The Seven Voyages of the Ming Chinese Treasure Fleet

The Seven Voyages of the Ming Chinese Treasure Fleet Over a period of almost three decades in the early 15th century, Ming China sent out a fleet the likes of which the world had never seen. These enormous treasure junks were commanded by the great admiral, Zheng He. Together, Zheng He and his armada made seven epic voyages from the port at Nanjing to India, Arabia, and even East Africa. The First Voyage In 1403, the Yongle Emperor ordered the construction of a huge fleet of ships capable of travel around the Indian Ocean. He put his trusted retainer, the Muslim eunuch Zheng He, in charge of construction. On July 11, 1405, after an offering of prayers to the protective goddess of sailors, Tianfei, the fleet set out for India with the newly-named admiral Zheng He in command. The Treasure Fleets first international port of call was Vijaya, the capital of Champa, near modern-day Qui Nhon, Vietnam. From there, they went to the island of Java in what is now Indonesia, carefully avoiding the fleet of pirate Chen Zuyi. The fleet made further stops at Malacca, Semudera (Sumatra), and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Zheng He beat a hasty retreat when he realized that the local ruler was hostile. The Treasure Fleet next went to Calcutta (Calicut) on the west coast of India. Calcutta was one of the worlds major trade depots at the time, and the Chinese likely spent some time exchanging gifts with the local rulers. On the way back to China, laden with tribute and envoys, the Treasure Fleet confronted the pirate Chen Zuyi at Palembang, Indonesia. Chen Zuyi pretended to surrender to Zheng He, but turned upon the Treasure Fleet and tried to plunder it. Zheng Hes forces attacked, killing more than 5,000 pirates, sinking ten of their ships and capturing seven more. Chen Zuyi and two of his top associates were captured and taken back to China. They were beheaded on October 2, 1407. On their return to Ming China, Zheng He and his entire force of officers and sailors received monetary rewards from the Yongle Emperor. The emperor was very pleased with the tribute brought by the foreign emissaries, and with Chinas increased prestige in the eastern Indian Ocean basin. The Second and Third Voyages After presenting their tribute and receiving gifts from the Chinese emperor, the foreign envoys needed to go back to their homes. Therefore, later in 1407, the great fleet set sail once again, going as far as Ceylon with stops in Champa, Java, and Siam (now Thailand). Zheng Hes armada returned in 1409 with holds full of fresh tribute  and again turned right back for another two-year voyage (1409-1411). This third voyage, like the first, terminated at Calicut. Zheng Hes Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Voyages After a two-year respite on-shore, in 1413 the Treasure Fleet set out on its most ambitious expedition to date. Zheng, He led his armada all the way to the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, making port calls at Hormuz, Aden, Muscat, Mogadishu, and Malindi. He returned to China with exotic goods and creatures, famously including giraffes, which were interpreted as the mythical Chinese creature the qilin, a very auspicious sign indeed. On the fifth and sixth voyages, the Treasure Fleet followed much the same track to Arabia and East Africa, asserting Chinese prestige and collecting tribute from as many as thirty different states and principalities. The fifth voyage spanned 1416 to 1419, while the sixth took place in 1421 and 1422. In 1424, Zheng Hes friend and sponsor, the Yongle Emperor, died while on a military campaign against the Mongols. His successor, the Hongxi Emperor, ordered an end to the expensive ocean-going voyages. However, the new emperor lived for just nine months after his coronation  and was succeeded by his more adventurous son, the Xuande Emperor. Under his leadership, the Treasure Fleet would make one last great voyage. The Seventh Voyage On June 29, 1429, the Xuande Emperor ordered preparations for a final voyage of the Treasure Fleet. He appointed Zheng He to command the fleet, even though the great eunuch admiral was 59 years old and in poor health. This last great voyage took three years  and visited at least 17 different ports between Champa and Kenya. On the way back to China, likely in what are now Indonesian waters, Admiral Zheng He died. He was buried at sea, and his men brought a braid of his hair and a pair of his shoes back to be buried in Nanjing. Legacy of the Treasure Fleet Faced with the Mongol threat on their northwest border, and the huge financial drain of the expeditions, Ming scholar-officials deplored the extravagant voyages of the Treasure Fleet. Later emperors and scholars sought to erase the memory of these great expeditions from Chinese history. However, Chinese monuments and artifacts scattered all around the rim of the Indian Ocean, as far as the Kenyan coast, provide solid evidence of Zheng Hes passage. In addition, Chinese records of several of the voyages remain, in the writings of such shipmates as Ma Huan, Gong Zhen, and Fei Xin. Thanks to these traces, historians and the public at large can still ponder the amazing tales of these adventures that took place 600 years ago.

