Individual interviewsversus group interviews Essay

Individual interviewsversus group interviews - Essay Example Individual interviews are also found to be an appropriate form of data collection in the event that an interviewer needs to ask a number of follow up questions. During individual interviews, there is no significant time delay between when a question is first posed by the interviewer and when the interviewee answers it. Both the interviewer and the interviewee can be able to immediately react to what the other happens to be saying. A key advantage to his synchronous communication is identified as being the fact that the answers provided by the interviewee are found to be more spontaneous without having any extended reflection (Harris, 2013). Group interview or focus groups would be deemed to be more appropriate or be beneficial when used in addition to individual interviews in the event that the interview wants to determine how the different candidates are able to interact with each other in a group setting. The interviewer may ask the interviews to work together towards the resolution of problems. This will provide an opportunity whereby the interviewer will be able to observe and very carefully note how each individual performs. Group interview are found be more appropriate in the event that an interviewer wishes to reduce the amount of time it takes to conduct the interview. Individual interviews tend to take a lot of time but with group interviews, a number of candidates can all be interviewed at one go (Denscombe,

Process Centered Organizations Essay Example for Free

Process Centered Organizations Essay Process Centered Organizations are planned to create maximum value, innovation and development. A Process Centered Organization can sustain its processes at a high level. A process centered organizational design sorts out the best blend of structure and process. By carrying out a process-centered cycle, healthcare organizations can achieve their goals by changing the way workflow is defined and the way the people working in these organizations perceive their roles. In all healthcare organizations, the focal point is the patient. From a patient’s perspective, how much he or she is valued is important. Healthcare organizations around the globe are making efforts to satisfy their customers in the best possible ways. But modern times require these organizations to engage in the use of knowledge, skills, tools, techniques and systems to improve and direct processes towards creating value for the patient. One such example of a healthcare organization is Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC), Bangor, Maine. The organization in fact received the 2008 HIMSS Davies Award. This prestigious award is given to selected hospitals in the United States for effectively using information technology to improve the safety and quality of patient care. EMMC represents an immaculate example of how to apply and make use of electronic health records (EHR) along with other technologies in order to ensure delivery of quality and evidence based healthcare. The EHR system was installed as part of EMMC’s Patient First Initiatives Program. This was an effort to provide high quality patient care by changing care delivery, adopting a patient-focused culture and implementing a technology plan to support the care delivery process. EMMC’s use of data derived from its healthcare IT systems is a shining example of how to drive performance improvement, quality and improve care in response to state and national reporting requirements. †(HIMMS news, 2008) Eric Hartz, MD, EMMC chief medical information officer, says this award is a crowning achievement for EMMC’s employees. He emphasized that in the end, it is the patients of the region who will benefit from EMMC. The organizations staff worked hard for nearly a decade to implement the most advanced computer systems on the market to allow instantaneous sharing of health information among all healthcare providers involved in a patient’s care. When the software that was currently available wasn’t doing the job we wanted, we challenged our vendors to work with us to build something better. It has been a tremendous collaboration, said MR. Hartz. The services offered by these new systems are incredible. For example they improved ratio from electronic to hand written orders from 5:1 to 14:1. It eliminated 160 minutes from order writing to pharmacy receipt of orders, plus the average time for pharmacist review decreased 52 percent, from 50. 8 minutes to 24. 3 minutes. It also decreased overall medication incidents by 27 percent etc. (Cerner, 2008) The new systems in EMMC offer decision-support to help guarantee that patients receive the safest and best care achievable. EMMC’s providers and staff spent numerous hours working on the clinical systems to continuously make them better. They involved themselves and participated with the organizations experts in the information systems department and this allowed them to streamline all their processes and improve employee productivity. After several years of preparation, improvement, and execution, the nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals adopted advancements in information technology. They are now helping to bring the latest advancements and technology in patient care to the people who arrive at the doorstep of their hospital from any side of Maine. In process centering, processes are not newly created by organizations; in fact existing processes are modernized to meet the organizations goals. What process centering does is to modify the perception and bring the process into focus. And this is exactly what EMMC did in order to provide higher levels of satisfactions to their patients and customers.

My son, my executioner Essay -- Literary Analysis, Donald Hall

From a global viewpoint, the passing of generations of the human race is a smooth and natural cycle, one generation bringing another generation into this world, as they themselves begin to leave it. From the perspective of the individual, however, this cycle can bring about a mixture of feelings, from pride to depression, as they watch their own lives fall second to that of their children. Donald Hall’s â€Å"My son, my executioner† and Rita Dove’s â€Å"Daystar† describe how the birth and growth of a child is a massive turning point in a person’s life and can be looked at as either the continuance of one’s legacy or the withering of one’s own life, depending on the viewpoint. Donald Hall’s â€Å"My son, my executioner† describes the speaker’s acknowledgement that the arrival of the speaker’s son signals the beginning of the speaker’s own coming death, but muses that the child will carry on their legacy. The speaker holds the child â€Å"in [their] arms† (line 4) and reflects upon the situation. The speaker refers to the son as their â€Å"instrument of immortality† (line 6), its â€Å"cries and hunger† (line ...

