Hope for the Axolotl On the Amphibian Extinction Crisis

Hope for the Axolotl On the Amphibian Extinction Crisis Today is the fifth annual Save The Frogs Day, a day to spread awareness about the amphibian extinction crisis. When I was in high school I used to spend this day at my little brothers elementary school with my pet frogs and a powerpoint presentation. This year Im sharing with you an essay I wrote two years ago. Some research has happened since then, and I encourage you to Google and PubMed for updates (and please post what you found in the comments for the rest of us to see). I hope you enjoy and I hope you learn something new. One of the strangest, most opportune gifts Ive gotten was a small plastic aquarium, from one of my best friends, on my sixth birthday. Misha had scrawled his name on the card, but you could tell it was one of those disappointing educational gifts that was actually picked out by the parents. I found it almost a year later in my closet, full of beads and wrapped in a pink feather boa. In a bout of the haphazard enthusiasm characteristic of that age, I dumped the beads on the floor and filled the aquarium with tap water and a bag of bright blue aquarium sand I found under the sink. That evening my parents bought me two aquatic frogs (both male). The bulk of my childhood was defined by those frogs. I spent hours every week watching them eat and swim in the mornings before my parents woke up. After my little brother was born we curled up next to their aquarium and watched them together, and when they died seven years later I had trouble falling asleep without their singing. The Axolotl Since then Ive branched out, extending my love for frogs to amphibians in general. My favorite amphibian today is the axolotl, because it eschews the very first characteristic were taught to associate with the class. Most amphibians are born in the water, metamorphose into their adult forms, and crawl out onto the land, not to return to their home ponds, streams, or lakes until theyre ready to lay their own eggs. The axolotl, on the other hand, never leaves its aquatic birthplace. In fact, it forgoes metamorphosis altogether, retaining its larval characteristics even as it reaches sexual maturity. Consequently the axolotl possesses for life not only its characteristic feathery external gills, but also unique regenerative powers. In humans and most other species, cells are trapped in their final forms after they differentiate. But because the axolotl does not metamorphose, its cells are capable of reverting to a state similar to stem cells, prefatory cells that can develop into anything. Rather than plaster wounds with scar tissue like we do, the axolotl rebuilds injured tissue. The result is like new. Amazingly, these abilities extend well beyond the level of tissues: the axolotl is capable of regenerating entire limbs, even when they include parts of the spinal cord and the neurons inside it, and even parts of the brain. Since the 1960s, the axolotl has been studied in hopes of understanding its regenerative powers and applying them to other organismsâ€"perhaps even humans. The axolotl is, in essence, the closest thing in nature to a fountain of youth. Unfortunately, the days of the axolotl and any secrets it hides are numbered. Of the two Mexico City lakes the wild axolotl once persisted in, one, Lake Chalco, has been drained to subdue flooding, destroying the axolotls and other animals within it. The other, Lake Xochimilco, has been reduced to a heavily polluted system of canals and small lakes fed by water treatment plants. Axolotls exist in six isolated areas of the former Lake Xochimilco, mostly clumped around the few remaining natural springs. When the Aztecs began building Mexico City, Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco were a system of five large groundwater-fed lakes. The axolotl was prevalent in Aztec culture, ubiquitous in food, in cultural ceremonies, and in medicine. Today, Mexico is home to 375 identified amphibian species, making it the country with the fifth greatest amphibian diversity. At the same time, Mexico City is home to 18 million people, making it the third largest metropolitan area in the world. In the past two decades, the wild population of the axolotl has fallen sixtyfold. Today there are estimated to be between 700 and 1,200 axolotls in the wild. The primary threat to axolotls is habitat loss and the degradation of what little habitat remains. Pollution from Mexico City corrupts water quality, and UV-B radiation, caused by the degradation of the ozone layer, weakens young axolotls, making them more susceptible to predators and to disease. In addition, at least ten species of nonnative fish have been introduced into Lake Xochimilco. These invasive species have substantial niche overlap with the axolotls to compete with them for food and to eat their eggs and young. Human exploitation for food and medicine, meanwhile, is no longer a concern, as axolotls are scarce enough to be a rare catch for fishermen. The Amphibian The threat of imminent extinction looms over other amphibian species as well. Three summers ago, biologists from the University of the Andes in Colombia used a combination of genetics and almost a decade of field work to discover 11 new amphibian species in Panama, only to find that five were extinct by the time they were identified. In the past decade, 40% of amphibian species at the El Cope national park in Panama have disappeared. At 300 million years old, amphibians are the oldest four-legged vertebrates on Earth. Since the 1970s, however, they have been in decline. Today, according to the International Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, an inventory of all known species conservation statuses, 2.1% of known amphibian species are extinct, 32.5% are threatened with extinction, and 43% are declining. Threats to amphibians