Martha Stewart Trial

Martha Stewart went on trial on January 12, 2004 for conspiracy, obstruction of justice, securities fraud and making false statements in the stock trading scandal at ImClone Systems. Stewart’s sale of almost 4,000 shares of stock in ImClone Systems created suspicions of insider trading. After investigating the matter, the federal prosecutors suspected that she deliberately tried to mislead their investigation. It is considered a Federal felony for someone to falsify or cover a material fact and to knowingly make any materially false statement.The trial was to determine whether Martha Stewart was a criminal who lied to the government about selling stock based on an inside tip or just an investor who saved money with a smart bet on the market. The Securities and Exchange Commission noticed an unusual coincidence between selling a large number of shares by the CEO of ImClone and Martha Stewart and began an investigation to determine if Martha Stewart was guilty of insider trading . Sam Waskal later confirmed that the sale of his shares was due to an advance word that the FDA rejected the application for the approval of the cancer drug. CNNMoney, 2004) The government said that Stewart saved about $45000 by selling stock in ImClone on December 27th, 2001. She said she sold the stock because she and Bacanovic, her Merrill Lynch & Co. broker, had a pre-existing agreement to sell when the stock fell to $60. (Answers. com) During the trial, Douglas Faneuil, Stewart's broker's assistant, testified that he tipped Stewart –on orders from his boss, Peter Bacanovic– about Waksal's sale of ImClone shares.Faneuil's testimony was important to the government’s contention that Stewart sold the ImClone shares after she received news from ImClone CEO Sam Waksal and she did not have an agreement with Bacanovic to sell the stock when it fell to $60 a share. In her defense, Stewart's attorney told the judge that Faneuil at various times had been advised to t ell the truth to investigators and the SEC, but then told later to keep lying. (CNN. com, 2004). Securities fraud was the most serious charge against Stewart, carrying a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and the U. S.District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum dismissed the securities fraud charge against Stewart, saying that â€Å"the evidence and inferences the government presents are simply too weak to support a finding beyond a reasonable doubt of criminal intent. †. (CNNMoney, 2004). The other four remaining charges she faced, each carried a sentence of up to five years. The trial lasted for five-weeks. Ironically, Erbitux, the drug that was produced by ImClone to treat cancer and was not considered to be reviewed in December 2007 when its application was rejected, recently was approved to treat certain forms of cancer. CNNMoney,2004).ReferencesChernoff, Allan. (2004). Closing arguments underway. Retrieved June 11, 2010, from http://money. cnn. com/2004/03/01/news/companie s/martha/index. htm? cnn=yesKey prosecution witness to take stand at Martha Stewart trial (2004). Retrieved June 11, 2010 from http://edition. cnn. com/2004/LAW/01/29/martha. stewart/index. html Sellers, Patricia (November 14, 2005).†Remodeling Martha†. Fortune, pp. 49–62. Retrieved June 11, 2010 from http://www. answers. com/topic/martha-stewart

Criminal Law Evaluation Paper Essay

Prepare a 700- to 1,050-word paper in which you address all of the following items:  · Examine the sources and purposes of criminal law.  · Identify and explain jurisdiction to create and enforce criminal law.  · Discuss the adversarial system and standards of proof in criminal cases.  · Discuss and differentiate the concepts of criminal liability and accomplice liability.  · Define 3 types of inchoate offenses (e.g., Solicitation, conspiracy, and attempt) AND link them to elements of one specific crime (ie, burglary or murder), with hypothetical examples of each. Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. Format your paper according to APA standards, and include level headings throughout the paper itself. (See Sample APA Paper in the Center for Writing Excellence if you are not familiar with these types of headings–https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/CWE/pdfs/APA6thWritingStyleSamplePaperV8.pdf). Limit your outside (ie, other than the textbooks for this  class) sources to two, total. Any time you have a test the next day, finish your night by reviewing your notes. This can actually help you remember important information while you sleep. Your brain will help fill in the gaps of missing pieces of knowledge  so that you’ll find that you understand more information in the morning.

Kentucky Fried Chicken Essay

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is a franchising fast food brand that was founded by Harland Sanders in 1956 and bases its core business in a secret seasoning mix of eleven herbs and spices recipe to fry chicken. The KFC through the last decades became one of the most famous fast food brands in the world with subsidiaries and franchising in different region of the world. One of the purposes of KFC is to stabilize and strengthen its presence in the North Asia, with particular attention to Japan. In this country KFC is already present with more than 400 stores between Company and Franchise. Analyzing the situation through the Porter’s 5 forces we can consider the competitiveness of the market: high competitive to enter and to be into the market for the presence in it of strong multinational competitors such as McDonalds that introduce different kind of substitute product, but no one like the KFC secret recipe. All this competitors create high barrier and push away the possibility o f new entries in game: it costs too much to try to enter both in terms of cash then in efforts. On the other hand raw materials are easily recoverable and KFC can switch from one supplier to the other without any problem, totally different for the customers that have a wide choice of products of similar category. Through the 5 forces analysis it is possible to say that competitiveness of the market is medium/high level. In order to identify and to evaluate KFC strengths and weaknesses we are going to analyze KFC strengths and weaknesses and how are them related with possible opportunities and threats. Main important aspects of this brand are the uniqueness of the fry chicken recipe (so the product) and the strong franchising net they had that make KFC a well know brand but on the other hand this strength hide weakness inside because create a low differentiation of product in portfolio with low level of chance to create innovative product. More than that they are selling junk food that is in contrast with the past few years healthy trend but it creates a big opportunity to creat e a new healthy chicken recipe. The KFC entered in Japan with a partner that created a link between them and the local culture and trends: culture that start to change little by little under the pressure of the youngest that look at U.S.A. as a model to imitate and replicate, but it also create contrast between local and U.S.A. HQ that  brought a lack in the control of the system due to a poor short term strategy and a lack in the franchising net development in the Asia district. This elements reflect in negative way on demand that is really sensible to price and quality. There are a few possible strategies that KFC can do in order to fix its problems and re-lunch the brand not just in Japan but also in those markets where KFC is not present yet: First Strategy can be characterized by a high ratio of standardization of the protocol and the procedures to acquire a strong routine: enter in a KFC store in Dubai has to be equal to enter in one in Japan or in USA. This can bring to develop and empowering a strong econ omy of scope. The main product lines have to be the same for each store in the world. As expansion strategy KFC has to look for the growing country with the higher Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), following step by step the development of the brand in that area with a rigid control system. Periodical report has to be sent to the central HQ in order to see the trend of the market and take the decision of invest more or disinvest according to the data. The control has to be done at regional level that has also the duty to indicate and identify new potential profitable market. Locally every store have to follow routine and habits of the brand with the chance to made up few new product in order to get closer to the local habits and needs. Stores, also, have to report periodically their trend for a strict control of the KFC standard. A Second Strategy can be developed with the decentralization of the â€Å"power† by the KFC in order to create several regional HQ completely autonomous from the U.S.A. Company that has just the power to take the decision to invest or not in a new potential market or country. The target should be a growing country with higher CAGR and KFC has to finance, give the first input to enter in the new market, and then create a regional HQ and leave all the issue to it. The regional HQ in case of negative trend can be evaluated in order to take the decision if produce more effort and try to save that market with new investment or disinvest and close that branch. As we said the regional HQ are total independent and it is their duty to identify regional behavior and local habits in order to â€Å"manipulate† the product, merchandising, advertising of the brand to suit regional population needs increasing awareness and willingness to purchase. At regional level it is also important to evaluate constantly the trend and the performance of local  product in order to take quick decision and continue investing or close the product line (same for subsidiary and franchising store). Locally stores have to report periodically their trend to the regional HQ for evaluation, they have to ensure minimum standard revenue level, positive feedback from client, and follow the procedures. Every store have to be closer and closer to customer needs and habit, clients have to have the feeling to be at home when they are in a KFC store. In the Third Strategy KFC has to set up the main rules and protocols that have to be followed. With a strong standardization of the main core product create a large economy of scope, but it has to let free the regional and local organization to decide autonomously for size and quantity of product sold in order to follow local needs. The KFC administration has to export the brand aiming to the developing countr y as new potential market with a strong financial investment plan in market research (to know and understand local needs and habits), advertising (to increase awareness) and joint venture with local partnership. Periodically it has to review the performance of the markets in which it is present. In case of a negative profile, analyze the causes and, in the absence of advantageous solutions, not be reluctant to disinvest in that particular market. The regional administration has to be the link between the central HQ and every single store. It has to control and report periodically the right application of the procedures, quality standard, routine and the correct application of rules and protocol. It also has the issue to make research on population area behavior, attitude and habit in order to discover the lever that can improve the brand in that particular region in terms of awareness, willingness to purchase, and customers satisfaction: the aim is to discover a product that can both fulfill the taste and the desire of population and, at the same time, be in line with the company policy. Not less important task at regional level is to discover, identify and evaluate potential new market areas where the company can invest. Locally stores have to follow rules and protocols settled by the Central HQ and periodically report the operation trends to regional level. Local stores have to help to study in deep population needs and report the result to regional level. Not less important is that stores have to guarantee minimum standard revenues The 3rd strategy is the one I choose because it allows a control by the central HQ that standardize routine and  protocols, but also it let local adjustments to meet population needs and habit. At the same time it aims to a strong expansion plan in developing market and try to cut out waste closing the not profitable market. Moreover it builds a strong cooperation between the three levels both in market research and in brand development.

