Court Issues Analysis Essay

In discussions regarding court system issues, most tend to forget that crimes would not happen if there were proper societal values in place and those values were enforced. Society has shifted from a culture of marriage, family values and strong familiar bonds to a culture that cultivates a staggering divorce rate, single mothers with many children born out of wedlock with little to no income. A culture that is has no patriarchal figure to lead and teach the children right from wrong aids and abets a systematic control of the poor and minorities. Instead of encouraging the pursuit of education, society encourages the pursuit of false hope and dreams through get rich quick methods that essentially remove the rights of those who chose to pursue criminal behavior. Most are imprisoned due to criminal activity and having no fatherhood figure themselves, there is no sense of value to one’s life. This loss of the father figure not living in the home, especially in the African America n and Hispanic communities, has a negative outcome not only in the community, but on society as a whole. Without the complete family unit to provide guidance, encourage the children to stay in school and avoid criminal activity, or to become a productive member of society; then our court systems will continue to provide severe punishment for minor crimes and negative social behaviors when the court should offer solutions to preventative crime and supportive services to those families whose members are involved in the vicious cycle of incarceration. Victims’ assistance programs should also support the families of the criminal, as well as the providing treatment programs and assistance to those. The majority of innovation and changes made to the court system over the past 30 years have been tested and administered in urban locales or focused on suburban jurisdictions, where a bulk of the financial resources are given due to the larger population. Rural areas tend to have much larger geographic locales, smaller populations and limited legal, social and health services to assist the general public; this can provide a challenge for rural courts. With the lack of specialized justice practitioners and service providers, rural court jurisdictions tend to work closer with the community when handing out sentencing and punishment. Research conducted by the Justice Management Institute suggests six areas where the criminal justice system needs improvement, after some review I have combined them into the four topics below. Improvement of Court Practices and Procedures for Indigent Litigants The first thing the courts need to work on is improving practices and procedures for self-represented defendants. This includes proper caseload management, administrative management techniques that are informative and efficient so that no cases or indigent defendants become ‘lost’ within the incarceration process and are given the right to due process. In order for the aforementioned to work there would have to be an upgrade to the current indigent defense services that are available to defendants. This includes public defenders that are compensated with good salaries and other support needed to manage caseloads; making them more prepared to battle for their client’s freedom instead of plea-bargaining an agreement. One change that should be made is the building of informative websites that provide information about the court system and the types of cases that are handled by jurisdiction. Providing the public with listings of case statuses and docket information can be helpful for pro bono attorney looking for clients to represent, and having detailed information and the proper forms that would be needed for a person to represent oneself in court; can help disperse the caseload. The development of performance standards and methods for supervising attorneys, assigned counsel, and court officials will ensure that courtroom behavior is ethical and in favor of the defendants. Enhanced Technology and Information Management The enhancement of technology is another area of concern regarding court administration today. Modernization of older court buildings with upgrades to newer security features, such as video cameras and weapon detection systems, can offer a greater sense of security for the public and those involved in the court process. The employment of properly trained security guards, who are rehearsed in threat assessment, will ensure that future security officers are able to handle any crisis that may occur. This includes the effective use of communication equipment, proper weapons training and new technologies that are implemented. The employing of degreed peace officers as administrative staff, who have a working knowledge of security systems and policing; that are familiar with the software used, and any hardware that is required to provide a safe court environment, ensures that security processes and procedures will be followed. Storing of information is important when building databases to control the flow of information within the court system and making sure that information is secure, obtainable and available to all jurisdictions is not only beneficial in the court process but should be a priority to ensure that the system does not become overloaded. This includes the creation and updating of all proper forms, documentation, and the incorporation of any digital media that is needed to complete the judiciary process; plus the technical support and communication infrastructure to manage all the information. Finally, the proper training for court staff on how to access all information, customer service in providing the appropriate assistance and the relaying of proper information to the public and for all justice system practitioners and service providers. Web based education is a consistent way to ensure that all court personnel receive the same standard of training in core subjects. Greater Availability of Community Programs Having readily available resources to provide those who have addiction problems or commit crimes due to addiction, such as inpatient/outpatient programs, drug court and probation programs that teach recovery and coping skills, and providing transportation vouchers to those defendants who do not own or have vehicles. Although some courts have drug courts, the establishment of a mental health court could substantially help with caseload. With qualified treatment providers and caseworkers who are educated in mental illness (with or without drug abuse training) can provide information to the court through home visits, doctor office visits, and the tracking of those individuals who are required to be on medication and in treatment programs while on probation, thus being able to use the information gathered to forecast defendants whose criminal actions are due to some sort of mental illness. Overcoming Language Barriers Providing improved court interpreter services through technology will allow for greater range of court interpreter services. Language barriers are one of the biggest issues with the illegal immigrant population. It is imperative that court system recruit interpreters who are fluent in many languages, so that those who do not have a good command of the law are able to understand what crime has been committed and the punishment for that action, why that particular action is a crime, and to ensure that they understand the court process in relation to their rights. Judges, attorneys and client representative should also be trained in several languages or be given access to a competent interpreter so that nothing can be lost in translation. Through the use of technology, such as Skype, court interpreters can instruct, educate and disseminate information so that those who do not understand will have some comprehension of the resources available to them and the sentencing/punishment that is handed down. References Robinson, M. B. (2009). Justice blind? Ideals and realities of American criminal justice (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Extended Kalman Filter Model for Gps and Indoor Positioning System

