences in the field. One of the pleasures faculty have is in molding their graduate students. If you seem to have a closed mind, they may find this unappealing. However, if you do have areas of interest, you should explain them – just refrain from writing a detailed proposal.You are fashioning a â€Å"fictional† version of yourself. While your account is always based on truth, you have a great deal of freedom in constructing the image of who you are. You decide what goes in and what does not, and in what order. The notion that you are writing fiction can allow you some distance; the idea that this is â€Å"fiction† can free you up to be more creative and less uncomfortable that you are â€Å"baring your soul. † However you construct yourself, never lie. Not only is lying wrong, but lies are usually easily detected and self-defeating.Construct coherence. No matter how different your intellectual or other relevant experiences may be, seek out some way to bring everything together as a coherent whole. This is tricky and difficult – but everything can be described as part of one sort of process or development or another; there are a lways underlying connections. Trying to determine these questions is an excellent topic for brainstorming with other people who can see you more clearly because they have more distance. Techniques for writing drafts.There are many ways to open your essay, many choices on the order in which to present your involvement in the field, many different aspects of your academic career to highlight. However, many people get hung up on producing an exciting opening. In your initial drafting process, experiment with presenting yourself and highlighting your interests in many different ways before settling on which approach is most compelling. One technique is to write separate, independent paragraphs or groups of sentences describing different aspects of your work (such as your research projects) or experiences without worrying about how they connect or flow.At least in this way you can begin to articulate the important elements of your essay and you have material to work with. You can experim ent by avoiding any opening and writing the body of your essay; or you can experiment with trying to write one short paragraph that concisely says everything. Be playful in your experiments before you settle on one approach. Openings. Openings tend to get people hung up. Everyone wants to make a good, first impression. But, often, once someone sets upon an opening, it tends to shape the rhetorical flow of the rest of the essay, even distorting the essay.One suggestion is NOT to have an opening but simply to start – avoid the high-stake gambit altogether. An opening that uses an anecdote about your interest in the field is very popular. It can be very effective, and it’s a common way that people can express their interests. But it’s so popular that it may come across as trite, unless it is a very powerful, appropriate anecdote, and it must be short. (Often, people need to write an anecdote in order to get themselves going, and when the anecdote is done, take a lo ok at what happens next: that may, in fact, be your opening. Opening with a personal narrative (e. g. , how I became passionate about this subject) can be effective, but, again, this approach is very popular and even overdone (â€Å"When I was six I was hit on the head at the playground, and ever since then I’ve wanted to be a neuroscientist†). If you do use personal narrative, make it very brief and to the point. Don’t spend half your essay relating a story. Another popular approach is to present a chronology of your development. While a chronological account may be tempting – and may be necessary for you to do at an early stage of writing – it is a fairly ow-level rhetorical mode. Another possibility is to open with at the most sophisticated level of your development, such as the advanced research or honors thesis you are currently completing, and then describe how you got to that point in the field. Often, an analysis of some aspect of your rese arch interest or of your own development can provide you with a way to discuss your overall development. Present your interests according to an underlying theme, framing idea or argument that then draws from the history of your involvement to illustrate your idea.No matter how different your activities may be, you can draw a coherent picture of your development. At first you may not think that climbing Mount Everest connects readily to a doctorate in mechanical engineering or medieval studies – but if presented the right way, it could. Don’t reject any experience out of hand. And don’t leave out things which you think are obvious. For example, your honors thesis or research may show up on your c/v, but you give the meaning or â€Å"spin† to that reality in your essay.Do not present a complete list of courses in the field you have taken or an undifferentiated, comprehensive description of your interest. You will need to make