Should marijuana be legalized or kept illegal Assignment

Should marijuana be legalized or kept illegal - Assignment Example (Mark J. Pletcher, 2012). Investigators at The Zucker Hillside Hospital in Long Island, NY compared the performance of 50 bipolar subjects with a history of cannabis use versus 150 bipolar patients with no history of use. According to clinical data published online, the bipolar patients with a history of cannabis use demonstrate superior neurocogitive performance compared to patients with no history of use. (Raphael J. Braga, 2012). Use of marijuana for medicinal purposes remains controversial, and we do not advocate its widespread use. However, that in certain circumstances, specifically when patients are using marijuana to relieve nausea, marijuana is not associated with lower rates of adherence (de Jong, 2005). Cannabis users had better cognitive functioning than patients without cannabis use in several domains including design memory, verbal fluency, object assembly, block design, picture completion, picture arrangement, and face recognition memory (John Stirling, 2004) The majority of patients with multiple sclerosis develop troublesome lower urinary tract symptoms. The conclusions after researches: there were few troublesome side effects, suggesting that cannabis-based medicinal extracts are a safe and effective treatment for urinary and other problems in patients with advanced (Ciaran M. Brady, 2004). Pain, sleep and mood were most frequently reported as improving with cannabis use, and high and dry mouth were the most commonly reported side effects. We conclude that cannabis use is prevalent among the chronic non-cancer pain population, for a wide range of symptoms, with considerable variability in the amounts used (Mark A. Ware, 2003). Marijuana significantly reduced ratings of queasiness and slightly reduced the incidence of vomiting compared to placebo. These findings support and extend previous results, indicating that smoked marijuana reduces feelings of nausea and also reduces

Back to The Future 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Back to The Future 1 - Essay Example Marty and George in 80s represented a different type of relations in the unhappy family. Relations of Marty and George after his trip to 50s became friendlier and their family turned into a successful one. This research paper is focused on relations between a father and a son. The most interesting thing is that a son changes a life of his father and not a father changes a life of his son, as it usually happens. It is appropriate for Robert Zemeckis to project his relations with his father on his films (Thomson 2002, p. 958). A great director was oppressed by his father, because the latter did not believe in his creative potential. Therefore, a model of relations between Marty and George reflects commonly the relations of Zemeckis and his father. Zemeckis grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and was lacking of art. Robert wanted to take his parents' 8 mm home movie camera and delve in the fascinating world of cinema. His desire to go to a film school was intensified after Robert watched the â€Å"Bonnie and Clyde† film. Cinema was an enchanting world for a young boy, who wanted to change his daily routine into a fairy tale. Characters of the film From the very beginning of the film the audience is intrigued by a character of Doc Brown, who is introduced through the number of newspaper articles about his bankruptcy, which are aired on the radio and discussed in TV news. There are also many other trifles, which introduce Doc Brown’s character. This man is supposedly a scientist or an amateur inventor. It is evident that inventions of the scientists were not appreciated by the society. Plutonium was stolen by Doc Brown in order to power his time machine. So, there is so much about this scientist, but who is he and which role does he play in the film? Actually, a young boy entering the house of Doc Brown is Marty and his father’s name is George. Doc Brown is a prototype of Marty’s father, a kind of an ideal person, to which this boy feels a great affection and is attracted by his interesting life. It is possible to suppose that Robert Zemeckis expressed his desire for art in his childhood and a character of Doc in this film embodies desirable features of his father. Moreover, Doc is inspired with technology and Robert in his childhood was enchanted by television. Marty came to Doc to have a rest from his blue-collar environment, and Robert Zemeckis looked for such place of aesthetic pleasure while watching films. Marty is lacking of attention of his father and wants to find an opportunity to penetrate into the depths of George’s ideas. Doc gives him a chance to get acquainted with the past of his father and mother. When a magnificent time machine starts working, Marty has an opportunity to go back to 1955 to help his father to live a better life and not the one he has. It should be noted that Robert Zemeckis develops not only an interesting plot of relations between Marty and George, but also paints a pathetic p icture of psychological development of Marty. In his juvenile age in 50s he became his father’s rival and wanted to fight for his mother’s heart. There is no even a hint of Oedipus complex, relations between Marty and George happen at different level. Relations between a father and a son are developed as compensating ones: Marty gave an opportunity for his father to overcome his fears in the past and

The Importance Of Health Communication