Extended Kalman Filter Model for GPS and Indoor Positioning System Long Kam-Kim Department of Telecommunications Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering HCM City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Tuan Do-Hong Department of Telecommunications Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering HCM City University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Abstract – Object positioning is an old subject. It’s being used more and more in many areas, especially in military, traffic, social security and civil services.The most popular positioning system in the world is Global Positioning System (GPS). However, GPS has limited degree of accuracy for low priority users. This paper proposes a solution for solving these limitations by using Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). Moreover, GPS is almost invalid in indoor environments. The paper also introduces an indoor positioning system model based on GPS ideology and EKF algorithm. Beca use of the similarity in ideology, it’s easier for handoff procedure between outdoor and indoor environments and brings back the spatial continuous in positioning.The simulation results show that with the EKF, the accuracy of positioning is improved significantly in both outdoor and indoor environments. Keywords- GPS, Kalman filter, RFID, RSSI, EKF, indoor positioning. I. INTRODUCTION II. EKF MODEL FOR GPS Generally, Kalman algorithm is a group of mathematical equations described an efficient recurrence method for state estimation of process that it is optimal in the sense that it minimizes the estimated error covariance, when some presumed conditions are met [2]. EKF is an extension of Kalman filter for non-linear systems.A. Global Positioning System (GPS) In order to positioning, it requested that user’s receivers get signals from at least 4 GPS satellites. Distances between user and satellites are determined by using pseudorange code. At the same time, satellites an d receiver transmit a same pseudorange code. Because of propagation delay, signal received from satellites have phases delay than signal of receiver. By compared their phase, the distances can calculate. This method is called Time of Arrival (TOA). [1] B. Problem ExpressionPositioning based on GPS is affected by many noise sources, such as propagated errors, satellite and receiver caused errors, other errors from Selective Availability, dilution of precision, interference etc [1]. Several techniques are used to improve the accuracy of positioning in GPS, for example, DGPS (Differential GPS), Smart Antenna, Kalman Filter etc. This paper focuses on Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) solution, in order to introduce one way to model GPS system and sources of error. Nowadays, positioning applications in indoor environment are being extended.Especially, it becomes necessary in tunnels, supper huge plants, very high buildings, etc. The paper introduces a kind of Indoor Positioning System based o n GPS’s ideology and using EKF algorithm to help this system improve the accuracy of positioning. Assume that GPS system is tracking a mobile object. It is a uniform speed motion in 3D space with attendance of random acceleration events. GPS receiver puts on object updates its position continuously. However, the location is affected by measurement noises and propagation noises.Therefore, the calculating position and the real position are different. In order to improve the accuracy of position, we use EKF to model system and noises so that it diminishes the effect of noises. C. Modeling of system Defining the sate vector of system as follow: ? RX ( n ) ? ? RY ( n ) ? ? ? ? RZ ( n ) ? X (n) = ? ? ? VX ( n ) ? ?VY ( n ) ? ? ? ?VZ ( n ) ? where RX(n),RY(n),RZ(n) are coordinates of user at nth sample, VX(n), VY(n), VZ(n)) are x, y, z – components of user’s velocity at nth sample.Following [3], the characteristic equations for system can be extended as RX(n+1) = RX(n) + VX(n)T + ax(n)T 2 RY(n+1) = RY(n) + VY(n)T + ay(n)T 2 RZ(n+1) = RZ(n) + VZ(n)T + az(n)T 2 VX(n+1) = VX(n) + ax(n)T VY(n+1) = VY(n) + ay(n)T VZ(n+1) = VZ(n) + az(n)T (1) (2) (3) (4) where VX(n), VY(n), VZ(n)) are x, y, z – components of user’s velocity at nth sample, bf = ? bu/? t, dPRi is called delta-pseudorange correlated with user and ith satellite. [4] In order to reducing effect of errors, the EKF is used to model state noise vectors and measurement noise vectors.After characteristic matrixes are calculated, EKF iteration loops are started. The EKF algorithm will calculate estimation of the state vector by minimizing the estimated error covariance (between estimated values and real values). D. Simulation results for outdoor-EKF GPS Data for simulation on Matlab7. 8. 0(R2009a) †¢ †¢ †¢ User’s initial velocity: (3,6,2) meters/second Sampling rate: 1000 samples/second Iteration steps: 500 Process noise vector: W = 5* NORMRND (0, 500, 3, 1) Pr ocess noise variance: Q = 50* eye (3) Measurement noise vector: V = 5 * NORMRND (0, 500, 2, 1) Measurement noise variance: R = 50 * eye (2) (5) (6) here ax(n), ay(n), az(n) represent acceleration events at nth sample ( it is referred to state noises or process noises). According to [4], User’s positions are determined base on distances between user and four satellites. PRi= +bu, i=1,2,3,4 (7) †¢ Fig. 1 shows the simulation results for Lagrange iteration and EKF iteration compared with the true position values. In geographic coordinates, PRi is the distance between the user and the ith satellite, (SXi,SYi,SZi) are coordinates of ith satellite, (RX,RY,RZ) are coordinates of the user; bu=c. t with t is receiver clock offset compared to GPS time and c is the speed of light.PRis are determined by GPS’s receiver. Coordinates of satellites are obtained by decoding satellite report, while (RX, RY, RZ) and bu are unknowns. With system of equations (7) above, the root [RX,R Y,RZ,bu,] can be calculated by using Lagrange iteration [4]. However, measurement values PRi are affected by noises (measurement noises). Therefore the root of system of equations is not accuracy. After differentiating equations (7), we obtain dPRi = (RX ? SXi)? RX + (RY ? SYi)? RY + (RZ ? SZi)? RZ (RX ? SXi)2 + (RY ? SYi)2 + (RZ ? SZi)2 + ? bu = (RX ? SXi). VRX +(RY ? SYi). VRY +(RZ ?SZi). VRZ +bf PRi ? bu Figure 1. Simulate tracking User’s trajectory in outdoor environment (8) In Fig. 1, red curve simulates user’s motion,Green curve simulates calculated trajectory of user receiver without EKF, blue curve simulates calculated trajectory of user receiver in EKF model. Based on GPS’s ideology, this paper introduces an indoor positioning model using EKF, called Indoor-EKF GPS. Indoor-EKF GPS is hoped that it makes over easier with GPS, in such a way, we just use a handle equipment to keep the continuous positioning while moving between indooroutdoor environments.I n Fig. 3, an arranged system of equipments in space can be recognized as pseudo-satellites. Indoor spaces are complicated environments for wave propagation. Distances between user and pseudo-satellites cannot be determined using TOA technique like in outdoor GPS. Here, TOA technique is replaced by RSS (Received Signal Strength) technique. This technique measures the path loss and calculates the distance between source and receiver. Figure 2. Errors in outdoor positioning. Red points: positioning errors without EKF. Green points: positioning errors in EKF model.Comments on simulation results: †¢ The maximum error is about 5 meters in case using EKF model, whereas 25 meters in case without EKF. Trajectory of user receiver in EKF model is closer to trajectory of user’s motion than trajectory of user receiver without EKF. The average estimation error of EKF is very small than without EKF case. However, several points in curve are under suddenly changing errors. Figure 3. Ind oor positioning system. †¢ According to IEEE 802. 11 recommended channel model, the relation between free space path loss and distance d in breakpoint radius is given by [5] LFS(d) = L0 + 10? 1lg(d), 0 < d ? BP (9) †¢ According to the result, it shows that the positioning errors are reduced significantly. III. A. INDOOR POSITIONING SYSTEM where ? 1 is called distance-power-gradient up to breakpoint distance dBP, Lo represents the path loss in decibels at one meter distance. The overall path los for any distance is modeled as [5] Indoor-EKF GPS Recent years, indoor environment has been extended so that indoor positioning demands are extended, too. Furthermore, it becomes necessary in tunnels, supper huge plants, very high buildings etc, and giving convenient for absent minder when household equipments are positioning.However, GPS is almost invalid in indoor environment. The reason is that GPS signal has low power. Even GPS signal can be received, the error positioning of GP S is not appropriate with Indoor applications. ?LFS (d ) +W, d ? dBP ? L(d ) = ? ? d ? ?LFS (dBP ) +10? 2 lg ? d ? +W, d > dBP ? BP ? ? (10) where ? 2 is distance-power-gradient over break-point distance dBP. It’s required at least four distances form user to pseudosatellites are determined for calculating the user’s coordinates. Fig. 4 shows calculation process for user position. Figure 6. The second model. Figure 4. User’s coordinates calculation.B. In the next section, the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology will be used to implement this system. There are two implementation models: The first model: (Fig. 5) The RFID active chips are pseudo-satellites, and readers will be used as GPS’s receivers. Modeling of system Definition of the sate vector and the characteristic equations for system are similar with outdoor case above. However, because of difference on distances calculating method, equation (7) and equation (8) are not used here. This equation below is replaced equation (7) LPi=L0 + 10? lg (di) , i=1? 4 (11) here di is distance between user and ith pseudo-satellite, LPi is value of path loss on distance di. W appears as representative of noises and interferences. Here, we assume that it is Gaussian distribution, ? is distance-power-gradient (we have not examined its change yet. Here, we assume that it is constant). After differentiating equations (11), we obtain dLPi = Figure 5. The first model. 10? ( RX ? SRXi ). VX + ( RY ? SRYi). VY + ( RZ ? SRZi). VZ . ln10 di 2 + ? Wi , i=1,2,3,4 (12) The RFID active chips will transmit these data to readers: †¢ †¢ †¢ The chip’s coordinates (in local coordinates) and its identification.The nominal value of transmitting power. The parameters in IEEE 802. 11 that supporting to correct distance measurements in each specific environment. where (SXi,SYi,SZi) are coordinates of ith pseudo-satellite, (RX,RY,RZ)are coordinates of the user, VX, VY, VZ are x, y, z – components of user’s velocity, dLPi means the variation of path loss on distance di . We imply that the values are taken at nth sample. C. Simulation results for indoor-EKF GPS Data for simulation on Matlab7. 8. 0(R2009a) The second model: (Fig. 8) The RFID active chips will be attached to users. Users will move in space that arranged with RFID readers.These readers will be connected to data fusion center. This center will determine user’s coordinates and send the result to user’s receiver by other channel link. †¢ †¢ †¢ User’s initial velocity: (1,2,1) meters/second Sampling rate: 1000 samples/second Iteration steps: 500 Process noise vector: W = 5* NORMRND (0, 120, 3, 1) Process noise variance: Q = 50* eye (3) †¢ Measurement noise vector: V = 5 * NORMRND (0, 0. 4, 2, 1) Measurement noise variance: R = eye (8) This simulation was repeated 100 times. †¢ The maximum error is about 0. 5 meters in case using EKF model, wh ereas 4. 5 meters in case without EKF.Trajectory of user receiver in EKF model is not closed to trajectory of user’s motion correlative with appreciably positioning error. However the error reduces very quickly by exponential curve. The average estimation error of EKF is very small than without EKF case. However, several points in curve are under suddenly changing errors. IV. CONCLUSION Fig. 7 shows the simulation results for Newton iteration and EKF iteration compared with the true position values. †¢ †¢ In positioning systems, the accuracy of positioning is very important. It must be appropriated with the positioning applications.The paper recommends one way to improve the accuracy of positioning using the EKF. The results of simulations show that the EKF reduce effect of noises on the accuracy of positioning significantly in both outdoor and indoor positioning systems. The Indoor-EKF GPS system is a suggestion model for the future indoor positioning. It is easy f or implementation and expansion, since RFID is very popular and cheap today. Moreover, the Indoor-EKF GPS system has the same structure with GPS system, wherefore the handle equipment can be designed to keep the continuous positioning while moving between indoor-outdoor environments.REFERENCES [1]. Ahmed EI-Rabbany, â€Å"Introduction to GPS†, Artech House, Inc, ISBN 1-58053-183-0, 2002, pp. 13-25,2741. [2]. Grey Welch and Gary Bishop, â€Å"An introduction to the Kalman filter†, Technical Report TR 95-041, 2001. [3]. Jorge Quijano, â€Å"Estimation of the position of a moving target using Extended Kalman Filter†,term paper for the class ECE 510 Statistical Signal Processing, winter 2006. [4]. James Bao-Yen TSui, â€Å"Fundamentals of Global Positioning System Receivers: A Software Approach†, John Wiley & Sons , Inc, ISBN 0-471-20054-9, 2000, pp. 9-15, 230-231. [5].Ahmad Hatami, â€Å"Application of Channel Modeling for Indoor Location Using TOA and RSSà ¢â‚¬ , PhD Thesis, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2006, pp. 14-19. Figure 8. Errors in indoor positioning. Figure 7. Simulate tracking User’s trajectory in indoor environment. In Fig. 7, red curve simulates user’s motion, green curve simulates calculated trajectory of user receiver without EKF, blue curve simulates calculated trajectory of user receiver in EKF model. Red points: positioning errors without EKF. Green points: positioning errors in EKF model. Comments on simulation results:

Education of Women and Girls Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Education of Women and Girls - Research Paper Example From the discussion it is clear that  80 percent of out-of-school girls in Yemen and 62 percent in Pakistan are unlikely even to enter school, compared with 36 percent of boys in Yemen and 27 percent in Pakistan. The situation is the most dramatic in sub-Saharan Africa, where 12 million girls are unlikely to enroll. In 2007, eighteen sub-Saharan countries had the gender parity index (GPI) of less than 0,90, which meant that they had not achieved the goal of gender parity in primary schooling, set by UNESCO for 2005.  This paper discusses that  there is a strong inverse relation between gender parity and school enrolment; in poor countries with a low enrolment ratio there is usually a large disparity between boys and girls out-of-school. Thus, several developing countries have included strategies to reach gender parity as part of their wider policies aimed to provide all children with universal primary education. The policy measures introduced in Yemen to increase the gender par ity index contributed significantly to the increase in enrolment from 2.3 million in 1999 to 3.2 million in 2005. The interventions targeted at out-of-school girls, such as providing girls in grades 1 to 6 with free textbooks and employing more female teachers in rural areas, enabled many girls to enroll, which lead to an increased number of all school children. Due to security concerns and household labor demands, few parents decide to enroll their daughters in schools far away from home.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of The System Of Trial By Jury Essay

