Birth Control Education Essay Research Paper Birth free essay sample

Birth Control Education Essay, Research Paper Birth Control Education The issue of birth control being taught and/or distributed in public schools is one worth debating. In biological science and wellness categories pupils are educated in reproduction and gender, but non about such birth control methods such as rubbers and birth control pills. While parents may touch briefly on the subject, some feel excessively embarrassed to discourse it with their kids or hold it unneeded. This is a really bad class of action because the universe is now teaming with hormonally driven adolescents missing critical information about personal safety. They have a yearning to pattern the oldest inherent aptitude that humans possess, which is to reproduce. The schools have no ground to non be learning the other, more of import, half of sex instruction. This action makes every bit small sense as larning how to add, but non subtract. The metropolis is merely one of the many facing this job in the face. We will write a custom essay sample on Birth Control Education Essay Research Paper Birth or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is a job that knows no category, faith, or gender. If every community took it upon themselves to turn to this issue with young person, so they could extinguish a national job. It is easy to see that deficiency of cognition refering birth control is a sever job confronting today? s young person. While the adolescent gestation rate is far lower than it has been in the yesteryear, the figure of teens infected by sexually transmitted diseases is on the rise. One-half of sex instruction is non plenty. Even though 98 % of pupils get # 8220 ; gender instruction # 8221 ; , 55 % of them still have inquiries refering birth control methods, the bar of STDs, and how to buy protection confidentially. The challenge of STD bar in the United States is clearly illustrated by the fact that 85 % of the most common infective diseases in the U.S.A. are spread sexually. This is the highest out of all the industrialised states in the universe. Why, in the U.S. the rates of infection are 50- 100 times greater than in any other of the industrialised state. A friend of mine, whom we will name Miss. Q for confidentiality grounds, is a merchandise of this backwards learning. Miss. Q is a fresher in college, and was sing place for thanksgiving this past twelvemonth. While reading an article in a adult female? s magazine sing birth control she crossed a term she did non acknowledge. It turned out to be a term for a method of birth control, which she found out when she asked her female parent, who was horrified to detect her 19-year-old girl, had neer been exposed to the word before. Miss. Q? s female parent assumed that her kid was taught this either in biological science or wellness category, so she had neer bothered to discourse it with her. However, after this disclosure she sat down with her girl and had a long in deepness talk about the subject. Narratives like this one can be heard all over the state. Even in towns that offer easy entree to deliver control to pupils, this job plagues the community. Take St. Paul Minnesota for illustration. With a prescription/voucher from a physician, a pupil can travel pick up protection from a local free clinic. However, 80 % of the male pupils and 30 % of the female pupils who receive such a prescription neer go to pick them up. A recent study in St. Paul discovered an dismaying statistic that two out of every 10 boys is or has been infected with chlamydia. In fact, teens 15-19 old ages old accounted for 41 % of chlamydia instances and 32 % of gonorrhoea instances in Ramsey County Minnesota. Nothing can demo us this job better than a study from 1995 of 15-24 twelvemonth old adult females asked about their usage of preventives. It was shown that merely 37.3 % used birth control on a regular footing. In add-on to this, merely 4.4 % on a regular basis used protection against STDs. Another study from 1990 of adult females of all ages in this state reported that while 70.7 % used protection, merely 7.9 % used birth control that besides protected against STDs. The major ground birth control is non taught in this school territory is because cipher has thought of conveying up the inquiry for many old ages. The last clip the policy of sex instruction was brought up ; there was an overpowering sense of disapproval from the community. Some parents were even caught doing remarks on the moral unity of the school territory. # 8220 ; I? m non happy about this, I? m non happy about a school territory who says it doesn? t affair what your household values are. # 8221 ; A female parent said this whom has three girls in the public school system in Oswego who wished to stay anon. in this paper. This quote high spots another possible cause for the job, deficiency of parent engagement. If parents are so set against holding birth control added into category treatment, they can non pretermit holding a talk about birth control with their kids. Parents who do non cognize what is involved in a category? s course of study may non hold this treatment with thei r progeny because they merely assumed the school taught it. Besides, they may experience this a nonmeaningful conversation because, # 8220 ; Their childs won? Ts have sex until they are married, # 8221 ; they are abashed themselves, or they do non believe a adolescent can manage this mature capable affair. Why should a parent be embarrassed to speak about this you inquire? It is because they themselves neer got the instruction. Not merely do kids non cognize how different signifiers of birth control work, but besides neither do their parents. Despite old ages of added experiences and adulthood, non all grownups know that some signifiers of birth control merely protect against gestation, non STDs. This deficiency of assurance and cognition gets passed right on down the household tree to the kids, and when they become sexually active they won? t us proper protection for those grounds, deficiency of cognition and embarrassment. If we do non get down educating young person in birth control, the figure of 15-19 twelvemonth olds enduring with sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhoea, chlamydia, herpes, and HIV will go on to increase by