My environment MY responsibility Essay

Good morning to Mr. Principal,teachers and students. Thank you for Mr. Principal for giving me a chance to present our speach on My environment MY responsibility. we come up with three categories of environment, where it includes the natural environment, built environment which involving the act of vandalism and social environment along with some suggestion on how we can improve these situations. As we talking about natural environment nowadays, we have to reflect ourselves on what we have done before this to the natural environment itself. Being such an irresponsible person or students who like to throw the rubbish everywhere, practice open burning and step on the grass that has been prohibited, it makes the environment become worst day by day. As we reflect back, this is all because our attitude itself. If we can change our attitude, I absolutely believe that we can also make a difference. Furthermore, what we have to bear in our mind is that, being a student is not just learning things in the class, but we also have to learn on how to manage our nature or our respective land or in other words our environment itself because we live in this world as a community and we are not alone. Thus, we should consider certain things to make sure that all the people can live in peace without being disturb by the others or by our attitude that can gives an impact to the society itself. In order to preserve and conserve the environment, we as a student should practice an environmental – friendly lifestyle. In this situation, if we practice this, we can avoid ourselves from doing things It is the responsibility of every person in checking the causes that affect the environmental disaster and play a positive role in improving it and these things have also got to be mentioned. One must realize the importance of a healthy environment and that it is for his/her own benefit to protect it and to take measures to make the world clean and green because as the proverb says â€Å"We won’t have a society if we destroy the environment†.

Wendigo: Cannibalism in Native American Folklore

Wendigo Cannibalism in Native American Folklore Connor Downie EN156-01: Mythology Professor Quinn 30March13 Lurking in the deep woods of the Northern United States and Southern Canada lies a mysterious and fearsome Native American monster, the Wendigo. The Wendigo is by far one of the most mysterious and feared monsters in not only in the Algonquian folklore which it is attributed to, but also other indigenous populations all over the world.Although this creature goes by many names in the Native American Tribes, including Wechuge (Athapaskan Beaver), Windigo (Algonkian), Witiko (Sekani), Wittikow (Cree), Wintuc (Lenape), Wintiko (Objibwa), and others, it is represented in the folklore of many cultures. For the sake of simplicity, the term Wendigo (Woodland Cree) will be used throughout this paper. Native Americans lived in harmony with the land around them, and their legends and stories showed the necessity to preserve that harmony, and the consequences of failing to do such.The stor y and idea behind the Wendigo is no exception to this; being an â€Å"unnatural† and dysfunctional part of life. This paper will observe and analyze the role of the Wendigo in Native American legend as well as the effect that it had on, not only the Natives Americans, but those who came into contact and studied the tribes. The Wendigo According to legend, a Wendigo is neither a man nor non-human, but rather something in between.A fully transformed Wendigo is most often described as a giant creature standing between eight and thirty feet tall, possessing incredible strength and speed, large claws and a body that looks like a skeleton with ash-toned skin. However, in any stage of transformation, it is most easily identified by its ravenous and continuous hunger for human flesh (Atwood 84). A Wendigo’s hunger is believed to be so insatiable that one of first things it consumes is its own lips (Carlson 359). For Native Americans, encountering a Wendigo, whether by accident or on purpose, could e the last mistake you ever make. You cannot outrun or outwit a Wendigo; and according to most stories, you are unable to talk or plead with the creature due to the fact it has lost the capacity for human speech after a long period of isolation (Atwood 84). However, that does not mean they are intelligent. The amount of time they have spent alone in forced isolation has made them the perfect hunter. They do not pursue their victims with inchoate frenzy but rather use superior cunning and an advanced knowledge of their game's desires and weaknesses.They hunt people with the cultural strategy and intelligence that people use to hunt animals (Ridington 110). Their hunting skills are only amplified by their extreme elusiveness and ability to survive in the harshest of climates. They are the epitome of everything to be afraid of in the woods. The original Wendigos can be found in the Pawnee creation myth, as the creatures that came before the Pawnee and were destroy ed by the Creator Tirdwa. â€Å"The men of the present era were not the original inhabitants of the earth.They were preceded by another race – people of great size and strength. These were so swift of foot, and so powerful, that they could easily run down and kill the buffalo†¦ The race of giants had no respect for the