Advantages And Disadvantages Of The System Of Trial By Jury - Essay Example Another reason behind having trials by jury is to protect the liberty of the accused – because crime is not only a legal subject, it is also social hence, it is important to ensure that the society also renders a certain act as a crime. The advantages of jury trial are numerous. First, it injects in insensitive system an element of humanity: the abstract impersonal trials become closer to reality with the inclusion of law people who judge only on the basis of social conscience, rather than stricto-senso law. This helps in decreasing the undue influence exerted by legal professionals in the adversarial system as Britain who tend to conduct business on strictly legal terms without paying heed to the opinion of the lay majority. Secondly, trial by jury is a manifestation of the right of an accused to be judged his own peers and hence this is also an expression of his liberty. According to Devlin (1956)1 ‘trial by jury is more than an instrument of justice and more than the wheel of constitution; it is a lamp that shows freedom lives’. Therefore, trial by jury is an inherent right of an individual that opens one path for him to ensure that he gets a fair trial. Thirdly, trial by jury is reflective of contemporary social conditions and that helps the defendant in his fair trial. Also, the secret deliberations of the jury members in the jury room after which they arrive at certain verdicts are helpful because they are free from any outside influence; any investigation or interrogation is not allowed into how jury members reached a certain verdict. This helps the jurors to decide on a suitable verdict independently free from any pressure, or remorse from any party. This also ensures that no media intervention is... The advantages of jury trial are numerous. It injects in the insensitive system an element of humanity: the abstract impersonal trials become closer to reality with the inclusion of law people who judge only on the basis of social conscience. This helps in decreasing the undue influence exerted by legal professionals in the adversarial system as Britain who tend to conduct business on strictly legal terms without paying heed to the opinion of the lay majority. Trial by jury is a manifestation of the right of an accused to be judged his own peers and hence this is also an expression of his liberty. According to Devlin ‘trial by jury is more than an instrument of justice and more than the wheel of the constitution; it is a lamp that shows freedom lives’. Trial by jury is an inherent right of an individual that opens one path for him to ensure that he gets a fair trial. Thirdly, trial by jury is reflective of contemporary social conditions and that helps the defendant in his fair trial. Also, the secret deliberations of the jury members in the jury room after which they arrive at certain verdicts are helpful because they are free from any outside influence; any investigation or interrogation is not allowed into how jury members reached a certain verdict. This helps the jurors to decide on a suitable verdict independently free from any pressure, or remorse from any party. This also ensures that no media intervention is allowed in the jurors’ room and hence, all the jurors can decide in an impartial and fair way.

Free writing journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Free writing journal - Essay Example It is a normal thing as we are similar or different from each other. But it is not easy to understand and accept that the large gap between the upper class and the lower class has negative results. It increases discrimination. It increases a negative acceptance of things, which would limit the skills and capabilities of individuals. Who would want to work hard when you know that no matter how much you work, you will always be at the bottom end of the scale? Sylvia may symbolize the social resistance existing within the society. But a single person or group’s effort is not enough. There should be a large social movement to create changes in the society. Isn’t it sad to see that the upper class has access to things that lower class do not have? Education, medicine, leisure. These are things that the upper class have more access to than lower class. Since they have the money, they can go to school without needing to skip classes almost everyday, or having to stop schooling for a year or two to save up for your education. Because they have the money, they can seek medical help whenever they’re not feeling well, even if it is just a simple headache. They also have more time to relax, and they can even go places, because they have the means. Those in the lower class have less means to have an education, less access to medical help and very little time for leisure. Why? Because they don’t have the money, and they h ave to keep on working just to sustain their daily

Research report Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Report - Research Paper Example strategy plan for a Spanish based engineering company, which would aid it in entering into new business markets and likewise expand business (DPCDSB, 2015). The company is a renowned engineering company of Spain, which is operating in excess of 40 years. The company is highly experienced in electrical installations, industrial building, cooling, ventilating and heating. Moreover, the company is also engaged in producing fire fighting equipments, piping of chemicals and various liquid products, petroleum storage products as well as various types of foundations and structures. The company possesses an in-depth knowledge and experiences about various industrial sectors including oil, chemicals, food and beverage, plastic transformation, ceramic and iron and steel industries. In order to operate in the competing environment, it becomes necessary for the company to acquire detailed information regarding the market that would help in ensuring long-term sustainability and most vitally acquiring a better scope of market expansion opportunity. Since it is an engineering company, it has been able to acquire various technical as well as regulatory aspects of engineering that are of high demand in Spain. However, the company deals in various areas that include: The mission of the company is to acquire leadership position in the management as well as development of infrastructure along with other services. Apart from this, the company intends to create value for the stakeholders and at the same time focus on making greater level of sustainable development (Enterprise Canada Network, 2015). However, the vision of the company is to overcome various challenges of making sustainable development in the business activities in order to provide a better life for the present and future generation people (Enterprise Canada Network, 2015). The primary organizational goal of the company is to provide premium quality services to the customers through an effective customer support that

Ethics in Business & Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethics in Business & Society - Essay Example Ms. Patricia Dunn actually wanted to discover who (was the culprit) provided secret information to the personnel associated with print and internet media (Wall Street Journal). The paper will first throw light over the business case and will then demonstrate the ethical considerations by analysing Consequentialist and Deontological theories of business ethics. Hewlett Packard (HP), which is an American multinational corporation, has been involved in global business of computer products, accessories, instruments and information technology equipments that facilitate in communication, networking, office work and record keeping of business operations. Indeed, HP competes with Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Apple, IBM and other supranational corporations, yet it has achieved the milestone of over $100 billion sales in a year. This is the evidence that products offered by HP are widely acceptable among customers who demand credibility, security, durability and optimal quality for money they spend on goods and services. The global producer and international giant is specialised in manufacturing, production, assembling and marketing of various hardware equipments and software programs for its large pool of actual and potential buyers that appreciate and endorse the ideas and market offerings of Hewlett Packard (HP). Personal computers, laptops and notebook s, computer accessories, peripheral devices such as scanners, external storage devices, variety of printers including desktop, laser, ink jet and large plotters etc, home servers, monitors, calculators, handhelds (Personal Digital Assistants) and computer maintenance services are among the major products offered by HP to consumers worldwide. It should be pointed out that Ms. Patricia Dunn discovered about information leaks when CNET, which is a famous online technology publisher, openly published a story about upcoming HP products,

Xeriscape Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Xeriscape - Essay Example Yesterday I interviewed a neighbor who has a green lawn in front of her house. My first question was to inquire whether she knew about xeriscape. Surprisingly, she had heard about it but did not have any idea of what it pertained. From her opinion, xeriscape was a garden with cactus and rocks over it. This is the reason she preferred green lawn to xeriscape. The argument used here is deductive reasoning based on the general statement. Some people still think that xeriscape must resemble either death valley with bone-dry and filled with cacti or ugly looking plant. This is not the case, but can be as refreshing as an oasis. Besides that, some of the native plants have unique and attractive color, which can make the entire garden appear beautiful and lively. In addition, the neighbor thought that the xeriscape would be complex to take care because of the plants planted around the yard as compared to green lawns, which do not have plants. Still, the argument in here is deductive reasoning based on faulty conclusion. In reality, green lawns are more complex to maintain and expensive than xeriscape. Even though the plants in xeriscape make it appear complex, it is ease it to maintain. This is because unlike green lawns, xeriscape does not require sprinkle system, grass cutting, and saves a lot of water. It is most applicable to those people with limited time to care for heir garden. More time is consumed in maintaining green lawns, as it requires grass cutting monthly to maintain its appearance. The sprinkle systems used in green lawns consume a lot of water. From the lady’s perception, xeriscape would not match with the Los Angeles climate. Surprisingly, from her idea that xeriscape resembles cactus, she thought that people would laugh at her, and criticize her of living in a desert where cactus are grown. The argument used in coming up with this thought is stereotype. Exhibited in real life, numerous plants can be planted

Sneak up dance song for native American Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sneak up dance song for native American - Essay Example The third version is the enactment of a warrior in battle, who searches for a wounded friend, finds him and brings him to safety. The sneak-up dance or scout dance is performed only by men. The accompanying songs support the theme of the dance and help to teach young boys how to surprise prey or an enemy. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the traditional Sneak-Up dance and songs that are unique to the Native Americans. The Sneak-Up Dance and Song The Europeans colonizing the North American continent forcefully dispersed native American groups from their original homelands to reservations or cities. This dispersal endangered many traditional rituals, dances and ceremonies of native Indians. Drumming and singing ensembles of native Americans include leader-chorus songs, unison chorus songs, and multipart songs. A singer must have a strong, wide-ranging voice and the ability to sing with others. Native American songs as well as a variety of musical instrument s including different types of rattles serve to complete the dances. However, the most important instrument is the drum for the majority of native Americans. â€Å"Every native culture has its own varied and distinctive ways of making music† (Birchfield 416). While native language carries the melody in some songs, other songs use vowel sounds such as ya, hey, hi, and lay.

