Hard Times Essay Example for Free

Hard Times Essay Mr Gradgrind says is it satisfactory to me to know that you do not come to the consideration of that question with the previous habits of mind, and habits of life, that belongs to many young women in reference to fancy and emotion when deciding whether to marry Mr Bounderby or not. Later on in the page we are told that Louisa was compelled to throw herself upon his breast and give him the pent-up confidences of her heart. However this doesnt happen because Mr Gradgrind fails to see it. This is because of the artificial barriers that have been set up between him and his daughter and these barriers are primarily fact and his utilitarian views. It is a utilitarian view because he believes the decision should not be made based on the individual happiness of Louisa but on what will be best for everyone and therefore looking past her. It also is criticising Utilitarians and Mr Gradgrind through the use of dramatic irony in the sense that we see that Loo yearns to talk to her father but he doesnt and we are criticising his inability to see it. The barriers being set up are metaphorical barriers he has put between himself and his daughter emotionally to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people. The barriers are themselves blocking out subtle essences of humanity with reference to fancy. By saying that fancy is an essence of humanity in accompaniment with Gradgrinds will to get rid of fact we see that Dickens is showing us that utilitarian principles strip us of these essences of humanity and therefore de-humanises us. Furthermore it is a very human ideal for a daughter to confide with her father or parent in general but here Louisa has been stripped of that showing us even more then de-humanising qualities of fact. Dickens then goes on to say that these subtle essences of humanity will elude the utmost cunning of algebra until the last trumpet blow even algebra to wreck saying to us that fancy and emotion will always beat fact. The last trumpet is judgement day so Dickens is saying that fancy will win until the end of eternity. This passage clearly shows Dickens preferences to emotion and how he feels it is superior although he does give fact some credit when he says blow even algebra as if algebra is a tough subject to blow. Then dickens talks about how with his utilitarian face he hardened her again telling us that utilitarianism is hardening Loo. First of all this builds sympathy for Loo because we were told earlier that Loo wanted to throw herself upon her father but she cant because of the barriers and is hardened again and secondly builds up our dislike for Gradgrind and utilitarianism more because of its hardening qualities.

Site Directed Mutagenesis of Subtilisin

Site Directed Mutagenesis of Subtilisin Introduction Subtilisin is a monomeric protein serine protease, which is produced by Gram positive bacteria and fungi.(1) Serine proteases are a subgroup of carbonyl hydrolase. These carbonyl hydrolases can be naturally occurring or recombinant. Naturally occurring carbonyl hydrolases consists of subtilisin matalloproteases, serine carboxypeptidase and thiol proteinase. In case of recombinant carbonyl hydrolase, the sequence coding for the wild type enzyme is altered to produce a mutant either by insertion, substitution or deletion of amino acid. Proteases are a diverse class of enzymes having several biological functions and specificities. The catalytic machinery of these enzymes is attributed to subtilisin and mammalian chymotrypsin related bacterial serine protease.(2) They are responsible for cleaving peptide bonds found in proteins. The proteases play an important role in cell wall turnover and are maximally expressed in the stationary phase. Serine proteases have molecular weights ranging f rom 25,000-30,000. They are inhibited by diidopropylfluorophosphate but are resistant to EDTA ( ethylene diamaine tetra acetic acid.) (3) The amino acid sequences of several subtilisins like subtilisin Carlsberg, subtilisin BPN, and subtilisin DY are known. Subtilisin BPN is a 275 amino acid serine protease, which is secreted by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. This enzyme is industrially important and its gene has been cloned and expressed in Bacillus subtilis. This molecule has two enzyme binding sites- one of the site binds weakly to cations and the other one binds calcium with high affinity. These calcium binding sites are common characteristics of microbial proteases since they contribute towards kinetic and thermodynamic stability. Subtilisin is majorly used in industries wherein the environment contains high levels of metal chelators which remove the calcium from subtilisin , thus reducing its stability. It would be highly beneficial to create a stable subtilisin which would be independent of calcium. These mutated subtilisin enzymes will have an enhanced stability even in the