Ruler. On the contrary, they derided and insulted him in every way possible. When the sun rose, or when it thundered and rained, they would defy him. They had great confidence in their own powers, and believed that they were able to cope with the Creator. As they increased in numbers they grew more defiant, and at length became so bad that Tirdwa determined to destroy them.This he attempted to do at first by shooting the lightning at them; but the bolts glanced aside from their bodies without injuring them. When he found that they could not be killed by that means, he sent a great rain, which destroyed them by drowning (Grinnell 122). According to legend, a few of these giants managed to escape the flood and the Wendigos managed to survive. As the Creator made the new species of man, the original Pawnee, these giants shrunk back into the wilderness, emerging only occasionally to feed on the unsuspecting human.There are two kinds of Wendigos, Non-Human and Human. The first human Wendigo is sometimes said to have been a man who, driven mad by hunger and snow blindness, mistook his family for a group of beavers, killed and ate them (Smith 68). Human Wendigos do not always take on the traditional described appearance unless they are exposed to the severe isolation required to drive the person mad. Most human Wendigos mostly retain their human features, and instead only experience the desire for loneliness and a craving for human flesh.Also common to stories, both in legend and those recorded by persons studying native tribes, was the belief that a person transforming into a Wendigo had lost permanent control over their own actions and t hat the only possible solution is death (Ridington 108). Many people, fearing that they would bring harm to their family, begged for death rather than face a full transformation. Human Wendigos, although powerful, can be killed by dismemberment and the burning the remains to prevent the evil spirit from ever returning to the earth (Atwood 85).In the majority of stories that result in the death of a Wendigo, that Wendigo was at one time a human. Other traditional cures involved the consumption of copious amounts of hot grease from sources such as bear fat, melted deer tallow, and sturgeon oil (Atwood 85). Non-Human Wendigos are seen as the original Wendigos that were around before the first humans. These creatures are considered to be much more powerful than their human counterparts, and were able to inhabit and attack the dreams of their victims. These creatures rarely appear in legends, but rather are blamed for the actions of a possessed person.Killing a non-human Wendigo was not easy and stories celebrated the bravery of those who acted as bait in Wendigo traps. Algonquians often had great battles and had to employ the help of shamans (Podruchny 690). It is important to note that non-human Wendigos are considered by Native Americans to be Otherworldly, and on the same degree as the spirits that inhabit the spirit world alongside the Creator. Origins and Folklore The earliest reference to Wendigo occurs as an entry in the Powhatan dictionary appended to Strachey's Historie of Travell into Virginia Britania.The original word was wintekowa, meaning â€Å"owl† in Algonquian. For many natives, especially member of the Cree Nation, Owl calls were precursors of the deaths of individuals, and thus owls were seen as the sign of a coming Wendigo. Owls, like Wendigos, are formidable predators and possess large glistening eyes, and therefore became synonymous with the same (Brightman 341). The word Wendigo itself is derived from the Cree word wihtikowiw, meaning â€Å"he eats greedily†, which may explain the reason why ost believed to be Wendigos were isolated from the community before they consumed everything the community had. Native American Tribes lived in harmony with the land and the creatures around them. All tribes believed that upsetting the natural order of the world would cause severe disarray and eventually would lead to the destruction of the world. To counter this, hunters and gatherers would take only what they needed, waste nothing, and praise the creator for allowing them to be worthy to take such.Animals were held in high regard, not only for their gifts of food, clothing, and other materials, but also for the powers endowed upon them by the creator. Eating the flesh of an animal was said to transmit to persons, under appropriate circumstances, desired attributes of the species. For example, raw moose blood is said to impart onto the hunter a kind of invisibility relative to the perceptions of game animals, thus al lowing the hunter greater luck in the successful hunting of animals due to his increased stealthy abilities (Brightman 364).Like the flesh of any other animal, human flesh was believed to possess a Great Spirit power that is acquired through consumption of the tissue or organs. Eating human flesh would exacerbate the powers already present in the human consumer; endowing the Wendigo physical and spiritual abilities to overcome and eat human prey. In essence, a human’s abilities were multiplied and would eventually cause them to expand out of control and transform the person into a Wendigo (Brightman 364).The Wendigo often appears in stories in legends, but unlike most other mythical creatures, its purpose was less to teach moral values, and more to impart upon members of a community the consequences