Multinational Business of Kuwait Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Multinational Business of Kuwait - Case Study Example Economic standing of Kuwait has been progressing well in the recent past despite various environmental and internal challenges that threaten its GDP. Currently, the nation’s income per capita has increased by 1% while the GDP level has also recorded a growth of 7%. Kuwait is a vast land that has the potential for growth if proper economic modalities are put in place by the authorities. The country’s resource base can sustain its citizens. This is evident in the immense potential in the agricultural sector, the business field and its rising labor force (Ghemawat, 2001). The initiation of viable trade, political, social and cultural policies has enabled the country to record significant growth in its per capita income levels and GDP standards. The policies are to eradicate the distance dimensions or factors that influence performance. Kuwait’s economic geography is bound to record an upward growth trend or expansion especially with the mitigation plans that are und er formulation to avert the effects of the dimensional factors. The dimensions that include cultural practices, economic implications, social and political issues must be addressed by an economy that seeks to meet its target (Ghemawat, 2001). The country's Dimensions of Distance Economic growth in Kuwait is dependent on the major factors that influence performance and production. The factors that hold the capacity of stalling or propelling economic performance are integral in enhancing per capita income in the country (Khanna & Sinha, 2005). Authorities in Kuwait recognize the need for the development of viable performance measures to trade barriers and unwarranted economic bottlenecks that seek to impede the flow of production. Modalities are being crafted to streamline economic activities that include agriculture and business operations. This is critical because the country’s economy is financed by agricultural activities and international business. The policies are to help in eradicating trade barriers and other distant factors that affect growth in the nation. The dimensions that include cultural practices, economic implications, social and political issues hold far-reaching effects on the economy. According to Khanna and Sinha (2005), the country’s international business operations have been affected by the cost implications and risks that result from barriers that are created by distant factors. He stated that the distant factors do not expressly refer to the geographical difference but they are the major dimensions that influence economic growth. Economic element is a dimension that affects business operations and various income-generating activities in Kuwait. The nation is described as a small economy with two major GDP financiers that are under-exploited. The under exploitation is due to inadequate resource capacity that hinders the adoption of modern technological setups for production. Although the nation’s GDP has recorded sig nificant percentage growth, the increase is not adequate to steer the expansion plans that are expected in the agricultural and business sectors (Khanna & Sinha, 2005). This may further harm the nation’s performance if amicable solutions are not realized.

Finding Forrester Essay Example for Free

Finding Forrester Essay As we all go through life, things may happen during our lives, big or small, that can affect yourself or others in different ways. In Finding Forrester an average sixteen year old boy is going through his life with some obstacles, and he carries them through very well. He is a very intelligent and gifted student that was helped along the way and as well as helping another person on their way too. Jamal Wallace, coming from the playground on the streets, gets accepted to attend Mailor- Callow, not only for his skills on the basketball court, but also for being a gifted student. Jamal loves to write and read books, but never has any serious help in that area. While just going along with his life as the average student, he is very talented on the basketball court-Until he meets an older man by the name of William Forrester. William is a very talented writer who is famous, but hiding from the world. William Forrester is a man hidden from the world just as Jamal’s intellectually gifted ability was. William’s a well-known professional writer, but does not get out or publish books anymore. He stays hidden and away from the world as much as possible; and doesn’t want anybody to know where he lives or that he is still around, as he likes to stay recluse. But Jamal comes along, it all changes slowly but surely. William and Jamal come together by writing when William helps him out at random with a paper and notes of William. So William did help with Jamal’s work and writing under certain circumstances. Jamal is not to let anybody know where Forrester lives or to ask questions about his personal life. They learn a lot from one another from writing and proof reading, yet being two opposite people. Jamal and William grow closer together through time and Jamal talks William into going out with him to a basketball game since he has not been out in so long, but William has an anxiety attack from this. So they leave and Jamal takes him to the Yankee Stadium as a great surprise. After that, William opens up to him, telling him about his life and why he is the way he is today, and all he is gone through that has affected him today. After that, William gives him essays of his own to help Jamal write his own as long as he didn’t use, or take out anything that was Williams work. Jamal ended up breaking the promise that tested their friendship that they have grown to have. A teacher of Jamal’s that he has not got along with through his school year for the teachers arrogance. Mr. Craward studies Jamal’s work hard and found the mistake he had made of taking Williams work and busts Jamal for copying work that could result in Jamal losing his scholarship and everything else he earned. If William did not help him through the situation and say that Jamal had his consent of using his work. William didn’t want anything to do with him or help because of the mistake Jamal made on his own for breaking their promise which was hard for Jamal to do in the first place. Jamal wrote a letter to William that he received the day the time for the charges were going to be against him for stealing work. William ended up taking his side and helping him out in front of everybody which was a task on its own for him. Everybody now knew Jamal and William knew one another and William was now in the open. William thanked Jamal for his friendship because he couldn’t have done this without him. Now he can go live his life like he should have been all because of Jamal. He rekindles his life, and a year later William passes way leaving all his stuff to Jamal for everything he has done for him to go out and live the rest of William’s life. No matter your age or how old you are or where you come up from, you can make changes on peoples life in the best of way just by making that certain friendship.