The Importance Of Health Communication The healthcare systems around the world are making full use of the communication methods to improve quality of healthcare services provided and peoples life. They are utilizing the newly developed information and communication technologies to bring required socio-economic changes in the areas as diverse as health and education system. In this modern era the consequence of media and communication is vastly increasing. According to Mann and Colven, A picture is worth more than a thousand words, it can justify the need of new technologies. This thesis paper tries to figure out the importance of health communication and telemedicine technology for the integral growth of healthcare management in the rural and remote area of India. In some of the rural areas of India the telemedicine technology is implemented successfully and the people in that area are receiving better healthcare services than before. This technology is quite new in the country like India and lot of work has to be done in future to increase the use of this newly developed technology to deliver quality of healthcare service and thus to improve the health status rural and remote population. India is having a huge population and most of the people live in rural areas. Majority of them dont have proper access to education and healthcare services. So there is need of good health communication to improve delivery of healthcare services. By this, necessary knowledge can be imparted to the people that will help them to improve their own health status all the time. Telemedicine might be useful in these areas as it helps to have a successful communication in between the healthcare professionals and patients who are present at different places. This paper points out the actual necessity of telemedicine technology which is one of the tools of having health communication and the opinion of the healthcare professionals as well as the patients regarding its importance. In this interpretive study based thesis, fourteen interviews of healthcare professionals and a survey of twenty patients by using a questionnaire have been conducted to illustrate the importance of health communication (mainly health education) and telemedicine. Introduction In this rapidly developing world, the parameters of health care are also being broadened and the focus is shifted to promotion of wellness prevention of diseases in community as well as home based care rather than only hospital based care. This shift can be facilitated by implementing telemedicine technology which is a method of health care carried out at a distance at even real time (Jones, 1997). Health is a concern of everyone for everyone. Healthy people 2010 define health communication as the art and technique of informing, influencing and motivating individual, institutional and public audiences about important health issues. The terms health communication health education are used synonymously most of the times. In this era the importance of health education is realized increasingly because of which today health education became speciality in itself. The healthcare systems seem to be inefficient without proper health education programmes even though lot of planning is done in implementation of healthcare services. It shows that health communication is not only mere exchange of health information but also much more than that. Health communication is means of facilitating the interaction between healthcare professionals and patients or in between the two or more healthcare professionals irrespective of working together in same or different organizations situated at distance places. Most of the organizations mainly focus on adopting advanced technologies used for diagnostic and surgical procedures to meet expectations of the patients and to improve organizations capacity. But they often forget the importance of communicating with the people in rural and remote areas to provide health education and create health awareness in them which in turn can prevent number of diseases. Telemedicine will help the healthcare professionals working at district and regional hospitals or multispecialty private hospitals to communicate with the people in rural areas who dont have proper access to healthcare services. It will help these professionals to know the problems of rural and remote population. Telemedicine is a broad concept. Here the delivery of health services depends upon application of telecommunication. Sharing or transfer of knowledge in terms of distance education and remote consulting diagnosis within different medical fields can be included in the concept of telemedicine. AIM (1990) defines telemedicine as the investigation, monitoring, management and education of the patients as well as staff which allows ready access to expert advice and patient information irrespective of location of patient or relevant information. Public and private health sectors have to do much by making use of effective telemedicine technology. It can definitely contribute a lot to health sectors by making utilization of available resources more effectively in various telemedical services (Nymo, 1993). An upcoming challenge mainly for the public health services will be to meet the demand of tremendously increasing population especially in the developing countries with the use of available resources (funds, healthcare professionals technology). It is not possible to replace the physician or other healthcare professionals involved in a patient relation by using this technology. But the thing is that it can facilitate in delivering integrated health care service to the patients. Thus telemedicine can play a vital role by providing economical benefits to the healthcare system of respective country. Telemedicine technology can act as a lifeline for most of the people who come under poor economical background mainly from developing country like India where there is inequality in delivery of healthcare services. More than 70% of the population live in rural area. On the other hand these people dont receive quality of healthcare services due to insufficient number of healthcare professionals especially in public healthcare centres and lack of infrastructure. Because of lack of facilities in these areas makes it more difficult to retain speciality healthcare professionals in rural and remote areas. Thats why most of the specialists are situated in district and capital places. The rural people have to spend more time and money as well to get consultation from specialists. Telemedicine will help to reduce the unnecessary wastage of cost and time by bridging rural health centres with the district and multispecialty hospitals situated in big cities (Kuppuswamy Pandian, 2008). All researchers dealing with information technology and healthcare have said that information technologies play a vital role in making a healthcare system more successful. Nowadays in early stage of onset of disease, people in rural and remote area where there is unavailability of specialists in healthcare need not to visit directly to the specialists in cities to get consulted