dismaying intervals. Young person is missing critical information that can salvage their lives, and the lives of others. Recently in Washington the senate appropriations commission approved a $ 287.6 billion dollar financial 1999 disbursement measure for the Departments of Labor, Health, and Education. However, the president threatened to blackball the house measure because its proposed disbursement cuts and a host of legislative riders on issues like necessitating parental presentment before bush leagues receive birth control at federally funded clinics. Legislation locally has been limited due to the deficiency of enterprise on behalf of all the people this would profit. Right now wellness instructors at the Oswego high school are prohibited to learn birth control and safe sex, even if the pupil asks a inquiry about it that pertains to a category treatment. With all the benefits of birth control instruction why shouldn? t it be taught in schools? There are a figure of things the school could make in order to assist the job of teenage STD infection. They could establish a condom handiness plan for illustration. Having birth control on manus when it is needed is the best manner to vouch its usage. To frequently you hear of childs that are excessively abashed to travel purchase rubbers, or are merely excessively faineant to travel acquire them. By administering them in school whether it? s through traveling to the school nurse and inquiring for some, or if you can merely travel pick one up out of a basket, it can extinguish these feelings of uneasiness and slothfulness. However, some critics would reason that holding rubbers around and ready to be used merely encourages sexual activity. They would reason that by offering a manner to hold safe sex, the school territory would in fact be advancing sex, which would wholly get the better of the intent of the prescription in the first topographic point. Others say that it is non the school territories duty to supply protection for sexually active pupils. After all, this is a plan that would be a good trade of money and clip, neither of which public instruction can presently save. Of class this is non the lone route available for the school territory to take. There are many options to passing out rubbers in school, such as offering workshops on the subject. The school could offer after school categories about the different types of birth control available, and its usage. Many instructors would reason that there is non clip to include anything else into a category? s course of study, so offering a category after school would be a great option. Students could go to if they wished to so the morality issue would non be a job, and the school nurse, a wellness instructor, or a physician whovolunteered their clip could learn the category. Of class there is ever the issue of money when it come to utilize of school installations after school is out for the twenty-four hours, and at that place wouldn? T be a warrant that anyone would be willing to learn the category. Another possible ruin would be deficiency of engagement in the category. Students may avoid go toing such categories for fear their friends would label them promiscuous. ( I use the te rm promiscuous in this paper merely for tact intents ; accurate vocabulary used by pupils would be abhorrent. ) Then one time once more you have to factor in pupil indolence, and other pupil activities such as athleticss to the low category sizes. So clearly the costs of this plan would out weigh the benefits, so this brings us to a concluding pick, really adding birth control instruction in with what is already learned in wellness category. By holding the school territory add birth control instruction to the high schools wellness course of study we have the chance to learn everyone about birth control since it is a compulsory category for graduation. This is the lone manner to guarantee that the full pupil organic structure will cognize what their options are, how they work and are used, and they won? t be every bit nervous when the clip comes to discourse birth control with their spouse. This alteration would besides include larning in deepness about STDs, including the symptoms of them, after all, the early sensing you have the more likely a opportunity of acquiring better. The option of holding a physician or nurse come in and learning this lesson would be unfastened, seeing as how some of the instructors would non be up to par on this subject, or have a moral expostulation to learning it. It is clearly obvious that this is the preferable policy since the costs can so easy be avoided and the benefits are so great. This preferable policy would acquire a batch of support from many groups, particularly the Student AIDS Awareness Group. This is a group of pupils that devote their clip to ending the AIDS virus, which is spread by many agencies including sexually. Besides, as pupils they would be straight affected by the alteration. By being a group they hold more power than a solitary pupil. Peoples are more likely to listen to a big group than one individual, so this gives them the power of persuasion. This is a group whose lone end is to hold the spread of the AIDS virus, so this would be figure one on their list of precedences. By learning categories about birth control the figure of new instances of HIV, which causes AIDS, could be fewer so of all time earlier. Another group probably to back up this category merely every bit much as the Students AIDS groups is the parents of high school pupils. This is a category that has the potency of salvaging their kids? s lives down the route, so they would be behind it 100 % . Unfortunately the instruction of their kids sometimes has to take a backseat to issues such as measures, and callings, so they are non ever be cognizant of what is, or is non being taught to their progeny. Nevertheless, small else is every bit of import to them as their kid? s wellbeing and safety. What? s more they are the electors, and taxpayers in the community and they have the right to find what their kids should and should non be taught, whither it is they themselves who vote on the rightness of the capable affair, or whom they select as the board of instruction members. One last group that would rebelliously be in favour of these categories is household physicians and gynaecologists. These