Best Educational Websites for Students

Best Educational Websites for Students Technology has had a tremendous positive impact on modern education. The growth of the Internet has made information more accessible than ever, improving the learning process of people all over the world. The ease of publishing new information has also contributed to the popularity it has over traditional tools for education. Why student websites when there are textbooks? More and more websites dedicated to students appear, each having the following advantages in common. First of all, they are more visually appealing and engaging than textbooks. And when it comes to practical aspects, websites can have references that directly send you to the source of information. They can have you jump from research article to research article, offering the student multiple paths that will deepen their knowledge, while still being intuitive. When youre online, understanding what is unclear to you can often be fixed after just a little research. The practical advantages are obvious: educational websites are accessible almost anywhere, they do not take up room, they are cheaper (some of them free) and provide a more efficient way of learning. Its good to mention that universities may still require you to use textbooks as it stands. But these top sites for students still offer massive value. Here are a few of our favorites: 1.Khan Academy Khan Academy offers a huge library of videos on topics such as math, science, programming, history, art and more. The best part of it: it is free and the tutorials offered are very high quality. The learning experience is also fun and interactive, allowing you to test your knowledge when you feel prepared. It offers the possibility of monitoring your progress. 2. Coursera An extremely interesting proposition that consists of free online courses from top universities in the world. Areas covered are pretty large, ranging from math to business, computer science, biology, art, history, social sciences and more. Same as our previous choice, this website offers interactivity during your learning process, letting you take part in quizzes and viewing other peoples work. 3. KnowledgeNet This is one of the most useful websites dedicated to those interested in the IT field. Its specialized content is excellent, and it also offers very good practical ways of testing your knowledge. There are exams that are very similar to Microsoft or Cisco, providing you with solid practice. 4. Udacity Udacity is an educational website offering high-quality courses for all levels of knowledge. The website is focused on technology (programming, data analysis, good software practices and more). Many courses are not free, but all that we found was high quality. 5. Codeacademy One of the most known educational websites for those looking to learn computer programming. It has a variety of popular languages (HTML CSS, PHP, Python, Ruby, JavaScript and others). Being available both for free or with a paid subscription that unlocks more content, the website offers the interactivity needed to make progress faster and more engaging. 6. edX This is a platform that offers free online courses from some of the best universities in the world. Subjects covered are diverse, ranging from math to biology, English, programming and many more. One of the best educational sites for students. For each course, there is also the possibility of receiving certification at the end (for a sum). 7. MIT Open Courseware As the name would tell you, this website offers most of the MIT course curriculum for free. Having text, audio and video possibilities, the courses are fantastic, considering that they are provided by some of the best teachers in the world. 8. MIT Video Similar to what we mentioned above, only in video form. The website offers a huge library of lectures on math, chemistry, physics, biology and more. 9. Stanford Online Free courses on physics, chemistry, engineering, software, writing, language, economics and more, all offered by the prestigious Stanford University 10. Canvas Network Most of the courses are free and provided by numerous universities. Subjects are diverse, and courses can be in video or text form. These are just a few of the best websites for college students. The online world is full of information that can make a real difference to peoples academic lives. Read our blog for more tips and information.

Extremely Loud Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer Essays

Extremely Loud Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer Essays Extremely Loud Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer Paper Extremely Loud Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer Paper Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Barnaby T. Chuckles Mr. Kubacki Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, is a tightly woven web of interrelated metaphors and thematic elements. Getting into every single one could take between a life-time and forever so for the purposes of this essay I will only focus on the few main themes; growing into adulthood, which is the quest that Oskar takes on when he sets out to find out about the key, accepting the unknowable in the universe, the random and the unquantifiable that separate life from mathematics, and duality. The last is the trickiest to wrap ones head around and, as typified by the interrelatedness mentioned earlier, ties in to the other two themes. As Oskar grows up he has to come to accept the way in which not everything in the universe can be explained, learn to make his scientific mind can come to grasp a chaotic world, and come to understand how humanity can be essentially illogical. It would be pointless, of course, to point out that Oskar’s quest is as crazy as you can get, but that being said we can begin to grasp that his journey is to get in touch with and become accustomed to his own craziness as a human being. And he way in which Oskar gets a palate for