presence of detergents and chaotropic ag ents. X-ray crystallographic analysis of mutants revealed that the conformational changes due to the mutations are localized, with very less distortion of the backbone structure. Thus a large increase in stability can be obtained with very minor changes in the protein structure. Mutants can be created by deletion, addition or substitution of amino acids at positions 75-83. The deletion of amino acids 75-83 has shown to eliminate the calcium binding site while still retaining its enzymatic activity. However, calcium free subtilisins are susceptible to proteolysis. This can be overcome by converting the active site serine 221 to cysteine (S221C). This allows the protein to fold without any auto-degradation by proteolysis. A recombinant DNA was created which encoded an active subtilisin protein without the ability to bind to calcium. The protein had no codons which specifies amino acids 75-83 and had certain additional stabilizing mutations at the N-terminal amino acids 1-8 or the ÃŽ ± helix amino acids 70-74 or the helix turn amino acids 84-89. Suitable host cells were transformed with an expression vector containing this DNA segment. Upon culturing the host cells the enzymatically active subtilisin mutant was expressed and recovered.(1) Fabric cleaning compositions containing subtilisin BPN mutants The ability to hydrolyze proteins can be exploited by incorporating these proteases as an additive to laundry detergents. Most of the stains on clothes are proteinaceous and these enzymes can efficiently aid in their removal. The amino acid sequence of the protease is responsible for its characteristics. The subtilisin BPN variants have modifications at 2-3 amino acid positions. This variant has an increased hydrolytic power and decreased adsorption to an insoluble substrate as compared to the original subtilisin. A decreased adsorption to the substrate results in a better cleaning performance. In subtilisin BPN, the amino acids ranging from position 199-220 form a large exterior loop on the molecule. This loop plays an important role in mediating the adsorption of enzyme to the surface bound peptide and mutations in this region will affect the adsorption. The substituting amino acids in case of a mutation are either neutral or negatively charged. The substituting amino acid for position 199 is mostly His, Ala, Cys, Pro, Glu, Asp, Gly, Asn or Gln and for position 207 is Glu or Asp. The cleaning compositions comprise of 0.001-1% of one or more enzyme variants. The enzyme variants can be used along with other conventional ingredients to produce efficient fabric laundry composition. These fabric cleaning compositions also contain various zwitterionic or anionic surfactants, hydrotopes, dyes or pigments, primary or secondary alcohols, chelating agents and brighteners. Fermentation: The Bacillus subtilis cells having the subtilisin mutant are allowed to grow till mid log phase in LB glucose broth and is then inoculated into a fermentor. The cells are grown overnight at 37ËÅ ¡C. Chloramphenicol is added for the antibiotic selection of mutagenized plasmid. The cells are removed from the broth by centrifugation The enzyme is purified by affinity adsorption or cation exchange chromatography. The active enzyme concentration is determined by the pNA assay. ( para nitro anilide) This assay measures the rate at which pNA is released as the enzyme hydrolyses the substrate. The rate at which the yellow colour is produced is measured at 410nm with the help of a spectrophotometer and is directly proportional to the enzyme concentration. The total protein concentration can also be estimated by determining the absorbance at 280nm. (4) Production of subtilisin variants Techniques used in microbiology, molecular biology, protein purification and recombinant DNA technology are all used in developing a subtilisin variant, which is a part of dish washing and fabric cleaning compositions. Cassette mutagenesis method for production of protease variants The gene encoding the protease is sequenced The sequence is screened for a point at which desired mutation can be made The sequences flanking this region are checked for the presence of restriction enzyme site so as to replace a short segment of the gene with an oligonucleotide which will then encode various mutants. The gene is mutated by primer extension The oligonucleotides are synthesized to have the same restriction sites, eliminating the need for synthetic linkers to create the restriction site. The genes coding for serine proteases of B.amyloliquefaciens, B.subtilis and B.licheniformis can be used as targets for mutagenesis. The gene can be inserted into a suitable vector and introduced into a host strain ( Bacillus PB92) for expression and production of mutant proteases. These mutations / substitutions enhance the performance and stability of subtilisin in detergent compositions. These serine proteases can be used in the form of granules and liquid composition both in laundry dishwashing and cosmetic applications. These enzymes are often in the form of encapsulated particles in order to protect it from the other components. Encapsulation also improves the enzyme performance and helps in regulating its availability. The encapsulating material can be derived from carbohydrates, silicates, polyvinyl alcohol, borates, PEG or paraffin waxes. Fabric cleaning performance by Blood Milk Ink microswatch assay. (BWI) This assay is performed on a microtitre plate. Samples of the subtilisin variants and reference subtilisin are obtained from filtered culture broths. 