mirror those to the axolotl. Like the axolotl, other amphibians also suffer from habitat loss, pollution, exploitation by humans, and competition from invasive species. In addition, over 2800 amphibian species are threatened by the chytrid fungus, a deadly pathogen that kills up to 80% of amphibians within a year of being introduced and is spreading at a rate of 28 to 100 kilometers a year. Even the fungus can be traced to human influence. Many researchers believe that a warmer climate favors the propagation of chytrid, and that the current outbreaks are due to warmer temperatures, though this is controversial. Less debated is that recent changes in amphibian habitat, from climate change to urbanization, cause enough stress to compromise the amphibian immune system, making it more vulnerable to chytrid. Worse, disease transmission increases with diversity loss. As amphibian diversity vanishes, susceptibility to chytrid will only increase. One trait that makes amphibians particularly valuable to us is their skin. Amphibians depend on their skin for everything from breathing to hydration to self-defense. Their thin, permeable skin gives them an especially intimate connection with the world around them, which includes the water they are born in, the land they live on, and the air they breathe. Because amphibians are especially sensitive to toxins and other harmful changes in the environment, they are often considered indicators of their habitats health. When trouble strikes, amphibians are often the first to go. And, indeed, trouble has struck. According to the IUCN Red List, almost 20% of vertebrate species are currently classified as threatened by extinction. Some, including nature writer David Quammen, worry that if present trends continue, the Earth will fall into a mass extinction comparable to those in Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous periods, characterized by a loss of over 75% of species. This was confirmed by a study published in Nature in 2011. Recent patternsâ€"multiple, atypical high-intensity ecological stressors, including rapid, unusual climate change and highly elevated atmospheric CO2â€"mirror those of past mass extinctions, say the authors of the study. Certain Doom? When I was in middle and high school, my parents and I used to canoe to the most sordid section of the muddiest marsh we could find. We put the stickiest seaweed in a Tupperware container where it lived, undisturbed, on my bedside table. Slowly, critters hatched out from the murk. All variety of creatures crawled out of the stagnant mess to explore. Usually the mosquitoes dominated the ecosystem. Tiny dots darted through the leaves and each other, growing into frenzied black clouds until finally the Tupperware was a thick fog of mosquito. Suddenly, after weeks, it stopped. The water dirtied and all lifeâ€"the jumpers and the swimmers and the crawlers and, finally, the champion mosquitoesâ€"vanished. Luckily for the axolotl, the probability of its extinction in present circumstances is low. A 2007 study by the National Autonomous University of Mexico determined that the population, while small, is stable. Furthermore, the 2011 Nature study warning of a sixth mass extinction concluded that the current loss of world biodiversity does not yet amount to one. However, the same study that concluded that axolotls are safe also noted that their population consists primarily of one-year-oldsâ€"though axolotls can live up to 17 years in captivityâ€"because pressure from predators and insufficient habitat kill most axolotls at a young age. The study concludes that a small reduction in egg and larvae survival rate increases the calculated probability of extinction within the next 20 to 50 years to 100%. The same goes for the rest of the world. According to the 2011 Nature study, the extinction of those species currently marked as critically endangered would be enough to pull us irretrievably into a sixth mass extinction. After the species currently marked as endangered and vulnerable go extinct, the loss of biodiversity corresponding to a mass extinction will take only several centuries, orders of magnitude faster than the typical two million years. Our world would soon be unrecognizable. Possible Solutions According to the 2007 study by the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the best options for saving the axolotl are to restore their habitat to a state more conducive to the survival of eggs and young. This includes improving the quality of water, extricating foreign fish, and re-establishing Lake Xochimilco as more than a series of canals. Current efforts revolve around building axolotl sanctuaries in Lake Xochimilco, in which the axolotl are separated from the invasive fish by wooden gates. Another option, reintroduction (freeing lab-raised axolotl populations into the wild), has been considered but rejected, for fear of spreading chytrid fungus to and reducing the genetic diversity of the wild population. The possibility of introducing healthy captive populations into the wild has similarly been considered for saving other amphibian populations, but cautiously. In one case, the reintroduction of the Majorcan midwife toad introduced chytrid to the island of Majorca, infecting the reintroduced toads as well as other amphibians on the island. Another option is to fight fungus with bacteria. Some amphibians naturally have symbiotic bacteria on their skin that produces antifungal agent, protecting them from chytrid. Culturing bacteria from healthy wild populations in the lab and then inoculating as yet untouched populations can boost their immunity. This was attempted in 2008, when scientists captured all the tadpoles from a pond in Majorca, treated them with medication for chytrid, and, after draining the pond with a bucket and leaving the basin to dry in hopes of eradicating the fungus, reintroduced the tadpoles