strategic decisions on how you present your interest, deciding what is primary, secondary, etc. , and making such decisions may be difficult, even painful. You will have a transcript in your application, so you don’t need lists that don’t â€Å"spin† explanations. Address any anomalies in your transcript. If you have any lapses, unusual low grades, withdrawals or anything else that seems strange, explain them in as non-defensive a way as possible.For example, the fact that the first two years of college you were a mediocre student until you discovered your intellectual passion or you withdrew from classes one quarter because of illness or family problems. If you spent time in jail or joined a guerrilla army, you need to figure out how to explain your history. In many respects, you do not need to explain everything – and some things may be none of an admissions committee’s business – but you do need to say something. If you do not explain the situation, your readers will i nvent explanations for themselves – and their fantasies will probably be far worse than the reality.Avoid excessive, unreasonable enthusiasm. Extreme effusion backfires. For example, statements such as â€Å"I love 19th century British literature so much that I feel that I live in the 19th century† or â€Å"I AM Nietzsche† or â€Å"I live and breathe sea urchins† suggest possible psychosis, not reasonable enthusiasm. For the most part, exclamation points should be avoided. Check your writing style for unconscious attempts at forced sincerity or authenticity. This is a form of â€Å"begging† and it’s tough to spot, since you often don’t see if for yourself.For example, check to see if your adjectives are excessive (â€Å"I took an amazing/astounding/awesome class†). Often, no adjective is fine or a more restrained one has a better effect. Review â€Å"triples† or â€Å"doubles† to see if they are indeed necessary a nd reveal important information. For example, if the flow of rhetoric has you saying â€Å"I am dedicated, hard working, and committed,† you should note that dedicated and committed are almost identical and the repetition has the effect of undermining your sincerity. The reader gets a subliminal message flashing of â€Å"Baloney! Don’t follow rhetorical flow; follow the logic of your underlying coherence. Be conscious of inflammatory or biased language. You may hold strong opinions about the field or be motivated by particular causes. Do not mask your opinions, but be aware of presenting yourself in a tactful, judicious fashion. You can express various views in such a way as to present yourself as having an opinion yet remaining open-minded. You want to avoid coming across as an extremist or as a crank that cannot enter a dialogue with others. No jokes.Humor and sarcasm depend upon a shared field of reference – and you have no idea if you and your readers have such a mutual understanding. Most of the time, self-deprecating humor comes across as simply deprecating yourself, and sarcasm can easily be misunderstood. One student who spent ten years working as a writer for situation comedies refrained from using humor: if she refrained – and she knows the business – you can too. This doesn’t mean that you should be leaden or dull, but avoid jokes or smirks or a wise-guy tone. Do not write what you think the committee wants to read.Be yourself. Often, applicants believe they should write according to some image of proper â€Å"academic† seriousness or style. Your personal style and passion should shine through the essay. Although this is a formal essay and you should avoid slang or overly casual constructions, its tone should be engaging, even personable (though not personal). Poofread the essay, roofpread the essay, prufreed the essay. Have your friends proofread it. While this is not a grammar test, excessive typos and other mechanical errors indicate poor work habits and do not make a good impression.Most admissions committees allow one typo (such as â€Å"to† for â€Å"too†), but when the typos start adding up you’re sending a bad message. After all this advice and warning, keep in mind that this is actually an exciting process. Perhaps for the first time in years you are attempting to present a coherent intellectual portrait of yourself. In the process you may actually gain a clearer vision of your interests and goals – and feel even more confident that graduate study is the direction you want to go. Contact the URP office for editorial review.We will be glad to review your essay at any stage of the process. As you can tell, this is more than a narrowly defined writing process, so we may ask you questions about your interests, your academic career, and other pursuits to see if additional experiences should be included. We’re not trying to be nosey, but st udents often leave out aspects of themselves that they think are obvious or not important when in fact they are very valuable. Adapted from original text by Hilton Obenzinger  © Copyright 2005 Stanford University.