his own madness is by tasting the insanity of others. Each Black that he visits throughout the course of the book not only teaches Oskar something about people, but also mirrors his struggle. The first four Blacks he visits seem relatively insignificant, they can’t give him any information on the key. Yet, each somehow reflects Oskar’s journey into adulthood. When he goes to visit Aaron Black, after setting foot in Queens for the first time, symbolizing how the quest is the catalyst that sends Oskar out of his shell into the big, bright world, he finds that the man is literally paralyzed and can’t come down to greet him. Aaron Black’s literal paralysis mimics Oskar’s inability to come out into the real world, or as the case may be, up to the seventh floor, where he fears a terrorist attack (a fear he will later overcome). The two are unable to connect in a metaphorical sense as well as an actual one. Oskar begins by playing the orphaned child card and tells Aaron his dad is dead immediately, not trying to forge any sort of bond. When he learns of Aaron’s infirmity he can’t take it and runs away (in retrospect he says, â€Å"if I could do it again I would do it differently. But you can’t do it again. †), representing how he cowers away from his dad’s death when he bruises, invents and retreats into his shell. Abby Black, who becomes much more significant later in the book and whom I will discuss later in the essay as well, holds much more import for Oskar’s development, even this early in the book. On first read-through they seem to get along swimmingly. Oskar extolls her beauty when she first opens the door, making her crack up literally as well as figuratively, as when someone laughs the barrier between two people breaks down a little bit. Also, Abby is an epidemiologist, so Oskar connects to her through his pedantic knowledge of science. However, common interests don’t necessarily make two people compatible, and Oskar uses his, for lack of a better word, nerdiness to connect to Abby, instead of exploiting the real connection they have as two people in crises, two scientists. When Oskar first asks her about the key and she says she knows nothing about it, he can tell right off the bat that there’s something wrong and she’s not telling the whole story. Oskar can read Abby but he doesn’t know how to react to what he reads. Before he enters her apartment he fibs to get in saying, â€Å"I didn’t feel great about lying, and I didn’t believe in being able to know what was going to happen before it happens, but for some reason I knew I had to get inside her apartment. † This is when Oskar gets his first lesson in the irrational way in which people (in this case, himself) operate. What he’s describing is intuition, which is manifestly unquantifiable, so he chooses to ignore it as some kind of supernatural phenomenon, which he’s duty bound as an atheist to ignore. However, by ignoring his intuition and proceeding â€Å"logically† he misses the most important detail in his visit; that Abby’s husband must also be a Black and may know something about the key. Later when he asks to kiss Abby and she says no he gets his second lesson in the duality of reason and human’s irrationality. He asks to take a picture of her but seems to realize a picture of her face isn’t good enough, so he takes one from behind her head, basically acknowledging that he doesn’t know her. Yet by accepting their position as strangers he brings himself to a greater understanding of how they relate to each other. Next comes Abe Black, a few chapters later. He convinces Oskar to ride the Cyclone, a huge step for Oskar, as he would normally never accept that embracing danger as an essential part of life. â€Å"’It would be a shame to die without riding the Cyclone,’ he told me. It would be a shame to die,’ I told him. â€Å"Yeah,’ he said, ‘but with the Cyclone you can choose. ’† Oskar finds that though life is filled with death the best way to deal with it is to live life to the fullest. He finds that there are some things that can’t be missed out on and that that’s all that matters in the end, even if the end is alw ays death. He goes on to say his day with Abe was the perfect day aside from not finding anything about the key. This, paired with the roller coaster, is the first time Oskar just gets lost in living. He doesn’t care about inventing or the key or his dad, he’s just having a good time at the fair. The next Black, Ada, mirrors Oskar’s struggle, and by reflecting it also illuminates it. Oskar starts off by grilling her about all the money she has. From the first reader can tell it’s a subject she feels uncomfortable about. She’s very clearly thought hard about the questions Oskar asks her and doesn’t have a good answer. She’s essentially in conflict with herself, saying, â€Å"I know what I am, but I don’t like what I am,† which shows Oskar’s conflict of not knowing what he is and not knowing whether he likes it or not. It’s the first time that Oskar sees that the â€Å"rules† can be broken. Ada’s philosophy is that it’s unfair to have so much when others have so little, but she has given up knowing that she can’t possibly hope to change the world. Oskar learns that it is possible to live with shades of grey and values being compromised. Having learned all this Oskar is now ready to meet the most important Black in the story. He is unnamed, perhaps because he is the most important Black and represents all the Blacks and what they have to teach Oskar. Close to death though he is, Mr. Black has done the most living of any of the Blacks or really anyone in the story. He’s loved and lost, fought and won, seen great events unfold and performed small gestures of love. As he said, he’s, â€Å"lived every day of the twentieth century. † Mr. Black represents a more complete picture of Oskar, in a metaphorical sense because he lives in an identical apartment above him, with two floors, representing a wiser man, but also in a literal sense as he has lived a more