10ul samples of the enzyme are added to the BWI swatch plate along with 90ul of working detergent solution. The plates are incubated for 30 minutes. 100ul of the supernatant is transferred into a new microtiter plate and its absorbance is measured. Control wells contain the detergent solution without the protease sample. The measurement at 450nm tracks pigment removal and at 600nm tracks turbidity and cleaning. The performance index (PI) of the variant is calculated. PI compares the performance of variant and reference enzyme at the same protein concentration. PI>1 the variant is better than the wild type. PI=1 variant and standard have the same performance PI

The Triple Bottom Line In Hospitality Tourism Essay

The Triple Bottom Line In Hospitality Tourism Essay The last few years have been very challenging for the whole hospitality sector, as the majority of business people and travelers moved to online conferences whenever possible and holidays became a luxury for many people. Beside this shortage the most important hotels in the world and its shareholders have decided to give a lot of emphasis in sustainability and green technology. This happened because they understood that in order to be a key player in this competitive market, they absolutely needed to set up a long term strategy, which consisted in profitable operation combined with particular focus to the needs of the people who both use and work in the hotel and also focus on careful trusteeship of natural resources. These ideas, well known as the triple bottom line, were pointed out for the first time by John Elkington  [1]  in 1997,who basically assumed that in order to be sustainable, without particular regards of the industrial sector, it is vital and necessary for a corpora tions business to operate with more responsibility, and concerning of not only economical margins (profit), but also environmental (planet) and social issues (people). My purpose in this research is to investigate how these three pillars of sustainability should fit the nowadays hospitality sector. According to Dr. Hervà © Houdrà ©, General Manager of the Willard InterContinental Hotel, the triple bottom line in hospitality is achievable giving a lot of emphasis to all the three steps, starting from the economic viability: The Sustainable Development concept is not the consequence of the delusion of people who determined that this world would be better if we were going back to our natural roots and resources. SD is definitely geared toward profitability and the future. Without profit it seems obvious that no business would be sustainable(Hervà ¨,2008). From this quote we understand that it is very important to remember that an hotel it is not a NGO or a NPO and must be profitable to remain sustainable. With this crucial principle, the idea should be to drive a business with also an ethical point of view and use sustainable development to reach an high turnover but also lowering the costs, in order to have a better profit margin, wich creates value for the shareholders. The second step concerns social responsibility. As briefly pointed out in the introduction, hotels two major components in this issue are employees and the community. An hotel should be recognized as a fair employer and be sure that its employees are happy and proud to be associated with its name, for instance Accors hotels motto is encouraging its 170,000 employees through the idea that one employee can make the difference.. The hotel should also be well integrated in the community by helping worthwhile causes and every organization should select those that are appropriate to its goals and community. Not only it is right and ethical to offer our help across borders, but if an international clientele sees that the hotel is involved in international causes, this will probably reinforce the perception of generosity and caring of both the hotel and the country, facing in this way a double outcome. The last pillar is about the environmental protection. Among other steps, the hotel will apply for national and international environmental certifications and awards, such as ISO 14001, ISO 22000 (both are international environmental certification), and the IHRA environmental award. An hotel may also consider the idea of