Aids Awareness – 2

World AIDS Day, observed on 1 December every year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS  pandemic  caused by the spread of HIV infection. Government and health officials observe the day, often with speeches or forums on the AIDS topics. Since 1995, the President of the United States has made an official  proclamation  on World AIDS Day. Governments of other nations have followed suit and issued similar announcements. AIDS has killed more than 25 million people between 1981 and 2007,[1]  and an estimated 33. million people worldwide live with HIV as of 2007,[2]  making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. Despite recent, improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS epidemic claimed an estimated 2 million lives in 2007,[3]  of which about 270,000 were children. [4] World AIDS Day was first conceived in August 1987 by James W. Bunn and Thomas Netter, two public information officers for the Glo bal Programme on AIDS at the  World Health Organization  in Geneva, Switzerland. [5][6]  Bunn and Netter took their idea to Dr.Jonathan Mann, Director of the Global Programme on AIDS (now known as  UNAIDS). Dr. Mann liked the concept, approved it, and agreed with the recommendation that the first observance of World AIDS Day should be 1 December 1988. Bunn, a broadcast journalist on a leave-of-absence from his reporting duties at KPIX-TV in San Francisco, recommended the date of 1 December believing it would maximize coverage by western news media. Since 1988 was an election year in the U. S. , Bunn suggested that media outlets would be weary of their post-election coverage and eager to find a fresh story to cover.Bunn and Netter determined that 1 December was long enough after the election and soon enough before the Christmas holidays that it was, in effect, a dead spot in the news calendar and thus perfect timing for World AIDS Day. On 18 June 1986 KPIX'S â€Å"AIDS Lifel ine† (a community education project initiated by Bunn and KPIX Special Projects Producer Nancy Saslow) was honored with a Presidential Citation for Private Sector Initiatives presented by President Ronald Reagan. Because of his role in â€Å"AIDS Lifeline† Bunn was asked by Dr. Mann, on behalf of the U. S. government, to take a two-year leave-of-absence to join Dr.Mann, an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control, and assist in the creation of the Global Programme on AIDS for the United Nations' World Health Organization. Mr. Bunn accepted and was named the first Public Information Officer for the Global Programme on AIDS. Bunn and Netter conceived, designed, and implemented the inaugural World AIDS Day observance – now the longest-running disease awareness and prevention initiative of its kind in the history of public health. The  Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS  (UNAIDS) became operational in 1996, and it took over the planning and prom otion of World AIDS Day. 7]  Rather than focus on a single day, UNAIDS created the World AIDS Campaign in 1997 to focus on year-round communications, prevention and education. [7][8] In its first two years, the theme of World AIDS Day focused on children and young people. These themes were strongly criticized at the time for ignoring the fact that people of all ages may become infected with HIV and suffer from AIDS. [7]  But the themes drew attention to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, helped alleviate some of the stigma surrounding the disease, and helped boost recognition of the problem as a family disease. 7] In 2004, the World AIDS Campaign became an independent organization. [7][8][9] Each year, Popes  John Paul II  and  Benedict XVI  have released a greeting message for patients and doctors on World AIDS Day. [10][11][12][13][14][15] In 2007, the  White House  began marking World AIDS Day with the iconic display of a 28-foot AIDS Ribbon on the building's North Portico. [ 16]  The display, now an annual tradition, quickly garnered attention, as it was the first banner, sign or symbol to prominently hang from the White House since the  Abraham Lincoln  administration. ———————————————— [edit]Choosing the theme From its inception until 2004,  UNAIDS  spearheaded the World AIDS Day campaign, choosing annual themes in consultation with other global health organizations. As of 2008, each year's World AIDS Day theme is chosen by the World AIDS Campaign's Global Steering Committee after extensive consultation with people, organizations and government agencies involved in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. [7]  For each World AIDS Day from 2005 through 2010, the theme will be â€Å"Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise. â€Å", with a yearly sub-theme. 