from straying from the natural order of life and defiance of the rules of the community. There are three kinds of stories in which a Wendigo is a part of. The first kind of story, involves a Wendigo which may be presented as a manifestation of the environment; the spirit is a spirit of place. In these stories, meeting up with a Wendigo carries no more moral weight than meeting up with a bear.If you get eaten, about all that can be said of you is that you ought to have been less unlucky (Atwood 86). In the second kind of story, a Wendigo appears as a warning or as a message to the protagonist. In these stories, if you get eaten by a Wendigo, the audience doesn’t feel sorry for you, because it was your own fault for getting eaten. These stories served to send the message that if you behaved and followed the rules like you were supposed to, such a thing would never happen to you (Atwood 86).The third kind of story the Wendigo is a fragment of the protagonist's psyche, and represents part of their subconscious that is made public to teach a lesson. In these stories, human beings who have â€Å"become a Wendigo † have not actually transformed, but i n fact worried so much that the creature they have feared or dreamed about splits off from the rest of their personality, destroys it, and becomes manifested through the person’s body (Atwood 86). These were used to teach lessons in regards to gluttony, loneliness, and other behaviors seen by natives to be unnatural and destructive.Wendigo stories express the danger and isolation of living in the subarctic wilderness as well as taboos against cannibalism (Ferrara 77). The Wendigo was seen as the personification of winter, hunger, spiritual selfishness, and isolation (Atwood 85). Winter is a time of scarcity in both food and warmth, and was considered by the natives to be one of the most necessary times for a community to band together to survive the harshness. A scarcity of materials would give rise to hunger; forcing people to either share what they had with each other for the good of the group, or hoard what they had for their own sakes.The choice to hoard, and act of selfi shness, was seen as an act of defiance not only against a group, but the Creator himself. The penalty for such a choice was being ostracized and isolated from the remainder of the community, and in some cases, death. Transformation According to lore, there are four recorded ways to be transformed into a Wendigo, either human or non-human. Most methods of transformation include large amounts of stress or pain, both mental and physical, and a long transformation period that may not occur all at once.In order to become a non-human Wendigo, one must either be born a Wendigo, or be eaten by a Wendigo. Although an individual Wendigo may once have been a man or a woman, once fully transformed they no longer have any evidence of gender (Atwood 84). Because of this, there is no recorded lore of Wendigos ever giving birth to new Wendigos, other than the Pawnee origins legend in regards to Wendigos inhabiting the world before man. Because of this, most non-human Wendigos are said to be the ori ginals that have survived for hundreds of years. The other method is to be eaten by a Wendigo and have our now â€Å"evil spirit† enter the otherworld. A person suffering this fate becomes the Native equivalent of a Demon and possesses humans through dreams and thoughts. Thoughts of the Wendigo are said to drive a person mad with anxiety about becoming a Wendigo, to the point that they give in to the desires to consume other people (Ferrara 79). Native Shamans were notorious in legends for using their ability to communicate with the spirits in order to send one of these creatures into the dreams of another, thus tormenting them with the thought of being transformed.To become a human Wendigo is much worse a fate than a non-human Wendigo. To become such, a human must either consume human flesh, or be bitten by a Wendigo. The reason for the consumption of human flesh is irrelevant, as soon as it passes your lips, you fate is essentially sealed. Legends of this kind of transforma tion speak of people starving from a lack of food, who eventually give in to the desire for food and eat their companions or family members. Like the stories of the Loup Garou or French word for werewolf, a Wendigo bite served as another way for one to be transformed into one of these creatures.However, unlike werewolves, a human was unable to transform back into a human once the transformation had begun (Podruchny 681). Both being bitten and the consumption of human flesh was said to not be instantaneous but rather a lengthy process, signaled by a period of strange emotions and behaviors by the possessed person that served as a series of warnings to others (Ferrara 79). The Wendigo in Reality In 1767, Alexander Henry observed an Ojibwa man who had killed and eaten four relatives during a food crisis. Henry recorded the actions of the tribe in his journal. The Indians entertain an opinion that the man who has once made human flesh his food will never afterwards be satisfied with any other†¦ He ate with relish nothing that was given to him but, indifferent to the food prepared, fixed his eyes continually on the children which were in the Indian lodge, and frequently exclaimed, ‘How fat they are! ’†¦ Be this as it may, his behavior was considered, and not less naturally, as marked