Affect of media on teen driving and its solution Essay

Affect of media on teen driving and its solution - Essay Example 469-480) have indicated that teens have been part of more than thirty percent of traffic accidents and crashes that indicate the fatal impact of teen driving in the country. Thus, it has now become very imperative to identify the factors that promote and encourage teens to involve in driving practices, and especially reckless driving that is the major apprehension for experts (Arnett, pp. 469-480) associated with this issue. Analysis of the literature (Arnett, pp. 469-480) related to teen driving has indicated that lack of experience has been the major cause of teens’ car accidents along with a number of behavioral and developmental factors. Besides inexperience, studies have pointed out that teens do not feel the need of utilizing seat belts, and they attempt to cross the speed limits while using cell phones, having cigarettes and even alcohol during driving. Music and utilization of video screens in the cars is another common practice associated with teen driving that becomes the notion of distraction for teens, and cause accidents and crashes. While comparing data (Liu et al, pp. 1084-1088) with the adult drivers, speeding is the major factor that exists in teen driving cases that specifies the level of excitement and pleasure associated with teen driving. In addition, one can have an idea of the level of excitement by knowing that these days; the license department of vehicles has become the foremost stop for teenagers to begin their celebration of 16th birthday that shows the symbolization of cars as an adult certificate. Studies (Arnett, pp. 469-480) have shown that acquisition of a driver’s license is a significant target for teenagers to exhibit their skills and capabilities in front of their peers. In other words, getting a driver’s license nowadays stands next to high school graduation as an avenue of entering the maturity level according to teenagers (Gardner & Steinberg, pp. 625-635). In addition, peer relationships matter the

Is it fair, just and reasonable to allow the police to escape Dissertation

Is it fair, just and reasonable to allow the police to escape liability from a breach of duty - Dissertation Example This research will begin with the statement that tort is not something new. In fact, the law of tort is a very old legal concept, even older than the notion of crime. In the ancient period, the discourse on law is not on the laws of crime per se; rather it was more on the law of wrongs. By 1300’s, the English common law developed procedural mechanisms that was used to bring an action to court. During this period, writ system was developed and one of the most original writ was the writ of trespass. However, it should be noted that the writ of trespass was not a demand for right but it was a rectification for wrong done. Then, by 1400’s, sense and appeal to justice was integrated in the actions and responses to cases. By late 1700’s concept of negligence was developed and by 1800’s there was a shift from causation to fault for actions on cases. Meanwhile, the search for principles or theories that would explain further the concept of negligence became a prim ary concern in tort. This brief historical tracing of tort highlights the fact that early in the evolution of tort, the idea of remedies for wrongful acts was already perceived as a powerful tool in keeping public order, security, and peace within the society. However, despite the historical progression of tort and a common belief that tort implies compensation for injuries, there is an observed difficulty in coming up with a universal definition for tort. This is because there are different kinds and structures of torts, with different purposes and aims, variegated interests and different kinds of interferences. 11 Working on the premise that tort covers a wide scope, this research will deal with one of the controversial â€Å"legal wrong for which the law provides remedy†,12 - police negligence and liability. The police are significant public group in the society that has been mandated by law to protect and preserve the peace. 13. Police are in a unique position as they ful fil their specific function that is mandated by law, which is to protect and keep the peace not just of one person, but also of the entire society. 14 However, this unique function is not a guarantee that police will never commit a civil wrong. 15 In fact, just like other members of the society, they are also susceptible to negligence as they perform their functions. Cases show that police negligence is a reality, but because of ‘public policy immunity’, they have not been held accountable for their negligence. In other words, they enjoy immunity from their negligence to the extent that police immunity from liability is the general rule. 16 However, Osman v UK17 demands a re-appropriation of police immunity from liability. Current experiences question police immunity and as such, mar the logic of the law itself. Since, its logic is the experience of the law. 18 In this scenario, matter of justice and fairness, in lieu of police immunity is raised.19 Tort and Negligence: The Rise of Tort of Negligence The term tort is derived from the Latin word tortus, which means twisted. In French, it means wrong. 20 Tort, in the English tradition, connotes the idea of a â€Å"legal wrong for which the law provides remedy†.21 In this purely technical and legal sense, tort falls under the civil law because â€Å"

In what ways does the Ara Pacis Augustae reflect Augustus' vision of a Research Paper

In what ways does the Ara Pacis Augustae reflect Augustus' vision of a Roman 'golden age' - Research Paper Example The reconstructed Ara Pacis now stands within a large, reinforced glass and concrete shelter, also the work of Mussolini’s architects, designed to protect it from the elements and pollution(1). Marble surfaces of the box—shaped Ara Pacis are covered with relief sculpture carved in white marble. The artists are unknown, but the level of craftsmanship is exceptionally high, ending archaeologists to suggest that they may have been Greeks, or at least Greek—trained artists(2). As with much ancient Greek sculpture, Reliefs were originally painted, which would have made the stand out much more clearly than they do now. 1. Rehak,P.’Aene or Numa? Rethinking the meaning of the Ara Pacis Agustae’, The Art Bulletin, Vol.83,(2001),pp.190-208. 2. Conlin, Diane Atnally. The artists of the Ara Pacis:the process of Hellenization in Roman relief sculptures(Chapel Hill, 1997). Fig: Ara Pacis Original Frontal View (13-9 B.C) Source http://www.vroma.org Fig.: Present s tatus of Ara Pacis after some modification Source http://www.vroma.org Physically weak and plagued by ill health, Agustus was only eighteen years old when Julius Caesar's assassination thrust him, as his uncle's chief heir and adopted son, into the forefront of the subsequent political and military turmoil. He outmaneuvered and outfought rivals such as Cassius, Brutus, Lepidus, Mark Anthony, and Cleopatra. Augustus embodied and represented the tremendous currents that transformed Rome from a small Italian city situated on the Tiber River to a powerful empire that bestrode the known world as no other colossus ever had. Augustus was astute and artful enough to balance republican traditions with imperial realities, skillfully maintaining the delicate facade to achieve his goals, so that, late in life, he could rightfully claim it(3). In general, the Augustan system worked fairly well, in fact, it lasted more than 200 years. It provided a material and political base of cultural achievem ent that rivaled the Greeks under Pericles(3). This is the age of the Pax Romana, the Roman Peace. But the Augustan reforms were not limited to political, economic and social issues alone. They also envisioned a fundamental change in Roman culture itself. Augustus tried to turn Rome into a world capital and taught the Romans to identify their destiny with the destiny of all mankind. They were the chosen people who would bring peace and stability to a violent and changing world. The transformation which he tried into Rome was not only administrative or political but it was fundamental change in cultural foundation of the city which he wanted to make as world capital. 3. http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture12b.html The upper panels on the short front and back walls, the location of the two doorways to the sanctuary, show four scenes from Roman history and religion. All but one are in a poor state of preservation. On the front are the fragments of two scenes from the most ancien t history of Rome: on the right Aeneas Sacrificing to Penates (4)(ancestral household gods) and on the left the god Mars with Romulus and Remus. Both scenes concern legendary founders of the Roman state. Aeneas, a hero of from Troy (celebrated in Virgil’s epic poem, the Aeneid, commissioned by Augustus), was regarded as the first settler on Italian shores. Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of Mars who were nursed by the-wolf were the founders of the city. The two ceremonial processions on the longer side

Budgeting Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Budgeting Process - Essay Example Due to increasing industrialisation the environmental problems are also increasing, it is affecting the climate, bio-diversity and the ecosystem of the planet. Therefore there is an immediate need of budget modernisation for sustainable development. If it's not achieved then it might have adverse effects on shareholders values because firms neglecting the rules may be closed or fined severely. b) Feasibility study is an important phase in the development process. It enables the developer to have an assessment of the product being developed. It refers to the feasibility study of the product in terms of outcomes of the product, operational use and technical support required for implementing it. c) According to consumer modernisation the solution to some sort of crisis can be found in more production, more modernity and more industrialisation. Rather than more production consumer modernization purports on different industrialisation and production. This is termed as more -as-different approach. In the present markets the production is more that result in the increase in economy and thus maintaining overall consumption low and sustainable. Thus we could say that consumption is dematerialised. Though the present world is turning towards e shopping still some of us like to prefer the old ways of purchasing things like jewellery, cars, etc. d) Let's take the case of United Kingdom and its... Unemployment was on rise and there was no perfect system to maintain law and order between the EU countries. There was chaos all the time. The post war era was the beginning of expansion in the trade sector. The benefits do not come that easily. Treating those who hurt by trade, equitably a difficult public policy issue. The important issues that were to deal with are controlling the rapid growth of trade deficit, high inflation rate and soaring prices of crude oil. The post war era has seen a rapid expansion in trade and accordingly the economic and political structure has experienced steady and substantial growth. Gaining profits from trade depends on individual economic behaviour. Instead of building own automobiles, manufacturing own goods, producing own food, it is better to manufacture goods in which they have specialisation and trade them for other goods that are required. This thought made the UK a leading exporting country in international trade. The most surprising thing is that the total UK imports amount to only about 12 percent of the country's GDP. International trade brings rich dividends and imposing restrictions to such exchanges will hinder the further improvement and in realising the true gains from trade. Protectionism is the factor that's becoming hindrance to international trade. e) In the context of budget process jobs were created and destroyed as well. Creation and destruction of jobs depends on comparative advantages and disadvantages. Cutting of jobs does not have any net loss on the economy further more it improves the living standard and raises the economy. It is known truth that international trade has positive and negative effects. The wages