7]  This overarching theme is designed to encourage political leaders to keep their c ommitment to achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care, and support by the year 2010. [7] This theme is not specific to World AIDS Day, but is used year-round in WAC's efforts to highlight HIV/AIDS awareness within the context of other major global events including the  G8 Summit. World AIDS Campaign also conducts â€Å"in-country† campaigns throughout the world, like the  Student Stop AIDS Campaign, an infection-awareness campaign targeting young people throughout the UK.Today many people around the world are infected with a serious disease called  AIDS. Unfortunately, the disease has led to many deaths worldwide and yet it still remains untreatable. Many Public Health Departments are now taking the lead in publicizing education about AIDS. Public awareness and prevention programs are possible solutions to the spread of AIDS. The issue of this paper is on AIDS Prevention Programs that target women. One outlook is that prevention programs that tar get women will reduce the number of infections around the world.People opposed to this believe that prevention programs should aim more towards males. The disease is obviously an important social issue which impacts people worldwide. Certain associations and studies believe that women are more at danger then men for contracting HIV/AIDS. They believe prevention programs should be focused merely on women. AIDS cases for women are increasing each year and women are one of the fastest growing populations being infected. At the end of 2002, UNAIDS, a Joint United Nations Progamme on HIV/AIDS, reported that 38. 6 million adults are infected with HIV or AIDS worldwide.Roughly 50% or 19. 2 million are women. Globally speaking, most women infected with HIV or AIDS are from developing countries. The fastest spread of AIDS among women is in sub-Saharan Africa. In 1999, for the first time more women than men were infected with HIV. Out of 22. 3 million people infected in sub Saharan Africa 12. 2 million, or 55%, are female. Of the 1. 1 million youth infected in south Asia, 62% are female. According to research by the CDC, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the amount of AIDS cases in women have more than tripled in the United States.Since 1985, 7% of women were affected to 25% in 1999. With the number of AIDS cases in women increasing, organizations are relying on prevention programs aimed towards women to be the effective solution to prevent the spread of the virus amongst men and women. We can write a custom essay on AIDS for you! In contrary to the opposing viewpoint, reports by UNAIDS felt that men should be the main focus in the prevention programs. In 2000, UNAIDS commenced a World AIDS Campaign which pushed for men to become more involved in preventing the spread of the AIDS outbreak. We must stop seeing men as some kind of problem and begin seeing them as part of the solution,† according to Dr Peter Piot, the head director of UNAIDS. â€Å"Working with men to change their behavior and attitudes has tremendous potential to slow down the epidemic. It will also improve the lives of men themselves, not to mention those of their families. † There are several reasons why men should remain the main target to the prevention of the epidemic. The focus is mainly on changing sexual behaviors amongst men. Men grow up with certain beliefs and attitudes on how they should behave when dealing with intercourse.Dr. Elvira Belingon, Department of Health STD/AIDS Coordinator in Cordillera explained that worldwide studies prove that men are at a greater risk of spreading the disease because they are likely to have more unprotected intercourse and sexual partners than women do. â€Å"Too often, it is seen as ‘unmanly' to worry about avoiding drug-related risks, or to bother with condoms,† said Dr Piot. UNAIDS feel these cultural beliefs and expectations allow men to become vulunerable to AIDS which endangers their own health or the health of their partners and family.This vulnerability has already affected gay and bisexual men in the United States. Sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis have rose for the second year in a row. The government feels that gays and bisexuals are more susceptible to these sexually transmitted diseases and with the help of these prevention programs they can decrease that number. In order to help control the AIDS epidemic, organization’s feel prevention programs should focus more on men’s behavior. I believe that prevention programs should be aimed towards women because of he steady increase of infections year to year. Women are more susceptible to HIV infection for several reasons. Biologically, females are estimated to be eight times more likely of receiving and HIV transmission from a male compared to female-to-male transmission. In 1997, the CDC reported that 38% of women received HIV through heterosexual intercourse opposed to 7% of men. Women are more at risk because the surface area in a female’s genital tract is greater exposed