life. He spent his days working as a journalist, mirroring Oskar’s fixation on analytical thought and desire to get to the truth. Oskar immediately wants to emulate Mr. Black, mentally jotting down everything he says, but as one read on one sees that Oskar not only wants to mimic all the amazing things he’s done with his life, but to gain the knowledge that Mr. Black has accrued in all his years. When Mr. Black tells the story of the Russian artists feeding each other and says, â€Å"That’s the difference between Heaven and Hell. In Hell we starve, in Heaven we feed each other. Oskar without thinking replies, â€Å"I don’t believe in the afterlife,† to which Mr. Black responds, â€Å"Neither do I but I believe in the story. † When the story is told Oskar lets his knowledge get in the way of his understanding of the story, while Mr. Black can also know there’s no afterlife while grasping the larger significance of the story. Oskar gets his n ext lesson in the duality of human nature here. He learns that one can believe in the deeper significance of something without sacrificing his scientific perspective. This is mirrored in the way Mr. Black hammers a nail into his bed every morning, despite it having no significance other than it pleasing him to do so. What is really extraordinary about Mr. Black is he gains is wisdom not from knowing everything as Oskar seems to want to, but by accepting what he doesn’t know. Mr. Black has completely turned off his hearing aids and stopped leaving his apartment, shutting himself off from the world. He realizes his quests and loves are over and that he now needs time to gain wisdom from those experiences. But even this is not the end, for when he meets Oskar he sees himself reflected in the boy and realizes he’s ruminated enough and it’s time to go back out into the world again. Having added a new character into the equation, the next few Blacks reflect not only Oskar but Mr. Black as well, who in turn reflects back onto Oskar. This is shown first by the trip to find Agnes Black. Oskar opens the door on a woman who can’t speak English. Only Mr. Black can talk to her. He laughs and jokes with her and eventually finds out that Agnes Black died in the World trade center the same as Oskar’s father. It’s a very strange dynamic that in Oskar’s quest the two most important people can’t be part of the conversation. Agnes’s only connected, posthumously, to the latina woman and Oskar is connected only through Mr. Black. However, Mr. Black and the latina woman are not only connected by a common language but by the fact that they are both old and decrepit. Even though the two cannot see each other as the latina woman is in a wheel chair and Mr. Black is too tired to go up the stairs, they form a stronger connection by not seeing each other, much in the same way that Oskar and Agnes are connected by the invisible specter of Oskar’s dad. The next few Blacks are gone through quickly. They don’t tell him anything about the key but they tell a little about themselves and therefore a little about Oskar. Albert Black, the actor who moved to New York to be far away, teaches Oskar how you can become someone else. Alice Black, the artist who draws the same man over and over again, gives Oskar a glimpse of dedication, or perhaps obsession. Allen Black, the overqualified doorman who misses his job as an engineer, shows Oskar about taking comfort in the continuity of life, as Allen is comfortable being a doorman as long as it means his son will be a doctor. Arnold Black simply comes across as a jerk, and Oskar had to learn there are jerks out there eventually. Then there were several Blacks which only get a sentence or two in the book. The one that sticks out in my mind is old Chinese man who has â€Å"I heart NY† posters all over his room, but thinks they mean â€Å"I love you. When Oskar points this out he can’t read the expression on Fo Black’s face, saying â€Å"I couldn’t tell what he was feeling, because I couldn’t speak the language. † Georgia Black and her husband live on Staten Island (which can only be reached by ferry, so even going there is a big step for Oskar) and made museums to each other. Oskar gets his first taste here of how human irrationality can make people much happier. There is nothing more irrational than love but Mr. and Mrs. Black dove in head first and never regretted it.

City Demographics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

City Demographics - Essay Example As the essay highlights crime is a social problem in Chicago and several sociological issues affect and fuel the rate of crime in the city. As such, it is important to understand that crime is a normal form of behavior in any environment, but several factors fuel the rate of crime in a specific area. From a sociological perspective, crime encompasses the violations that occur on the prerequisites of the wellbeing and welfare of any human. Any violation of human rights is a crime. In analysis of Chicago, several violations of the rights of humans, have led to numerous murder cases in the city. This paper declares that there is a lot of poverty in Chicago, a main cause for the high prevalence of crime in the city. There are various impoverished districts in Chicago where the minority in the country resides, with an example of the South Side district of Englewood. As such, there is an increasing rise of population in the city who want an improved lifestyle and social resources for their daily upkeep. There is also the rise of the culture of the young people wanting more in life and faster success, a fact that they enable through engaging in crime. There also exists the problem of guns in the city where there has been a problem to control the ownership of guns around the city. As such, there has been a focus on reducing crime in the city from every department, and especially with the increased murder of children and women. This is a social problem caused by the prevailing low educational standards in the area.