in hopes that they would survive to repopulate the region. This method lowered the level of infection, but it did not eradicate the fungus. Lowering the level of infection may, however, be enough. A 2010 collaboration between the Oregon State University and the University of Colorado-Boulder concluded that the chytrid fungus requires a threshold of 10,000 zoospores per frog to initiate the collapse of an entire population. Since eliminating chytrid altogether does not seem realistic, reducing the amount of chytrid, perhaps by capturing frogs before the infection hits and treating them with antifungal agent, may be the best option. One method of achieving the effect on a larger scale, proposed in a 2011 study published in Nature, is to introduce these bacteria to soil in amphibian habitats. Another option, proposed by a 2011 study published in Science, focuses on keeping species alive in captivity in zoos and aquariums around the world. Though the axolotl is threatened with extinction in the wild, for example, there are currently over 1000 axolotls in captivity at the University of Kentuckys Ambystoma Genetic Stock Center, which sends 15-20,000 axolotl embryos per year to labs worldwide. Captive populations could allow us to treat current problems before they lead to extinction, or to maintain the option of reintroducing the animals if their native habitat is restored. Unfortunately, note the authors of the 2011 Science paper, only 3% of threatened amphibian species are represented in zoos. Overall, only 37% of threatened species and 18% of near-threatened species are represented in zoos. This is commendable, but not enough. Biodiversity in Policy The above solutions are regional and short-term. Solutions to the greater, directly human-caused problems of habitat destruction and global climate change must happen on a much broader scale. Cutting down our contributions to habitat destruction and climate change is the most difficult and most important thing we can do to preserve the world as we know it. In 2002, at the first meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity, world leaders committed to significantly cut down extinction by 2010. 2010, in a similar manner, was declared the International Year of Biodiversity. A 2010 analysis of data in the IUCN Red List and recent progress in conservation, published in Science, estimates that without our efforts to mitigate our effects on the environment, twice as many species would now be threatened with extinction. But this is not enough. We fell radically short of our goal of reducing extinction rates by 2010: the rate of biodiversity loss has not slowed, according to a 2010 report on progress toward the Conventions goals, also published in Science. The 2010 analysis of the IUCN Red List insists that the only way to cut down biodiversity loss is to completely turn our act around: hope lies in reversing detrimental policies, fully integrating biodiversity into broad-scale land-use planning, incorporating its economic value adequately into decision making, and sufficiently targeting, funding and implementing policies that tackle biodiversity loss, among other measures. The Convention on Biological Diversity met again in 2010. The measures taken were not nearly as drastic as science has deemed necessary. Every year, according to the first 2010 analysis, an average of 52 vertebrate species move one Red List category closer to extinctionâ€"from vulnerable to endangered, from endangered to critically endangered, and, finally, from critically endangered to extinct. If we are to have any hope of preserving the world as we know it, we cannot afford another decade of falling short.

How to Distinguish a Strong Argument from Weak

How to Distinguish a Strong Argument from Weak How to differentiate a strong argument from weak argument can be confusing if you do not know the criteria that is used for it. The differentiation is very similar to what is obtainable in the soundness for a deductive argument. A strong argument that has true proof or premises is considered cogent. When an essay writing is said to be cogent, it means that the argument is very good and believable with strong evidence to back up the conclusion. A weak argument is not cogent because is not true and has premises that is false. Inductive vs Deductive When it comes to deductive reasoning, the essay writer may want to give information or premises that will be able to proven in conclusion. However, inductive reasoning or logic is totally based on conclusion that is taken generally from behavior in some cases. Deductive reasoning can be invalid or valid. For those who are making use of inductive reasoning, it can be wrong even if the premises that was used is correct. Arguments If you are taking arguments based on deductive logic and reasoning, they can either be invalid or valid. When it comes to invalid arguments, you should know that they are unsound or weak. Valid arguments are known to be very sound when the premises is true. Arguments based on inductive reasoning can either be weak or strong. The weak argument is not convent but strong arguments are strong if only the premises is true. Essay hacks will help you understand what a strong argument is and what you need to make a weak argument strong. An argument can be defined as a type of communication that is able or tries to convince or persuade a person or an audience to accept a topic. Argument have three parts; Claim- this talks about the position that has to be argued. Reason- this explains logically why the claim should be valid. Evidence- the evidence comes with expert testimony, statistics, examples and lots more. Strong argument A strong argument is solely based upon reasons, facts and figures that can be proven without reasonable doubts. Weak argument A series of facts that are based on personal beliefs that may not true if investigated deeply.