than in males. During intercourse larger amounts of semen fluids are released than in vaginal fluids.This puts women at risk because semen contains a higher amount of HIV. Also, women often have sexually transmitted infections that are left untreated, which increases exposure to HIV. Women who have STDs, sexually transmitted diseases, especially those that cause ulcerations make it easier for HIV to enter the body. Genital sores and immune reactions related with STDs face a greater risk of HIV infection. Treatment of STDs can be an efficient HIV prevention tactic if prevention programs educate women on this exposure. Other biological factors deal with young women among the ages of 13 to 19.Girls in Charge coordinator, Judah-Abijah Dorrington, explained that 49% of all the AIDS cases reported in the United States since 1997 were among these young women. This age group is infected because they have not fully completed their biological development. Many of the women obtained HIV in their teens because of â€Å"having an underdeveloped cervix and low vaginal mucus production. † In the report by AIDS Weekly, young women are found to have three to five times higher HIV infections than among boys. â€Å"Young women really are being viewed as the population with the largest number of new infections,† said Dr.Cynthia Gomez, professor for the AIDS Prevention Center at the University of California at San Francisco. â€Å"They don't realize they're at risk, partly because we've only emphasized certain groups, rather than behaviors. † Women are vulnerable to infection for their lack of power within sexual relationships and sexual violence. Women’s lack of power makes it difficult for them to negotiate safer sex with partners. Women tend not to discuss condom use within relationships in fear of rejection or loss of economic support. When women are in committed relationships, they mainly focus on the intimacy in their relationship.They assume they are in a monogamous relationship with their partner. Unsafe sex becomes more important than protection against HIV. This dependence of men increases the risk of AIDS for women. A report from Secretary General of the United Nation, Kofi Annan concluded, â€Å"The gender dynamics of the epidemic are far-reaching due to women's weaker ability to negotiate safe sex, and their generally lower social and economic status. † Studies in Africa have uncovered that many married women have been infected by their husband. The powerlessness of women to reject sex with their husband has been a major cause of transmission to women.Women's dependence on men makes women less able to protect themselves against AIDS. Typically, men make most decisions about when, where, and how to have sex. In developing countries, women usually maintain little control over their bodies and hold little decision-making power. Violence against women increases their helplessness to HIV and decreases their ability to defend themselves against infection. According to a study, â€Å"physical and sexual abuse were ‘disturbingly common’ throughout life among women at high risk for HIV infection†¦women who have been abused are more likely to use crack cocaine and have multiple sex partners. This puts women are at greater risk for rape or sexual force. Also, some women are forced to enter into sex work or short-term partnerships to exchange sex for economic gain or survival including food, refuge, and security. In many cases, women are in danger merely because they are reliant on their husbands for survival and support. This hinders and restricts their decision making and negotiating control. Sex workers are at a high risk for infection, mainly when they do not have the ability to negotiate with customers who refuse to wear a condom.In order to prevent the spread of AIDS I feel public health ag encies need to raise public awareness by promoting prevention programs for women. If women are educated on the biological and social factors of AIDS, women may have more of a chance to change their behaviors before the possibility of becoming infected with HIV. Programs that specifically target women will have a positive impact on women in the long-run. As new AIDS cases are increasing quickly through heterosexual contact focus on the prevention programs will take on even greater importance.People that agree with the statement that AIDS prevention programs should target women believe that women are vulnerable to HIV infection biologically and socially. To decrease infections of the AIDS virus women change their standard of living especially for women in developing countries through these prevention programs. Those that disagree focus HIV prevention efforts on heterosexual male sexual behavior. By changing male cultural and socialization patterns interventions can be effective. A wid espread HIV prevention policy uses many essentials to protect as many people at risk for HIV as possible.