Geopolitical profile Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Geopolitical profile - Essay Example ty to project its power across the globe and it is mainly as a result of this that it has been able to retain its influence long after falling from its superpower status. Russia is the largest country in the world with its borders stretching from northern Europe across northern Asia to the Bering Straits. As the largest country in the world, with an area of 17,075,400 square kilometres, it is one of the few countries in the world that have a diversity of natural resources, people, as well as neighbouring countries. The result is that this country has come to exert a lot of influence over a large territory as well as its neighbours for centuries. Its geographical position is unique because it allows it to wield some influence on three continents as well as being able to project itself militarily. Russia incorporates a wide range of climates and environments within its territory and these have had an effect on its historical development. Moreover, this country has borders with a diverse number of countries including China, Norway, Lithuania, Finland, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the United States across the Bering Straits, among many others. The geographical position of this country has also placed it on top of the largest oil and gas reserves on the planet and this country has been able to ensure that this resource is used to further its geopolitical power over the Eurasian region. In addition to oil and natural gas, Russia has other significant resources which include deposits of timber, coal, and as well as mineral resources that have given it an advantage over other countries in the region. As the largest producer of natural gas in the world, Russia is in a unique position to determine the futures of some of its neighbouring countries, most of which were former member states of the Soviet Union. It is through its unique position as being the number one producer of natural gas, in addition to oil, that it has been able to ensure that it maintains its influence over the

Dangers Of Tasers Misuse By Law Enforcement Officers Criminology Essay

Dangers Of Tasers Misuse By Law Enforcement Officers Criminology Essay This paper discusses the dangers and punishment of police officers who have misused the taser. The taser was created to be a less than lethal weapon to help police officers keep a safe distance between themselves and the person they are trying to subdue, and keep serious injury from occurring. However there are several situations where the officers have used this weapon on children, elderly, and handicapped person who did not show aggressive behavior toward them. These weapons were used to punish. The purpose of this paper is to explore the misuse, and address training of the officers to prevent this misuse of the taser. The Dangers of Tasers Misuse by Law Enforcement Officers in the Line of Duty This paper addresses the dangers when a police officer misuses the taser, which is a defense weapon. Tasers were developed as a new alternative to deadly force for law enforcement officers, corrections officers, and jailers to help protect themselves, the suspects, inmates, and civilians. Many law enforcement personnel and suspects have been injured in the past because of the close proximity of the officer and the person they were detaining. Less-than- lethal weapons were developed to help in decreasing injuries. Since less-than-lethal weapons have been introduced as an alternative to deadly force, police officers have discovered that these weapons were not only effective for detaining suspects, but it could be used for getting someones attention, or could be used as a way of getting the person to do as instructed. However, some law enforcement officers use their less-thanlethal weapons on children, the elderly, and the handicapped. There is still a chance of the person being injured if the officer is careless with the use of the non-lethal weapons and the risk of injury can be potently high. The taser is a type of weapon that is similar in appearance to a conventional firearm, because the body has the same shape as a conventional firearm. Instead of firing bullets, the taser fires two electrodes attached to an energy source designed to incapacitate a person. Examples of the misuse by police officers would be using the taser against someone who is non-threatening or who is already handcuffed. The purpose of this manuscript is to examine the recommendations set forth by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) for the law enforcement use of tasers. When do law enforcement officers, correction officers, and jailers misuse their non-lethal weapons (Tasers) on a civilian, prisoner, or suspect without justification for taser use? If the person is not showing a threat to the officer at that time, should the officer be punished? If the answer is yes, do the organizations in which the officers are employed have a disciplinarian plan in place to deal with the officer in question, what options do these organizations have, and are the punishments just and fair not only for the officer, but for the victim as well? Literature Review When law enforcement officers, correction officers, and jailers misuse their non-lethal weapons than an investigation must be done. Cameras can be a solution for the misuse of a taser by a police officer. This would help determine whether an investigation should be considered (Anonymous, 2009; Farrell 2009). MacDonald,Kaminski,andSmith (2009) reported that incidents of use of force by police officers account for less than 2% of the estimated total of police and civilian contacts (official interaction between any person and an officer), the prevalence of injury to civilians and officers in these situations is high (2 out of 8). Police departments in the United States are increasingly providing officers with less-lethal weapons to control suspects who physically resist arrest. Lee,Vittinghoff,Whiteman,Park,Lau,andTseng, (2009) discuss that police officers consider the taser a safer alternative to firearms. Taser deployment was associated with substantial increase in in-custody sudden death in the early deployment period, with no decrease in firearms deaths. Delong and Thompson, (2009) discuss that many police agencies have set up their own rules and procedure regarding the deployment of the non lethal weapons and the circumstances in which the weapons were deployed. The characteristics of the suspects at the time of deployment, and to dismal the difference between the media and the police in the use of the taser on a suspect. Discussion Less-Than-Lethal weapons