starting a his own initiative concerning the environment, like Taj Hotels Group did with EARTH (Environment Awareness Renewal at Taj Hotels), a project which is about the effort of one of Asias largest and finest group of hotels to commit to energy conservation and environmental management. This project has also received a certification from Green Globe, the only worldwide environmental certification program for travel and tourism. Moreover, in everything that an hotel does in order to reach this kind of goal, it will be useful to research for an association with a well-known organization to benefit from their existing infrastructure and consequently to ensure the c orrect and ethical application of the funds that will be donated or, more in general, the actions that will take place. STAKEHOLDER APPROACH As pointed out by Business Ethics,Ethical Decision Making Cases: O. C. Ferrell, John Fraedrich, Linda Ferrell,it is crucial for a 21st century company to build a strong relationship and interaction with its stakeholders, because they are both influenced by and have the ability to affect the business, as noticed before in the second pillar of sustainability. This general view has been transposed also in the hospitality sector, where now it is frequent to witness this kind of stakeholder approach in order to maximize the positive impact and minimize negative impact on society. Although there are many different approaches, it is important to highlight key features, which include assessing the corporate culture, identifying stakeholder groups and related issues, and gaining also feedbacks from them. After that being stated it stands to reason that communication is a key part of this project and letting all stakeholders know about the strategy is just as important as setting and implemen ting the triple bottom line strategy in the first place. The hotel industry is well positioned to demonstrate to the world that a sustainable development is possible, because every year hundred millions of people enter in contact with it. Consequently, as a major player, hospitality can reach many families and individuals through a good communication plan. Travel and tourism represents one of the most important sources of economic activity in the world, and therefore a single hotel can influence many industry stakeholders. It has already been noticed how an hotel may enter in contact with some of its primary stakeholder such us employees, clients and shareholders in the three pillars. It is also interesting to investigate more deeply the links with other primary stakeholders like suppliers and then to have a look at a secondary stakeholder like the media. Regarding the suppliers, hotels are in the right position to share the values of sustainability development and they should actually encourage them to embody this principles in their strategy. One big example is given by the Willard Intercontinental Hotel, which is actually asking its suppliers to deliver sustainable products, also forcing them to search for and add these products to their catalogues, in order to be available also to other clients. This is really important because in this industry, usually, one supplier deals with more clients and consequently the approach of a sustainable product strategy by a supplier may lead to a massive usage of these sustainable products throughout the entire hospitality sector. In fact, as highlighted by dr. Houdrà ¨, Willar Intercontinental procurement company, Avendra, represents also Fairmont Hotels, Marriott International, Hyatt Hotels Corp. and Club Corp USA. This means that, thanks to the hotel efforts (in this case the Willard Intercon tinental), if Avendra completely embraces the strategy its 3 billion dollars buying power will reflect in 3 billion dollars of sustainable products purchased, which furthermore will be sold at all their hotel clients and which will finally enter in contact with the final customers, creating in this way a real virtuous circle of sustainable awareness. How anticipated in the introduction an organization should also be conscious of its secondary stakeholders, in order to handle efficiently its position with particular focus in the external market. In the hospitality sector a key player may be identified as the media. Nowadays, in fact, they are facing a lot of interest and coverage of initiatives related to the sustainable development. All the regards shown about global warming and oil prices means that the media are seeking for stories concerning the strategies to thwart these issues. A hotel should make efforts to be acknowledged of its initiatives and values by the media representatives (both normal and web-based) and also share news of its actions in order to encourage its clients to spend their nights in it. By doing this, sustainable development becomes a unique selling point for a hotel, which enables him to gain also competitive advantages. There may