are the people who see first manus the effects that STDs and gestation have on young person. They are the 1s who have to state parents that their kid is pregnant or will decease from the AIDS virus. This is by far non a occupation that they enjoy making. They want urgently for the AIDS epidemic to be terminated, and to halt seeing so many kids diagnosed with a STD and become impregnated. Like the parents, they excessively are taxpayers and electors, but they have one more ball in their tribunal. They are experts in this field, and have the ability to change peoples positions B y merely stating them what they see every twenty-four hours. These are the people the school board will name and inquire the sentiment of while seeking to make up ones mind an appropriate class of action. Unhappily this is a minor issue to physicians, whom are faced with malignant neoplastic diseases and bosom disease on a regular bases. Everybody already knows that the Catholic Church is earnestly against the pattern of utilizing birth control due to the Bible. The church has the power of words on its side, which can be merely every bit powerful as a ballot. Devote followings take the word of priests as if it were the word of God himself. Through this mode the church has the chance to rock a good figure of the ballots onto their side. Of class this is non the lone issue the churches of this community have to cover with, so this is non likely tobe high on their precedence list. This is an issue that would hold to take a back place to such things as verifications, nuptialss, baptisms, funerals, church school and multitudes of class. In add-on to the Catholic Church, instructors might be against this every bit good. After all they are the 1s who need to learn this subject to the pupils. Some wellness instructors would kick that their categories have excessively much jammed into them right now, and adding another subject to learn would coerce them to pass less clip on more of import subjects. The wellness instructors alone nevertheless could non alter the heads of the school board and community members. As a effect of their brotherhood, O.C.T.A. , they have the adequate sway to state they do non desire to learn birth control methods and usage to pupils. However there is still the affair of money jobs they have to cover with. Money jobs like schoolroom budgets to wages they have to worry approximately, and while they might non desire to learn this subject, they likely wouldn? Ts take the enterprise to protest it. While the church and wellness instructors might take some resistance to this alteration, it is non a really high precedence to them. On the other manus the school board has nil else to worry about than school policy. Presently there are a smattering of conservative school board members that would protest the instruction of birth control to the pupil. While there are other things to worry approximately, such as the budget, school force, and preparation regulations, some members would take this under their weaponries as a undertaking to concentrate on. This is a group that has the power of veto, and is the 1 who finally decides whether or non they want to do the alteration to the course of study. If the members opposing the alteration outnumber those back uping it, it dies. While parents, and pupils, and the Catholic Church might act upon their determination, it is in fact, their determination. The fact that people would be against protecting the future leaders of the state from life changing diseases is so sick fated. By disregarding the fact that the United States has the highest percentile of people infected with STDs out of any other industrialised state in the universe, we are simply vouching our place. It is executable that in merely two old ages the figure of 13-19year olds in the United States with a sexually transmitted disease will lift from 3 million to 4 million, doing up.83 % of the entire figure of instances in the universe, and 33 % in this state. On the other manus, if this policy is implemented we could see a possible lessening of one million instances every two old ages. The instruction system must step in someplace. Ignoring the job has merely forced us deeper and deeper into a hole that there is mounting out of. If left unnoticed, shortly most of the young person in this state will be infected, and they will hold kids who are infected and so on and so on. It has been said that cognition is power, so why is the universes? most powerful state so naif? Does Sex Education Work? Should arouse instruction be taught in schools? The inquiry is no longer should arouse instruction be taught, but instead how should it be taught. Over 93 % of all public high schools presently offer classs on gender or HIV. ( 1 ) More than 510 junior or senior high schools have school-linked wellness clinics, and more than 300 schools make rubbers available on campus. The inquiry now is are these plans effectual, and if non, how can we do them better? Why do youth necessitate sex instruction? Childs need the right information to assist protect themselves. The US has more than double the adolescent gestation rate of any western industrialized state, with more than a million adolescents going pregnant each twelvemonth. ( 2 ) Adolescents have the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases ( STDs ) of any age group, with one in four immature people undertaking an Venereal disease by the age of 21. ( 3 ) STDs, including HIV, can damage adolescents # 8217 ; wellness and generative ability. And there is still no remedy for AIDS. HIV infection is increasing most quickly among immature people. One in four new infections in the US occurs in people younger than 22. ( 4 ) In 1994, 417 new AIDS instances were diagnosed among 13-19 twelvemonth olds, and 2,684 new instances among 20-24 twelvemonth olds. ( 5 ) Since infection may happen up to 10 old ages before an AIDS diagnosing, most of those people were infected with HIV either as striplings or pre-adolescents. Why has sex instruction failed to assist our kids? Knowledge entirely is non adequate to alter behaviours. ( 6 ) Programs that rely chiefly on conveying information about sex or moral precepts-how the organic structure # 8217 ; s sexual system maps, what teens should and shouldn # 8217 ; t do-have failed. However, plans that focal point on assisting