with the most alarming symptoms; and the Indians, apprehensive that he would prey on these children, resolved on putting him to death (Brightman 348). The tribe was so scared of the unnaturalness of the man’s actions that they had him killed. Not unlike the Salem Witch Trials, those suspected of being a Wendigo were given little or no chance to defend themselves. They were immediately outcast from the group and treated like they were infected with some sort of disease. In many cases, acts of cannibalism were not actually witnessed, but rather reported by the suspected individual or other persons, or didn’t even occur at all. In seventy cases reporte d, 44 involved an actual act of cannibalism.In 26 cases, or 37 percent the potential Wendigo either recovered or was killed to prevent cannibalism (Rohrl 98). Around the time of Freud, psychologists began to analyze the stories and multiple cases regarding the Wendigo. Many noted that the common link between most cases was a psychological weakness and breakdown of the normally functioning personality (Ridington 107). From these psychologists, emerged the term â€Å"Wendigo Psychosis† which was used to describe the mental state of persons suspected or convicted of being a Wendigo.People suspected of suffering from this were often described as being â€Å"Bushed† or suffering from â€Å"Cabin Fever† (Atwood 87). For most, in order to reach such a breakdown of mind required large amounts of time spent apart from others, usually in harsh or near fatal conditions. The compulsive desire and craving for human flesh that appears in many of the Wendigo cases may point to a psychotic breakdown of normal emotions, motivations, and satisfactions in people who kill or are killed as cannibal monsters.However, unlike many other psychotic breakdowns, Wendigo behavior it is believed to be genuine and real by the members of society as well as by the afflicted individual (Ridington 128). More recently however, another possible reason for the actions of those believed to be Wendigos was uncovered, a lack of proper diet. Meat, and especially fatty meat, is essential to the diet of the Eskimo and of Northern Athapaskan Indians. Researchers claimed that a fat deficiency could lead to headache, and, in four to eight weeks, ultimately death (Rohrl 100).Was the reason for the actions of some not necessarily motivated by extreme hunger, but rather a lack of proper nutrition? It has been demonstrated that a drop in the blood sugar level can lead to many psychic phenomena, including depressive states, anxiety, and â€Å"other symptoms that have been lumped together a s ‘neuroses (Rohrl 100). The accepted conclusion is that although persons suffering from Wendigo Psychosis have experienced a large amount of mental stress, the fearsome creature itself does not in fact exist.Like many other mythological creatures, the Wendigo was placed in Native American legend to explain things that the natives could not understand at the time, and to enforce the rules of the community. Psychologist Lou Marano ultimately went further in a 1982 article stating that Wendigos had never existed, at least as people overcome by cannibal desires. Instead, he adopted a functionalist interpretation (influenced by scholarship on the Salem Witch trials), arguing that the Wendigo was a phenomenon that allowed Algonquians to kill the marginal, the mentally ill, and the unpopular (Smallman 575).Works Cited Atwood, Margret. â€Å"Cannibal Lecture. † Saturday Night 110. 9 (1995): 81-90. JSTOR. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. Brightman, Robert A. â€Å"The Windigo in the Materia l World. † Ethnohistory 35. 4 (1988): 337-79. JSTOR. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. Carlson, Nathan D. â€Å"Reviving Witiko (Windigo): An Ethnohistory of â€Å"Cannibal Monsters† in the Athabasca District of Northern Alberta, 1878–1910. † Ethnohistory 56. 3 (2009): 355-94. JSTOR. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. Ferrara, Nadia, and Guy Lanoue. â€Å"The Self in Northern Canadian Hunting Societies: ‘Cannibals' and Other ‘Monsters' as Agents of Healing. Anthropologica 46. 1 (2004): 69-83. JSTOR. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. Grinnell, George Bird. â€Å"Pawnee Mythology. † Journal of American Folklore 6. 21 (1893): 113-30. JSTOR. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. Podruchny, Carolyn. â€Å"Werewolves and Windigos: Narratives of Cannibal Monsters in French-Canadian Voyageur Oral Tradition. † Ethnohistory 51. 4 (2004): 677-700. Project Muse. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. Rohrl, Vivian J. â€Å"A Nutritional Factor in Windigo Psychosis. † American Anthropologist ns 72. 1 (1970): 97-101. JS TOR. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. Ridington, Robin. Wechuge and Windigo: A Comparison of Cannibal Belief among Boreal Forest Athapaskans and Algonkians. † Anthropologica ns 18. 2 (1976): 107-29. JSTOR. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. Smallman, Shawn. â€Å"Spirit Beings, Mental Illness, and Murder: Fur Traders and the Windigo in Canada’s Boreal Forest, 1774 to 1935. † Ethnohistory 57. 4 (2010): 371-95. Duke Journals. Web. 28 Mar. 2013. . Smith, Theresa S. and Fiore, Jill M. â€Å"Landscape as Narrative, Narrative as Landscape. † Studies in American Indian Literatures 22. 4 (2010): 58-80. JSTOR. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.