Some of the less-than- lethal weapons used by today police officers are the oleoresin capsicum spray (pepper spray), conductive energy devices (tasers), and blunt impact devices (night sticks). These alternative devices help the officer from making physical contact with the person and limit the injury fact of the officer and the suspect. The night stick was the first less-than- lethal weapon that police had to subdue a suspect with out resorting to deadly force; however a suspect could be seriously injured by this weapon. The officers were trained and the nightstick was redesigned with a second handle that protruded from the side of the weapon so it could be used as a grappling weapon as well as a striking weapon. The police officer still had to be in close contact with the person for the nightstick to be effective. Injuries would occur not only to the suspect, but also to the officer. Oleoresin capsicum spray (pepper spray), conductive energy devices (tasers) were the next advancement to be developed for the police officer. Pepper spray is an agent to cause suspects eyes to water uncontrollable that causes the suspect to stop, it also burns the eyes and throat. The taser was also developed to help the officer to keep a distance between themselves and dangerous situations. There have been many other situations in which police officers were able to protect themselves from injury. The situations in which a police officer would use his or her taser in an altercation; escape attempt, restraining of the suspect, or when a suspect is showing paranoid and irrational behavior and threat of injury to the suspect or officer are clear. The locations where some officers have used their tasers are while the suspect is in police custody, at the scene of the arrest, or after being handcuffed. Some people who have been tasered have had an underlying health conditions (heart problems, mental illness, or drug use). More than 70 people have died in the United States and Canada after being struck with a taser. There have been 152 cases and 23 of these cases have resulted in death and the taser was the contributory factor (Adams Jennison,2007). Cases of Taser Misuse A Nevada legislator proposed a bill to require cameras to be mounted to the taser to limit the use of the taser. The Federal Court of Appeals panel made a ruling that a California police officer was not immune from civil litigation when officer Brain McPherson fired his taser at a motorist after a 2005 traffic stop (Anonymous, 2009; Farrell 2009). Law enforcement agencies in the United States stress that built in safe guards (such as chips that record the time and date of each time the taser are fired) are necessary to minimize the potential abuse. These safe guards do not go far enough to prevent officers from abusing their tasers. According to Amnesty International (2004b), there have been reports of inappropriate or abusive use of tasers in various jurisdiction, sometimes involving repeated cycles of electro-shocks on suspects. The evidence suggest that police officers are not using their tasers as a way to avoid using lethal force, but they are using the taser as a routine force to subdue non- complaint individuals who are not posing a threat. In some departments the officers use the taser as a prevalent force tool. Tasers have been used on unruly schoolchildren, unarmed mentally disturbed or intoxicated subjects, and those who were fleeing a minor crime scene. Also, reported victims of police tasering were people who do not follow the police office commands immediately. For example, 12-year old was tasered after fighting with another student on a school bus, and a 14-year old Florida girl and there of her class mates were taser because of fighting (Amnesty International 2004). It seems that todays police officer has converted to the old west mentally of shooting first and asking questions after the fact. This will be shown in this next case of a 40 year old man named Gregory Williams who is a double-leg amputee. According to Patton (2009), Mr. Williams and his wife were having a verbal argument and the police were called. When the police officers arrived at the Williams apartment, the officers separated the couple. One officer talked to Mrs. Williams and the other talked to Mr. Williams who at the time was holding his two year daughter in his lap. Officer Pinnegar informed Mr. Williams that he was under arrest for striking his wife, then Officer Pinnegar tasered him in the ribs. Mr. Williams was then pulled back into his wheelchair by the officer very hard, and was tasered a second time. Williams fell out of his chair and his shorts fell off his body; he was handcuff and left on the sidewalk with his genitals exposed for about ten minutes. The next abusive use of tasers was against a Louisiana man what was wanted by police for cocaine charges. This case will show the excessive use of a taser on a suspect; however this suspect was already in handcuffs. The Winnfield police had an arrest warrant for Baron Scooter Pikes and were going to arrest him, however the arrest was completed when Officer Nugent became over zealous with the use of his taser, and Mr. Pikes, who did not get to his feet quick enough for the officer. Griffin Fitzpatrick (2008) reported than the Louisiana State Police officer tasered 21 year old Baron Scooter Pikes nine times after Mr. Pikes was on the ground and handcuffed. The suspect had stopped twitching after seven jolts of 50,000 volts. Soon after, Pikes was dead. Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner, ruled Pikes death as a homicide in June after an extensive study. Safeguards Against Misuse of Tasers Law enforcement agencies all over America, Canada, and other countries are adopting tasers as their less than lethal weapon of choose. This weapon gives the officer 21 feet to incapacitate a suspect at a safe distance. However the main concern is to ensure that officers do not become over zealous with this weapon and causes serious injury or death to the civilian population. The public is seeing and hearing more and more of police officers misusing this new weapon instead of using it when all other alternatives have failed. The aspect of the misuse is when officers use the technology on children under 18 years of age, elderly, and handicap persons; and on regular citizen who are not showing a violent nature toward the officer. Anonymous (2009) indicated that the Nevada Legislature is proposing a bill that all tasers issued to law enforcement be equipped with a camera. The bill will also include that the use of the taser is only to be used on people who have committed a felony, or who endanger themselves or others. The U. S. Supreme