African Trypanosomiasis Sleeping Sickness Biology Essay

African Trypanosomiasis Sleeping Sickness Biology Essay African trypanosomiasis also known as sleeping sickness is a wide spread parasitic disease (disease caused by organism that lives in or on another from which it obtains nourishment) that can be fatal if not treated. It is estimated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that it has 450 000 cases each year, however in the past there have epidemics (a rapid spread or increase) such as between 1896 and 1906 where it is believed that 300 000 to 500 000 died from the disease. [1] African trypanosomiasis is common in the sub-Saharan region near rivers, lakes, in gallery forests and in Savannahs where the large brown tsetse flies are present. It occurs in these remote rural areas because the health systems are weak and because most of these areas depend on agriculture, fishing, animal husbandry or hunting so they are exposed to the tsetse flies. [2]The disease has been present in Africa for a minimum of 14 centuries with millions of people being affected by it. As you can see below (in figure 1) the distribution of trypanosomiasis in Africa comprises currently an area of 8 million km2 between 14 degrees North and 20 degrees South latitude. tryp_map.gif [Fig. 1] Distribution of human African trypanosomiasis. http://www.who.int/tdrold/dw/images/legend5.gifEpidemic http://www.who.int/tdrold/dw/images/legend6.gifHigh endemicity http://www.who.int/tdrold/dw/images/legend4.gifLow endemicity http://www.who.int/tdrold/dw/images/legend7.gifAt risk http://www.who.int/tdrold/dw/images/legend3.gifAbsence of the disease   As well as African trypanosomiasis also occurs in South America it is called the American trypanosomiasis or the Chagas disease however the organism causing that disease is different to the Tsetse flies. African trypanosomiasis is however more common than the South American version and it is estimated that around 50,000 to 70,000 people are currently infected with it and around 48,000 people died from it in 2008. [3] If, like most diseases, African Trypanosomiasis is diagnosed early there is a high chance of survival. There are no effective vaccines, and the drugs used to treat this disease are often toxic and usually have many side effects. Untreated cases have a 100 percent  mortality rate. [4] The extent of African Trypanosomiasis is shown more clearly when compared to other diseases and during epidemic periods prevalence reached 50% in several villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Southern Sudan. Sleeping sickness was the first or second greatest cause of mortality in those communities, ahead of even HIV/AIDS. [5] There are two types of African trypanosomiasis which are common in humans. The first of the two sub species is trypanosomiasis brucei gambiense which causes a slow chronic trypanosomiasis in humans. This mostly occurs in central and western Africa, where humans are thought to be the primary target. The second is T. brucei rhodesiense and this causes a rapid onset of trypanosomiasis in humans and this is most common in southern and eastern Africa, where animals are the primary target. Tsetse flies are large flies which can be easily misinterpreted for a housefly but can be distinguished by various characteristics. These flies cause human sleeping sickness and animal trypanosomiasis (or nagana) as well as other diseases and its estimated it kills around 250,000 to 300,000 people a year. Tsetse flies are multivoltine (they have more than 2 generations per year) and there are 23 species of this fly existent today. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus Glossina, which are generally placed in their own family, the Glossinidae. [6] AfrTryp_LifeCycle.gif[Fig. 2] [1] When a tsetse fly bites it takes blood from a human or animal host. [2] If the tsetse fly is infected it injects metacyclic trypomastigotes into skin tissue and the parasites enter the lymphatic system (part of the immune system) and pass into the bloodstream. Inside the host, they transform into bloodstream trypomastigotes and are carried to other parts of the body. [3] After this bloodstream trypomastigotes reach other blood fluids such as lymph, spinal fluid and continue the replication by binary fission (Asexual reproduction where parent cells divide into two equal parts.). [4/5] The entire life cycle of African Trypanosomes is in extracellular (outside the cells) stages. A tsetse fly becomes infected with bloodstream trypomastigotes when taking a blood meal on an infected host . [6] In the tsetse flies midgut (the mid section of the digestive tract), the parasites generate a cycle of trypomastigotes, they then multiply by binary fission and leave the midgut. [7] Thereafter the parasites transform into epimastigotes (a developmental stage in trypanosomes) [8] The epimastigotes reach the flys salivary glands and continue multiplication by binary fission . This cycle in the fly takes approximately 3 weeks to occur. http://www.icp.ucl.ac.be/~opperd/parasites/images/dia3.jpg[Fig.3] This picture shows an African male in the late stage of African trypanosomiasis Describe the biological processes involved in producing solutions to the problem You can spot African trypanosomiasis early if the following symptoms occur, and treating the disease early increases the chances of survival. Symptoms of sleeping sickness begin with fever, headaches, and joint pains. If untreated, the disease slowly overcomes the immune defences of the infected person, and symptoms spread to anaemia, cardiovascular and kidney disorders. The disease then enters a neurological phase when the parasite passes through the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The symptoms of the second phase is what gives the disease its name, sleeping sickness, besides confusion and reduced coordination, the sleep cycle is disturbed with a period of lower level consciousness and periods of inability to sleep progressing to daytime drowsiness and night-time insomnia. Without treatment, the disease is fatal, with progressive mental deterioration leading to coma and death. Damage caused in the neurological phase can be irreversible. [7] Stage 1 illness: 2 to 3 weeks later, Stage 1 disease develops as a result of the protozoa being carried through the blood and lymph circulation of the host. This phase of the illness is represented by a high fever that falls and rises again, also irritating rashes, and headaches may occur. The Gambiense form, in particular, includes extreme swelling of lymph tissue, with enlargement of both the spleen and liver, and greatly swollen lymph nodes. During this stage, the heart may be affected by a severe inflammatory reaction, particularly when the infection is caused by the Rhodesiense variety of trypanosomiasis. These symptoms usually occur because of our immune system trying to defeat the invading organism; this is because of the increasing activity of our cells damaging organs and tissues. This may cause some blood vessels to leak and as a result of this the protozoa may spread further around the body. The immune system responds so violently because the trypanosomes survive so well by quickly changing specific markers, which are the outer coats of unique proteins. These proteins stimulate the hosts immune system to produce immune cells which will specifically target the marker, allowing quick destruction of those cells bearing the markers. Trypanosomes, however, are able to express new markers at such a high rate of change that the hosts immune system is constantly trying to catch up. Stage 2 illness This involves the nervous system, especially Gambiense sleeping sickness, which has a phase in which the symptoms involve the brain. These symptoms are that the patients speech becomes slurred, mental processes slow, and the patient sits and stares for long periods of time, or sleeps. Other symptoms resemble Parkinsons disease, including imbalance when walking, slow and shuffling gait, trembling of the limbs, involuntary movements, muscle tightness, and increasing mental confusion. Untreated, these symptoms could eventually lead to coma and then to death. [8] There are various treatments for the disease but it depends on the how bad the disease has got and what stage it is at. Suramin, eflornithine, pentamidine, and several drugs which contain arsenic (a chemical which in higher doses is highly poisonous to humans), are all effective anti-trypanosomal agents. When the disease is in its early stages it is easier to control and its treatments are the most effective, the least toxic, so the earlier the identification of the disease, the better the prospect of a cure. At the second stage the treatments depend on drugs that can cross the blood and the brain, to reach the parasite, however these drugs are more toxic and therefore carry a risk with them. There are four drugs that have been registered for the treatment of sleeping sickness which are; pentamidine, melarsoprol, eflornithine and suramin. If the disease is diagnosed early, the chances of cure are high. The type of treatment depends on the phase of the disease: initial or neurological. During which the second stage of the trypanosome parasites reside in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) so success in the latter phase depends on having a drug that can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to reach the parasite. Four drugs have been used until now. Without treatment, sleeping sickness will lead to death. Unfortunately, however, those medications effective against the Trypanosoma brucei complex protozoa all have significant potential side effects for the patient. An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc. Object name is AFHS0604-0223Fig1.jpg Object name is AFHS0604-0223Fig1.jpg [Fig 4] Sleeping sickness in South-Eastern Uganda from 1905- 2001 As you can see in figure 5 there were a high number of deaths of people from Trypanosomiasis from 1905-1915 but even thought the number decreases there have still been a lot of cases in this small region in the past 30 years and the number has been predicted to increase from The First Stage Treatment Suramin: Suramin is a colourless derivative. The development of suramin followed observations that a number substances. Suramin has six negative charges at physiological pH, thereby preventing its diffusion across cell membranes and it could possibly be used against late stage trypanosomiasis because it does not cross the BBB. Suramin is generally considered the drug of choice for the early stages of human African trypanosomiasis, especially T. b. rhodesiense infections. Because of the size and charge of suramin it makes it unsuitable to have a specific transporter. Suramin easily binds to many proteins. At attainable levels, more than 75% of suramin is bound to proteins, which include low-density lipoproteins (LDL). LDL and transferin are taken up through a receptor-mediated endocytosis and suramin enters the parasite specifically found to LDL. Accumulation of the drug in trypanosomes is relatively slow. In some studies, suramin has interfered with the metabolism of trypanosomes in different ways: It hampers the receptor mediated uptake of LDL, the carrier of cholesterol which is required for parasite growth Suramin, which enters via receptor mediated endocytosis in association with LDL, is most likely to accumulate inside the lysosome. Several of the enzymes encountered by suramin on its way from the extracellular fluid to the secondary lysosomes become inhibited by suramin. Many glycolytic enzymes located inside the glycosome on the African trypanosome carry a high positive charge, and therefore are all inhibited by micro molar levels of suramin. Second Stage Treatment Eflornithine: Eflornithine is an off-white, odourless, powder; the compound is freely soluble in water and sparingly soluble in ethanol. It is used mainly as a backup drug for melarsoprol but now in places such as Uganda it has become the first line treatment for sleeping sickness. Adverse drug reactions during eflornithine therapy are frequent. Their occurrence and intensity increase with the duration of treatment and the severity of the general condition of the patient. Generally, adverse reactions to eflornithine are reversible after the end of treatment. Trypanosomes are more susceptible to the drug than human cells, possibly due to the slow turnover of the ODC enzyme (which is key in the biosynthesis of polyamines) in T. b. gambiense. Eflornithine can effectively inhibit ODC activity and use the supply of polyamines in trypanosomes, which bring them into a motionless state that makes them vulnerable to the hosts immune attack. Therefore, a sufficiently active immune system is required to achieve a cure. Additionally, eflornithine induces the differentiation of thin forms to larger forms which do not divide anymore and therefore become accessible to the immune system. [9] It was found in a study that the effectiveness of eflornithine was 98.7% on its patients which is a high cure rate. Explain how the processes used are appropriate in terms of producing effective solutions to address the problem As you can see a total of 6 patients died, 5 of them on the 14 day course therefore the 7 day course seems to be much more effective. The 7 day course seems to be cause less adverse events in general then the 14 day course. [Fig. 5] However concluding figure 6 we can see that the probability of cure is higher in the 14 day regime then the 7 day regime. So even though there are some side effects of the 14 day regime still has a greater chance of curing the disease.[Fig. 6] F1_medium.gif [Fig. 7] A total of 103 patients with second-stage disease were enrolled. Cure rates were 94.1% for the eflornithine group and 96.2% for the nifurtimox-eflornithine group. Drug reactions were frequent in both arms, and severe reactions affected 25.5% of patients in the eflornithine group and 9.6% of those in the nifurtimox-eflornithine group, resulting in 2 and 1 treatment suspensions, respectively. There was 1 death in the eflornithine arm and no deaths in the nifurtimox-eflornithine arm. [10] The nifurtimox-eflornithine combination appears to be a promising first-line therapy for second-stage sleeping sickness. [10] F1_medium.gif [Fig 8] shows the probability of an event free survival among 1055 patients; they were treated with eflornithine for newly diagnosed second stage human African trypanosomiasis in Ibba, Southern Sudan. 1756-3305-1-3-3.jpg[Fig. 9] The combined efforts of chemotherapy, systematic case detection and vector control led to a dramatic reduction in the incidence of sleeping sickness at the beginning of the 1960s as shown in figure 2. The grey bars represent the number of cases whilst the line graph shows the population screened. Identify 2 implications of the solution encountered Suramin As suramin can only be injected it causes problems as African Trypanosomiasis can be spread easily from the needles not bring cleaned properly. If the patients who dont have the disease are injecting with the same unclean needle as people who are diagnosed this would result in the non-infected patients being infected. Further problems of suramin are that it has many side effects which include abdominal pain, diarrhoea, metallic taste and joint pain. Less common side effects are loss of vision and swelling around eyes. It can even rarely cause fainting and death. The advantages are that many of these side effects can be stopped by using a small sample dose, 100 mg IV, to test any toxic reactions of the patients. Eflornithine The route of application makes financial difficulties due to the workload and the additional material needed. A recently investigated abbreviated course of 7 days was found to cause a high relapse rate for the treatment of new cases. The superior outcome reported for the treatment of relapses still has to be confirmed, since there were a very small number of participants in the study. If there was an oral form for the treatment of sleeping sickness it would be more appropriate as it would be cheaper and less time consuming. In a study the average cost of eflornithine per patient being 552.3 USD and the cost per patients life saved averaging 559.8 USD. [10] Eflornithine also has side effects which include acne stinging skin; headache; dry skin; itching; erythema (redness); dyspepsia(upset stomach or indigestion); alopecia Fortunately there are advantages of this drug as efforts for the developments of an oral form of eflornithine are currently being made under the World Health Organisation/World Bank special programme for research and training in tropical diseases. This drug is generally better tolerated than the first line drug melarsoprol. It was found in a study that the effectiveness of eflornithine was 98.7% on its patients which is very high and therefore if the illness is treated within its late stages, stage 2, the chances of survival are still high. Evaluate the benefits and risks to humans, organisms and the environment Benefits: The side effects of Suramin can be stopped by using a small sample dose, 100 mg IV, to test any toxic reactions of the patients, so this means it could An oral form of eflornithine is currently being made under the World Health Organisation/World Bank special programme for research and training in tropical diseases. This would lead to cheaper costs of to treat a patient; therefore more people can be treated and cured. Effectiveness of eflornithine is 98.7% on its patients which is very high and therefore if the illness is treated within its late stages, stage 2, the chances of survival are still high, so a lot less people die when using the treatment. Disadvantges: The average cost of eflornithine per patient being 552.3 USD is far too high to cure most of the people especially because the treatment mainly depends on donated money as the government of the Third World countries are too poor to afford the treatment, so by using this lots of people may never be treated and therefore there may be a rise in the death rate. As the treatment of patients decreases, if people donate less, the number of deaths from the disease will increase. Further disadvantages of the treatments are that they both carry many side effects, even though some of these side effects arent major, the lack of treatments in these poor countries could result in a gradual decrease in health over time. Also some of the side effects and over doses could lead to death or serious illnesses so it is important to administer the drugs carefully and correctly as the end result could be fatal. Discuss alternative views or solutions for the problem encountered Pentamidine: Pentamidine can be used instead of suramin for a first stage treatment of trypanosomiasis. It is medication with a very slow rate of diffusion across biological membranes and it only treats the T.B.G. form of African sleeping sickness in the first stage. It could be injected or inhaled by the patient. Because of poor GI absorption, the drug is administered IV/IM and is strongly bound to tissues, including spleen, liver, and kidney. Clinical improvement usually noted within 24 h of injection. Reported to have a >90% cure rate. Pentamidine does not penetrate the blood-brain barrier effectively and, therefore, does not treat CNS infection. [9] Fifty-eight patients in the early-late stage (early central nervous system involvement) of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense trypanosomiasis were treated with pentamidine and divided into four groups according to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) indicators: white blood cell (WBC) count, protein level (CSF protein), and the presence or absence of trypanosomes. Group 1 consisted of eight patients with normal CSF WBC counts and CSF protein levels and trypanosomes in the CSF. Group 2 consisted of nine patients with elevated CSF WBC counts, normal level of CSF protein, and trypanosomes in the CSF. Group 3 consisted of 31 patients with high CSF WBC counts, normal CSF protein levels, but no trypanosomes in the CSF. Group 4 consisted of 10 patients with normal CSF WBC counts and CSF protein levels and trypanosomes demonstrated by CSF culture. Post-treatment follow-up of all patients for at least one year revealed three relapses. There were two deaths from diseases unrelated to trypanosomiasis or to the treatment protocol. Of these patients, 52 were followed for more than two years, the time necessary to confirm a complete cure, indicating a cure rate of 94%. Pentamidine is therefore effective in treating the early-late stage of T. b. gambiense trypanosomiasis, and is comparable with melarsoprol or eflornithine in terms of its tolerance and availability. [11] Side effects: Shortness of breath; closing of the throat; hives; swelling of the lips, face, or tongue; rash; or faintin;, bleeding or bruising; blurred vision; chest pain or irregular heart beat; chills; difficulty breathing dizziness, fainting spells or excessive tiredness; drastic appetite changes; mouth ulcers severe stomach pain; severe headache; seizureshttp://bryanking.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/hives.jpg [Fig 10] This picture shows hives which is a common side effect of pentamidine Melarsoprol: Melarsoprol contains an arsenic element with a reactive arsenoxide group. The presence of the arsenoxide enables the ability of lipid solubility and this allows passage across the BBB. Apart from its transport function, the arsenoxide group mediates in the killing of the parasites in the bodily fluid; CSF (Cerebrospinal fluid). Modification of the melarsoprol parent ring to generate other analogous compounds can have a significant impact on its trypanocidal efficacy. The trivalent arsenicals; melarsoprol, melarsen oxide and phenylarsen are highly active with a minimum inhibitory concentration. Usually the transport of melarsoprol into the trypanosome parasite is accomplished by purine tranporters. Purine transport is highly developed in trypanosomes as they do not synthesize nucleic acids and must directly acquire them from their hosts. Resistance The failure of melarsoprol to cure 10% of the late stage sleeping sickness patients possibly relates to the fact that these individuals accumulate levels of the drug in the brain. However, one study has indicated that the levels of drug are similar in the CSF of relapsing and non-relapsing patients, so parasites at other extravascular sites may be key to the treatment failure. In some regions, treatment failures have reached high levels up to 30%. Parasites retrieved from the patients with these treatment failures were less responsive to melarsoprol than parasites isolated from other foci. This clearly points to some form of mutation towards resistance. Indeed arsenic refractory parasites do possess an unusual amino purine transporter which accumulates melarsoprol and the loss of this transporter in the parasite leads to drug resistance. T. brucei contains several of the purine nucleoside transporter activities. [9] Melarsoprol is a good alternative and is used as the first line drug against Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) in many countries. This is because the drug has longer intervals between when the dosages should be taken so it requires fewer resources and is therefore cheaper. However melarsoprol is a highly dangerous treatment, only administered by injection under the supervision of a physician. It causes a range of side effects, among them convulsions, fever, unconsciousness etc. It is fatal in and of itself in approx. 10% of the cases. Meanwhile eflornithine is a modern and far less dangerous treatment for HAT but it is expensive not widely available in the market and the money for supplies are usually dependable on donations. Melarsoprol is a good alternative and is used as the first line drug against Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) in many countries. This is because the drug has longer intervals between when the dosages should be taken so it requires fewer resources and is therefore cheaper. However melarsoprol is a highly dangerous treatment, only administered by injection under the supervision of a physician. It causes a range of side effects, among them convulsions, fever, unconsciousness etc. It is fatal in and of itself in approx. 10% of the cases. Meanwhile eflornithine is a modern and far less dangerous treatment for HAT but it is expensive not widely available in the market and the money for supplies are usually dependable on donations.