be also another step, where the hotel encourages or shares the initiatives even with its competitors (for instance exactly as Willard Intercontinental did with Avendra) but, in this case it will be paramount for the hotel to be acknowledged by all the stakeholders as the early mover and pioneer in the sustainability field and to do that clear values that support the hotel vision should be provided in a mission statement: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Accountability: We are dedicated to performing our assigned tasks with excellence and to deliver outstanding results; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Education and development: We provide everyone the opportunities, knowledge, and skills to grow both personally and professionally; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Empowerment: We have the authority to take ownership, anticipate needs, and make decisions which exceed our customers expectations on first contact; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Integrity: We believe in honesty, ethical behavior, respect, and trust; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Professionalism: We are an action-oriented team of savvy experts who are passionate and quality driven; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sustainable Development: We are committed to economic viability, and social and environmental responsibility; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Working smart: We encourage innovation, proactivity, agility, and a safe work environment. Houdrà ¨, H., 2008. Sustainable Hospitality ©:Sustainable Development in the Hotel Industry.Cornell Industry Perspectives No. 2. Ã¢â‚¬ ºOnline Ã‚  P.5-20. Available at willarddc.com/sd/docs/willardwhitepaperproof.pdf  Ã¢â‚¬ ºAccessed 20 Oct 2010 Ã‚ 

Pat Barkers Regeneration Essay -- Pat Barker Regeneration Essays

Pat Barker's Regeneration In her novel Regeneration, Pat Barker uses character development to emphasize the various themes in the novel. Pat Barker includes Robert Graves, a well known poet and writer, as a secondary character in a fictional setting. We are first introduced to Robert Graves on page five, where he meets with a very good friend Siegfried Sassoon in the lounge of the Exchange Hotel. During their conversation, they express, through their actions and language, a deep love for one another. In Barker's Regeneration, the importance of love and intimate friendship between men during war develops from the relationship between Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon. As Miranda Seymour tells us, Robert Graves was born in Wimbledon, near London. He was the first born son to Amalie von Ranke Graves and Alfred Perceval Graves. He was a handsome little boy with wide gray eyes and black curly hair. He attended seven different schools throughout his life. As a child he attended Wimbledon branch of King's College, but then was removed for using inappropriate language. He then was sent to Rokeby and made his name as a quarrelsome bully. Soon there after, he attended a school near Rugby "where he learned the forceful style of English which enabled him to appeal to a lay audience even with the most obscure subjects" (Seymour). Finally, his last preparatory school was Copthrone which was located in Sussex (Seymour). In 1913 he received a scholarship to study at St. John's College, Oxford but soon after, in 1914, he enlisted as a Junior Officer in the Royal Welch Fusiliers ("Robert Graves"). As a solider in World War I, Graves became injured in the battle of Somme. During his recovery, he published his first poetic collection, ... ...et concerned for his good friend Sassoon and to be there for him. He understands what Sassoon is going through because he has been through everything that Sassoon has. This relationship offers the introduction of the theme, love between men during war, a theme not only represented in the novel but in all times of war. Works Cited Barker, Pat. Regeneration. New York: Plume, 2003. "Graves, Robert Von Ranke." Encarta Microsoft Encyclopedia Standard. 2002 ed. CD rom. Microsoft Corporation, 2002. "Biography of Robert Graves." Robert Graves Website Project. 13 April 2003. <http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~rschumak/bio_rg.htm> "Robert Graves." Academy of American Poets. 13 April 2003. <www.poets.org> Seymour, Miranda. Robert Graves: Life on the Edge. 1995. 14 Apr. 2003. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/style/longterm/books/chap1/lifeonedge.htm>. Pat Barker's Regeneration Essay -- Pat Barker Regeneration Essays Pat Barker's Regeneration In her novel Regeneration, Pat Barker uses character development to emphasize the various themes in the novel. Pat Barker includes Robert Graves, a well known poet and writer, as a secondary character in a fictional setting. We are first introduced to Robert Graves on page five, where he meets with a very good friend Siegfried Sassoon in the lounge of the Exchange Hotel. During their conversation, they express, through their actions and language, a deep love for one another. In Barker's Regeneration, the importance of love and intimate friendship between men during war develops from the relationship between Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon. As Miranda Seymour tells us, Robert Graves was born in Wimbledon, near London. He was the first born son to Amalie von Ranke Graves and Alfred Perceval Graves. He was a handsome little boy with wide gray eyes and black curly hair. He attended seven different schools throughout his life. As a child he attended Wimbledon branch of King's College, but then was removed for using inappropriate language. He then was sent to Rokeby and made his name as a quarrelsome bully. Soon there after, he attended a school near Rugby "where he learned the forceful style of English which enabled him to appeal to a lay audience even with the most obscure subjects" (Seymour). Finally, his last preparatory school was Copthrone which was located in Sussex (Seymour). In 1913 he received a scholarship to study at St. John's College, Oxford but soon after, in 1914, he enlisted as a Junior Officer in the Royal Welch Fusiliers ("Robert Graves"). As a solider in World War I, Graves became injured in the battle of Somme. During his recovery, he published his first poetic collection, ... ...et concerned for his good friend Sassoon and to be there for him. He understands what Sassoon is going through because he has been through everything that Sassoon has. This relationship offers the introduction of the theme, love between men during war, a theme not only represented in the novel but in all times of war. Works Cited Barker, Pat. Regeneration. New York: Plume, 2003. "Graves, Robert Von Ranke." Encarta Microsoft Encyclopedia Standard. 2002 ed. CD rom. Microsoft Corporation, 2002. "Biography of Robert Graves." Robert Graves Website Project. 13 April 2003. <http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~rschumak/bio_rg.htm> "Robert Graves." Academy of American Poets. 13 April 2003. <www.poets.org> Seymour, Miranda. Robert Graves: Life on the Edge. 1995. 14 Apr. 2003. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/style/longterm/books/chap1/lifeonedge.htm>.

Siobhan Somerville’s essay Passing through the Closet in Pauline E. Hop

Siobhan Somerville’s essay â€Å"Passing through the Closet in Pauline E. Hopkins’s Contending Forces† In Siobhan Somerville’s essay, â€Å"Passing through the Closet in Pauline E. Hopkins’s Contending Forces†, the tacit allusion to homosexuality within Hopkins’ story is argued to be a resource used to question the dominance or implicit strength of heterosexuality in the African-American community over Black women. While I do believe Hopkins may have intended for the novel to raise questions about the institution of marriage in relation to the African-American female, I do not believe the argument is as polarized as a difference between homosexual and heterosexual attraction in relation to politics between the sexes. Instead, I would argue that the very ambiguity of sexuality within the text serves to comment on a larger issue of what makes a woman female and the importance of intimate bonds between women in society. The most important piece of textual evidence in Somerville’s argument is the attic scene between Dora and Sappho. In this scene Sappho begs Dora to spend the morning with her after a snowstorm from the previous night makes it impossible for her to go to work. The two lock themselves away in Sappho’s attic apartment and commence to have a tea party and â€Å"play ‘company’ like the children† (Hopkins 117). In her essay, Somerville describes this as a highly sexualized scene, in which the intimacy between the two women hints at a possible homosexual attraction between the two, given the homoerotic description of their affection towards one another (Somerville 149-152). While I do believe the scene does have a certain element of homoerotic tension, I would not go so far as to polarize the scene as clearly â€Å"homosexual† as â€Å"a pot... ...al Economy' of Sex." Toward an Anthropology of Women. Ed. Rayna R. Reiter. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1975. 157-210. Hopkins, Pauline E. Contending Forces: A Romance Illustrative of Negro Life North and South. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Levi-Strauss, Claude. The Elementary Structures of Kinship. Ed. Rodney Needham. Trans. James Harls Bell and John Richard von Sturmer. Boston: Beacon Press, 1969. Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. Between Men: English Literature and Homosocial Desire. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985. Smith-Rosenberg, Carroll. â€Å"The Female World of Love and Ritual: Relations between Women in Nineteenth-Century America.† Signs, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1975). 25 Oct. 2005 . Somerville, Siobhan. â€Å"Passing through the Closet in Pauline E. Hopkins’s Contending Forces† American Literature, Vol 69, No 1, (1997). 19 Oct. 2005