Tapescript Role Play in Business Meetings

Tapescript – Role Play in Business Meetings (NF=Nigel Fraser, M=Martin, J=John, E=Eliana, D=Denise, MK=Markus) NI  think we all agree that we need to work a  lot better as a  team. I’ve got some suggestions for improving our teamwork. I’d like to share them with you and see how you feel about them. OK, let’s start with meetings. At the moment we meet once a month. That’s not enough. In future, I’d like us all to meet once every two weeks. I would expect everyone to attend, and to be on time – that’s not the case at the moment as you know. So Martin, what do you think?MTotally against the idea, to be honest. Once a month is fine, surely. I’m making the most money for us at the moment and I can’t go on doing that if I have to attend meetings all the time. Anyway, when we do meet, we spend most of the time arguing with each other. A lot of them are a waste of time. No, keep things as they are. NThank you, Martin . John, what do you think? Meeting once every two weeks. Compulsory attendance. JIt’s a good idea. Why not? We need to spend more time together to sort out problems, share ideas, that sort of thing.Actually, I think we should meet once a week. MRubbish. NNow Martin, calm down. You’ve had your say. And nothing’s been decided yet. But thanks John for backing me up on this one. Eliana, how do you feel about this? EI’ll go along with whatever you say. It really won’t affect me much. My main problem, as you well know, is I want to move from data projectors. I’d like to sell plasma screens, they’re in great demand at the moment, that’s why Martin tops our sales, it’s not difficult to be the best when you have the best products to sell. MI thought we were talking about meetings, Nigel.Do we have to listen once again to Eliana’s complaints? NNo we don’t Martin. You’re right, we’re getting off the poin t. Denise, let’s hear from you now. DThanks, I’d like more meetings, once a week would be OK for me, but I don’t know if attendance should be compulsory. But yeah, people should turn up on time, not drift in as they do at the moment. If we had more meetings, I’d get a chance to make a few suggestions for improving sales. And maybe I wouldn’t be interrupted so often by Martin and Markus. John seems to be the only person here who listens to me. AllOh come on now.Nonsense. Right. True. NCould we come to order, please? Everyone calm down. Markus? Meeting once a week, once every two weeks, or keep to once a month? What do you think? MKKeep it as it is, once a month. That’s enough. When we do have a meeting, two or three people seem to take over, and no one else can get a word in edgeways. Frankly, Nigel, our meetings are not very productive, and that’s the real problem. I’d prefer to spend time meeting our customers and trying to dr um up more sales. That’s what we’re paid for. NOK, Markus, thanks very much. Let me get a few more opinions†¦. Robert†¦. Role cards Director one You want to: ? get rid of Nigel Fraser by asking him to resign. You do not think he is a suitable person to manage the sales team. ? Replace him with a new person from outside the company. The new manager would have a fresh approach to the team’s problems. ? Have more meetings and weekly sales reports. ? Reorganize the sales team into mini-groups, for example all plasma sales staff working together. Commissions would be based on sales targets set for each mini-group. ? Think of other suggestions for improving the performance of the team.Director two You want to: ? Keep Nigel Fraser as manager – you are a close friend of Nigel. You think he’s an excellent manager of a ’difficult team’. ? Send Nigel on a short training course which helps managers to develop team building skills. ? Get rid of Martin. He is rude and upsets members of staff. ? Have fewer reports and meetings. ? Pay commissions based on the performance of the whole team. The team should be set challenging sales targets. ? Think of other suggestions for improving the performance of the team. Director three You want to: Move Nigel Fraser to another department in the company. ? Replace him with another member of the sales team – John? Denise? (you decide) ? Hold the meeting of the whole department every two weeks, and allow members to express their opinions frankly. ? Keep Martin in the team – you are Martin’s closest friend. He is a difficult person, but a brilliant salesman, in your opinion. ? Reduce the sales team from 7 members to 6 (you decide who should go). ? Reorganize the teams (you decide how). ? Think of other suggestions for improving the performance of the team.Director four You want to: ? Hear the opinions of the other directors before making up your mind. You are not sure whether to keep Nigel Fraser as manager or not. ? Have Eliana as manager if the other directors think Nigel Fraser should go. She is young, talented, and has good people management skills. ? Get rid of Markus – he is lazy, selfish and unreliable. ? Ask Vanessa Byrant to come back and advise Nigel Fraser for the next six months. ? Send staff on regular team building courses. ? Think of other suggestions for improving the performance of the team.