Communal Riot In India Media Communications Essay

Communal Riot In India Media Communications Essay Communalism is a pervasive phenomenon in the public life of India and communal riots are the ugliest expression (Gopal Krishna, Communal Violence in India1985). Communal riots have become an integral part of communalism in India. An event can be classified as a communal riot on two grounds. Firstly, if there is violence. Secondly, if two or more communally identified groups confront each other or the members of the other group, at some point during the violence (Varshney, 2002). The reason behind such communal riots can be superficial and trivial; though deep within there are political reasons behind such events (Varshney, 2002). India is not new to communal riots; the first recorded riots were in the year 1714, 1715, 1716 and 1750 in Ahmedabad (Rajeshwari, 2004). Bipin Chandra in his book â€Å"Communalism in Modern India† writes that the maximum communal riots in India took place during 1923-26. Communal riots in India are not spontaneous and are rarely due to any religious animosity. They usually arise due to conflicting political interests, which are often linked to economic interests (Rajeshwari, 2004). During the 1960s till the late 1980s, the local political and economic factors played a significant role in instigating the riots in major parts of India (Engineer, 2002). However, since then the emergence of Hindtuva politics, it has been the major cause of communal riots (Engineer, 2002). The role of news media in reportage of communal riots in India is a major area of concern. Everything is reported in the media, so are communal riots. The role of the news media has grown in recent years, perhaps because of the centrality of the news media in communal violence and conflicts (Wolfsfeld, 2007). Even the most casual of observers wont deny the increasing significance of news media under such crisis situations. The influence of the news media in peace processes is more subtle, in part because what is not reported in the media is in some ways more important than what is reported. This paper would look at the way Indian media covered and reported the two most horrific incidents of communal violence in India the 1984 Sikh riots in New Delhi and the 2002 Gujarat (Godhra) riots. On both occasions the media drew criticisms. The paper would discuss if the media has been objective in covering both riots and also as to what should be medias role in coverage of such future communal riots in India, if any. 2.The Changing Face of News Media The global media sphere is changing with each passing second. New communications technologies such as camera enabled mobile phones and laptop computers are giving journalists an opportunity to gather and disseminate information with normal ease. This digitization of the news industry has led to compression of time and space and thus enabled us to see news and images of conflicts as and when they happen. The images broadcasted in our living rooms are not only informing the global audience of the horrific happenings but might also instigate further violence in an existing violent situation. As a result, the medias reporting of a conflict situation has become as central to the unfolding of the conflict itself. With the evolution in technology the tyranny of distance might have reduced but various hidden realities and factors still affect the reporting of conflicts. This is proved by a study done by Virgil Hawkings, who explains that the conflict in Africa which has been in the post-Cold war world responsible for nearly 90% of the worlds war deaths suffered a complete media blackout. Similarly, the coverage of the massive war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which resulted in over one million deaths in the year 2000, was almost insignificant (Hawkins, 2008). Since the media has a powerful ability to reach large number of people. It ignites the opinion building process and impacts the political decisions and audience reactions in the society. This eventually shapes the course of prevalent crises and conflicts (Ballantine, 2003). 3.The Media, Religion and Politics With the planes hitting the Twin Towers on 11 September, 2001 the relationship between media and religion changed forever. Karim (2003) suggested that religion would become an important topic for the media and the way media covers events would be influenced by the religious undertones. It is arguable if the world and its religions have changed or not, but the media coverage of the same surely has. Within India, religion has a large impact on the personal lives of millions of people. The country practices almost every other religion known to the world and this is one of the most important facets of the country, so is politics. The politicians play on the religious issues every now and then, and media is used as the platform. The politicians communicate with the common mass through the mass media. The way in which we know and find about our politicians is through the media. It is the media that serves as the main channel of communication between the politicians and the public. Religion is one of the subjects in India which the politicians intelligently use to their advantage. Academic literature has covered the representation of conflict in religion as well as media and religion but not much has been researched on media, religion and conflict situations in context with each other, especially within an environment like India. It would be difficult to understand the relationship between religion, its construction, presentation and conflict situations covered in the media, without some reference to the broader political context within which it takes place, because in a nation like India, religion is certainly driven by political motives. In order to understand the role media plays and should play during communal clashes in India, let us analyze the two worst communal riots India has ever seen the 1984 Sikh riots and the 2002 Gujarat riots. 4.The 1984 Sikh Riots in New Delhi 4.1 The Events On 31st of October 1984, the Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards. What followed was a complete mayhem and it led to a lethal anti-Sikh riots in India. Sikh homes were systematically singled out in the capital and brutally destroyed (Tatla, 2006). The Sikhs were hounded, tyres were put around their neck, and petrol doused on their faces and bodies set ablaze to brutal death (Mohanka, 2005). More than 3,000 Sikhs were killed in New Delhi itself. Two hundred Gurudwaras, the place where Sikhs worship, were burnt down and many Sikh owned shops were looted. 1 The situation worsened when the newly elected Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the son of Indira Gandhi was quoted, â€Å"When a big tree falls, the ground beneath is sure to rumble†. This gave a sense as if Rajiv Gandhi was giving a boost to the killers who were assassinating hundreds of Sikhs in the streets of New Delhi (Mohanka, 2005). Mrs. Gandhis assassinators were avenging Operation Bluestar. In the June of 1984, Mrs. Gandhi, wanted to flush out few terrorists, led by Jamail Singh Bhindranwale, who were hiding in the precincts of the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs in India. On the 3rd of June, 1984 a 36 hour curfew was imposed in the Sikh dominated state of Punjab. All methods of communication and travel were suspended. Electricity supplies were interrupted, a total black out was created and Punjab was cut off from India and rest of the world (Brar, 1992). On the night of 5th of June, the Indian Army under the command of Major Gen. Kuldeep Singh Brar stormed into the Golden Temple. By the morning of the 7th of June the Indian Army had full control of the temple. The militant leaders were killed in the two day battle but along with it a large number of pilgrims, civilians and children were also killed (Ahmed, 1996). The Sikh community were agitated. Their holiest shrine was turned into a bloody battlefield and innocent lives were lost. Saran Singh, a retired bureaucrat and a famous member of the Sikh community in India quotes â€Å"It was sacrilege to send troops inside, open fire and in the process kill innocent devotees gathered to observe the martyrdom (Mohanka, 2005). From June to September 1984 most members of the Sikh community nursed a festering wound only to blurt out in Indira Gandhis assassination. 4.2 The Indian Medias Coverage of Operation Bluestar and the Sikh Riots Media by its nature plays an extremely important role for any socio-political situation irrespective of the boundary it holds (Mohanka, 2005). The medias role in the riots of 1984 is an interesting case. Scholars believe that media can play a role in focussing on a cause much before it takes an ugly turn. In the case of Punjab in 1984, the local media was not supportive of the Sikh causes. Moreover, since of beginning of the problems in Punjab, the government had a strict control on the media and imposed a heavy censorship. Since independence until the invasion of cable television in India, the electronic media has served as the mouthpiece of the government (Das, 2009). Similar was the role of the electronic media in Punjab during the riots. The Government had such tight control over the media that the foreign correspondents trying to capture the horrific events were not even allowed in the local land. The Indian Government acted as a strict visible gatekeeper and made it impossible to approve journalist visas for foreign correspondents. The events of the 1984 riots thus suffered not only from biased media coverage but also selective coverage which projected one sided selected perspective (Das, 2009). The media blackout during the Operation Bluestar is a prime example of the same. The day before the actual invasion by the Indian Army, the Government ordered all press out of the state and restricted press coverage in Punjab. The press was allowed only a week later on special organised guided tours. The aftermath was later described by the press, as involving a small gang of criminals disliked by the majority of Sikhs and Indians. The press described the militants as petty political agitators, rather than leaders of a movement for a greater Punjab autonomy, as believed by a majority of Sikhs. Similarly, during the reportage of the 1984 riots there were discrepancy between the press release of data and images and the actual severity of the violent situation that prevailed in the streets of New Delhi (Das, 2009). This usage of selective information in the Indian media only contributed to the ambiguous image of Sikhs throughout the nation and failed to bring out their plight in the light. During the Sikh Movement the Government of India had passed the National Secu rity Act (1980), the Punjab Disturbed Areas Ordinance (1983), The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (1983) and the Terrorists Affected Areas (Special Courts Act of 1984). These acts provided the police and army with sweeping powers. They could charge and curtail to the right to life under specific situations. The approach of the media during the crisis had been partisan to take into account all types of multidimensional problem, historical, political, socio-economic and ideological. The media only focussed on special restricted information and ignored a careful examination of all the issues and processes that had led to the mayhem, the riots. During 1984, Indian leaders were free to make up non-existent stories and broadcast through Government controlled radio and television channels. Since there was a major restriction on the foreign press, all foreign news correspondents were left with no choice but to take the twister news of the local government controlled media. The United States of America, The House of Representatives had a view point on the same. It said: â€Å"As a result the outside world receives a biased one side view of what goes on in Punjab because the Indian Government has control over most of the domestic media. This contributes to the stereotype that all Sikhs are extremist radicals who are terrorising the predominantly Hindu nation and that is just not the fact. If the Indian Government has nothing to hide it should remove the news blackout and permit outsiders into Punjab. The free flow of information is essential to the prevention of rights and liberties in a democratic society and India claims to be the worlds largest democracy. So, they should act as the worlds largest democracy. This is the foundation for a democratic nation and is not too much to ask of India to respect the rights of all its people and not just the Hindu majority. It is not right for any government to deny 16 million of its own people the basic political and civil rights. India has a moral obligation to protect the Sikh community† The national newspapers reporting on the Sikhs made no distinction between a regional political party, a handful of militants, and the entire Sikh community. Even the senior editors and columnists of the national newspapers considered all Sikhs accountable for the assassination of Indira Gandhi and provided no sympathy to the community during the riots. Through the critical years of political crisis in Punjab before the horrific riots, the national dailies had not help resolve the issue. The Times of India, one of the leading national dailies and The Hindustan Times did more to incite hostility between Hindus and Sikhs than perhaps any other national English language newspaper (Das, 2009). The media was a part of the misinformation carried out in the public. The best example of the same would be when a national newspaper carried out an article reporting that huge quantities of heroin and drugs had been recovered within the Golden Temple complex and the same had been used by the militants to illegally fund their operations. Since, the foreign press was banned in Punjab; they picked up the story based on the 14th June Press Trust of India (PTI) news report from the government sources. This news was carried out in the major international newspapers. One week into the incident, the government retracted the official report on the grounds that the drugs had been recovered from the India-Pakistan border and not the Golden Temple complex. This retraction by the government was not picked up by most international news agencies and the damage done by the initial report falsely remained amongst the mass. 3 Many scholars believed that the Indian media forgot to prioritize issues and failed to act upon them. Senior Indian journalist, Manoj Mitta along with H. S. Phoolka in the book â€Å"When a Tree Shook Delhi† writes that the media focussed on the assassination of Indira Gandhi and did not care enough about the Sikh murders during the riots. Mitta says: â€Å"The media by and large went by the official line on the carnage. It focused on the happenings at Teen Murti Bhawan, where Indira Gandhis body lay in state and where from people around the world had come to pay respect. So photographers were flocking to that place and the killings that were simultaneously going on in the capital did not get recorded at all. Its bizarre but true.† Not all were pleased by the Indian medias coverage of the riots. 5.The 2002 Gujarat Riots 5.1The Events On the 27th of February 2002, the Ahmedabad bound Sabarmati Express train reached a small town in Gujarat named Godhra (Yeolekar, 2002). Instead of the usual stoppage for 5 minutes the train stopped for 25 minutes and then moved out of the platform. Before the train could run at its normal speed, the alarm chain was pulled to stop the train at Signal Falia, a Muslim inhabited locality. No one clearly knows what really happened but after few minutes the compartment S-6 was on flames. 