Themes, Motifs Symbols in Romeo and Juliet - 2510 Words

Themes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. The Forcefulness of Love Romeo and Juliet is the most famous love story in the English literary tradition. Love is naturally the plays dominant and most important theme. The play focuses on romantic love, specifically the intense passion that springs up at first sight between Romeo and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet, love is a violent, ecstatic, overpowering force that supersedes all other values, loyalties, and emotions. In the course of the play, the young lovers are driven to defy their entire social world: families (Deny thy father and refuse thy name, Juliet asks, Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, / And Ill no longer be a Capulet);†¦show more content†¦In the play, love emerges as an amoral thing, leading as much to destruction as to happiness. But in its extreme passion, the love that Romeo and Juliet experience also appears so exquisitely beautiful that few would want, or be able, to resist its power. The Individual Versus Society Much of Romeo and Juliet involves the lovers struggles against public and social institutions that either explicitly or implicitly oppose the existence of their love. Such structures range from the concrete to the abstract: families and the placement of familial power in the father; law and the desire for public order; religion; and the social importance placed on masculine honor. These institutions often come into conflict with each other. The importance of honor, for example, time and again results in brawls that disturb the public peace. Though they do not always work in concert, each of these societal institutions in some way present obstacles for Romeo and Juliet. The enmity between their families, coupled with the emphasis placed on loyalty and honor to kin, combine to create a profound conflict for Romeo and Juliet, who must rebel against their heritages. Further, the patriarchal power structure inherent in Renaissance families, wherein the father controls the action of all other family members, particularly women, places Juliet in an extremely vulnerable position. HerShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet791 Words   |  4 Pages1. Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare a. Plot: Starting in the city streets of Verona, two servants of the opposing houses fight. Though Benvolio (a Montague) tries to stop this, Tybalt (a Capulet) arrives and violence ensues. The Prince sees this and calls, â€Å"Hey, do this again and capital punishment will be involved.† Romeo, the emo son, of Lord Montague whines extraordinarily about his â€Å"love† (lust) for Rosaline. She is chaste and he wants her. Benvolio tells him, â€Å"Your crazy dude; its justRead MoreWilliam Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Essay1399 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet According to the dictionary, fate is the â€Å"inevitable destiny or necessity destined term of life; doom.† This means that fate can be described as a pre-planned sequence of events influencing ones life. Romeo and Juliet would have been performed to an Elizabethan audience who believed very strongly in â€Å"fate† and â€Å"fortune†. Fate was destined to happen and no one could alter it. Throughout the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare constantlyRead MoreFigurative Language in Romeo and Juliet1470 Words   |  6 Pagesfigurative language. These methods of literary enrichment served as wondrous devices utilized to a great extent by the acclaimed playwright and tragedian, William Shakespeare. Of every masterpiece presented by this praised artist, the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet remains unsurpassed in skill and prolific utilization of figurative language, including numerous direct comparisons such as metaphors and similes, puns, and personification as well. Initially, similes and metaphors subsist throughout Shakespeare’sRead MoreRomeo and Juliet Revision2431 Words   |  10 Pagesvisions and premonitions play in Romeo and Juliet? In Romeo and Juliet, dreams, visions and premonitions play a very important role. They foreshadow the eventual tragedy, tell us about a character’s view over a particular matter, and reflect underlying messages in the play. They are symbols, telling us about the various themes in the play as well. An example of a dream foreshadowing the eventual tragic ending of the play is found in Act 1 Scene 4, in which Romeo says that he â€Å"dreamt a dream tonight†Read MoreLove and Sacrifice in Literature2318 Words   |  10 PagesThe concepts of love and sacrifice are closely related and feature consistently throughout literature. To study the relationship between these ideas in more depth I have selected a range of texts over an extensive time period, these include Romeo and Juliet by Sir William Shakespeare, Titanic by James Cameron, Saint Joan by Bernard Shaw and Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. The different eras that these texts explore will be instrumental in establishing the type of connection the two conceptsRead MoreTechniques1400 Words   |  6 Pagesfeatures which help define forms of texts and meaning (see genre). We recognise a genre (type of text) through its conventions eg. Conventions of a Western include such stock characters as hero (white hat), villa in (black hat), school marm, bar girl, themes such as tension between the settled life of the town and the freedom of the frontier which resolves as hero rides into the sunset with his best pal, his horse. FIGURE OF SPEECH (or figurative language) is another term used for imagery and generallyRead MoreNegative Effects of Technology in Brave New World2663 Words   |  11 Pagesfor granted. Huxley has established the negative aspects of the use of technology in this world with the general