World Religion---If you are not religious, what are your views on Essay

World Religion---If you are not religious, what are your views on religion - Essay Example Furthermore, as religion has been part of life and sometimes people may be hiding in it while carrying on with heinous activities. At the same time, religion provides a chance or people to reflect on events taking place in their life’s, their meaning and where they are going. It helped bring one’s self or being in a settled place where he or she functions harmoniously with the minimal domination of the runway mind, bodily function and emotions. Therefore, this is one of the major reasons for people engaging in one religion or another so that they can gain direction in their daily lives. Most of the books that have been written in different religions are the writings of the ancient people that have been put together from some of the finest writers of their time. Thus, it serves as a guideline for the human life by guiding on what to do and how to do it. At the same time, the books give accounts of the activities that took place in the past, the kind of lifestyle people had at that time. Therefore, the books cannot be termed as a message from the supernatural powers. At the same time, I believe that there is a rebirth and reincarnation of people in different forms thus there is continued life on earth and not elsewhere. As a non-believer, I really do not believe in any one religion as being superior to another. However, I respect others people beliefs and whatever that they may want to do to satisfy their spiritual needs. Treating others with love, kindness, respect and love makes life more fulfilling at the end of the day. In addition, one always has to find meaning in their lives through various ways, and everybody ought to respect that. Although in my opinion, I believe that religion has denied a number of people an opportunity of discovering a lot in their personal relationship and existence. Religion does not allow people to question most of its teachings and lets people just believe in whatever that had been laid down in each particular religion.

Electronic recycling in the us, why is it important to our future Research Paper

Electronic recycling in the us, why is it important to our future - Research Paper Example Data by the Consumer Electronics Association indicate that each American household own about 24 electronic products. As such, there is large volume of electronic waste, which poses serious dangers to the environment. It is for this reason that there have been increased efforts to recycle electronic products in the US. Environmental experts argue that continuing increase in the recycling rates in the US will help the country to pull out of the electronic garbage heap and minimize global warming emissions (Natural Resources Defense Council para 2). This paper will discuss electronic recycling in the US, as well as why it is important to the country’s future. The industry of electronic recycling has evolved to become an increasingly critical part of the environmental sustainability management program (Lee para 3). Individuals, corporations, and government agencies have enhanced their focus in addressing environmental and sustainability management issues. Electronic recycling has consequently, become a critical part of this trend. Recycling is a major step in a full loop of practices that will reduce the quantity of waste that goes to landfills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (Natural Resources Defense Council para 3). Electronic recycling involves more than bundling up electronic materials. Manufacturers are required to use recycled materials in making their products. Similarly, consumers should purchase products made from post-consumer recycled materials. The more the demand for products made with recycled materials rather than virgin materials is increased, the more successful recycling will be at curbing global warming and saving natural resources. Electronic recycling not only extends the valuable products’ lives, but also prevents valuable materials from becoming wastes (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency para 2). The society now has many recycling options. Many manufacturers of electronic goods such as TV, computer and cell phones and ret ailers of these products sponsor recycling events and offer some form of take back program. It should be noted that nearly half of states in America presently have laws on recycling and disposal of electronics and a number of other states are considering passage of similar laws (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency para 2). Discarded electronics including broken cell phones, old computers, and obsolete TV sets form the fastest- growing element of the US waste stream. It is estimated that Americans threw away about 2 million tons of electronic trash in the year 2005 and recycled about 38,000 tons only (Natural Resources Defense Council para 8). This points out to the danger that US is faced with going to the future. The problem is further compounded by the fact that there is no national e-waste law. However, some individual states have put in place laws that require recycling of electronics waste, and for designing of more recyclable and less toxic gadgets. Electronic recycling has s ignificant benefits to the US society and enhancing of this program will present the country with more benefits. It helps to extend the lives of electronic products and therefore keeping them out of the waste stream for much longer time. In addition, it allows lower-income families, non-profit organizations, and schools to obtain equipment that they may not have been able to afford (U.S. Environment

Thomas King's Truth about Stories and Its Impact on Social Workers Assignment

Thomas King's Truth about Stories and Its Impact on Social Workers - Assignment Example I think this is a message that is especially important for social workers to keep in mind as they struggle to help those who are not a part of the dominant culture or socio-economic class. One thing that makes Kings message so effective is the personal tone in which he tells all his stories. He frequently speaks to the reader and is not shy about telling us when he is aiming for a story-telling tone. In the first chapter, he tells two different creation myths, one Christian, and one Native. The tones he uses to tell them are very different, as he points out afterwards. â€Å"In the Native story†, he says, â€Å"I tried to recreate an oral storytelling voice and craft the story in terms of a performance for a general audience† (King, 2003, p.22). However, the Christian version told with a less playful tone, used a â€Å"sober voice† which â€Å"makes for a formal recitation but creates a sense of veracity† (King, 2003, p.23). Kings stories in the book usually use a mix of these two tones, and the result is one which speaks directly to people and seems realistic without being unengaging. Also, the storytelling tone is part of the problem King wishes to speak about, that Native people are never really taken seriously and understood from their own points of view, but lumped into one big category, Native, and viewed as a sort of childish un-advanced race of people. As he says of his Native creation myth, â€Å"the conversation voice tends to highlight the exuberance of the story but diminishes its authority† (King, 2003, p.22-23). This, usually in the guise of focusing on Native performers who had to struggle to figure out whether they were still Native Americans or something else entirely, is a central theme throughout the book, along with the stereotyping that causes this main problem.

Media Influence on Young Adults Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Media Influence on Young Adults - Research Paper Example Young adulthood is a confusing time in life. On one hand, you are too old to act childishly. On the other hand, you aren’t quire old enough to be taken as seriously as an adult would be. Therefore, many young adults struggle to find a midpoint between the two. This is no simple task. â€Å"Young adults are striving daily to formulate their identity†¦Young adults, perhaps more impressionable than they would like to admit, use the media as a major source of identity formation. The media also represent a common ground that young people share. From the media they acquire a set of guidelines to follow, both moral and stylistic,† (Ornstein). There is a great division between the set of guidelines young people acquire from media, as Ornstein distinguishes. Morally, one can argue that there are many more sources for a young adult to learn from. Many young adults begin to establish their morals by seeding out what they like and dislike from the morals they have been raised with. There is a framework for them to work with. This is not as much the case, however, with stylistic preferences and values. There are millions of media images bombarding us these days. In fact, the definition of media has expanded so much in the last decade that the term media seems to be an umbrella term. With all these images, it is practically impossible not to be influenced. As I said earlier, young adults are especially susceptible to the influence of media. Because they are in such a transitional period in their lives, young adults soak up information from anywhere they can get it. Using this information, they â€Å"try on† different personas, seeking out what works for them. Aesthetically, this holds a number of possibilities almost as large as the number of media influences available to young adults today. With luck, young adults will model themselves after a worthy role model with an admirable image, leading the young adult to develop into a similarly admirable person. As we all know, however, many times this is not the case. There are many media images that are available to young adults w hich glamorize otherwise negative physical traits. There are many ways in which the media images of beauty can negatively affect a young adult. One of the most common instances which this occurs is with body image. Magazines are a typical example of this. According to a study of 104 adults on media use, â€Å"Magazines were read for information on current fashions, recipes, and health issues†¦Reading magazines gave respondents feelings of sexiness, self-esteem, luxury and creativity,† (Survey Asks Young Adults about Media use). One can gather that if young adults are accrediting their self-esteem to reading magazines, that the images in them naturally must be influential. There are a wide variety of images in a magazine targeted toward young adults. Many of these images are advertisements that are geared at selling products to these young adults, many times by young adult celebrities. Couple the controversy surrounding the premature sexualization of young adult celebriti es with the survey results that associate sexiness with , it isn’