from them. Development of advanced communication technologies like telemedicine will make it possible for these people to get treatment at initial stage without travelling to cities which will reduce further complications related to respective diseases. But development and implementation of any IT system in healthcare is not an easy task. As Collen (1995) have stated, developing a comprehensive medical information system is a more complex task than putting a man on the moon had been. Many organizations have faced problematic situations while implementing telemedicine or any other e-Health systems because of different reasons. Before implementing any change within the organizational set up it is very important to know the views of stakeholders who are going to involved in the process. It needs good planning and management to make the change successful. According to Collins (2000), it is necessary to understand views, experiences and purposes of the providers as well as users of healthcare services to address the issues and resolve the problems before full implementation of telemedicine. Identifying, understanding and describing the key aspects of effective health communication and information system (Telemedicine) as well as making the use of findings as a basis for the success of healthcare management in both private and public sector are the main aims of this research study. In this thesis paper I will discuss the importance of health communication (especially providing needed health education to the under and uneducated people in remote and rural area of India) and use of telemedicine to deliver better healthcare services to the rural population. I will try to understand the thoughts of healthcare professionals and patients regarding this topic. The main purpose behind this is to make further development for the integral growth of healthcare management in rural and remote areas of India. This research is aimed to find out the answers relevant to the following research questions: What do we know about effective health communication and telemedicine? How will it be possible to communicate with the people in rural areas? What are the opinions of healthcare professionals and patients regarding importance of health education and use of telemedicine system? In what ways might telemedicine influence information seeking, communicating and creating health awareness in a rural community of India? According to the above research questions, this thesis will firstly try to discuss the important notions of health communication and telemedicine and secondly interpretation of the findings of interviews of healthcare professionals and feedback of the patients from questionnaire. The overall aim of this research is to know the importance of health communication and telemedicine through qualitative research and make use of that knowledge for the further growth of healthcare management in rural community of India. Objectives of this research study are- To study the role of health communication and telemedicine in rural health care. To know various methods those are used by healthcare professionals to provide health education to the people of rural area. To understand how health communication and telemedicine can play a vital role in changing behaviour of rural population. Review of Literature Health communication: Health communication addresses, how individual and community decisions about knowledge of health and practices are informed and influenced through communication. As stated by Rai (1999), communication is the means through which we practice and influence to bring changes in the views and attitudes of others, motivate them and maintain a healthy relation with them. In other words it is the cycle of exchanging emotions, ideas and opinions in the form of information in between sender and receiver. Health communication links the regions of health and communication and considered as an important component of efforts in improving public and personal health status (Jackson Duffy, 1998). There is specific purpose behind doing any act. Communication is done to make someone think in a particular way, to do something or take action. There are different functions of communication as stated by Andal (1998). Instrumental Function To achieve something. Information Function To find out or explain something. Social Contact Function To make enjoyable environment. Control Function To get someone to behave in a particular way. Expression Function To express the feelings or present oneself in a particular way. Role Related Function Situation requires it. Educational Function To transmit knowledge. Stimulation Function To bring interest. Entertainment Function To provide leisure activity. Cultural Promotion Function To reinforce cultural rites. Effective communication: The main purpose of having communication is the exchange or transfer of information in the form of thoughts and ideas (Ramchandran Dharmalingam, 2001). It is the most important aspect of educational process which aims at change in behaviour or attitude and improves level of knowledge. We can say communication was effective only if the message is correctly interpreted by the receiver and utilized it for improvement of the knowledge. Thus effective communication means not only reaching of information but also enabling the receiver to have change in information or improvement in knowledge. Health communication includes understanding and use of communication strategies to enhance community and individual decisions to improve the current health status. It binds the domains of health and communication to improve the health of the population. Health communication can contribute largely in prevention and promotion of diseases, to improve health provider-patient relations, in movement of public and individual health risk information, formulation of public health messages, in providing education o the population about how to find access to the public healthcare delivery system and total development of telemetric applications as well as attachment of individuals to clinical recommendations (Feng H, 2006). Health communication is the use of communication techniques and technologies to positively influence organizations, individuals and population for the purpose of promoting conditions conducive to human and environmental