theme of the novel being difficult for the reader to empathise with. Several contrasts have been provided to compare better themes with the worse which show the obvious difference between good and bad to the reader. There are allusions to sources as well as specific symbols and characters which have been portrayed with meaning. The clever use of these devices assists in developing a negativeRead MoreWomens Role in Shakespearean Tragedy1742 Words   |  7 Pageslives, and his bitterness leads him to believe that all women are untrustworthy. He becomes cynical about women in general, showing a particular obsession with what he perceives to be a connection between female sexuality and moral corruption. This motif of miso gyny, or hatred of women, occurs sporadically throughout the play, but it is an important factor in Hamlets relationships with Ophelia and Gertrude. In spite of fact that both woman are being given unique personalities which influenceRead More The Role of Women in Shakespeares Tragedies Essay1700 Words   |  7 Pageslives, and his bitterness leads him to believe that all women are untrustworthy. He becomes cynical about women in general, showing a particular obsession with what he perceives to be a connection between female sexuality and moral corruption. This motif of misogyny, or hatred of women, occurs sporadically throughout the play, but it is an important factor in Hamlet’s relationships with Ophelia and Gertrude. In spite of fact that both woman are being given unique personalities which influence theRead MoreA Tale of Two Cities Archetype List3226 Words   |  13 Pagestake care of yourselves and your children. One or the other of you is forever in the way. How do I know what injury you have done to my horses? (Dickens, 109). When he runs over the child on the streets, he has no guilt towards it at all. Setting/Symbols/Characters Fog: Fog is shown in the beginning of the story in the setting. â€Å"There was a streaming mist in all the hollows and it roamed in its forlornness up the hill, like an evil spirit, seeking and finding none†¦ it was dense enough to shut everything

Ethics Essay - 762 Words

6.1 Suicide By Cop A 19 year old college student and addicted gambler was pulled over for erratic driving on the Long Island Expressway. He pulled out a toy pistol and pointed it at the officer, he was then shot and killed. Another incident involving a 45 year old cancer patient had the same ending in new Jersey. He walked into a Pizza Shop and pointed a gun at the officers inside eating. Experts believe that they force the cops to kill them as a form of suicide. Suicide is difficult to commit and forcing an officer to kill you takes away the pressure of completing the task. Some insurance companies don’t cover suicide and religions forbid it so it is away of taking the guilt and shame away from common suicide. 10% of fatal police†¦show more content†¦Practical imperative states that a person should treat humanity as an end and not as a mean. When you apply this to suicide by cop it is never right to go point a gun at someone in order for them to kill you. The officer does apply those situations universally to everyone though. You are met with the same type of force that you bring. Their first priority is protecting themselves. Utilitarianism John Mill’s theory of utility expanded from the viewpoint of motivations of pleasure and pain. The goodness of an act is determined by the consequences of the act and how much happiness is promoted. Using this theory the victim is still not morally correct with their choice of suicide by cop though the pleasure of death may outweigh the pain of life. They don’t promote any happiness by getting themselves killed. Their loved ones all get hurt. From the officers eyes they have an armed person pointing a gun at them and they don’t have the time to weigh the pros and cons they can only react. They aren’t going to be happy about killing someone they still wouldn’t be happy if they did stop and think and ended up shot themselves. Suicide is a selfish act and even more selfish when you force someone else to do your dirty work. No one wants to take a life but most people don’t want to lose theirs either. I do not believe that officers should be morally obligated to assess weather a person is violate or just wants to die. It is tooShow MoreRelatedEthics And Ethics : Ethics922 Words   |  4 Pagesand friend group to be altered. One change I was not anticipating making was my approach to ethics. Over the course of the past fifteen weeks, my knowledge of ethics as well as my approach to ethics has changed. I have become more knowledgeable about the different approaches to ethics and have gained insight as to where I stand in my approach to ethics. One thing that has changed in my approach to ethics since the beginning of the semester is I am now adamant that it is impossible to arrive at aRead MoreEthics : Ethics And Ethics Essay1578 Words   |  7 Pages†¢ Define ethics. 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There are some scenarios however, when the correct decision based on a system of ethics that values doing the right thing is not the decision that leaves behind the least negative impact on the organization. An organization must decide if it will follow the system of ethics that

Bill Gates - 1350 Words