58 passengers including 26 women and 12 children were burnt to death (Yeolekar, 2002). Among the passengers were the Kar Sevaks travelling from Ayodhya. There have been different theories believing that Muslims were behind this barbaric act. If this wasnt barbaric enough, what followed in the days to come shook the entire secular nation of India. During the next three days, from the 28th of February to 2nd of March, 2002 Muslims were butchered, massacred and burnt alive. Out of the 24 districts in Gujarat, 16 were entangled by organized mob attacks in which over 2,000 Muslims were killed, 200 mosques and religious and cultural monuments were sent to rumbles (Sawant et al, 2002). The Muslim community of Gujarat suffered an enormous economic blow with an overall loss of Rs 35 billion. 5.2 The Indian Medias Coverage of the Riots 5.2.1 The Television Coverage For the first time in the history of communal clashes in India, ‘violence was carried live on television (Ninan 2002) as the television cameras brought across the horrific images to viewers home in Gujarat and elsewhere. There was no live coverage of the attacks against the Sikhs back in 1984 or the Babri Masjid fiasco in 1992. Those were the era of print media and television was limited to Doordarshan, a state owned channel. It was only in 1996 when, Rupert Murdoch ventured into India with the STAR network and STAR News happened Indias first 24 hour news channel 4. This addition to the television spectrum of India added a new visual dimension to politics, violence and public sphere in India. In 2005, the television newscape had turned dense with a large number of players entering the market; several 24 hour news channels were launched. This led to intense competitive brand of journalism, which was evident during the Gujarat riots. There were a large consortium of journalists and television crews from various channels on the streets in Gujarat, each trying to outdo each other. When the Gujarat violence happened, the private television in India had been broadcasting for about 8 years and was easily accessible by 40 million amongst the 81.6 million Indians who owned television sets (5 notes). This option offered by the private television gave the Indian viewers unprecedented access to independent broadcasting. When the first pictures of Gujarat riots were telecast on Indian screens on 27 February, the three major news networks in India Star News, Aaj Tak and Zee News did not follow the guidelines formulated by the Press Council of India, a quasi-judicial watchdog organization (Mehta, 2006). The guidelines mentioned not to reveal the identity of victims or attackers in the news reports but all the news networks carried blaring headlines about the killing of the Kar Sevaks 6. The guidelines were against the mentioning of victims or attackers as Hindus or Muslims because they feared it could inflame passions and lead to revenge attacks. The television news networks with its striking visual images made this guideline redundant. While covering the riots in Gujarat, the television journalists openly identified the victims and the attackers. Varadarajan argues for the naming of communities. He states that not naming the communities increases a sense of suspicion and anxiety amongst the ordinary citizens not only in the riot affected area but throughout the nation. Then people tend to assume that the victims are their own while attackers are the other (Varadarajan, 1999). Famous Indian journalists, Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt of STAR News justified their stand of naming the communities. Barkha Dutt stated, â€Å"Naming the community under siege in Gujarat was moot of the story. In fact it was the story, revealing as it did a prejudice administrative and political system that was happy to just stand by and watch.†(Mehta, 2006). The bold and independent media coverage by the television media during the riots invited flak from the political actors in powers who were shown in bad light. Criticizing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)and the Hindutva approach in the riots got STAR News and English newspapers like The Times of India and Indian Express bad press (Sonwalkar, 2006?). The BJPwas in power in the state of Gujarat and at the centre in New Delhi. After the initial violence, when the news coverage of the attacks against the Muslims in Gujarat started to reflect badly on the state and central government, the leaders came down heavily on the journalists and media personnel. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressed the nation a day after the attacks, regretting the ‘disgraceful violence. He later on added that the news media were presenting an ‘exaggerated account of the situation in Gujarat (The Times of India 2002a check book). The BJP and the state government under Narendra Modi singled out STAR News and banned cable operators from showing the channel in the state. The viewers in Ahmedabad, one of the worst affected regions in the riots, were left with blank television screens, unaware from the reality happening on the streets (Mehta, 2006). Cable operators received calls from local officials in Ahmedabad and other cities to completely black out STAR News, Zee News, CNN and Aaj Tak (The Times of India 2002a). Dossiers and ‘hitlists on journalists were reportedly prepared while the channels which dared to reveal the truth and were critical of the Chief Minister and his plan of actions were not invited to the press conferences and hence were denied the basic right to information by the state itself (Sardesai 2004). The main complaint of the BJP and its allies were that the news media did not cover and criticize those who were responsible for the Godhra train tragedy in which 58 Kar Sevaks were victims. This however remains untrue as the every news channels and major newspaper had covered the Godhra train tragedy exclusively, but the follow ups did not remain as ‘the story of the day because the Union Budget followed on 28 February. The budget coverage was pushed aside when the mass killings and large scale retaliation against Muslims started in various parts of the state (Sonwalkar, 2006?). Another criticism was that, the national media ‘inflamed communal passions by providing graphic television coverage of the dreadful events. The journalists and the news professional came out against the criticism and said that the level of violence would have been much worse if only the news media brought out the real picture by the graphic images. The BJP and its allies also christened the media as ‘Marxist-Mullah combine and the ‘Secular Taliban for criticising the attacks against the Muslims. Members of the Editors Guild of India visited the affected regions in Gujarat and were told by a group of Hindutva supporters that the Hindu community has been defamed with the coverage only being from the Muslim perspective: ‘They only listen to Muslims and ignore the Hindus (Patel et al, 2002). Sardesai explains the predicament faced by journalists in covering the riots: â€Å"(If ) any reporter, whether print of television, sees large-scale violence being committed, is the journalist to ignore the hard reality and merely present the facts as seen through the government binoculars? If the Chief Minister says that the situation is returning to normal even while reports are streaming in of continuing violence in several parts of the state, are not the lies to be exposed? And if the government insists that the army is out on the street when the fact is that the army has been kept on stand-by and is waiting for transport trucks, whose version is to be broadcast?† (Sardesai, 2002a) 5.2.21 The National Press Coverage If the graphic coverage by the television channels hit the headlines and created criticisms, the nature of the press coverage also came under the hammer. The coverage by the print media makes an interesting study. There were two different approaches followed by the local and the national media. The local section of the press, including the Gujarati dailies Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar, covered the events from a pro-Hindutva stand and justified the killings of hundreds of Muslims. While the national media, including The Times of India and the Indian Express, were overtly critical of the channelized attacks against the Muslims (Sonwalkar, 2006?). The team of Editors Guild of India met several journalists, correspondents, editors, Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others to conclude that the English-language national press played an exemplary role in coverage of the riots. BJPs allegations of media playing an aggravating role in coverage of the riots have been dismissed by many scholars. Patel argues that the allegation was ‘specious, self-serving and must be dismissed† (Patel et al. 2002). The Editors Guild of Indias team observed that: â€Å"Our finding is that the prompt and extensive portrayal by the national media of the untold horrors visited on innocent people in the wake of the Godhra carnage was a saving grace. The exposure of the supine is not complicit attitude of the State and manifest outpourings of communal hatred, stirred the conscience of the nation, compelled remedial action, howsoever defensively and belatedlyHowever, the role of the sections of the Gujarat media, specially the Gujarat Samachar and more notably Sandesh, was provocative, irresponsible and blatantly violative of all accepted norms of media ethics. This cannot be lightly passed over.† (Patel et al, 2002) 5.2.1 The Regional Press Coverage Gujarat Samachar is the largest selling daily in Gujarat with a circulation of nearly 810,000 followed by Sandesh with 705,000 (Sonwalkar, 2006?). These two newspapers have a large readership and dominate the print market in Gujarat. A study by PUCL in 2002 found that there were several instances of distorted and false reporting in these two newspapers and also the circulation of Sandesh rose by 150,000 due to its pro-Hindutva stand. The coverage analysis found that when Muslims were at fault, their names were clearly mentioned and the perpetrators identified. However, when the Muslims were the victims of murders, loots, arsons, and other heinous crimes the attackers were unnamed. The study concluded: â€Å"No sources were quoted for headlines, even when they were simply lifted from speeches by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (one of the Hindutva polical parties in the state). Headlines were also misleading, and often followed up by reports that did not substantiate, and even negated the headlines completelyThe anti-minority stand was obvious in the slant in news reporting.† (PUCL, 2002). Sandesh was extremely provocative in its reporting. PUCL states Sandeshs usage of headlines was to ‘provoke, communalize and terrorise people (PUCL 2002). On the 28th of Februrary, Sandesh carried a headline saying, â€Å"70 Hindus Burnt Alive in Godhra†. Another report on the front page read, â€Å"Avenge Blood with Blood†, which was a quote from a statement made by one of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders, but the newspaper used the words as a headline without mentioning the leader (Sonwalkar, 2006?). On the 6th of March, the headline read, â€Å"Hindus Beware: Haj Pilgrims return with a Deadly Conspiracy†, when the fact remains that hundreds of Haj pilgrims were terrified by the happenings in the state and had retuned under police protection. PUCL emphasized in its study that most news in Sandesh post-Godhra violence began with the sentence, â€Å"In continuing spiral of communal rioting that broke out as a reaction to the ‘demonic/barbaric, etc Godhra incident.† The comminatory adjectives used in describing the Godhra incident were strikingly absent when covering the post Godhra Muslim annihilation (PUCL 2002). One of the reports mentioned that the breasts of two Hindu women had been chopped off by Muslim mobs during the crisis. This report turned out be false and the editor countered by saying that the information had been provided by the police. The papers editor told that it was against the policy of the newspaper to carry out corrections and clarifications for previously published articles (Patel et al, 2002). The Press Council of India later censured the newspaper for the fault (Prerna 2003). Gujarat Samachar also heightened the tension through its pro-Hindutva stand in coverage of the events. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi openly praised Sandesh for its work, which was publishing false and rumoured reports with a pronounced pro-Hindutva and an anti-Muslim stance. In a letter to the newspapers editor, Modi writes: â€Å"The newspapers of the state played a decisive role as a link between the people and the government. You have served humanity in a big way. It is the state governments primary duty to restore peace and security.It is noteworthy that the newspapers of Gujarat gave their full support to the state government in undertaking this difficult task.I am grateful to you.† (Varadarajan, 2002: 286) The one regional newspaper that stood out amidst the Hindutva ideology was the Gujarat Today, notably started by few liberal Muslims in the state. The report suggested Gujarat Today regularly carried out positive news items highlighting interdependence of the communities involved (PUCL 2002). The two English-language national newspapers in India, The Times of India and the Indian Express were critical of the state government in their articles. However, these two newspapers also publish editions from Gujarat and a clear divide was evident between the two English-language dailies and the two regional editions (Sonwalkar, 2006?). While the English-language version was sharp in its criticisms of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his policies, the two Gujarati dailies propagated the need of Hindutva. Desai, an Ahmedabad-based correspondent of the Indian Express writes: â€Å"Today, all the people who once used to look at me with respect question me and abuse me. They do this because I represented a publication whose medium is English and because I reported human misery in its right perspective.A friend said: ‘All of you from the English language media have tarnished the image of Gujarat. Today, the ‘common man in Gujarat hates the English language media. Even a section of the English language media hates the English language media.† (Desai 2004: 228) (Need to conclude) 6.The Role of the Media During Communal Riots: An Analysis The result of multiple and complex interests of regions, states and/or various types of groups within them leads to economic, social and political crisesconflicts. Such crises conflicts are difficult to handle and requires negotiations between the parties involved and in this amorphous age of media the governments are finding extremely difficult to handle such situations (Terzis, 2008?). Despite the increased importance of communication, very few governments can speak about successful communication during conflicts and crises because they fail to take into consideration the perception of the conflict or the crises in the minds of the common mass, the scientific analysis of the causable factors, the agendas of the parties involved and the changing nature of the conflict itself (Ballantine, 2003). The role of mass media in covering and resolving conflicts, especially those involving religious differences that leads to frequent communal riots in India, is extre