adolescents to alter their behavior-using function playing, games, and exercises that strengthen societal skills-have shown marks of success. ( 7 ) In the US, contention over what message should be given to kids has hampered sex instruction plans in schools. Too frequently statements of values ( # 8221 ; my kids should non hold sex outside of matrimony # 8221 ; ) semen wrapped up in misstatements of fact ( # 8221 ; sex instruction doesn # 8217 ; t work anyhow # 8221 ; ) . Should we make everything possible to stamp down adolescent sexual behaviour, or should we acknowledge that many teens are sexually active, and fix them against the negative effects? Emotional statements can acquire in the manner of an indifferent appraisal of the effects of sex instruction. ( 8 ) Other states have been much more successful than the US in turn toing the job of adolescent gestations. Age at first intercourse is similar in the US and five other states: Canada, England, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden, yet all those states have adolescent gestation rates that are at least less than half the US rate. ( 9 ) Sexual activity instruction in these other states is based on the undermentioned constituents: a policy explicitly prefering sex instruction ; openness about sex ; consistent messages throughout society ; and entree to contraceptive method. Often sex instruction course of study Begin in high school, after many pupils have already begun experimenting sexually. Surveies have shown that sex instruction begun before young person are sexually active helps immature people stay abstentious and usage protection when they do go sexually active. ( 10 ) The Oklahoman sex instruction begins, the better, even every bit early as simple school. What kinds of plans work best? Reducing the Hazard, a plan for high school pupils in urban and rural countries in California, used behavior theory-based activities to cut down unprotected intercourse, either by assisting teens avoid sex or usage protection. Ninth and 10th graders attended 15 Sessionss as portion of their regular wellness instruction categories and participated in function playing and experimental activities to construct accomplishments and self-efficacy. As a consequence, a greater proportion of pupils who were abstentious before the plan successfully remained abstainer, and unprotected intercourse was significantly reduced for those pupils who became sexually active. ( 11 ) Postponing Sexual Involvement, a plan for Afro-american 8th graders in Atlanta, GA, used equals ( 11th and 12th graders ) to assist youth understand societal and peer force per unit areas to hold sex, and to develop and use opposition accomplishments. A unit of the plan besides taught about human gender, decision-making, and preventives. This plan successfully reduced the figure of abstentious pupils who initiated intercourse after the plan, and increased prophylactic usage among sexually experient females. ( 12 ) Healthy Oakland Teens ( HOT ) targets all 7th graders go toing a junior high school in Oakland, CA. Health pedagogues teach basic sex and drug instruction, and 9th class equal pedagogues lead synergistic exercisings on values, decision-making, communicating, and condom-use accomplishments. After one twelvemonth, pupils in the plan were much less likely to originate sexual activities such as deep caressing, venereal touching, and sexual intercourse. ( 13 ) AIDS Prevention for Adolescents in School, a plan for 9th and 11th graders in schools in New York City, NY, focused on rectifying facts about AIDS, learning cognitive accomplishments to measure hazards of transmittal, increasing cognition of AIDS-prevention resources, clear uping personal values, understanding external influences, and learning accomplishments to detain intercourse and/or systematically use rubbers. All sexually experient pupils reported increased rubber usage after the plan. ( 14 ) A reappraisal of 23 surveies found that effectual sex instruction plans portion the following features: ( 10 ) 1.Narrow focal point on cut downing sexual risk-taking behaviours that may take to HIV/STD infection or unintended gestation. 2.Social larning theories as a foundation for plan development, concentrating on acknowledging societal influences, altering single values, altering group norms, and constructing societal accomplishments. 3.Experimental activities designed to personalise basic, accurate information about the hazards of unprotected intercourse and methods of avoiding unprotected intercourse. 4.Activities that address societal or media influences on sexual behaviours. 5.Reinforcing clear and appropriate values to beef up single values and group norms against unprotected sex. 6.Modeling and pattern in communicating, dialogue, and refusal accomplishments. What still needs to be done? Although sex instruction plans in schools have been around for many old ages, most plans have non been about as effectual as hoped. Schools across the state demand to take a strict expression at their plans, and get down to implement more advanced plans that have been proven effectual. Educators, parents, and policy-makers should avoid emotional misconceptions about sex instruction ; based on the rates of unwanted gestations and STDs including HIV among adolescents, we can no longer disregard the demand for both instruction on how to prorogue sexual engagement, and how to protect oneself when sexually active. A comprehensive hazard bar scheme uses multiple elements to protect as many of those at hazard of gestation and STD/HIV infection as possible. Our kids merit the best instruction they can acquire. Aegerter, Ernest E. Understanding your Body. Philadelphia, Pa. George F. Stickley Company. Bodanis, David. The Body Book. Boston / Toronto. Little, Brown and Company. 1984 ? Brain. ? Compton? s Synergistic Encyclopedia. 1996 erectile dysfunction. ? Brain. ? The World Book Encyclopedia. Vol 2. ? The Brain: Mystery of Matter and Mind. ? The Human Body. Bibliography Aegerter, Ernest E. Understanding your Body. Philadelphia, Pa. George F. Stickley Company. Bodanis, David. The Body Book. Boston / Toronto. Little, Brown and Company. 1984 ? Brain. ? Compton? s Synergistic Encyclopedia. 1996 erectile dysfunction. ? Brain. ? The World Book Encyclopedia. Vol 2. ? The Brain: Mystery of Matter and Mind. ? The Human Body.