Genetically Modified Organism Essay Example

Genetically Modified Organism Essay Example Genetically Modified Organism Paper Genetically Modified Organism Paper Essay Topic: Call of the Wild Genetically Modified Organisms Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are taking the aspects of genes that people like the most and infusing them into another gene. These GMOs are used to make plants live through pesticides and herbicides, drought, and Just about anything else that gets thrown at them. The problem with doing this is it not only makes the plants resistant to the chemicals but it also develops super weeds that can take on far more chemicals than the original ones. Now there is far more residue on peoples food and because GMOs are not labeled, people have no idea what they are eating. Not knowing what is being injected can cause some serious health problems relating to the immune system triggering an allergic reaction. In order to free a person from the everyday worries of ingesting these GMOs into their body with or without their knowledge, genetically modified organisms should be banned. When it comes to GMOs our knowledge is minimal. Until we can learn more about them they should be banned. The splicing of genes is how genetically modified organisms are made. Referred to as genetically engineering (GE), DNA from one species is injected into another species to create what nature cannot. These plants, animals, bacteria, and viral genes are relatively new to us. In the 1990s, a California company, Calegne, came out with the first GE tomato, Flavor Savr (Introduction). This tomato was created so that it wouldnt get soft when it ripens. This made it easier to pack and ship the tomatoes. By 1998, 25% of corn and 38% of soybeans were genetically modified (Maynard). Genetically engineered soy and corn are found in 60% of processed food (Maynard). : Since the beginning of the development of a pesticide called Roundup it has raised many concerns. Roundup and other similar herbicides and pesticides are used to kill eeds and pests without killing the plants. The plants have been modified to with stand these chemicals. The increase of the amount used increases the residue on our food. It has also caused the development of pesticide resistant super weeds because of the increase. In 2010, it was reported that almost 366 million acres of genetically modified crops were planted throughout 29 different countries (Introduction). While the United States is busy being the leading country in GM crops, Europe is working towards a Europe-wide ban on all GM crops (Introduction). Again, these genetically modified organisms are new to us. We need to ban them before the possible long term effects take a toll on our people and animals. Genetically modified organisms have a short history, which serves as an issue for long term studies. Since GMOs have only been out since the 1990s, they remain relatively new to us. There have been studies conducted on animals, but as of 2011 there was only human study published. It concluded that the genetic material that was injected in to GM soy transforms into bacteria that lives inside our intestines (Genetically). We may even have these continuing to grow inside of us after we stop eating GM products. The studies on humans Just simply are not there to evaluate. Animals, on the other hand, have had many short term studies done on them. One study Touna tnat (5M soy affected tne ovaries, uterus, or testlcles In rodents (Genetically). Another said that the kidney, thymus, spleen, gut, brain and the immune systems in rats had changes after eating GM potatoes (Verzola). One was done that resulted in the deaths of most of the baby rats after a mother rat fed on GM soy (Genetically). A study on hamsters again proved to be something wrong with their reproduction. After about three generations of GMO fed hamsters, they could o longer have babies and if they did they usually died (Genetically). Some of the hamsters were reported as having hair growing inside their mouths (Genetically). These are all examples of some of the short term studies done. If there were long term studies conducted then we would be more aware of the dangers of genetically modified organisms. Long term and short term studies do not make a difference when it comes to the possible allergic reactions that these genetically modified organisms can trigger. In the United Kingdom soy allergic reactions have increased by 50% (Genetically). A skin prick test was done with GM soy and wild soy. The results were people reacted to the GM soy but not the wild soy (Genetically). This supports that GMOs have higher level of irritants in them to cause these reactions. Lack of labeling almost caused a huge problem with a company in Brazil. Soybeans from Brazil were found with a type of nut gene in them (Maynard). The company that purchased the soybeans tested it to see what gene types were injected in it. Luckily they discovered the nut gene before the soybeans were distributed. This type of modification to the enes could have caused many problems with people allergic to nuts. The lack of labeling and the amount of reactions go hand in hand. If these companies were to label their products then people will either know not to purchase it or if they do and have a reaction then they know where to trace the source of the GMO. Labeling must also be done because the United States has six major GMO crops grown in the U. S: soy, corn, canola, sugar beets and alfalfa (Genetically). With these genetically modified crops our processed food is made. With the corn and soy alone, 60% of are processed foods are produced. Between 1996 and 2008 the percentage of adoption of corn, cotton, and soybean genetically modified crops have increased from between 0-20% to 60-90% (Rapid). This growth in the amount of GM crops out there has made it difficult to not eat GMOs. Many sources out there have all said that if a person wishes to not eat genetically modified food then organic is the way to go. We already know that some GMOs can contaminate other crops so even organic farmers are in danger of them no longer being the product they originally expected. If these were banned then we wouldnt have to worry about allergic