health. It may include various activities such as physician-patient interactions, self help groups, classes, mailings, mass media events and campaigns (US department of health and human services, 2000). Health communication is the dissemination and interpretation of health related messages (Donohew Ray 1990, Steinberg 2007). Health communication is a hybrid field that derives from communication studies, marketing, journalism and public relations and also overlaps with health education and health promotion (Cline, 2003). As stated by WHO (1946), Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Health encircles the essence of health education by making communities as well as individuals as equal partners in the process of assuring freedom from illness or diseases and achieving the highest level of physical, social and mental health (Gupta Mahajan, 1991). In determining the Physical well being of the individuals, the factors such as where they work, with whom they interact and what kind of work they do should be considered to improve health. A series of operational tasks have to be completed in the process of development of any health communication. At the basic level, these tasks may contain choosing credible sources, selecting a strategy of message and deciding the ideal channels or settings through which the communication is to be delivered (Kreuter Wray, 2003). Each single activity of these provides an opportunity to improve the application of communication to its intended audience. Communication may contain planned or unplanned content which has the ability to convey positive, negative or neutral health messages to the community. Usually specific strategies are followed behind planned messages for its formulation and placement. These are intended to change behaviour, beliefs and attitudes of the people. Thus health communication is an important part of healthcare which is aimed at promoting healthy behaviour. Health education is a type of medium which is used to make people aware of healthy behaviour patterns and its importance. But the success of health communication or health education programs depends upon the interest of the people. It is very important that they should involve actively in it. We cant enforce people to change; we can motivate them to adopt healthy life. It is a notoriously complex and problematic task to change ones health related behaviour (Lawrence, 1999). It is demonstrated through research that clients attachment to their own health status is the important factor in their adoption to a behavioural health change (Callaghan, 1999). Health communication may take place between health care providers and patients or health care providers and people in the community. It may take place directly or indirectly at even real time. Development of information systems is really important to make health communication successful at broader level. People in rural and remote areas dont receive proper healthcare services due to many problems. So it is very important to communicate with them to know the problems they are facing and make the necessary planning and implementation to resolve those. By means of communication technologies like telemedicine it will be possible to have communication between the healthcare professionals at speciality hospitals situated in cities and people of rural and remote areas. This will help to solve many health problems of rural population. Other than this it will make possible for healthcare professionals at public primary health centres or even who doing private practice in rural areas to have communication with specialists in multispecialty hospitals. It will help these professionals in making the decisions, diagnosis and treatment. It will also help these professionals to update their own knowledge. Various channels used for having health communication are as below, Press Health related articles in newspaper are important channels to distribute information. Health magazine If information is presented well in the magazines then these can become valuable mean of communication. Posters These are made colourful to attract the attention of the people and convey the health messages to them. This is the easiest and cheapest way of disseminating information to the people. These are widely used by the healthcare professionals at hospital and community to provide health information to a small group of people. Films These are expensive and difficult to acquire. On the other hand are suitable to audience. Can convey intended health message to a large number of people in less time. Radio An important channel of providing health education. But health talks should not be too long. Television It is quite expensive at the beginning of establishment but after that it becomes the most effective channel as message can be delivered to huge number of people within short time. Health museums Can be effective. Health exhibition If it is well targeted and arranged properly then can attract and arouse large number of people. Telemedicine Difficult to implement but can reach to remote and rural population easily. Internet Easy and cheap way of communication. But less effective in a country with low literacy rate. (Babu S 2004. Review in community medicine; pg 181) Health Education: Health education programs related to behavioural change are considered as a mainstay of healthcare activity. The effect of these programs depends up on the nature of their intention and the way they are delivered (Whitehead Russel, 2004). Health education is a social science that draws from the medical, biological, physical, environmental and psychological sciences to prevent the onset of diseases and promote health through education driven behaviour changing activities. In other words, health education is the development of an individual or group or community health knowledge, skills and behaviour with the help of systemic strategies. Throughout this century health education has been an important element of action in prevention of diseases and promotion of health. Health campaigns to prevent communicable diseases, to promote maternal and child health, to promote immunization, to educate about family planning methods as well as its importance and other preventive health services have long history. Health education directed towards these goals in most of the