Earning an Online Business Degree Without the Chaos Essays

Earning an Online Business Degree Without the Chaos Essays Earning an Online Business Degree Without the Chaos Essay Earning an Online Business Degree Without the Chaos Essay Two years ago I decided to go back to school to earn my business degree. This was a huge decision for me as I had been gone from the classroom for twenty years. I had just reached a point in my career that I had hit a ceiling and really needed a degree to continue my professional pursuits. I had also reached a point in my life where I was ready to feel better about myself. I had a habit of starting projects and not finishing them. I needed to do this for myself. Unfortunately, however, my journey back to school didn’t work out as expected. With two small children and a full-time job I had difficulty balancing all of my responsibilities. I had to drop my kids at daycare after school and then race to campus to get to class on time. By the time I got home my husband had picked up the children, they had had dinner without me, and the kids were in bed. The schedule was chaotic and I was exhausted. In the end, I lost my drive because I was simply too tired to commit myself to this crazy schedule even to get the degree for which I longed. The journey was far from over, however. This year I discovered online learning which, from what I could tell, could solve all my problems. I could earn an online business degree online and still manage my work schedule and family’s crazy schedule as well. The online business degree was the perfect solution. I could go to work during the day, have the evening with the kids and hit my schoolwork when they went to bed or on the weekends when I had more time. The online business degree program was the best thing that could have happened to me. And it’s worked out so well thus far that my husband is even considering going after an online IT degree!

Communication and Problem Solving Research Paper

Communication and Problem Solving - Research Paper Example gh team satisfaction have resulted from creativity in conflict resolution by dedicated team members seeking to create a culture of mutual respect combined with effective communication. In the article by Ken Pierce (p.60), the conflict arose as a result of building tension between an office scheduler and one of the physicians regarding a perceived negligence on the part of the physician to adequately carry his workload of patients. Lack of effective communication between them led to a breakdown of working cooperation which eventually involved management. There are actually several components to this particular conflict. The staff scheduler has made assumptions regarding the physician, â€Å"since the weather is nice, Jones is taking off with a couple of colleagues to go sailing or play a round of golf. After all, he always sports a dark tan, comes to clinic late and leaves early.† She sounds resentful at feeling forced to assume an extra workload as the result of his choice not to see patients, â€Å"having cancelled clinic twice this month already†. She also has internal filters that judge his level of commitment to the team. She appears to be operating from a position of intolerance and micromanagement. The scheduler, feeling manipulated and disrespected on several levels, opts not to show him the professional courtesy of discussing the situation with him by involving management to resolve the issue. The physician appears to act from a position of insensitivity and disrespect. He is insensitive to the needs of his patients, the seemingly unnecessary workload for the scheduler, and disregards what is involved in rescheduling the patients more than one time in a month. He exhibits disrespect for her position in asking her to breach trust with the patients and lie to them about why he can’t see them, and, possibly disrespect for his fellow team members, as well as the business, in not honoring his commitment to see patients. This is evident in his

Rating takes priority over 'quality' when it comes to television Essay

Rating takes priority over 'quality' when it comes to television programming provision. Discuss - Essay Example s, due to the introduction of innovative modalities such Cable Television, Satellite and Broadband Television and due to the multitude of channels available, the television industry worldwide has become extremely competitive1. Broadcasters and channels, in order to maintain their position in the industry, often face a dilemma as to whether to adopt an audience-oriented approach, thereby maintaining quality of programmes produced, or a market-oriented approach, focusing on ratings and the business generated and compromise on aspects of the final product2. In order to attract more viewers there is often a trade-off between quality and ratings thus jeopardizing program quality. This paper discusses the various measures of assessment of television programs including their quality and ratings, and elucidates whether ratings are prioritized over quality in the current competitive era of television programming. Television viewing can be best described and explained as being pervasive in nature and television programmes have a significant impact on the lives of the viewers as they help the audiences in formulating their views, opinions and notions regarding various matters. According to Strivers (1994)3, mass media plays a significant role in shaping the public opinion and perceptions, in both a negative and a positive manner. This has important implications for the media, including the television industry as the media has to play a very responsible role in relaying constructive notions of the society only. In addition to that, one of the integral purposes of television programming is the provision of entertainment. Entertainment can be defined in several different ways. Gripsrud (2002) states that the purpose of provision of entertainment is to capture the audience’s attention and making them ‘so engaged in/by something, that we mentally leave our immediate surroundings to some extent (pg 276)’4. The aforementioned discussion serves to underscore the importance

Explain the difference between a security vulnerability and an exploit Essay