Gran Torino Film Review

Gran Torino Gran Torino is an American drama film, released in 2008 film directed and produced by and also starring Clint Eastwood. Set in Detroit, Michigan it was the first mainstream U. S. film to feature Hmong Americans. Gran Torino was a critical and commercial success, grossing nearly $270 million worldwide and is also said to be Clint Eastwood’s most successful film, but as like many films Gran Torino received both praise and criticism. Gran Torino† tells the story of Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood), a grizzled Korean War veteran whose wife recently passed away. Walt lives alone with his dog in a Detroit, the neighborhood he’s lived in for well over 30 years in no longer populated as he would say ‘lower middle class white folks’, but has turned into an Asian neighborhood. A Hmong family lives next door, a grandmother, single mother and her two teenagers Thao (Bee Vang) and Sue (Ahney Her).Thao is quiet and intelligent but very shy, where as Sue i s very outgoing and fearless. The local Asian gang led by Thao’s cousin tries to recruit Thao. Thao does not have a choice because you cannot say no to a gang, they talk him into trying to steal Walt’s 1972 Gran Torino, Walt Stops it from happening but Thao gets away unrecognized. Then Thao is forced by his sister and mother to work for Walt in an effort for the attempted to steal his car.The two become very close as Walt see’s the good and potential in Thao and teaches him how to be a man and steer clear of the gang. Walt vows to protect Thao, setting the stage for a showdown with the gang. Clint Eastwood is really great to watch in this movie, his acting throughout Gran Torino really convinces you that he is a retired old war veteran, who has seen it all and is afraid of nothing. The way he confronts trouble throughout the film is impressive especially in the one scene where he comes up against three men harassing Sue on her walk.From my point of view there ar e a few camera angles portrayed throughout the scenes of the film, but there is hardly and visual effects or anything else, I think what makes this movie a good hit is Clint Eastwood’s attitude showed in his acting and the rest of the actors as well, and yes of course during the film Walt is very racists and says lots of different ethnic comments but the point is, well the point that I noticed was that Walt starts to look past and see the people for who they really are not just look at their race or where they come from.This movie is perfect for Clint Eastwood fans or young adults and older, I wouldn’t really say it is for teenagers because they might not fully understand the film and just think that Walt is a grumpy old man who just gets fired up over nothing. I rate it a 4 out of 5.

Speech Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Speech - Assignment Example The Rainbow Coalition was making efforts to have all ethnic groups be represented in the government, and so Jesse Jackson was asking the people present to put aside their prejudices and stereotypes. Yet, before he calls them to that duty, he tells them that they are not perfect people. More than likely, the effect of that sentence was to make the people feel that they could not accomplish the goal even if they tried. Such imperfect people could not likely accomplish a task so great. When an individual is in a situation where their prior prejudices come to the forefront, they are more likely to remember those words and believe that they are not capable of putting aside those feelings. 2) Amplification: â€Å"There is the call of conscience, redemption, expansion, healing, and unity† (Jackson). The effect of amplification is a powerful one. By listing the goals each individual was being called to reach, Jesse Jackson created a step-by-step program that every listener was likely to feel they could follow. First, they must be conscious of the effects of their prejudices. Once they are conscious, they should then be able to redeem themselves through rectifying their mistakes and changing their ways. Next, they can expand their new outlook to those in their family and their circle of friends. They can act as a positive influence on all within their social spheres.

Unit Assessment 5 professionalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unit Assessment 5 professionalism - Essay Example In my company where gifts are not encouraged, I would accept for any gifts offered but work towards ensuring that policies of the organization are well understood to ensure that the person does not offer gifts in the future. The fact that the employee has been offering gifts for a long time may indicate two things. Firstly, the employee may not be aware of the policy regarding gifts (DuPont, 1998). Secondly, he/she may just be ignorant and not care of the consequences of going against the organizational policies. To address these issues, I would strive to have the organizational policies understood by all the staff members by sharing on their emails as well as through communication through supervisors. This way, the employee targeted will not feel victimized and will most likely stop the act. The other step that may be taken is through training to all staff members on different policies as well as offering written policies upon signing of contracts for new employees (Malin, 2000). In the event that such measure do no work on an employee, it is important to communicate the policy to the affected employee directly to ensure that they stop the habit from becoming widespread within the organization against the policies. Â   Motivation is important in ensuring that staff members work and deliver maximally in an organization. As a supervisor, working with a motivated group makes it easy to achieve organizational goals. It also reduces many problems, which may arise from internal conflicts, lack of communication and poor performance (DuPont, 1998). One of the most important methods of motivating employees is through offering a nurturing environment at the work place. A nurturing environment makes employees feel that they are cared for and that their welfare is well considered by the organization (Anderson and Bolt, 2011). For instance offering free counseling services for employees may be a good step towards a