Persuasive paper Essay Example for Free

Persuasive paper Essay Is it right to die? I would state the question in another format, is there a right to die? It is the most difficult question to receive an answer as we focus on people suffering from different conditions, be it psychological, physical or emotional, that beyond doubt, have led to terminal illness. I cannot give a straight yes or a straight no. The debate has been so hot in several nations. Several stakeholders are considering going the Oregon way. The whole debate focuses on suicide. By way of philosophy and other disciplines of ethics, it is very difficult to judge whether suicide is wrong or right. It has hitherto paused hard questions that get diverse responds from different persons. These persons can be philosophers from different eras, different geographical regions, and customs. It is further mesmerizing that those of the same times, similar traditions, and even same places arrive at different answers as pertains this very subject. If euthanasia was to be made legal, there are no criteria that can be used to determine the very genuine cases. Those people who proposes this action, as they define the rights of a person focuses narrowly on the normal cases only; an adult person, who is in his or her right mind, acting in their own volition, putting in consideration his or her own possessions or those entrusted to this person. I would therefore question the basis for determining the abnormal circumstances, and the limits that are sensible in today’s cultural situation. In this, we think of the slippery slope concern, soon many cases will transit to explicit murder. We will not have guarantee for people who instigate murder and claim that the people they killed were more than willing to die. The people that will fall as victims of this murder are the disable, disadvantaged, or those considered to be â€Å"undesirable† in the society – those who are a burden to their caregivers or even the state, which should be obliged to giving indiscriminate care to all groups of people. Goldberg (n. d), states that, â€Å"Thus, many U. S. ommentators fear that, if assisted suicide and euthanasia were legalized, death would be inflicted unwillingly on disabled, disadvantaged, or otherwise undesirable individuals who might be considered a burden by their caregivers or the state† (Goldberg, n. d). He continues to say that â€Å"Biased physicians, family members, or managed care organizations might consciously or subconsciously influence difficult or expensive patients to take advantage of assisted suicide† (Goldberg, n. d). It is also clear that no human endeavour is immune of abuse. This will make the Oregon requirement difficult to trust. Even ‘acting on one’s own volition’ is still not good because many patients may act quickly without enough information of existing medical care, thinking that their fate is just death. So why wont we restrict the ‘person’s autonomy’ till the person is fully informed? Thinking this way will definitely call for not legalising euthanasia. John Stuart Mill gives an example of person who wants to cross a broken bridge, as he concludes he says that this person would not really continue to do that if he is fully informed about the dangers of going that way (Mill, 2005). The other concern that we have is that this practice will be in total contradiction with the present physicians’ role as healer. It is a stipulation that physicians should always do their best to save lives and not destroy them at all. The physicians’ role should be limited to saving lives as it has been over time. Legalizing euthanasia means that the physicians’ role is broadened to the point of the patients’ advocate in the maters concerning their own health and ways they want it to be handled. This will arouse the craving of patients to commit suicide and allow many cases that would otherwise be alleviated, to run to the worst. Still on the issue of rights, every one has a right that is inherent in nature and anyone should not interfere with the individual’s rights. People should therefore exercise their own rights without interfering with others’ and no one should interfere with the autonomy of this individual. As we say that rights are inherent in an individual, we are saying that these person posses this rights because of the life that he has. Without this life, the rights he claims to have are null and void. This takes us to the point that no one should interfere with the life because it is the carrier of this same rights. Mill states that, â€Å"But by selling himself for a slave, he abdicates his liberty; he forgoes any future use of it, beyond that single act† (Mill, 2005, pp 67). He continues to say, â€Å"He therefore defeats, in his own case, the very purpose which is the justification of allowing him to dispose of himself† (Mill, 2005, pp 67). In our case the person who decides to die no longer has the autonomy that we advocate to give in allowing them to die. The person defeats his own reason for wanting to die. Mill continues to say, â€Å"He is no longer free; but is thenceforth in a position which has no longer the presumption in its favor, that would be afforded by his voluntarily remaining in it† (Mill, 2005, pp 67). He concludes on this matter that, â€Å"The principle of freedom cannot require that he should be free not to be free, it is not freedom, to be allowed to alienate his freedom† (Mill, p 67). If we have to protect the autonomy of individuals then we should protect their lives too. We can still work without euthanasia because many of our physicians have worked hard and are still working hard to come up will the best palliative care for the terminally ill people. Under good circumstances of proper palliative care, this practice will be unnecessary. This care can conserve the dignity of terminally ill people till they die. It is therefore our responsibility to give them this care rather than to help them kill themselves, which is not dignified at all (Chochinov, 2002). Though, the numbers of people supporting euthanasia is growing with time, everyone should think about the above-discussed concerns. This will help each one of us know that we are capable of giving good care to terminally ill patients without letting them die suicidal deaths. We can think it right that allowing them to die is actually denying them their autonomy, and hence the inherent rights. We should always strive to give perfect care than to kill.