developing countries remains an essential weapon in prevention of diseases and promotion of health (Nutbeam D, 2000). The main objective behind providing health education is to positively influence health related behaviour of the community and individuals. It also helps to influence living and working conditions that enhance their health. Health education is the process which includes activities like providing information, motivating and helping people to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles, advocates environmental variations that are required to facilitate this goal and conduct research and professional training (Baride Kulkarni, 1998). Health education is related to changes in feelings, knowledge and behaviour of people. It focuses on developing healthy lifestyles and believed to attend the best possible state of well being (Dharmalingam Ramchandram, 2001). It is the process carried through the active involvement of people targeted at initiation of healthy behaviour and knowing the peoples prejudices and practices that are determent to health for achieving the goal of health. A series of stages and people efforts by themselves are involved in the process of health education. Health education is an activity which may be required for each individual at any time. It is a continuous ongoing process of learning from others. Anyone who knows that what is necessary for the maintenance of good health can provide health education to the others by using proper communication channel and ideas. As health education has to do with health, it is very important to have wide and correct knowledge regarding health and diseases for disseminating or transmitting ideas for the purpose of developing necessary behaviour and attitude. In the process of health education theories and principles of education and learning are applied. Thats why a person who is trained properly for delivering healthcare is better fit to provide health education to the community. It doesnt mean that any person who is from non medical background cannot play a role of health educator but only indicates the importance of possession of correct and complete knowledge related to health, diseases and their application. As the main motto of health education is to change behaviour of the people, health educator must learn and cultivate skills to communicate, educate, involve and motivate them. Health educator should be known to theories of community organization as well as knowledge and principles of social psychology. Different planning models are used for the development of health education interventions. Public health models used in social medicine and epidemiology are slightly different from public health models used in health education. As stated by Kok and et al (1997), interventions of behaviour focused health promotion and health education are usually based on planning models of following type, Health problem Behaviour that is determinant of the problem Psychosocial and environmental determinants of behaviour Development and implementation of the intervention Evaluation Not only epidemiologic analysis but also a behavioural science approach to intervention implementation and psycho-social analysis is needed in this type of planning model. If behaviour is an important factor behind existence of health problem then it is necessary to analyze the determinants of the behaviour. These determinants may be environmental or psycho-social (emotional resistance, risk perception, perceived norms, knowledge etc.). Most of the times the focus is given only on individual behaviour but its important to target social as well as physical environment for health education interventions. Approaches to health education:- According to Tones (1986), there are three approaches to health education as follow, Traditional approach It focuses on individual. Its goal is to convince the individual to adopt needed lifestyle to prevent onset of diseases and hence reduce morbidity and mortality in the population. The reason behind this is; in the Western industrialized society the curative medicine cannot deal effectively with the contemporary burden of disease. And not only high technology is ineffective but also it is iatrogenic and expensive. Health education have major role in secondary as well as tertiary prevention apart from its potential for primary prevention. Another advantage of it is that it offers financial savings to the government by reducing the demands on health service. Philosophical approach According to this approach health education is concerned with freedom of choice and rationality. It states that only provision of information regarding health issues is not sufficient to bring behavioural change. To facilitate decision making is considered as the primary goal of health education irrespective of the nature of decision which might be made ultimately. The principle of voluntarism has been adopted by the Society of Public Health Educators of America in its code of ethics. Thus it can be argued that this model of health education has Official approval. Writers such as Green (1980) have consistently supported fostering informed health choices and protecting free will. This approach has its critics regarding the nature of genuine free choice. It is clear in many ways that freedom of choice can be limited. It is less apparent fact that an individuals capacity for making rational and voluntaristic choices can be reduced by particular kinds of socialization especially which occurs in the context of the culture of poverty. On the other hand, individuals have greater degree of genuine choice whose socialization has provided them with self empowering skills and experiences. In many instances freedom of choice is cut short manifestly by adverse social circumstances. It is therefore will be ineffective and unethical to educate people in such circumstances. Radical approach Nutbeam,d Health literacy as a public health goal: a challenge for contemporary health education and communication strategies into the 21st century , Health Promotion International, Vol. 15, No. 3, 259-267, September 2000 Steinberg, S (2007). An introduction to communication studies, Juta and co. Publication, Cape town. Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19-22 June, 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948.