Count has three rules to justify the use of a taser; the severity of the crime, whether the suspect posed a serious threat to the officer, and whether the suspect was evading or resisting arrest (Rubin Winton, 2009, p 3). These rules were put in place from previous cases because the stun gun dispenses a measurable level of force. According to Farrell (2009) The California Federal Court has ruled that a California police officer was not immune from civil litigation resulting from questionable use of the controversial weapon. So, therefore, civil remedies are established This ruling was set after a Coronado police officer used his taser on a motorist after stopping him for not wearing a seat belt Although the driver showed irrational behavior the officer should have used more intrusive means to take control of the situation. This non lethal weapon needs to be classified in the same way that the officers firearm, pepper spray, and nightstick. Each one of the weapons has rules that guide the officer when the weapon needs to be used; these rules should apply to the taser. Taser International Inc. has developed a data port download kit that helps law enforcement officers to have accurate documentation on the use of the taser by their officers by recording the date and time when the officer fired the taser. They also have the camera attachment that records images and voice for the officer can use this data if accused of misuse. (Rose, 2007), these new attachments my not be affordable for some of the smaller departments, and the officers may believe it is not necessary to have because of confidence that their department policy will protect them from litigation. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) provided guide lines for the increasing police use of the weapon and the concern of risks and liability. These organizations have developed these guidelines to help the police departments development policies, procedures, and training curricula (Rose, 2007). (See the nine strategies in the Appendix). Each of the nine strategies help address issues that will affect the use of tasers by law enforcement officers. These strategies put emphases on training, testing, and safety for the public. The IACP recommends when a police department plans to acquire electronic defense weapons that they should form a leadership team comprised of management, training, policy, field, and budget staff. The team should additionally include members of the community and media representatives; legal counsel, medical practitioners and representatives of the governing or oversight body (Rose, 2007). The team will help to assess any issue that may arise in the acquisition of the cost, training, liability and evaluation. The taser should be placed in the use of force continuum with guidelines for police officers on the degree of force that is appropriate when responding to the subject (Rose, 2007). A leadership team within a police department will be able to help the individual police officers to remain up to date on new training procedures, new laws created on the use of tasers, and medical training in case of a medical emergency. The leadership team would be able to review each case when a taser is discharged and to give recommendations of whether the officer needs additional training or if the officer was within the department policy. The leadership team would be able to make a fair assignment on the cost and benefit of the police department having tasers as their secondary defense weapon. The police department and the officers need to be held accountable for the uses of electronic defense devices. Each police officer should be given clearly defined rules and protocols, and relevant and reliable information about the new technology. The police department additionally should gain public acceptance of the new weapons and should implement a community outreach program to inform the people of their community. The community members should be informed of the tasers capability and its effective goal as an alternative of deadly force, the benefit of its cost, and the goal to reduce officer and suspect injury. All police officers should have some emergency medical training to be a first responder in case a suspect has medical problems after being struck by the taser, and in the removal of the darts form sensitive areas. A medically trained officer could provide any medical attention such a CPR, monitoring the suspect while in custody, and assist in transporting the victim to the nearest hospital or clinic. Conclusion In conclusion, although the taser has been developed as a defense weapon many police officers have made it their primary weapon of choice and use it inappropriately. The misuse of the weapon has the public and the media concerned about whether or not the attitude of todays police officers are serving and protecting the public properly. or are officers using this new defensive weapon to punish people who break the law and who are non-violent just to show them use is in charge. This type of behavior from police officers are causing a lot of concern not only from the communities they serve, but also from the manufacturers that have developed and supply these less-than-lethal weapons to law enforcement agencies. The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Executive Research Forum have produce guidelines for the law enforcement agencies to follow when a police department decides to add the tasers to their non lethal weapon storehouse. References Adams, K., Jennison, V.'(2007). What we do not know about police use of Tasers(TM).Policing,30(3),447-465. Amnesty International, (2004a). Concerns about Taser users. Amnesty International Continuing Concerns about Taser Use. http:www.amnestyusa.org/print.php. Amnesty International, (2004b). Excessive and lethal force. Deaths and Ill-treatment Involving Police use of Tasers. http:www.amnestyusa.org/print.php. Anonymous, (2009,October).Use of Force: Are cameras on Tasers on the horizon? Law Enforcement Delong, G., Thompson, L. (2009). The application and use of tasers by a Midwestern police agency. International Journal of Police Science Management, 11 (4), 414-428. Farrell, B. M. (2009,December30). Federal court in California limits police use of Tasers: The appeals court ruling could raise the bar for when the electric stun-guns can be deployed. Local police departments said the ruling puts officers lives in danger. The Christian Science Monitor. ProQuest document ID: 1930343011, Griffin, D., Fitzpatrick, D. (2008, July 22). Man Dies after Cop Hits Him with Taser 9 Times. http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/22/taser.death/?iref=mpstoryview. Lee,B.,Vittinghoff,E.,Whiteman,D.,Park,M.,Lau,L.,Tseng,Z. (2009). Relation of Taser (Electrical Stun Gun) deployment to increase in in-custody sudden deaths.The American Journal of Cardiology,103(6),877-880. MacDonald, J., Kaminski, R., Smith, M. (2009). The effect of non-lethal weapons on injuries in police use-of-force events. American Journal of Public Health, 99 (22), 2268-2274 Patton, A. V. (2009,September). Merced police used Taser on unarmed, legless man in a wheelchair.McClatchy Tribune Business New. Pg. 1-7 Rose, V., (2007, January). Taser use guidelines, liability (law): Police department weapons liability, legal, police. OLR Research Report. Retrieved on 18, April 2010. Rubin, J Winton, R. (2009, December 30). Federal court restricts police taser use; the ruling allowing a man to sue officer for his injuriesmay spur agencies to rewrite use- of- force policies. Los Angeles Times. Pg. A. 3