Explain the difference between a security vulnerability and an exploit - Essay Example Exploits encompass a large range of possible attacks, from HTTP domains designed to remove data or imbed malware on Web servers, to bumper overflow assaults that can cause targeted systems to run random software (Secpoint, 2012). An exploit is a way of stage-managing the vulnerability, in addition to using it to manipulate a system or network. Simply because something has been recognized as a vulnerability does not imply that it has been used to control a system. The incidence of the exploit denotes someone has effectively used that weakness and taken advantage of it. A vulnerability is a fault or flaw found in software and operating systems that hazards try to exploit. Threats are malevolent files or programs that assault a functions or operating systems vulnerability to enter a computer. A vulnerability is basically a weakness, found in a program. Threats occur in many shapes, depending on their approach of attack. From bugs to Trojans, spyware along with bots, threats have developed into complex programs meant to damage computer. Whenever an invader recognizes a security vulnerability in a software program like a firewall system, a DNS server, a web server, a ftp server, a mail server, or other appliances the goal is typically to obtain leveraged admission into the intended system. There are many kinds of security faults. Normally, overflow vulnerabilities control the software appliance to do something that it is not destined to. So as to exploit these weaknesses to gain leveraged rights on the target appliances, a hacker requires writing a portion of source code referred to as â€Å"an exploit†. This will exploit of the recognized security vulnerability and push the software to the edge, breaking it and, in the course of breaking, achieving leveraged entry to the target appliance with the identical privileges as the given curriculum that is being assaulted. Vulnerability-centered detection appliances are markedly higher to previous exploit-centered

Real Existing Socialism and State Socialism in Romania

Real Existing Socialism and State Socialism in Romania â€Å"Real existing socialism in the GDR and State Socialism in Romania:  A Comparison Introduction Over the course of the last two decades, following the collapse of communism in Russia and other Eastern Bloc states, there has been a considerable amount of debate in academic and political circle relating to the re-definition of socialism, which as a political ideology then became separated from communism. In its purist form, socialism is perceived as the organisational concept within a society whereby the means of production, including factories and farms, is deemed to be held in ownership terms by the whole of a particular community or nation (Caldwell 2003, p.17). Thus, in theory every worker and citizen should benefit equally from his or her share of that ownership. However, as with every other political ideology, in practice such purism does not exist. However, as with other forms of political ideology, a perfect form of socialism does not exist within any national state. As has been witnessed in the Eastern Bloc countries in Europe, there is a significant difference in the way that socialism manifests itself in individual cultures and nations, and this depends upon the prevailing political structure and cultural environment. For example, whilst there are democratic and dictatorship led countries that exercise a socialist agenda, this does not equate to the method of state socialism practiced in other states, even those within the same region. The purpose of this study is to compare two distinct forms of socialism; at the same time seeking to distinguish between the ways that each is operated in their respective societies. To assist with this objective, it is intended to use two nations that have experienced differing political structures. These are GDR[1], which operates a system known as â€Å"real existing socialism† and Romania, which enjoys a state socialism political environment. Socialism There has been a substantial amount of literature produced that has concentrated upon the study of socialism. Much of this has concentrated upon the various divergent forms of the ideology that have emerged within and outside of a communist environment. Although there is still some debate about terminology for these divergent forms of socialism, the vast majority have adapted the two most prominent as being â€Å"real existing socialism† and â€Å"state socialism.† Real existing socialism The studies that have led to the defining of real socialism only really commenced following the breakdown of socialism in areas such as the former communist block (Von Hirschhausen 1995, p.8). From this it has been found that the foundations of real socialism bore no resemblance to the â€Å"planned economy† message that was being projected by the state, and thus cannot be measured or compared with the political systems that exist within the democratic regimes of the western world. Despite it’s similarity to state socialism, the real existing version has none of the unique elements of capitalism. For example, individual property rights, commodity markets, freedom of capital and labour do not exist. Economics was dominated by politics and the two were therefore closely interwoven. This in itself can be seen as part of the cause for their being a lack of planning within these economies, which resulted in problems in three main areas. Firstly, monetary controls and restraints did not exist in the sense that we know in the West. Instead, paper money formed only a part of issues such as workers salaries, with basic goods at low prices or rationed, as can be witnessed by the fact that the price of bread in 1987 had not changed for over fifty years (Von Hirschhausen 1995, p.9), and the higher priced goods were used as rewards for merit rather than available to the citizen as a right. Secondly, there was no attempt to aim for maximum or optimum output from the countries industrial plants as these formed just a part of the party’s objectives, along with welfare and house and a raft of other priorities. Unlike commercial corporations, those within this socialist environment paid little attention to profit and success. Similarly, the idea of plant closure was contrary to the countries socialist identity and beliefs. In itself, this proves the case that there was no economic basis for the nations industrial production and output. The final aspect is planning. As has been discovered since the fall of communism, the official documents issued by the regimes, which purported to be official plans, none of these where implemented or controlled within the industrial environment. This was partially due to the fact that these plants lacked the basic equipment needed to do so, and also because the state showed little interest in the results (Von Hirschhausen 1995, p.9). State Socialism There are many who would argue that state socialism is actually a misnomer. The reason for this is that in this type of socialist community, although there is a limited recognition of private capitalism, the state itself is the centre of power. This power not only includes their