Review Of The Holodomor Event In Ukraine History Essay

Review Of The Holodomor Event In Ukraine History Essay The Holodomor was a catastrophic event that saw the deaths by starvation of millions of Ukrainian peasants in the early 1930s. Generally regarded as having been at least partially caused by Soviet agricultural policy, the major school of thought for years has been that crop harvests at the time were not abnormally low, and the famine was a direct result of policies implemented with the intent of causing mass starvation among the people. However, revisionist theory contends that 1932 saw a massive crop failure in many parts of Ukraine and the Soviet Union, the extent of which made widespread famine an inevitable event, instead of being purposefully engineered by the Soviet leadership. Clearly, there exists sufficient ambiguity with regards to the reasons for the deaths of the millions of peasants involved to warrant an investigation. As such, an important question to address would be To what extent was the Ukrainian famine of 1932 a deliberate act of genocide against the Ukrainian people? This essay shall argue in favor of a synthesis of the two arguments, accepting that there was indeed a catastrophic crop failure in Ukraine at the time, but also that the subsequent actions of the Stalin points to an unequivocal attempt to decimate the peasantry. This essay will attempt to do this by explaining the motivations that Stalin may have had to institute genocide against the Ukrainian people, and show how his policies and actions reflected the intent to use the crop failure to his own ends. This essay will also examine the origins, purposes, values, as well as limitations of various sources dealing with the Holodomor, in an attempt to assess their suitability for use as evidence. Introduction Despite continual denials on the part of the Soviet Union and its modern derivative, the Russian Federation, it is now generally accepted that in the years 1932 to 1933, several million peasants died as a result of Soviet agricultural policies, including collectivization and forced seizure of crops,  [1]  as well as extremely harsh laws. The famine was exacerbated by the forced deportation of millions of peasants that took place during the same time period.  [2]  This period of famine became known as the Holodomor, Ukrainian for death by starvation. The exact figures with regards to fatalities due to the famine are hard to pin down, due in no small part to the Soviet Unions suppression of census figures. 1991 saw the release of the 1937 census, which shed some light on the possible range of fatalities of the time. The figures seem to suggest that the number of victims of the famine in 1933 were in the region of 7.2-8.1 million;  [3]  this figure however, does not take int o account famine victims of 1932 and 1934. The generally held view in many historical texts is that the famine was avoidable, and it was instead the actions of the Soviet leadership that led to the widespread devastation.  [4]   The exact reasons for the famine are a subject of scholarly debate. The first major argument is that of the famine as having been deliberately engineered with the intention of committing genocide against the Ukrainian people from the very onset. This view was raised by esteemed Holodomor historian Robert Conquest in his 1987 work, Harvest of Sorrow; the primary evidence for such an argument includes the fact that official Soviet statistics suggest that the grain harvest of 1932 was not abnormally low, and would have readily fed the population if not for government intervention.  [5]  Proponents also point to the harsh laws enacted that suggested a deliberate attempt to cause widespread hunger, including the five ears law, which called for the execution or ten-year imprisonment at best, of any hungry person who stole more than a few ears of corn.  [6]   However, that view has been countered by historians who see the famine as a completely unforeseen side effect of the collectivization process, caused primarily by the drought of 1931 and poor harvest of 1932. The primary proponent of this view is Dr Mark B. Tauger, who suggests that the classification of the famine as a deliberate act of genocide is down to misinterpretations and factual inaccuracies with regards to the officially released soviet data. Tauger also cites inconsistencies in the official grain harvest statistics of the 1930s and evidence that points towards the unreliability of these statistics.  [7]   In light of the evidence raised by both camps, there remains the important question To what extent was the Ukrainian famine of 1932 a deliberate act of genocide against the Ukrainian people? It is clear that there exists room for a synthesis of the two arguments, combining the various pieces of evidence that corroborate with each other in order to piece together a picture of the true nature of events. It is thus argued that the famine was an unexpected as well as undesirable outcome of the industrialization and collectivization process.  [8]  However, while there was no conscious decision on the part of Stalin to have the Ukrainian populace intentionally starved, and the intention when enacting the collectivization policy was by no means to enact a policy of starvation, Stalin was still indeed guilty of failing to take appropriate action to stop the famine from occurring,  [9]  and sufficient evidence exists to suggest that Stalins later policy reflected his intention to use the already widespread starvation as a tool to further his own agendas.  [10]  Thus, unintentional as the famine might have been, the fact [does] not at all absolve Stalin from responsibility for the famine. His policies towards the peasants were ruthless and brutal.  [11]  This view has been proposed by historians R.W. Davies and Stephen Wheatcroft in The Years of Hunger, and supported in part by Michael Ellman,  [12]   The Accidental Famine Recent scholarship tends to disagree with the notion that Soviet policies were engineered specifically to deal a mortal blow to the Ukrainian peasantry. Ellman, as well as Davies and Wheatcroft, point to the fact that the famine was caused mainly by Stalins decision to rapidly industrialize the nation by means of tribute from the peasantry,  [13]  as well as two successive bad harvests of 1931 and 1932. They also point to the fact that foolish policy, for example, neglect of agricultural techniques such as crop rotation, as well as the decision to continue grain export and refuse the import of grain exacerbated the problem. However, it is difficult to conclude that these were intentionally designed to kill.  [14]   To begin with, it is important to remember that policy makes in the Soviet Union of the time had little knowledge of agricultural practice, and often over-optimistic about the effects of their own policies.  [15]  Furthermore, the refusal to import grain had deeply ideological roots. In a time of great anti-communist sentiment around the world, Stalin was keen to ensure that he and his nation continued to project strength and power. Stalin himself in 1934 said, The import of grain now, when abroad they are shouting about the shortage of grain in the USSR, might produce a political minus.  [16]   As such, it can be seen that both the grain procurement policies as well as refusal of foreign import are not necessarily evidence of an active plot to destroy the Ukrainian peasantry. There exists strong evidence to suggest that the starvation was not a planned event, and were instead due to the implementation of policies without proper consideration of their impact. It must be noted though, that Stalin viewed the starving as idlers and class enemies,  [17]  and in his speech delivered at the midst of the famine in 1933, Stalin quoted Lenin by saying He who does not work, neither shall he eat.  [18]  These reflect the fact that although he had not necessarily planned the famine, he did not view the dying as worthy of aid, and this lends support to the argument that the famine, although unintentional, still placed fault in the hands of Stalin due to his refusal to take action in preventing it. The Poor Harvests The view of the famine as an intentional act of genocide rests firmly on the belief that the agricultural yield of the time was not particularly bad. This view was regarded as true for many decades, but historian Dr. Mark B. Tauger, in his journal article published in the Spring 1991 issue of the Slavic Review, suggests that this argument overlooks inconsistencies between official grain harvest statistics for 1930 and the evidence of famine, as well as evidence that these sources are unreliable.  [19]   The strict control of peasant movement through the internal passport system was cited by Conquest and others as evidence of the Soviet policy-makers keeping the Ukrainian peasants attached to the land, in much the same way traditional serfdom did.  [20]  Introduced in 1932, the passport system excluded peasants, which meant that the rural agricultural population who were hit worst by the famine was unable to leave the countryside without official permission.  [21]   However, Tauger asserts that thousands of peasants fled not only from Ukraine, but also from Kuban, the Urals and the Volga basin, among others areas, and that the passport mechanism was put in place to control labor movement and prevent famine stricken areas from being further threatened by depletion of labour.  [22]   In response to Conquests assertion that the grain harvests of the early 1930s were not significantly low, Tauger cites new Soviet archival data which shows that the 1932 harvests were much smaller than assumed, and worsened the food shortages that were already widespread by 1931.  [23]  Tauger also references R.W. Davies review of Harvest of Sorrow, which questions Conquests uncritical use of evidence and bias.  [24]   This viewpoint was written with the intention of debunking the genocide myth as put forth by Conquest in Harvest of Sorrow. It does this by pointing out the questionable nature of Conquests statistical data as well as questioning the assumption that policies at the time were directed only at Ukraine in an effort to murder its people. The case for re-evaluation of the genocide theory was convincing enough that Conquest himself later wrote that he no longer held the view that Stalin deliberately engineered the famine of 1933.  [25]   However, Taugers work may not necessarily be expanded upon enough to be considered an argument on its own. Tauger himself states that the Soviet regime was responsible for the deprivation and suffering of the Soviet populace in the early 1930s. He also goes on to suggest that the data presented here should contribute to a reevaluation not only of the famine, but also of the Soviet economy,  [26]  and not necessarily as a view unto its own. The purpose of Taugers work was to serve as a counter to Conquests work. Thus, there are several points that Taugers work does not cover, which is a limitation to the source. Firstly, the comments of Stalin and various other officials are completely ignored, as is the evidence that Stalin sought to wage class war on the Kulaks. Also, the occurrence of mass deportations, as well as the planned deportation of millions of other peasants is not mentioned. Policies such as the five ears law are also ignored. These issues are important when establishing the causality of the famine, as they are vital indicators of intent on the part of the Soviet leadership to cause harm to the peasantry, whether Ukrainian or otherwise. Having been written some years after Conquests works, the source is valuable as it takes into account new information that often serves to counter Conquests arguments. Thus, it is necessary to gather evidence from both ends of the spectrum in order to establish an argument that takes into account all the various viewpoints. Stalins Motivations to Kill When addressing the motivations that Stalin may have had for inducing an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people, it is important to consider the social and political changes that were happening at the time. Early Bolshevik leaders broke down the shadow of the Tsar and Russian Imperialism by assisting the former subjects of the Russian Empire in rebuilding their own national identity and cultures.  [27]  This was by no means due to generosity of spirit or goodwill, and was instead necessitated by the political climate of the time, due to widespread dissatisfaction among the non-Russian peasants in wide areas of the Soviet Union.  [28]   This rebuilding of national identity had grown in strength especially in the Ukraine, due in no small part to the fact that the 30 million Ukrainians living there were the largest single non-Russian national group in the Soviet Union, several times larger than any other.  [29]  The policy of Ukrainisation, as it was called, thus went further in Ukraine than it had done in any other state of the Soviet Union. This outpouring of nationalism would not go unnoticed. Stalin, in a message to Kaganovich in 11th August 1932 said: If we dont make an effort now to improve the situation in Ukraine we may lose Ukraine, suggesting that he saw a danger that the growing nationalism would lead to a rise in counter-revolutionaries.  [30]   This rise in nationalism provides compelling evidence to suggest that Stalin did indeed have motivation to enact a policy of genocide against the Ukrainian populace. The policies of indigenization that had dominated the peasantry for the last few years largely went hand-in-hand with Lenins New Economic Policy, and together were designed to keep the peasantrys nationalist aspirations placated in order to satisfy Russias economic needs.  [31]  With Stalins emergence as the victor in the succession struggle however, came a radical reversal of policies. Stalin had in 1928 done away with the New Economic Policy, and thus it would not have been a great step for him to do away with the indigenization policies. One of the key objectives of this, as put forth by Mace, was economic and social transformation designed to destroy native society and substitute a social system susceptible of control by Moscow.  [32]  Further evidence comes from the fact that the time of the famine coincided with non-Russian national self-assertion being labeled as bourgeois nationalism, and suppressed.  [33]   As such, the motivation for Stalin to want to enact a policy of enforced starvation against the Ukrainian populace is clear to see. The threat that Nationalism presented was not lost on Stalin, and his need to gain control over all aspects of the peasantry certainly suggests that an act of genocide intended to enforce obedience and crush the intelligentsia would not be beyond Stalin. As Ellman puts it: There would be nothing surprising or out of character about Stalins use of starvation. Stalin explicitly stated that he was engaged in a war [with the peasantry]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and in a war one aims to kill or otherwise overcome ones enemies.  [34]   At the same time, Leninism, and by extension Stalinism, viewed the peasantry with distaste, seeing them as petty property owners.  [35]  Ukraine had for a long time been viewed as the breadbasket of Europe, a name earned due to its rich soil and largely peasant population.  [36]  These two factors combine to form a plausible explanation for why Stalin would instigate starvation in Ukraine. Policies Enacted Next this essay shall consider Stalins actions. Arguments for the case of genocide typically cite two key points. First, the decision to continue exporting and seizing grain even in the midst of widespread starvation, and second, preventing the movement of peasantry out of affected areas. Another major point to consider is the deportation of peasants, even during the period of famine. Many historians make the case that actual productivity during the period was not overly low. One figure cited was an overall production fall of 9%,  [37]  which although substantial, was not enough to directly cause the deaths of millions of people. So then, what was the cause? Many point to the aggressive procurement policies that were put into place at the time. In 1932, just when it was beginning to become clear that Ukraine was facing mass starvation, Stalin began to implement policies that greatly affected the Ukrainian people. Despite falling production, Stalins top assistants announced that Ukraines quotas for bread grain would remain unchanged from the previous year.  [38]  Naturally, the harvest was unable to meet the production quotas, but Ukrainian appeals for an end to the grain seizures were to no avail, and throughout the fall of 1932, bread was seized from farmers, and farms that met their quotas were given supplementary quotas to make up for shortfalls elsewhere.  [39]  Stalin even ordered the seizure of even the seed that had been put aside for spring planting.  [40]  President Mikhail Kalinin went so far as to claim that only degraded disintegrating classes can produce such cynical elements in reference to the Ukrainian Politburos pleas for contributions to the starving.  [41]   Another major piece of evidence pointing to the possible intent of the politburo to commit an act of genocide is that of the mass deportation plans. In 1933, plans were drafted for the deportation of 2 million Kulaks.  [42]  There is little doubt that such massive deportations would have severely impacted Ukraines ability to continue producing the substantial amounts of grain that were required of it. However, to suggest that the planned deportation of the Ukrainian peasantry was intended to induce widespread starvation would be a fallacy. Indeed, by 1933, the roots of famine had already taken hold.  [43]  Instead, it is likely that the deportations were instead a response to what Stalin saw as class enemies and idlers  [44]  who were attempting to sabotage the Soviet rule by inducing grain shortages.  [45]   The Complete Picture By looking at the evidence shown, and also taking into account the strengths as well as limitations of the various historical arguments concerning the nature of the Holodomor, we can argue that although the initial aim of the collectivization policy was not to starve the peasantry,  [46]  Stalin did make use of the famine in order to achieve his other objectives.  [47]   There exists significant scholarship that attests to the unforeseen and undesired  [48]  nature of the famines of 1931 and 1932. Graziosi argues that Stalin, at a certain moment decided to use hunger to break the peasants opposition to collectivisation, and that even when he did not initiate something willfully, was always very quick to take advantage, of spontaneous events, drawing parallels to the Kirov assassination.  [49]   So then, if the introduction of collectivized farming was not to blame for the deaths, what was? There are several key factors involved: Firstly, the two successive bad harvests of 1931 and 1932; secondly, the politburos general ignorance of agricultural practices, leading to the disastrous implementation of agricultural policy. Thirdly, Stalins desire to punish the peasants for what he perceived as their counter-revolutionary struggle, and finally, Stalins arguable intention to make use of the famine as a cost-effective means of decimating and exerting ultimate control over the peasantry. Thus it can be seen that this argument takes into account two stages, the first addressing the roots of the famine, and the second dealing with the reaction of the Soviet leadership to the situation. In contrast to the view that the harvests of 1931 and 1932 were more than sufficient to feed to population, it is arguable that the harvests were so poor that famine eventually became an inevitable outcome. In 1932, the Soviet leadership admitted that there had been crop failure in parts of the Volga Basin and Asiatic Russia,  [50]  and the harvest was sufficiently bad that there were insufficient stocks to cover urban and rural food supplies, seed and export.  [51]  The need for grain led to withdrawals from the state stockpiles Nepfond and Mobfond, which started out with 2 million tons in January 1932, and was left with only 0.641 million tons by July.  [52]   In order to fully understand the impact of the crop failures, the administrative policy of the time must be studied. First and foremost, one must remember that the Soviet leadership, to a substantial extent, knew very little of agricultural policy making.  [53]  This led to the implementation of practices that undoubtedly exacerbated the problem of the already poor harvests. One vital example is that of the methods by which the Soviet leadership arrived at their numerical data. The regimes calculation of grain harvests was based not on actual production values;  [54]  instead, a statistical method known as biological yield was used to calculate a pre-harvest estimate of yield, which was then taken as the actual production value.  [55]   The failure to use properly gathered statistics led to many gross miscalculations that placed enormous strain on the production process. For instance, the grain utilization plan for 1932/1933 at a time when Ukraine was already on the verge of mass starvation,  [56]  saw a planned reduction in grain export by 3 million tons. However, grain collection fell by 4 million tons, leaving a net fall in grain stocks of 1 million tons.  [57]   It can thus be seen that the extent to which the harvests of 1931-33 were in decline was arguably lost on the Soviet leadership. Efforts were made to adjust grain procurement quotas to match the fall in production, with the Politburo seen to have at least attempted to reduce quotas in response to the falling harvests.  [58]  However, the Politburo at the same time planned to in fact increase the total state stockpile of grain from 1.36 million tons in July 1932 to 2.867 million tons in July 1933,  [59]  a response to the alarming fall in the Nepfond and Mobfond stockpiles in July 1932. These counter-intuitive and contradictory policies seem to point towards the fact that the Politburo as an agricultural policy-making body was unable to properly grasp both the extent of the growing famine (caused by unfavourable weather), as well as the impact of their actions, which they implemented over-zealously and with over-optimism about the effects (which further strained the amount of harvest left for the rural populace). However, the end of 1932 began to see a shift in policy that can be deemed substantial enough to suggest that Stalin had begun to use the opportunity that the famine presented as a means to advance his own ulterior motives. There exists significant evidence to suggest that Stalin had begun to see the famine as a means by which he would exact revenge on the peasantry, as well as force their subservience through fear. Stalin, in a correspondence with Sholokhov, said: The esteemed grain growers of your region (and not only your region) carried out a sit- down strike (sabotage!) and would not have minded leaving the workers and the Red Army without bread. The fact that the sabotage was quiet and apparently harmless (bloodless) does not alter the fact that the esteemed grain growers were basically waging a quiet war against Soviet power. A war by starvation (voina na izmor), dear com. Sholokhov  [60]   Along the same lines, Stalin condemned members of the peasantry as class enemies and idlers, and felt that they were the engineers of the famine. As a primary source, it is extremely valuable as it shows how Stalin believed that the famines were the direct result of an active plot to undermine the Soviet way, which explains why he felt the need to finish off the Kulaks, who had been beaten but were still very much involved in the perceived class struggle.  [61]  However, as the correspondence was written with the purpose of pushing the blame of the starvation away from the Politburos agricultural policy and towards the peasants, it is limited as the situation described by Stalin may have been subject to exaggerations and thus, not fully representative of historical events. Still, this perceived need to take revenge on the peasants for their counter-revolutionary struggle went hand in hand with Stalins other motives, namely, the liquidation of the kulak as a class, and to render the peasantry ultimately subservient to the will of Stalin. At the beginning of 1933, plans were drawn up for the mass deportation of Ukrainian peasantry. At first 3 million, then reduced to 2 million people, with the destinations being Kazakhstan and West Siberia. However, the estimated cost of such a massive project was put at 1.4 billion roubles, a substantial sum that the Politburo was unwilling to fork out.  [62]  It was around this time that Stalin began to see the mass starvat