The Five Main Sets of Value Paradigms :: Papers

The Five Main Sets of Value Paradigms According to the text there are 5 main sets of value paradigms: values from a perspective of traditional certainty, values from a perspective of post modern Relativism, values from an environmental perspective, the new-age perspective and values from an eclectic perspective. So lets examine that fundamentals of each paradigm to get a better view. The first and probably the most formal of all the paradigms is the perspective of traditional certainty. This set of values is more or less religious in nature, with the majority of its followers espousing monotheistic or one-God beliefs. Despite all the differences between the ideologies of monotheistic cultures, the one truth that holds constant is that of â€Å"divine order†. This cultural universal constant contends that everything has intrinsic value and therefore must be studied and protected. And out of the chaos that comes with our daily mundane existence, there will ultimately be a supreme order, which everything adheres to. The values of postmodern relativism on the other hand are completely different. This paradigm concentrates almost exclusively on the mundane and materialistic aspects of life. Postmodern relativism can be divided into two major parts: the pragmatic/weak form and the nihilistic/or strong form. In the pragmatic view, one’s main goal in life is to strive for all the luxuries that the world can offer and achieve personal happiness. A pragmatic believes that there is no ultimate reality, but chaos. But despite this seemingly bleak overview of the world, they still believe that we must strive to be decent and merciful to other people. To quote David Greegor â€Å"we must act as though we still believe in absolute values favoring a â€Å"good† in which we no longer believe†. According to the nihilistic or strong form of postmodern relativism there is no real meaning to anything. They espouse a sort of â€Å"anything goes attitude† wherein they believe whatever h appens happens and there is nothing more. According to this view, the world around us is just an illusion and the fundamental building blocks of all that is considered real, are in fact more real than the entities they make up. Ultimately a nihilistist’s fate will fall into the hands of entropy and once again turn toward chaos. Values from an environmental perspective are somewhat different from all the others mentioned here. The environmental perspective stresses that nature is a main source of many of the values we see everyday.

Essays by American Minorities Essay

1. The Age of White Guilt by: Shelby Steele In this essay written by African American Shelby Steele, he tells of the hard times of his people. He leads the reader through his experiences in the civil rights movement and compares the life of an African American in the 1960’s and one in the present day. He writes that African Americans today would have to use ever ounce of their intelligence and imagination to find reasons for them not to succeed in today’s society. He goes on to say that African Americans use the harm done for them in the past and try to use it as guilt for the white Americans. It goes on to explain the importance in fighting for a cause in a group and not breaking off as individuals. 2. I’m Black, your white, who’s innocent? By: Shelby Steele In this essay by Shelby Steele, he tells about the inequality of blacks even in today’s society. I think it also shows the tenderness in the subject of racism and inequality even today. He also writes of how he used to use white liability against white Americans and how it gave him much guilt. He also tells how young African Americans still blame racial problems to be the motivation of many things done by African Americans. He says that an African American that points out white shame is showing power and that when whites respond with silence that that is also a gesture of power. He ends with saying that that whites and blacks truly fear the sacrifices that come with total racial harmony. 3. I hated Tonto by: Sherman Alexie In this essay written by Native American Sherman Alexie, he points out the racial stereotypes that accompany the Native Americans that were given to them by America and the rest of the world. He tells of how he used to accept the racial stereotypes of his people when he was a kid but now he understands how embarrassing the stereotypes were. 4. Why don’t we complain by: William Buckley This essay by William Buckley tells of the difficulties of society and how, instead of taking action when we are mistreated, we just stand by and let the violators have their way. It also tells of how people often wait on others to take action instead on doing so themselves. He says this is because we are afraid to make our voices heard and afraid that someone will get their feelings hurt. He also says that when we do complain, we shouldn’t do so in a calm voice like you are scared but in a bold, demanding voice that lets the person know that you mean business. He says that Americans are not comfortable taking actions in difficult situations because we live in an age of technology where we rely on machines and computers to do things for us, but in earlier times, if we needed something we got up and did it. 5. Just Walk on By by: Brent Staples This essay written by Brent Staples tells of the first time the author experienced a negative reaction from someone just because he was black. He tells of how he noticed signs of fear when people saw him and realized that most of Chicago’s rapists and muggers were black and that his appearance could cause fear. He tells of how society tells us that we should be tough and shouldn’t back down and how some young men take this literally and get into trouble. Essays on the Use and Power of English 1. Politics in the English Language by: George Orwell This essay written by George Orwell tells of the inaccurate and misuse of the English language in today’s society. He says that instead of â€Å"foolish thoughts† coming from language, language comes from foolish thoughts. He also says that metaphors and other types of figurative language used today do not lead to concrete ideas. He says that vagueness is the most common characteristic of the English language. 