ownership of the â€Å"means of production† mentioned earlier in this paper, but also extends to other significant areas as well. For example, their ownership and control extends to the media, transport and communications and, in addition, to the workers, police and military. Similarly, the state uses its power to control dissidents and â€Å"so-called† reactionaries. During the communist era in Eastern Europe, what stopped the nation that followed â€Å"state socialism† from being described more appropriately as bureaucratic regimes was the fact that the state itself was controlled by the communist party, which was essentially determined as a party for the people and thus their representatives. Case Study GDR and Romania The GDR and Romania have been chosen as a comparison case study for this paper as they operate within the two different areas of socialism being discussed, with GDR following the route of real existing socialism and Romania being a state socialism environment. GDR Prior to its reunification with West Germany, the German Democratic Republic was run by a communist regime and operated a system that has latterly become known as belonging to the â€Å"real existing socialism† The economy was controlled and planned centrally by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, who also strictly controlled prices within the economy, particularly those of a basic nature such as basic foodstuff and housing. In these cases the party heavily subsidised production to ensure that prices remained low and manageable for the ordinary citizen. As has been indicated to be the case with such political structures, virtually all of the production process were centrally owned and controlled. Even in the small private sector (around 2.8%), these were subjected to oppressive regulations and taxation, sometimes with the latter exceeding 90%. In essence, at least in the early years, and to a large degree up until a few years short of the fall of the Berlin wall, one of the central intentions of the states plan was the â€Å"total governance† of society (Caldwell 2003, p.2). However, this centralisation of control provided an ideal breeding ground for corruption, with many managers within the publicly owned business sector lining their own pockets and those of party officials, thus creating an even worse economic situation in terms of the production output of their factories. In an attempt to address some of these issues GDR ruling party moved to a more autonomous level of social control (Caldwell 2003, p.15). They adopted the slogan of â€Å"real existing socialism† as a way of showing that, although there was still a large degree of state control, the lives of the individual was said to be, to a large degree, independent and autonomous to the state, which stated that its regime allowed their citizens to live unfettered lives in private, although dissidents claimed that this pretence of â€Å"normalcy† was just an attempt to cover up the high levels of repressions that existed (Maier 1999, p.22). In reality the individual’s emancipation was against wishes of the state but by allowing it to occur it had the opposite effect to that which could have been expected, this being a tendency towards more the creation of more conflict and unrest. However, as Maier (1999, p.42) later shows, the lack of substance in the opposition by ordinary citizens was probably quelled by the measures taken by the state to repress their citizens. Whilst in some cases, such as the media, this was achieved by s strict process of censorship, as far as ordinary citizens a â€Å"stick or reward† policy was operated. For example, rationing and the reward system in terms of luxury goods, which were always accompanied by the threat that the benefits gained through these measures, tended to opposition voice down to a muted level (Maier 1999, p.49). Similarly, the dispersal of the states secret police force led to a situation where fear of neighbours replaced trust as many people responded to the implied threat by showing a willingness to report opposition in secret. This was not only done to curry favour but also to avoid becoming embroiled with the police on a personal level. Thus, as Maier (1999, p.42) states â€Å"real existing socialism thus rested on a double distortion. It transformed the public sphere into one of negotiated bargains, while it twisted the idea of a private sphere into a domain of complicity and secrecy.† Similarly, as has been evidenced within the performance of the state, despite its repressive measures, is more closely linked to the ideals that were previously expressed by Mark (2004). Perhaps the one benefit that East Germany has derived from the real existing socialism that has become inherent within the culture, particularly in terms of the previous movement towards members of the public having an element of a certain degree of autonomy to their lives, is that this has made it easier for the nation to become integrated within the larger German nation following its reunification with the Federal Republic of German (Crow 2001). Romania In certain respects the Romanian socialist structures is similar to that of the GDR. This is certainly true in the case of the party’s control of the media, which has yet to find an independent voice and the state ownership of a large number of commercial assets. However, following the fall of the communist regimes in the Eastern Block, this country has retained a communist political regime, which observers feel results from the fact that the general public are reluctant to involve themselves in politics in a direct manner (Carey 2004, p.10). When compared with the GDR it is found that the population of Romania is distinctly different to those of neighbouring countries. The culture is much more centralised in its thinking. Evidence of this can be found in the fact that most citizens within the Romanian society have a bias towards â€Å"paternalistic protection of authoritarian institutions† rather than being concerned with their own democratic freedom and values (Carey 2004, p.14). A similar situation exists within the business sector. At the present time the state controls and owns most of the production organisations and, in addition, all of the financials institutions are in public ownership. It would be difficult to sell the latter, because of the problem of non-recoverable loans and other debt crisis. Similarly, although many of the countries vast production plants are inefficient and losing money, the ethos of the ruling classes is such that closure of these organisations is an unacceptable option (Carey 2004, p.17). Furthermore, there is a reluctance to allow these to move into private ownership. Even if the state were prepared to look at this option, as Carey shows within his research (Carey 2004, p.18), the vast majority of business and other citizens in Romania are of the opinion that â€Å"the privatisation† process was dishonest. The overwhelming preference within the country and its culture is in favour of state control, particularly in resp ect of what are considered to be the most important issues, these being â€Å"prices and wages.