Greek Mythology: Metamorphosis :: essays research papers

Greek Mythology: Metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a key element in Greek mythology. This ability to change shape or form is a major development in the stories of Arachne, Zeus, and Daphne. Almost all of the gods had the power of metamorphosis. The first story was the one of Arachne. Arachne was a mortal, who was a great weaver. She was the best of all the mortals. She even thought she was as good as one of the gods. Nobody was as good as the gods at anything. She thought she was as good as the god Athene. Athene was the god of arts. When Athene heard Arachne say she was better than her, Athene challenged Arachne to a contest. The winner would chose the losers punishment. Arachne accepted and went first in the competition. Hers was very beautiful, but she was no match for Athene. Athene was weaving about things that happened to the gods. While the crowd watched Athene, Arachne new that she had lost, so she went and hung herself. She soon shriveled up and had eight legs. That is how the Greeks explained the way spiders came to be. Another example of metamorphosis is Zeus. Zeus was the king of all gods. He had probably the most changes in Greek mythology. He was always changing to get a girl to marry him. The most important change was when he got his first wife Hera. Zeus had ask Hera to marry him every year for three hundred years. One stormy night Zeus changed into a pigeon, and flew onto a window seal near Hera. She let what she thought was a helpless little pigeon in through the window. She did not know it was Zeus at the time. Hera petted the bird and told it she loved it. At that time Zeus changed into himself and Hera had to marry him. That made her the queen of all gods. The Greeks believed in having many wives. And the sneaky god Zeus was he had over one hundred wives, none of them where as important as Hera. Daphne was another example of metamorphosis. Daphne was not one of the gods of the Pantheon. One of the gods from the Pantheon loved her, his name was Apollo. Apollo liked chasing Daphne. Daphne did not like to run, so one day she cried out "please turn me into a tree". Her wish was granted. She was turned into what we know today as the laurel tree.