Latino Culture Related to Purnell Model Essay

Cultural competence is the ability to interact well with people of different cultural backgrounds (Rundle, 2002). It provides the best ways of meeting the needs of diverse patient population which is always on the increase, as well as ways of effectively advocating for them. This means that cultural competence has the benefit of enabling nurses to deliver services that respect and effectively respond to health beliefs and practice needs of diverse patients. Through the process of globalization, nurses are moving to places of nursing shortage to offer their knowledge and skills beyond their home country (Campbell, 2003). In this case, information about culture, ethnicity and race becomes important to nursing profession and health care. This paper examines the culture of Latino’s under the guidelines of Purnell’s Model of cultural competency. It looks at issues relating to health promotion, disease prevention and management factors affecting health which are basically the aims of community health nursing. The Purnell model is a model that was developed to provide and organize framework for nurses to use as cultural assessment tool. The model is a concept where all people have been represented at various levels. They range from global society, community, family and the individual and I will utilize this model to explore the Latino community. Heritage/Culture selected Latino includes any person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South American, Central American or other Spanish culture regardless of race (Crouch, 2004). Their origin can be viewed in different perspectives including country of birth of the person or person’s parents before their emigration, heritage, nationality group or lineage. Latino may be of any race, including Black, White, Asian and Native American. The reason for their migration to new places include availability of work, housing from friends and families which had already settled in new places, availability of bilingual education, better living conditions, and a better quality of life. Some of the occupations that have been associated with Latino include restaurants, construction, and factories. Communication Language is considered the most important characteristic of any culture and within the Latino community the dominant language that is spoken is Spanish, although it has been found that the younger Latino population has made English their preferred language of use. As such, Spanish speakers are scarce among the general population and this could be a barrier to the success of immigrants who do not speak English well. As regards nonverbal communication, maintaining eye contact can be interpreted as intimidating. Latino social norms give emphasis to the importance of communication in interpersonal relationships. Latino’s tend to have an indirect communication style. Respect is highly valued and shown by using formal titles and by being very polite and all members of the family take part in this. Family roles and organization The culture of Latinos is socialistically characterized by dominant cooperative group activities. While working in a group not all are expected to do equal share and not working is not looked at as an offensive behavior. Responsibilities are shared among the community and the whole group is held accountable for its actions. Harmony and cooperation have been emphasized and there is little room for individual function. The father or the oldest male relative is given the greatest power. The women, on the other hand, are expected to submit to these men. As for child rearing, grandparents play a vital role in this process in imparting moral values to children, for instance, regarding good marriage practices. Divorce is unacceptable and the petitioners could be treated as outcasts. Workforce Most of the occupations that are associated with Latino’s include those in hotel and restaurant, construction and factories. However, it is worth noting that a great deal of Latino’s are private wage and salary workers and many others employed as chief executives, physicians and surgeons, teachers, lawyers and reporters. With regard to women, their primary role is to fully participate in the Hispanic culture and keep the family together. Bio-cultural ecology When it comes to identifying the Latino’s population by a type of skin color most would consider themselves as Caucasian while a few identify themselves as Black. Many others associate themselves with indigenous race while others are increasingly identifying themselves as â€Å"other†. Their origins range from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Guatemala. Notable differences among the Latino groups center on the aspects of language refinement, educational status, cultural values and attitudes toward mental health treatment (Brice, 2001). I found that an America Latino’s are prone to illnesses such as COPD, diabetes, asthma and obesity. Diabetes and heart disease are great in Latinos then the non-Latin population is attributed to lifestyles difference such as the intake of fatty foods. It is very difficult to detect some illnesses due to their biological variations of individuals from the Latino communities. Some illnesses take time before they are detected and effectively treated and that is why there is no specific genetic disease associated with the Latino community. But research has been known to find cases of sickle cell diseases as well as cystic fibrosis in these individuals. Sickle cell disease is found in 1 out of 24 Latino’s while 1out of 46 Latinos is believed to have cystic fibrosis. High risk behaviors Poverty and high drop-out rates have resulted in high drug use cases and unsafe sexual practices among the Latino’s. Findings have revealed that Latino students of 12th grade