† However, despite the views of the population, the state does have to address the issue of corporate control and, although some attempt has been made in this area, this has yet to lead to a stable environment. One of the problems they have in this respect is that the workers are union controlled and, with the current wish for central state control of wages, negotiating a productivity based working environment would, at present, be very difficult to achieve. It is anticipated that it will take some time for Romania to be able to convert either its political structure to a more democratic cultural base or its production and manufacturing industries to a situation of optimisation and a success based agenda (Carey 2004, p.229). Conclusion It is clear that socialism is still in the process of undergoing radical change, particularly following the collapse of communism in areas such as Russia and the former Eastern Bloc countries. However, as has been seen from the case study of the German Democratic Republic and Romanic, the cultural impact of this varies between nations. For example, prior to the 1989 revolutions the GDR was already experiencing a significant amount of unrest, which was being generated â€Å"from below,† in other words from a groundswell of public opinion and active opposition (Kornai 1992). This country is therefore moving rapidly towards a culture of democratic rights and away from their former position of being subject to real existing socialism. Conversely, in the state of Romania, the movement away from state socialism has yet to begin in earnest. For example, the current ruling party is still based upon a communist stance and, despite the fact that it retains control over areas such as production and the media, which in some cases can be seen to be repressive, there is little will amongst the populace to effect a change at this time (Federal Research Division 2004). However, one area that has certainly added to the differential between the two countries in terms of their movement towards a democratic culture and political environment is the location and structural differences. For example, East Germany (GDR) is situated adjacent to a Western democracy, albeit it with socialist tendencies, whereas Romania was previously surrounded by communist and socialist states. In addition, Romania has become an independent whilst the GDR has lost its independent identity within the enlarged German nation. To this extent for the GDR the dissolution of the communist based socialist environment has been a much smoother transition (Maier 1999). References Brie, Michael (1991). The General Crisis of Administrative Centralised Socialism: A Sketch Towards a Theory of Reproduction. Available: http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5id=15370fa8-8415-4f96-8ae7-a4580ee58991 Caldwell, Peter C (2003). Dictatorship, State Planning, and Social Theory in the German Democratic Republic. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK. Carey, Henry F (ed.) (2004). Romania since 1989: Politics, Economics and Society. Lexington Books. Langham, US. Crow, Graham (2001). Social Solidarities: Theories, Identities and Social Change. Open University Press. Buckingham, UK. Federal Research Division (2004). Romania: A Country Study. Kissinger Publishing. New York, US. Kornai, Jà  nos (1992). The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism. Clarendon Press. Oxford, UK Maier, Charles S (1999). Dissolution, the Crisis of Communism and the End of East Germany. Princeton University Press. New Jersey, US. Nove, Alex (2001). Marxism and Really Existing Socialism. Routledge. London, UK. Von Hirschhausen, Christian (1995). Five years after the collapse: The socialism debate revisited, and the limits of economic thought. CERNA. Paris, France. Available: http://www.cerna.ensmp.fr/Documents/CVH-WP95.pdf 1 Footnotes [1] German Democratic Republic

Free Narrative Essays - Dodging Bullets -- Example Personal Narratives

Dodging Bullets It was a warm fall day in early October, a day that I recall quite vividly. The smells of the transition from summer to fall were in the air, accompanied by the sounds of birds singing and the wind blowing through the trees. It was on this beautiful day that my existence was almost terminated. After school on this day, a friend and I decided to go hunting before our evening basketball practice. I really don't know why we called it hunting, because we didn't have an idea exactly what we were hunting for. We had forty acres of my backyard to do our merciless killing of defenseless animals. We were two ignorant kids with semi-automatic and lever-action .22 caliber rifles. As we strolled into the woods to see what terror we could create for the creatures of the forest, we noticed a large abundance of squirrels. They seemed to be dancing around as if they were gathering there before us in groups--laughing at us, begging us to shoot them. We had to keep walking, for we were still too close to the neighboring houses to be shooting these rifles. So we trudged along, occasionally commenting on how the leaves crunching beneath our feet would scare off the squirrels, as if we were some fierce snipers in desperate need of stealth. At last we made it to an area far enough from the houses. My friend was the one with the semi-automatic, and he immediately started unloading his clip on everything in sight. The sound of the bullets being propelled from the barrel echoed throughout the woods. After his barrage of shots, I noticed a large oak tree with squirrels in i... ...e to dodge bullets. I felt that I could see those bullets in their spiraling motion coming at me. This idea made me laugh, but I didn't engage it for long, for I was still shaken by the event. What if I'd been hit by the onslaught of bullets and turned into a bloody piece of Swiss cheese? Worse yet, I could have been killed. I lay there for what seemed to be a short eternity until the shadow of my friend appeared over me. "I ran out of bullets," he said in a relaxed tone. After I voiced a few choice words to my companion, he helped me up, and I slowly but surely went home. Naturally, neither of us mentioned this scenario to our parents. Later that evening, I decided that playing video games was a safer way to kill time before practice. It was quite a while before we went hunting again.