reactions or the ontamination of our other crops. When genes were first beginning to be spliced, a company started making plants which had the ability to not be affected by large amounts of pesticides/herbicides. The large amounts of pesticides/herbicides caused the plants to become resistant and in turn grown into super weeds. The development of these super weeds caused farmers to spray larger amounts of these pesticides/herbicides onto their crops. The resistances dont stop at super weeds. If the antibiotic gene injected crops spread then they too can develop a resistance for antibiotics (Genetically). People who ngest these specific genes could also develop a resistance to antibiotics. This can prove to De extremely dangerous IT tne person Is to Tall serlously Ill ana already nave an antibiotic resisted system. The British Medical Association wanted to ban all antibiotic genes in GM food so that we can avoid developing an antibiotic resistance in our immune systems (Verzola). When it comes to our health and antibiotics when our health is weak, we should be doing everything to avoid developing antibiotic resistant systems. This is our health we are discussing. We have been growing crops since the beginning of time. There is no reason to try to change the ways we have been doing it when it has proven effective. If we stop allowing them to have genetically modified crops then the threat of antibiotic resistant immune systems ceases. People who are for genetically modified food argue that these foods can save the world. To have crops that are able to survive during a drought can save some struggling countries. Some people say that starvation is much worse than anything the GMOs cause (African). If the productivity of crops is increased then countries will be able to feed the fast growing populations. Even if the rich were to give other ountries free food, the population will still suffer. Poor countries depend on agriculture for their income, so increasing productivity via biotechnology can impact the outcome of the crops and their wallets (Economist). The FDA said that GM foods are the same as non-GM foods so they do not need to be labeled. These foods, although, are not the same. One can cause many problems while the other is all natural and doesnt have any effects. They also say that the things like cancer and long-term damage to the immune system cant be directly connected to the use of GMOs (African). Long-term are the key words in their own argument, no long term tudies have been conducted which basically makes us blind to the possible long- term effects. There is a very strong chance that if the studies were done there could be a link found between cancer, weak immune systems, and GMOs. Although some people argue that genetically modified organisms are going to save the world, we simply dont know that much about their effects. The lack of knowledge of what we are really putting into our bodies can end up causing more problems than we think. GMOs should be completely banned because of the possibilities they have. The allergic reactions can at least be lowered by labeling the products that do contain GMOs. Super weeds could mean chaos when it comes to this new development. We dont know what these genetically modified organisms can do to our plants, let alone humans. People dont want to put food in their bodies when they have no idea what was put in the food to begin with. Maybe after twenty years of studying the long-term effects of GMOs my mind could change on this subject, but as of right now too much information is still missing. Even if people do believe that genetically modified crops can help feed the world it has yet to be proven. The effects of GM crops in the long run can prove to be far worse than hunger in the world. No one really knows what is going to be the result in the future, but I dont like the results in the present as it is. The production of genetically modified organisms needs to be stopped. We are causing more harm to what has been naturally practiced since the beginning of time. We have always learned how to adapt to our environment when it comes to agriculture and biotechnology was never involved until recently. Stop it before it takes over the world as we once knew it to be: all natural and safe to consume. African American Environmentalist Association. Genetically Modified Foods Should Be Produced to Feed the World. Global Resources. Ed. David M. Haugen. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from Genetically Modified Foods. 2005. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. Economist, The. Genetically Engineered Foods Should Be Produced. Global Resources. Ed. Helen Cothran. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from Feeding Five Billion: New Agricultural Techniques Can Keep Hunger at Bay. The Economist (10 Nov. 2001). Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. Genetically Modified Foods Could Pose Numerous Health Risks. Genetic Engineering. Ed. Noel Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from Doctors Health Warning: Avoid Genetically Modified Foods. Vol. 1 . 2011. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. Introduction to Genetically Engineered Food: At Issue. Genetically Engineered Foods. Ed. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 22 Oct. 2013 Rapid growth in adoption of genetically engineered crops, 1996-2008. Genetics and Genetic Engineering. Barbara Wexler. 2009 ed. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Information Plus Reference Series. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 7 Nov. 2013. Maynard, Cindy. Genetically Engineered Foods: An Overview. Genetically Engineered Foods. Ed. Nancy Harris. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003. At Issue. Rpt. from Biotech at the Table. Current Health 2 27 (Nov. 2000): 22. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. Verzola, Roberto. Genetically Engineered Foods Have Health Risks. Genetically Engineered Foods. Ed. Nancy Harris. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003. At Issue. Rpt. from The 1999 GE Food Debates: The Turning Point. Synthesis/Regeneration (Winter 2000): 24. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. web. 21 oct. 2013.