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III, KBE, (born October 28, 1955), commonly known as Bill Gates, is the co-founder and current Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft. According to Forbes magazine in 2004, Gates is the wealthiest person in the world, a position he has held steadily for many years. Biography Bill Gates was born in Seattle, Washington to William H. Gates, Sr., a corporate lawyer, and Mary Maxwell Gates, board member of First Interstate Bank, Pacific Northwest Bell and the national board of United Way. Gates attended Lakeside School, Seattles most exclusive prep school, where he was able to develop his programming skills on the schools minicomputer. He later on went to study at Harvard†¦show more content†¦On May 16, 1991 Gates announced to Microsoft employees that the OS/2 partnership was over and Microsoft would henceforth focus its platform efforts on Windows and the NT kernel. In the ensuing years OS/2 fell to the side and Windows became the favored PC platform. Some years later, Microsofts Internet Explorer web browser displaced Netscapes Navigator, in a turn of events that many attributed to Microsofts inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows at no extra charge. An opposing view is that the inclusion in Windows was less important in Internet Explorers adoption than Microsofts improvement of the browsers features to a level comparable with Navigator. As the architect of Microsofts product strategy, Gates has aggressively broadened the companys range of products and, once it has obtained a leading position in a category, has vigorously defended that position. His and other Microsoft executives strategic decisions have more than once drawn the concern of competition regulators, and in some cases have been ruled illegal. In 2000, Gates promoted long-time friend and Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer to the role of Chief Executive Officer and took on the role of Chief Software Architect. Bill Melinda Gates Foundation With his wife, Gates founded the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation, a charitable organization. Critics have called this a response to negative publicShow MoreRelatedBill Gates1393 Words   |  6 PagesBill Gates and His Computer Empire Just past 9 PM on October 28, 1955, the man who would revolutionize the computer industry as we know it, was born. The son of Bill Jr. and Mary Gates was named William Henry Gates III. The computer super-genius was soon to take his place in history. Within the last fifteen years the company that he and Paul Allan started, Microsoft, has become the largest software corporation in the computer industry. What is Bill Gates background, and how did he preserve hisRead MoreBill Gates998 Words   |  4 PagesBill Gates When one thinks of computer software, one must think of Microsoft. In fact if you use a computer, chances are that you will have some type of program on there that is developed by Microsoft. The CEO, chairman, cofounder, and owner of 147 billion shares of Microsoft is Bill Gates. William Henry Gates III was born in the midst of a scenic Seattle on Thursday, October 28, 1995 to his parents Mary and William Henry Gates Jr. His childhood was uneventful and was well raised. He wentRead MoreBill Gates : A Leader1284 Words   |  6 PagesLeadership Identify a leader and justify why you selected that particular leader Bill Gates Not everyone is a leader or even want the attention or time it takes to be a leader. Leaders must be available for everyone that means sharing who they are with the world. This leader took his business and made a name for himself. 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ATrey,@ as he was called because of the III, was sent to a private school by his father, a lawyer, and mother, a former teacher now on several prestigous boards (Moritz, 238). At age 13, Bill had completely taught himself programming after taking a computer studies class. After scoring a perfect 800 on the mathematics half of the SAT, he graduatedRead More Bill Gates Essay627 Words   |  3 Pages Bill Gates William H. Gates Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Microsoft Corporation William (Bill) H. Gates is chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft Corporation, the leading provider, worldwide, of software for the personal computer. and employs more than 20,000 people in 48 countries. Born on October 28, 1955, Gates and his two sisters grew up in Seattle. Their father, William H. Gates II, is a Seattle attorney. Their late mother, Mary Gates, was a schoolteacher, University of WashingtonRead MoreThe Legacy Of Bill Gates1304 Words   |  6 PagesHistory of Bill Gates Bill Gates made a lot of changes to the way the world operates through technology and made life at lot easier for other people around the world. Bill Gates (also known as William Henry III or Trey) is an American entrepreneur, business mogul, investor, philanthropist, and one of the most richest and influential people in the world. He was also known as the best businessman in the 20th century. In his years as a child, he had the attitude for math and science as well as showingRead MoreBill Gates Biography1171 Words   |  5 PagesBill Gates was born  October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington. He is famous for building through technological innovation, great business strategies and aggressive business tactics, the worlds largest software business, Microsoft. He is also well known for becoming the wealthiest person in the world in the process of building his company. Gates came from an upper middle-class family. His  family atmosphere was warm and close, and he and his two sisters were always encouraged to be competitive andRead MoreBill Gates : An Accomplishment1243 Words   |  5 Pagesdollars. Bill Gates became one of the most wealthy, successful men in the world through his determination, his outstanding ideas, and being an consistent entrepreneur. He developed those qualities from his childhood and background, his present projects, and future plans he has with his fortune. Bill Gates has become co-founder of microsoft and has built the largest privately owned foundation in the world. Not many people in this world can say that they have accomplished what Bill Gates has in 60Read MoreBill Gates Essay1325 Words   |  6 PagesBill Gates We read books for a number of reasons but usually because we want to or we have to. When you pick up a book it falls into one of three types, dependent on whether it is a want to or a have to type of book. First theres the kind of book you pick up and like the look of but then the first chapter is so bad that you have to put it down because you are either too confused by the plot or you discover it has been written in some obscure untranslatable language. The second type is where