Aids in the African American Community

In the mind of the public, the AIDS problem is undoubtedly linked to sexual behaviors and possibly perceived to be a result of promiscuity, nonmonogamous sexual activity, and a well-deserved problem that should affect gay and homosexual people.To a certain extent, efforts to combat AIDS in the African-American communities have also been hindered by the fact that we know very little, beyond stereotypes and myths, about the sexuality of African-Americans. These perceptions have provided much of the confusion about what we should do about HIV/AIDS, or for that matter any of the health problems that are at epidemic levels in the African American communities throughout the United States.It has also been the case that several of the important sources of leadership in the African-American communities have utilized the AIDS epidemic to develop and promote extremely conservative religious and moral agendas and punitive responses toward persons who are already considered to be unfit members of the community.For example, during the first wave of the AIDS epidemic there were several stories within the African-American communities across the United States about ministers who were preaching to their congregations about how AIDS is â€Å"God's punishment for homosexual people who sin.†While there is no way to determine the extent of this attitude among African-American ministers and preachers, approximately one-fourth of the sample (28 percent) of African-American college students was in agreement with this belief.â€Å"There is a long history in the United States of African-Americans and other minority groups being devalued and of having their behavior labeled deviant. In the case of AIDS, the victims are further socially ostracized.A prime example is the fact that Haitians were at one time considered a risk group. Because of this, many Haitians lost their jobs and experienced extreme levels of racial discrimination, not because they had AIDS, but because they were H aitians and therefore linked to AIDS† (Moore and LeBaron, 1986).So, it appears that efforts to combat HIV/AIDS have been hindered by (1) our lack of knowledge about the sexuality of African-Americans, (2) research that has not seriously examined the variability of behavior and attitudes within African-American groups, (3) community and religious leaders who view the AIDS problems as punishment from God, (4) our intolerance of gays and bisexuals within the African American community, and (5) the lack of attention directed at the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases prior to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.If one accepts these observations, then what are we to do in order to develop effective and culturally sensitive AIDS-prevention messages that will reach African-Americans, who are not monogamous, are not abstinent, and who do not use IV-drugs.One solution is to make sure that African-Americans have an adequate understanding of the factors associated with the transmission of HIV/ AIDS. Overall, the pattern of the results indicates that African Americans are very knowledgeable about AIDS, but there appears to be a gap between knowledge and risky sexual behaviors.The development of culturally sensitive AIDS-prevention programs for African-American college age adults may be facilitated by considering some of the insights gained from the study.For example, data suggest the gap between knowledge and risky sexual behavior is likely to be filled with different attitudes and beliefs for males versus females, or individuals with multiple versus non-multiple sexual partners, or individuals with or without a history of STDs, or individuals with or without HIV/AIDS. (Nikitta Foston, 2002).Information uncovered by this investigation revealed that males are less knowledgeable about several factors involved in the transmission of AIDS than females. On the other hand, individuals with multiple partners were more likely to believe that AIDS is caused by bacteria or the same virus that causes VD.Knowledge about the factors associated with the transmission of HIV/AIDS was essentially identical for subjects who practiced unprotected anal intercourse and those subjects who did not. Individuals with HIV/AIDS correctly answered only 55 percent of the questions concerning the transmission of AIDS while those not exposed correctly answered 85 percent of the AIDS knowledge questions.These data suggest that educational information and self-assessment instruments may need to be created for and targeted at specific African-American groups rather than rely on a wide-scale mass media campaign to reach all individuals. One way to accomplish this aim may be to create materials that