registered highest rate of use of illicit drugs such as crack and heroin. However, older Latino’s registered lower drug use compared to other races. Case studies have revealed that the use of seatbelts was least among the Latino’s, therefore increasing the risks of crash fatality. Nutrition Food has a very important role in the culture of Latino’s. In some cultures, food is given as a combination of food and herbs either when hot or cold. Typically, good appetite is linked to good health. The food preferences of children are respected and they are not forced to eat what they don’t want. There’s a belief that a child might fall sick if given food of the wrong temperature. Mothers always withhold food that might cause illness to children. Experience has made them identify a list of harmful foods and this is passed along from generation to generation (Brice, 2001). Pregnancy and child bearing practices The pregnant women are told what to do according to what their culture says, resulting in lower participation in their own health care. These women prefer that their mothers attend to them during their labor (Noble & Lacasa, 1990). Pregnancy is treated as a hot condition; hence foods characterized as hot are avoided. This might not be a good practice because proteins, which are considered hot, are avoided by these women. Death rituals There is a belief that when a person dies, the person has moved to a different phase of life (Noble & Lacasa, 1990). Even though the person isn’t there physically, they believe the person still lives in spirit. In traditional Latino families, the bulk of care provided for a terminally ill family member is performed by female relatives who are unlikely to ask for outside help to cope with the stress of looking after someone who is close to death. Ideally, spending time with a family member who is close to death allows relatives to resolve outstanding issues within the family. Spirituality Most Latino’s are affiliated to Catholicism with others attending Protestant churches. A small percentage of Latino’s fall under secular domain. Most of them attend churches characterized by many Latino’s attendees and Hispanic clergy where services are offered in Spanish. This religious faith also treats all human life as sacred. Therefore, spiritually if a Latino feels pain or illness arise this may be seen as a test of the individual’s and the family’s religious faith. Heath care practices and health care practitioner Latino’s have retained their traditional health practices, although the use of Western medicine is more prevalent. The result of this is that modern health care practices such as screening tests and use of preventive health care measures haven’t been adopted. This has also been attributed to a lack of health insurance which results in fewer visits to medical practitioners. According to my findings â€Å"physical and mental illness have mostly been attributed to an imbalance between the person and the environment, with influences being emotional, spiritual and social state† (Campbell, 2003). Conclusion I choose the Latino community to focus on because according to research the Latino’s is one of the ethnic cultures that is rapidly growing in the United States of America. It is evident that the Latino community is a culture rich group. For a society that is socialistic in nature, its values and beliefs are predictable; their aim is to put people together, which is a good idea. As much as these beliefs are accepted and respected, some of them are obviously retrogressive and should be done away with. For instance, restricting hot foods for pregnant women; this means that most of them will lack proteins. It is ultimately up to the nurses and the people to understand, and respect the differences that exist between them so that they respect each other’s views in the end. My reaction to their belief is I am glad that I am not considered a part of their culture. I think it is unfair that the women take on a weak role. I am a strong, outspoken, competent, independent individual. I love my family and I will do anything for them but there has to be boundaries. Reference Brice, A. (2001). The Latino child: Speech, language, culture and education. (1st ed., pp. 64-77). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson. Campbell, C.R. (2003). Two eagles in the sun: A guide to U.S Hispanic culture. (3rd ed., pp. 26-38). Houston, Texas: Two Eagles Pr. Crouch, N. (2004). Mexicans & Americans: Cracking the culture code. London, England: Nicholas Brealey Publishing. Noble, J., & Lacasa, J. (1990). The Hispanic way: Aspects of behavior, attitudes and customs in the Spanish-speaking world. (1st ed., pp. 46-58). Lincolnwood, IL: Passport Books. Purnell, L. (2008). Guide to culturally competent health care (Purnell, guide to culturally competent healthcare). (2nd ed., pp. 66-78). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: F.A. Davis Company. Rundle, A. (2002). Cultural competence in health care: A practical guide. (2nd ed., pp. 82-90). Hoboken, New Jersey: Jossey-Bass.

Greg Beato: Amusing Ourselves to Depth

GREG BEATO: Amusing Ourselves to Depth 1. Tim Keck started The Onion because â€Å"he wanted to create a compelling way to deliver advertising to his fellow students†. â€Å"Part of the first issue’s front page was devoted to a story about a monster running amok at a local lake; the rest was reserved for beer and pizza coupons. † (389) This shows that the newspaper’s direction towards â€Å"fake news† and advertisement. 2.The Onion is one successful newspaper because it prints 710,000 copies of each weekly edition, 6,000 more than the Denver post; have 3000 local advertisers; attract 2 million online readers a week and boast a 60% increase in their print circulation. (389-390) 3. Beato choose the title â€Å"Amusing Ourselves to Depth† because it warns the fate that would befall us if public discourse were allowed to become substantially more entertaining (390), which is the opposite to what The Onion is doing. This suggests Beato is against this idea, and supports The Onion, that entertainment in news is good. 4.Beato mentions â€Å"America’s most informed citizens simply prefer comedy over the stentorian drivel the network anchormannequins dispense,† (390) to argue against Neil Postman’s notion. 5. The Onion focused on expressing a worldview of any kind and delights in crapping on pieties and regularly publishes stories guaranteed to upset someone by being completely honest. 6. Beato is not suggesting that fake news is better than â€Å"real† news but implying that by being honest, expressing a worldview of any kind and not afraid of offending people with a pinch of entertainment is better way to convey news.