2. How English is Evolving into a Language we might not understand by: Michael Erard This essay by Michael Erard tells of how the English language is being used in many other countries including China but is not being thoroughly explained which leads to misuse of words and different pronunciations. He tells of how China and other Asian countries are making changes to the languages such as pronunciation of vowels and words. He also says that Asians will introduce tone to the English language which means if a word is pronounced with a different tone it means a different word. He tells the reader that there is nothing wrong with the language and it is just as proper as any other English and that it might even be more efficient. 3. Do Our Writers Abuse the English Language? by: Dr. Rossiter Johnson This essay written by Dr. Rossiter Johnson tells of the criticism from our cousins the English against American writers. It tells of how the British criticism is accompanied by their idea of our ignorance. It tells that the British believe that there is no way that American writers can possibly improve when it comes to proper use of the English language. Johnson then points out some British writers that have misused the language such as Grey and Dean Alford. He tells of the words of Sydney Smith, a British critic that said who reads American books? Who goes to an American play? Who looks at an American picture or statue? Who sleeps in American blankets? What do we owe to American surgeons and physicians? He responds to these words by telling of how Americans have surpassed these accomplishments and have proved Smith wrong. 4. Importance of English in India by: Rajesh Mohan. This essay by Rajesh Mohan is about the role of the English language in India and how it is the language that bonds all the other languages together in the Indian sub continent. The reason English bonds these regions together is because everyone understands it and so that makes it a common language to everyone. It also tells of how English is good for countries who are trying to expand and grow and that Indians recommend other countries to learn English. 5. How English Became a Global Language by: Jennifer Claerr This essay by Jennifer Claerr tells how English has become one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world. She says it is mostly because of its effectiveness. She says that the other reason the world is comfortable with English is because it uses a Romanic alphabet which is easier for Easterners to grasp than other alphabets. The English language is used heavily in television, movies, products, ads, and everything else that many non native speakers feel that they should learn it. So in conclusion this is the reason that English has over 1 billion speakers both native and non native.

Summary Of The Declaration Of Independence By Daniel...

Inalienable Right to Choice in Life John Stuart Mills, a 19th century utilitarian, formulated an argument that helped to explain the idea of the inalienable right to liberty written about in the Declaration of Independence. Daniel Callahan reformulated this argument making it into an explanation of the inalienable right to life rather than liberty, using the same idea in the premises. Callahan’s argument concludes that the right to life and the right to commit suicide are not compatible, therefore euthanasia is not permissible without the right to suicide. However, I believe that this is not the case and in this paper my goal is to prove that because of misunderstood terminology, the right to life and the right to choose death are, in fact, completely compatible. To understand my objection in this paper, both Callahan’s and Mill’s argument must be completely understood. According to Callahan, his reformulated argument begins with the premise that people have the inalienable right to life. This correlates with Mill’s first premise that people have the inalienable right to liberty. For the sake of the argument, Callahan then throws in the possibility that people have the right to suicide. For people to be able to have the right to suicide, then they must be able to surrender their right to life, but Callahan compares this to Mill’s argument about people trying to surrender their right to freedom. Mill’s claims that for someone to be able to give up or transfer theirShow MoreRelatedDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesWhat Are Management Skills? 9 Improving Management Skills 12 An Approach to Skill Development 13 Leadership and Management 16 Contents of the Book 18 Organization of the Boo k 19 Practice and Application 21 Diversity and Individual Differences 21 Summary 23 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 24 Diagnostic Survey and Exercises 24 Personal Assessment of Management Skills (PAMS) 24 What Does It Take to Be an Effective Manager? 28 SSS Software In-Basket Exercise 30 SCORING KEY AND COMPARISON DATA 42 Personal Assessment