Are Eyewitness Identifications Reliable?

Are Eyewitness Identifications Reliable? Eyewitness identifications during identification procedures such as show ups, live line ups and photo line ups are reliable to an extent in the forensic discipline, but are mostly fallible when assisting police with their enquiries regarding suspects and offenders, due to the fact that the reliability is dependent on a variety of factors relating to the memory of the witness and situational context of the crime. There are three types of memories: sensory memory, (â€Å"very short duration for which sense-based information is held post exposure† (Lecture (2015)), short – term memory (â€Å"information that can be stored for approximately thirty second without rehearsal† (Lecture (2015)) and long-term memory (â€Å"the unlimited amount of information that can be stored over a lifetime of rehearsal† (Lecture (2015)). The computer memory model refers to the factors relating to the input of information, the passage of time for which the information is stored an d output of eyewitness information through different types of questioning. The input aspect of the computer memory model can be separated into witness and situation categories which include factors such as stress and age. Stress is a crucial factor when determining the reliability of eyewitness identification as it can diminish the accuracy of the memory and is largely dependent on whether the victim or witness has experienced a violent crime such as an armed robbery or aggravated assault. Research studies have been conducted in the area of stress/arousal, concluding that there is a correlation between high anxiety exposure and errors associated with eyewitness memory. Coinciding with this research finding is the correlation between trait anxiety and a significantly lower frequency in errors associated with eyewitness memory. A research study was conducted by the University of London, investigating the effects of high state anxiety on the participant’s abilities to identify and describe the antagonist from a horror labyrinth present in a line up. This was sparked due to the fact that 215 individuals were acquitted after being falsely imprisoned in the United State of America following the re-opening of cases using DNA from the crime scenes(Valentine and Mesout, (2009), page 151). This â€Å"mistaken eyewitness identification was a cause of the miscarriage of justice, of 75% of these cases† (Valentine and Mesout, (2009), page 151). The study consisted of two sample groups; the first sample group consisted of 20 employees from a retail store whose participation helped legitimize the state anxiety inventory. Each employee’s standard heart rate was monitored and recorded during a brisk seven minute walk prior to entering the labyrinth, once entered the participants encountered a frighteni ng individual before continuing on with the exhibit and completing the state anxiety inventory questionnaire forty five minutes later. This sample proved that there was an increase in heart rate which was caused by psychological arousal when entering the London Dungeon. The eyewitness study group consisted of 56 participants and also encountered the scary person in the labyrinth; similarly they completed the state anxiety questionnaire forty five minutes later and a trait anxiety questionnaire followed by a â€Å"written free call description of the scary person† and a â€Å"cue recall† before rating their confidence after completing an impartial photo line-up consisting of nine individuals. The results of the research study concluded that â€Å"participants who reported lower state anxiety recalled more correct descriptors† (Valentine and Mesout, 2009, page 157), which would obviously indicate that â€Å"people who reported higher state anxiety recalled fewer correct details† (Valentine and Mesout,2009, page 157) of the antagonist. Furthermore, â€Å"participants who reported high state anxiety were less likely to correctly identify the [scary person]† (Valentine and Mesout, 2009, page 158), which is statistically shown as â€Å"only 17% of eyewitness[es] correctly identified the person from a nine-person culprit-present photograph line-up† (Valentine and Mesout, 2009, page 159). Additionally, there is a link between sex and state anxiety suggesting that male eyewitnesses are more accurate in their identification in comparison to their female counter-parts, which could be due to the fact the females experienced higher anxiety levels than males in London Dungeon (Valentine and Mesout, 2009, page 158, 159). However, regardless of the different results between sexes and state anxiety, overall the results clearly indicate that psychological arousal experienced during exposure to high stress situations for both genders, si gnificantly affects the ability of eyewitnesses to recall information and recognize culprits during identification procedures, which diminishes their reliability. Similarly, a field study was also conducted during U.S Army survival school training, which was imperative for gaining optimal research results rather than research studies conducted in laboratories. The investigation was conducted on â€Å"five hundred and nine†¦ active –personnel enrolled in military survival school training† (Morgan et al., 2004, page 3). The participants were separated into four different studies, each focusing on a specific identification procedure when attempting to recognize instructors during simulated high and low stress interrogations during the prisoner of war camp phase of training. Of the 228 participants in the first study group which focused on the live line-up method of identification, 188 participants were interrogated by two instructors while 40 participants were interrogated by one instructor (Morgan et al., 2004). The second study group consisted of 114 subjects which focused on the photo line-up method of identification (Morgan et al., 2004). The third group comprised of 167 participants who focused on the photo line-up method while under high stress and lastly the fourth group focused on the photo line-up identification method while under low stress (Morgan et al., 2004). Following the interrogations and according to the identification method their study group focused on, each participant was required to identify the instructors present in the questioning. The results confirmed the general point of view that by exposing individuals to high stress situations, the subject’s ability to recognize the target person was impaired due to the overwhelming influx of emotions the participant experienced at the time. The data collated suggests that the criminal justice system would benefit substantially in reducing the number of cases of innocently imprisoned individuals, if law enforcement agencies shifted their attention towards the sequential method of eyewitness identification. Statistics indicate that th e sequential photo method is considerably accurate than the live line-up and photo –spread method (Morgan et al., 2004). This is due to that fact that study group 3 and 4 scored the lowest in high stress situations; â€Å"49%†(Morgan et al., 2004, page 8) in their ability to â€Å"correctly identified their interrogator† (Morgan et al., 2004, page 7) , â€Å"100%†(Morgan et al., 2004, page 8 ) in their ability to â€Å"correctly identified that their interrogator was not present in the †¦ sequential presentation of photos† (Morgan et al., 2004, page 7), and recorded fewer errors â€Å"(51%)†(Morgan et al., 2004) in their ability to â€Å"not pick their true interrogator â€Å"(Morgan et al., 2004, page 7), in comparison to study group 1 and 2, who were focusing on alternative identification methods. Furthermore, evidence suggests that eyewitness identifications can be increasingly reliable during high stress situations with the aid of cued photographs (49%)(Morgan et al., 2004, page 9) than without (â€Å"66%†)(Morgan et al., 2004, page 9 ). Nevertheless, regardless of different identification procedures, the reliability of eyewitnesses to recall and recognize the target person under high anxiety is steadily lower compared to low anxiety situations. Like stress, the ability of eyewitnesses to correctly identify the target person during procedures of recognition, is dependent on the age of the witness therefore only reliable to an extent. Most research studies conducted conclude with findings indicating that the ability to accurately identify the culprit is higher among teenagers and young adults, in comparison to middle aged and older adults, as the common conception is that with age comes reduced facial recognition due to impaired memory. However, most of these research studies include young assailants therefore failing to recognise that eyewitness identifications of older adults are reliable to an extent, if the trigger person is of the same age. A research study group conducted two experiments in London, experiment 1 consisted of â€Å"113† [random]†¦Caucasian male† (Wright Stroud, 2002, page 645) participants, who were inexperienced in identification procedures and were selected from either their â€Å"workplace leisure area or around the university† (Wright Stroud, 2002, page 645). The subjects were then divided in two sample groups depending on their age, â€Å"between 18 and 25† or†¦ 35 and 55 years old† (Wright Stroud, 2002, page 645). Both sample groups comprised of approximately half young adults and half middle aged adults, and were assigned to either a â€Å"1-day or [a] â€Å"1-week condition† (Wright Stroud, 2002, page 645). Participants were required to independently view four videos for which â€Å"two showed a car being stolen [(by one young culprit in the first video and one adult culprit in the second video)] and two showed a television being stolen [(by one young culprit and one adult culprit)]† (Wright Stroud, 2002, page 645). Volunteers were then required to accurately identify the trigger person in a culprit present photo line-up consisting of â€Å"six fillers and one culprit† (Wright Stroud, 2002, page 645), a day or week later. Results collated indicate that middle aged adults assigned to the one day condition find it notably difficult in identifying young offenders, scoring only 24% in the ability to positively identify the younger culprit (Wright Stroud, 2002). Results continued to decline for middle aged adults assigned to the one week condition as they were only 20% accurate in positively identifying the younger culprit in comparison to younger adults, scoring 47% in their accuracy after one day and 29% after one week (Wright Stroud, 2002). However, results indicate that although middle aged adults struggled to accurately identify the young assailant in the one day condition, their ability to positively identify there same age culprit scored 47% in accuracy. Experiment 2 was conducted similarly, although it explored if age biases were present during culprit absent photo line-ups. The study consisted of an additional â€Å"180† (Wright Stroud, 2002, page 649) subjects which were divided again into two separate age groups ranging from â€Å"18 and 33 or between 40 and 55 years old† (Wright Stroud, 2002, page 649). Researchers also removed the one week condition from the experiment as â€Å"effect size was largest for the 1-day delay† (Wright Stroud, 2002, page 649) in the first experiment. Participants viewed the four crime videos again and were then required to accurately identify the trigger person in a culprit present or culprit absent photo line-up. Among both age groups, the accuracy of subjects increased by 10% when the assailant and filler were of the same age of the participant’s during the culprit present line-up (Wright Stroud, 2002) , which was also evident in first experiment. However, during culprit absent photo line-up, the statistics indicated that â€Å"own age biases† (Wright Stroud, 2002, page 652) exist only with culprit present photo line-ups due to the fact that middle aged adults won’t â€Å"be more likely than younger participants to identify an innocent young suspect, but they will be more likely to fail to identify a guilty young culprit† (Wright Stroud, 2002, page 652). Similarly, a research study was conducted with broader younger and older age groups, ranging from â€Å"16-33 years and †¦ 60- 82 year[s] [old]† (Memon, Bartlett, Rose Gray, 2003, page 44). The study consisted of â€Å"172† (Memon, Bartlett, Rose Gray, 2003, page 44) volunteers for which younger participants were selected from their respective â€Å"local colleges† (Memon, Bartlett, Rose Gray, 2003, page 44) ,while older participants were selected based on their reply to local flyers in â€Å"local centres, clubs, and societies† (Memon, Bartlett, Rose Gray, 2003, page 44). Participants were required to participate in a â€Å"face-source recollection