enable African-Americans to actively question and evaluate their own risk.Perhaps one of the problems that has to be overcome in order to implement such a plan is to identify the explicitness needed in the HIV/AIDS prevention messages for African-Americans who are not monogamous and engagin g in risky sexual behaviors (e.g., anal intercourse).The possible means of how to minimize the gap between knowledge and risky behaviors could go on and on, but the one way that is likely to result in a more favorable outcome is to simply ask the people involved to provide solutions. Seldom have we taken this position around a major public health problem, but what can we lose by asking African-Americans to generate solutions to problems that are the focus of so much human suffering.One of the barriers to effective HIV/AIDS education programs in African-American communities is the fact that the people and organizations have not been encouraged to believe that HIV/AIDS prevention would be more effective when planned, executed, and propagated by members of their own community.In other words, African-American community members are not involved in the empowerment process which stresses both individual determinations over one's own life and strong democratic participation in the life of o ne's community. The notion of empowerment presupposes that African-American community members have the competency to intervene on their own behalf but lack the necessary resources.

Anthropological Examination of ‘The Hunger Games’ Essay

Introduction In the movie ‘The Hunger Games’ a female and a male is chosen from twelve districts to compete in a game called Hunger Game. They must fight for their life and survive outdoors in order to go home. There is only one winner out of the 12 districts, out of 24 people, only one goes home. Anthropology, one of the three social sciences is the study of development of the human species and human cultures throughout the world, also the ways of living of a group of people, traditions and conventions. The hunger games provide three aspects from the anthropological perspective; functional theory, cultural materialism and feminist anthropology. The movie hunger games has a strong anthropological view. Functional theory Functional theory, one of the school of thoughts in anthropology, is a theory that believes every belief, action and/or relationship has a purpose to meet the needs of an individual or society. In the movie, the purpose of this game is simply for the enjoyment and entertainment for The Capitol. The twelve males and twelve females from each district are to be cleaned and to be put in their best clothes at the reaping. When the male and female are picked from each district they are taken to the capitol to be cleaned thoroughly, put them in costumes and make them presentable at the opening ceremony. An action was taken in the game by Seneca Crane, the head game maker, and the rule of the game was changed, he allowed the game to have two winners, because of this he was executed, the action of changing the rules of the game was taken for society. Cultural materialism Cultural materialism is the theory of materials or conditions within the environment that influence development, a school of thought in anthropology. The biggest cultural materialism in The Hunger Games was their clothing. In district twelve, the people wear clothing that are alike in the  reaping. The females wear dresses or blouse and skirt that are alike, they are faded white, pink and/or grey, the designs are also the same. The males in district twelve wear shirts and dress pants, faded grey or white. On the other hand, the people living in The Capitol is dressed very high fashion, and colourful, they also have a lot of makeup on. The cultural materialism difference between the both classes is the lower class, from the districts, wear non-colourful faded clothes and people of the high class, from The Capitol, wear colourful unique clothing. Feminist anthropology Feminist anthropology, a school of thought in anthropology, is the study of gender roles and how male are dominate. In the movie, males and females are picked to compete in the hunger games, although there’s a bias perspective that a female would not make it so far, nor win. The instructor and counsellor of district 12 told Katniss that she wouldn’t make it far, because she is a female but mainly because of her attitude. To every one’s surprise, Katniss and Peeta win at the end. Conclusion The movie ‘The Hunger Games’ has a strong anthropological view. The three schools of thought, functional theory, cultural materialism, and feminist anthropology, each have a strong view in the movie the hunger games. It shows why they changed certain things in the game, their culture and why they do the hunger games annually. It shows the cultural difference between the high class and low class. Lastly the bias perspective between female and male.