Analysis Of The Book Monster - 1063 Words

Straight Outta South Central Why is gang affiliation such an alluring, appealing lifestyle? Admittedly, the appeal is conceivable. Watching Boyz in the Hood or listening to hip-hip may cause some to think, â€Å"I can live that life,† but thought does not turn into action while others never formulate such a thought. This raises the question, why does Monster Kody Scott, consider devout gang membership as a sole objective despite constant contingencies of incarceration and demise? To answer this question, this paper will take the social disorganization position in its review of Monster: An Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member. In addition, this paper will use examples to show that social disorganization explains the behavior portrayed the book.†¦show more content†¦Any reference to the ‘hood’ has negative connotations attached to its meaning. Modern reference to an area as the ‘hood,’ is analogous to the preceding term gangland. According to Thrasher, ganglands symbolize spatial and social interstitial areas. These interstitial areas consist of underlying conditions of social disorganization characterized by poverty, deteriorating neighborhoods, and the absence of both formal and informal social control mechanisms. As a result, interstitial areas cultivate interstitial groups, or gangs, that develop as an expression of the region’s socially disorganized state (Thrasher 1927/2000). In short, these regions are poverty-stricken, politically powerless, and socially marginalized. Politically Socially Oppressed There is a positive correlation between poverty and crime. In addition, crime does not need an economic motivate to reflect this positive correlation. Sanyika Shakur validates this notion when he reveals that, â€Å"we all were, children. Children gone wild in a concrete jungle of poverty and rage† (1993, p. 129). Shakur also postulates what members of gangs stand to gain from their devout affiliation when he contends that â€Å"gangs supply wayward youth with an idea of collective being and responsibility† (p. 375). However, it was common, rather, expected, that incarceration was the result of this inadequate socialShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Book The Monster 1482 Words   |  6 PagesES 124 Book Project Question (60 points) Ms. Nguyen Winter 2017 Your answers should be typed, using MLA format A. Knowledge 1. Write the title of your book and the author’s name 2. List the characters and describe them a. Captain Robert Walton: As a failing writer, he sets out on a voyage to the North Pole in hopes of the fame in new scientific discoveries. He rescues the main character, Victor Frankenstein, and record the story as told by Frankenstein. b. Victor Frankenstein: Frankenstein narratesRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Monster 2210 Words   |  9 Pagesteenage boy who is in denial and happens to be living a pretty normal life. His life was fine until a monster suddenly showed up at his house in the middle of the night. The monster ends up telling Conor stories; stories that have hidden lessons. The monster beats and destroys a room filled with valuables in his grandmother’s house and caused even more destruction to Conor’s life. Conor is mad at the monster for not helping him with his problems - which seem to be on the outside. Little does he know, theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Monster 1918 Words   |  8 PagesMonster by Sanyika Shakur yields a firsthand insight on gang warfare, prison, and redemption. â€Å"There are no gang experts except participants (xiii)† says Kody Scott aka. Monster. Monster vicariously explains the roots of the epidemic of South Central Los Angeles between the Crips and the Bloods that the world eventually witnessed on April 29, 1992. As readers we learn to not necessarily give gangs grace but do achieve a better understanding of their disposition to their distinct perception in lifeRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book A Monster Calls 2218 Words   |  9 Pages Summary In the book â€Å"A Monster Calls† by Patrick Ness, Conor is a teenage boy who is in denial and happens to be living a pretty normal life. His life was fine until a monster suddenly showed up at his house in the middle of the night. The monster ends up telling Conor stories; stories that have hidden lessons. The monster beats and destroys a room filled with valuables in his grandmother’s house and caused even more destruction to Conor’s life. Conor is mad at the monster for not helping himRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Monster By Walter Myers2771 Words   |  12 Pagesssy Martinez Monster by Walter Dean Myers â€Å"The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help† (Myers 1). 1. This is the opening line of the book and the journal of Steve Harmon, who is also the main character and is on trial for felony murder. Steve Harmon is stating why it is better to cry at night. 