Battle of Princeton in the American Revolution

Battle of Princeton in the American Revolution Conflict Date: The Battle of Princeton was fought January 3, 1777, during the American Revolution (1775-1783). Armies Commanders: Americans General George WashingtonBrigadier General Hugh Mercer4,500 men British Major General Lord Charles CornwallisLieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood1,200 men Background: Following his stunning Christmas 1776 victory over the Hessians at Trenton, General George Washington withdrew back across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. On December 26, Lieutenant Colonel John Cadwaladers Pennsylvania militia re-crossed the river at Trenton and reported that the enemy was gone. Reinforced, Washington moved back into New Jersey with the bulk of his army and assumed a strong defensive position. Anticipating a swift British reaction to the Hessians defeat, Washington placed his army in a defensive line behind Assunpink Creek to the south of Trenton. Sitting atop a low string of hills, the American left was anchored on the Delaware while the right ran east. To slow any British counterattack, Washington directed Brigadier General Matthias Alexis Roche de Fermoy to take his brigade, which included a large number of riflemen, north to Five Mile Run and block the road to Princeton. At Assunpink Creek, Washington faced a crisis as the enlistments of many of his men were set to expire on December 31. By making a personal appeal and offering a ten dollar bounty, he was able to convince many to extend their service by one month. Assunpink Creek In New York, Washingtons concerns about a strong British reaction proved well-founded. Angered over the defeat at Trenton, General William Howe cancelled Major General Lord Charles Cornwallis leave and directed him to advance against the Americans with around 8,000 men. Moving southwest, Cornwallis left 1,200 men under Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood at Princeton and another 1,200 men under Brigadier General Alexander Leslie at Maidenhead (Lawrenceville), before encountering the American skirmishers at Five Mile Run. As de Fermoy had become drunk and wandered away from his command, leadership of the Americans fell to Colonel Edward Hand. Forced back from Five Mile Run, Hands men made several stands and delayed the British advance through the afternoon of January 2, 1777. After conducting a fighting retreat through the streets of Trenton, they rejoined Washingtons army on the heights behind Assunpink Creek. Surveying Washingtons position, Cornwallis launched three unsuccessful attacks in an attempt to take the bridge over the creek before halting due to growing darkness. Though warned by his staff that Washington may escape in the night, Cornwallis rebuffed their concerns as he believed the Americans had no line of retreat. On the heights, Washington convened a council of war to discuss the situation and asked his officers if they should stay and fight, withdraw across the river, or make a strike against Mawhood at Princeton. Electing for the bold option of attacking Princeton, Washington ordered the armys baggage sent to Burlington and his officers to commence preparation for moving out. Washington Escapes: To pin Cornwallis in place, Washington directed that 400-500 men and two cannon remain on the Assunpink Creek line to tend campfires and make digging sounds. These men were to retire before dawn and rejoin the army. By 2:00 AM the bulk of the army was quietly in motion and moving away from Assunpink Creek. Proceeding east to Sandtown, Washington then turned northwest and advanced on Princeton via the Quaker Bridge Road. As dawn broke, the American troops were crossing Stony Brook approximately two miles from Princeton. Wishing to trap Mawhoods command in the town, Washington detached Brigadier General Hugh Mercers brigade with orders to slip west and then secure and advance up the Post Road. Unknown to Washington, Mawhood was departing Princeton for Trenton with 800 men. The Armies Collide: Marching down the Post Road, Mawhood saw Mercers men emerge from the woods and moved to attack. Mercer quickly formed his men for battle in a nearby orchard to meet the British assault. Charging the tired American troops, Mawhood was able to drive them back. In the process, Mercer became separated from his men and was quickly surrounded by the British who mistook his for Washington. Refusing an order to surrender, Mercer drew his sword and charged. In the resulting melee, he was severely beaten, run through by bayonets, and left for dead. As the battle continued, Cadwaladers men entered the fray and met a fate similar to Mercers brigade. Finally, Washington arrived on the scene, and with the support of Major General John Sullivans division stabilized the American line. Rallying his troops, Washington turned to the offensive and began pressing Mawhoods men. As more American troops arrived on the field, they began to threaten the British flanks. Seeing his position deteriorating, Mawhood ordered a bayonet charge with the goal of breaking through the American lines and allowing his men to escape towards Trenton. Surging forward, they succeeded in penetrating Washingtons position and fled down the Post Road, with American troops in pursuit. In Princeton, the majority of the remaining British troops fled towards New Brunswick, however 194 took refuge in Nassau Hall believing that the buildings thick walls would provide protection. Nearing the structure, Washington assigned Captain Alexander Hamilton to lead the assault. Opening fire with artillery, American troops charged and forced those inside to surrender ending the battle. Aftermath: Flush with victory, Washington wished to continue attacking up the chain of British outposts in New Jersey. After assessing his tired armys condition, and knowing that Cornwallis was in his rear, Washington elected instead to move north and enter winter quarters at Morristown. The victory at Princeton, coupled with the triumph at Trenton, helped bolster American spirits after a disastrous year which saw New York fall to the British. In the fighting, Washington lost 23 killed, including Mercer, and 20 wounded. British casualties were heavier and numbered 28 killed, 58 wounded, and 323 captured. Selected Sources British Battles: Battle of PrincetonBattle of Princeton