2. What Steve is explaining that it is always better to cry at night when there are other activities happening and it is dark, becauseRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Dreams From The Monster Factory 1512 Words   |  7 Pagescriminals were made this way and don’t have the ability to change. The memoir, Dreams from the Monster Factory, written by Sunny Schwartz and David Boodell, talks about the life inside a prison and jail and how Sunny’s RSVP program gives prisoners the ability to change their life around. Dreams from the Monster Factory was Sunny’s experience about what she saw working behind bars. She directed her book towards the public and other jails around her to try to bring awareness about how the RSVP programRead MoreWhy Does Frankenstein Begin and End with Waltons Letters?1188 Words   |  5 Pages Victor Frankenstein is a scientist whose ambition will be fatal. His story is central to Mary Shelley s Frankenstein. Nevertheless, Shelley gave a frame to Victor s tale as Frankenstein begins and ends with Captain Walton s letters. In this analysis, I will show that Shelley did not insert the letters by chance, but that they add a deeper dimension to the novel. Walton s letters play an important role for the reader may find many foreshadowed themes. As the novel progresses, the readerRead MoreFrankenstein, By Mary Shelley1664 Words   |  7 Pagessociety due to humankind’s fear of its appearance. The monster is enraged, and seeks to take revenge on its creator, Victor Frankenstein, and does this through the killing of his little brother, best friend, and wife. The monster then heads to the North Pole to seek refuge, where Frankenstein then seeks out the monster to end the life of his creation once and for all. Instead, Victor is fatally wounded by the monster, and the story ends with the monster accusing mankind for its lack of compassion beforeRead MoreSummary. This Research Task Sheds Some Light Into How A1490 Words   |  6 Pagesorganisation but it also helps the community. Nando’s is involved in many CSR projects such as the PINK campaign; the Peretti foundation; Goodbye Malaria Project and the one that will be further discussed, the Broken Monsters Charity Art Exhibition or also known as the Art Project. A SWOT analysis of the project will show the projects strongest points and its weakest points then the sustainability of the project. â€Æ' BRAINSTORMING ABOUT SOCIAL ISSUES â€Æ' â€Æ' Unemployment â€Å"Total number of able men andRead MoreAnalysis Of Mary Shelley s Frankenstein1411 Words   |  6 Pagesof the celebrated authors around her time period. She did this by empowering her main character, Victor Frankenstein, with the enlightenment values of individualism and self exploration; only in a very pessimistic and gloomy way. Through careful analysis of quotes from Mary Shelley s frankenstein from a psychoanalytic view we can reveal some of mary Shelley s true motives in how she designed her characters. Psychology is all about finding motives. It’s all about finding out why people think the

Blue Cross Free Essays

When several Blue Cross Blue Shield programs in upstate New York merged, each organization brought its own business processes and IT systems to the new entity. Because they were so different, yet had to be consolidated, the new entity, Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield, wanted to first implement a strong business analysis process to clearly identify company functions and processes. They wanted to be able to inventory and visualize their current state architecture in support of system modernization and SOA efforts. We will write a custom essay sample on Blue Cross or any similar topic only for you Order Now Problem Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield is part of a $4 billion family of companies that finances and delivers health care services across upstate New York, including the major cities of Syracuse, Elmira, Rochester, Utica, and Buffalo. As New York State’s largest nonprofit health plan, the organization provides health insurance to more than 2 million people, and employs more than 6,000 New Yorkers. It is the result of a merger of several health organizations serving upstate New York. Following the merger, Excellus found that there were few enterprise architecture (EA) standards embraced by all of the previously independent entities. The company formed a group within the IT department to focus on EA as it consolidated business and IT systems and reduced the amount of technical diversity within the organization. With multiple platforms and environments, it was extremely challenging to create smoothly running, cohesive business procedures, without a clear understanding of what processes and systems were serving each organization. Many of these legacy systems, some in place for 30+ years, didn’t have adequate documentation, so there were parts of the systems that were completely unknown. â€Å"Before making sweeping policy or platform decisions, we recognized the importance of identifying all company functions and the processes used to implement them,† explained Eric Stephens, enterprise architect, Enterprise Architecture and Integration Team at Excellus. â€Å"This was the first step in our effort to reduce duplicate processes that were a normal result of the merger. We had to develop single systems for claims processing, provider contracting, member registration, and more, but could not do that until we fully understood and mapped the existing processes. † Excellus recognized that a key success factor would be a service-oriented architecture (SOA) approach, offering the ability to devise flexible architectures that rely on smaller parts (services), rather than larger monolithic solutions. Being able to implement the architecture in parts gives the company more choices (buy vs. uild) and allows for variation in particular components to adapt to a shifting market demand for products. It was clear that going forward with big systems implementations would drive both risks and financial resources to unacceptable levels. In addition, the organization established a goal of standardizing practices so that customers and others outside the organization would feel like they were dealing with a single company, rather than multiple entities in a loose federation. How to cite Blue Cross, Essay examples