task† (Memon, Bartlett, Rose Gray, 2003, page 45) prior to watching two videos for which there was a young offender or older offender engaging in a criminal activity. Subjects were then â€Å"assigned to the delay or immediate test condition [session]† (Memon, Bartlett, Rose Gray, 2003, page 46) and took part in â€Å"two line-ups with the perpetrator [either] present or †¦.absent† (Memon, Bartlett, Rose Gray, 2003, page 46). They were then subsequently made to repeat the facial recollection task for which participants needed to identify â€Å"old (seen in session 1) or new (not seen in session 1)† (Memon, Bartlett, Rose Gray, 2003, page 46) faces. The median statistics of younger versus older adults indicate the same results as of experiment 1 and 2 of the previous article, that overall, younger participants were able to correctly identify the culprit (â€Å".86†) (Memon, Bartlett, Rose Gray, 2003, page 46) regardless of time delay in comparison to older participants (â€Å".49†) (Memon, Bartlett, Rose Gray, 2003,page 46). However, the most notably important relationship of the statistics, is the correlation between the accurate recognition of culprits among both age groups and the â€Å"measure of source recollection derived from a separate face-recognition task† (Memon, Bartlett, Rose Gray, 2003, page 43). Results reveal that older adults recorded noticeably poorer on the task thus indicating that â€Å"source-recollection deficits are partially responsible for age-related differences in performance of the line-up task† (Memon, Bartlett, Rose Gray, 2003, page 43). Mistaken identification by eyewitnesses during show up, live line-up and photo line-up procedures, contribute significantly to the number of unjustly imprisoned individuals, some of which (340) have already been executed. Almost all research studies conclude with contradictory evidence to one another however there are clear patterns among results of factors, which influence the reliability of eyewitness recall and recognition. The situational factor of witness stress/psychological arousal, determines the extent for which eyewitness recall are dependable on during testimonies. Exposure to high stress situations, increase state anxiety, which diminishes the dependability of eyewitness memory recall across both genders. Variables such as gender differences also indicate that women in comparison to men are less accurate in their ability to identify and describe the trigger person. However, the assistance of cued photographs during sequential photo method identification procedures, have p roven to increase accuracy of descriptors and facial recognition of the perpetrator, which if implemented across the criminal justice system, would increase the reliability of eyewitness identifications along with reducing the number of innocently imprisoned citizens. Strict guidelines for unbiased questioning during eyewitnesses interviews, would also reduce suggestibility and implanted false memories. The most contradictory research evidence stems from the accuracy of younger and older eyewitnesses. Although studies generally show that younger adults are more accurate in either identifying or describing culprits, these studies fail to recognise that to an extent, that younger adults are only higher in their accuracy rates, due to the fact that young culprits are mostly used across all studies. Eyewitness reliability in terms of age was dependant on a variety of factors. Firstly, experiments conducted have shown that there is a correlation between higher accuracy results of older adults and their ability to identify same age (older) culprits in target present line-ups. Secondly, time also played a crucial factor as accuracy of both age groups were dependant on short or long delays in recognition, with older participants decreasing in accuracy with increasing time. However overall, younger participants were slightly more accurate regardless of age difference and time delay. This wou ld indicate that immediate questioning and identification procedures would increase the accuracy of identifications for older eyewitnesses. By Mathew Franczak References Wright, D., Stroud, J. (2002). Age differences in lineup identification accuracy: People are better with their own age. Law And Human Behavior, 26(6), 641-654. doi:10.1023/a:1020981501383 Valentine, T., Mesout, J. (2009). Eyewitness identification under stress in the London Dungeon. Appl. Cognit. Psychol., 23(2), 151. doi:10.1002/acp.1463 Morgan, C., Hazlett, G., Doran, A., Garrett, S., Hoyt, G., Thomas, P. et al. (2004). Accuracy of eyewitness memory for persons encountered during exposure to highly intense stress. International Journal Of Law And Psychiatry, 27(3), 265-279. doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2004.03.004 Memon, A., Bartlett, J., Rose, R., Gray, C. (2003). The Aging Eyewitness: Effects of Age on Face, Delay, and Source-Memory Ability. The Journals Of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences And Social Sciences, 58(6), P338-P345. doi:10.1093/geronb/58.6.p338 The Mitochondria: Structure, Functions and Reactions The Mitochondria: Structure, Functions and Reactions Mitochondria are rod-shaped structures that are enclosed within two membranes the outer membrane and the inner membrane. The membranes are made up of phospholipids and proteins. The space in between the two membranes is called the inter-membrane space. The structure of the various components of mitochondria are as follows: The outer membrane is a relatively simple phospholipid bilayer, containing protein structures called porins. Ions, nutrient molecules, ATP, ADP, etc. can pass through the outer membrane with ease. The inner membrane is freely permeable only to oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water. Its structure is highly complex, including all of the complexes of the electron transport system, the ATP synthetase complex, and transport proteins. There are folds present which are organized into lamillae (layers), called the cristae. The cristae greatly increase the total surface area of the inner membrane which makes room for many more of the above-named structures than if the inner me mbrane were shaped like the outer membrane. The membranes create two compartments. The intermembrane space is the region between the inner and outer membranes. It has an important role in the primary function of mitochondria, which is oxidative phosphorylation. The matrix is a complex mixture of enzymes that are important for the synthesis of ATP molecules, special mitochondrial ribosomes, tRNAs and the mitochondrial DNA. Besides these, it has oxygen, carbon dioxide and other recyclable intermediates. In glycolysis, what type of reactions do hexokinase and phosphofructokinase catalyze? In general, what is the importance of these reactions or in other words what makes them unique in the glycolysis pathway? The first step in glycolysis is phosphorylation of glucose by a family of enzymes called hexokinases to form glucose 6-phosphate (G6P). This reaction consumes ATP, but it acts to keep the glucose concentration low, promoting continuous transport of glucose into the cell through the plasma membrane transporters. In addition, it blocks the glucose from leaking out because the cell lacks transporters for G6P. Phosphofructokinase (PFK) is a glycolytic enzyme that catalyzes the irreversible transfer of a phosphate from ATP to fructose-6-phosphate. Because this reaction is irreversible, PFK is the key regulatory enzyme for glycolysis. When ATP levels are high in the cell, the cell no longer needs metabolic energy production to occur. In this case, PFKs activity is inhibited by allosteric regulation by ATP itself, closing the valve on the flow of carbohydrates through glycolysis. In general, how are fats and proteins utilized during cellular metabolism? Proteins contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen , and sometimes other atoms. They form the cellular structural elements, are biochemical catalysts, and are important regulators of gene expression . Digestion breaks protein down to amino acids. If amino acids are in excess of the bodys biological requirements, they are metabolized to glycogen or fat and subsequently used for energy metabolism. If amino acids are to be used for energy their carbon skeletons are converted to acetyl CoA, which enters the Krebs cycle for oxidation, producing ATP. The final products of protein catabolism include carbon dioxide, water, ATP, urea, and ammonia. What two molecules combine in the TCA cycle to form Citrate? Where did each precursor molecule come from? The Citric Acid cycle begins with acetyl-CoA transferring its two-carbon acetyl group to the four-carbon acceptor compound called oxaloacetate to form a six-carbon compound called citrate. Acetly-CoA is created when from the reaction of pyruvate dehydrogenase. Oxaloacetate is created from a combination of pyruvate carboxylase and Malate dehydrogenase. Would you expect to find the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in an anaerobic bacterium? Explain why or why not and explain what task this complex performs. Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex is a complex of three enzymes that transform pyruvate into acetyl-CoA by a process called pyruvate decarboxylation which involves the oxidation of pyruvate. Since anaerobic bacterium only exists in oxygen-free environments you would not expect them to contain this complex. What are high energy electrons and what is represented by an oxidation-reduction potential? Using this knowledge briefly explain the importance of Figure 5.14 and the role of the high energy electrons carried by NADH and FADH2 in the creation of ATP. Why are the electron transport chain complexes referred to as proton pumps? Electron transport chains are biochemical reactions that produce ATP. ATP is made by an enzyme called ATP synthase. ATP synthase is powered by a transmembrane proton gradient, which conduct protons from high to low concentration across the membrane. In essence working to pump protons through a proton channel which temporarily opens in the inner membrane How are NADH and FADH2 different when it comes to interacting with the ETC? NADH+H+ arrives from Stage II of carbohydrate metabolism or Stage III (TCA cycle) to the ETC and immediately oxidizes to NAD+ with its protons (hydrogen ions) going into the matrix and its electrons (e-) going to cytochrome complex 1. As the electrons arrive on cyctrochrome complex 1 the complex immediately goes through redox (reduction and oxidation). This reaction creates a proton pump within the cytochrome, pumping some protons from the matrix through the cytochrome into the intermembrane space. The electrons now transfer to mobile carrier Q and NAD+ returns to its original source. FADH2 arrives from the TCA cycle to the ETC and goes directly to cytochrome mobile carrier Q. FADH2 oxidizes to FAD with its protons going into the matrix and its electrons going to mobile carrier Q. Mobile carrier Q shuttles the electrons from FADH2 (and from cytochrome 1) to cytochrome complex 2. The electrons are transferred to cytochrome complex 2 and it immediately goes through redox (reduction and oxidation). This creates a proton pump, pumping protons from the matrix through cytochrome complex 2 directly into the intermembrane space of the mitochondrion. FAD returns to the TCA cycle. What does the proton-motive force represent (you dont need to explain the formula)? A proton-motive force represents the energy that is generated by the transfer of protons or electrons across an energy-transducing membrane. Describe the structure of ATP synthase and the binding change hypothesis of mitochondrial ATP production. ATP synthase is made up of two portions, F1 and F0. The FO portion is within the membrane of the mitochnodria and the F1 portion is above the membrane, inside the matrix of the mitochondria. The binding change mechanism involves the active site of a ÃŽÂ ² subunit cycling between three states. In the open state, ADP and phosphate enter the active site. The protein then closes up around the molecules and binds them loosely the loose state. The enzyme then undergoes another change in shape and forces these molecules together, with the active site in the resulting tight state binding the newly-produced ATP molecule with very high affinity. Finally, the active site cycles back to the open state, releasing ATP and binding more ADP and phosphate, ready for the next cycle of ATP production. Describe the structure of a chloroplast and give a brief summary of its evolutionary origin. The chloroplast is the organelle where photosynthesis occurs in photosynthetic eukaryotes. The organelle is surrounded by a double membrane. Inside the inner membrane is a complex mix of enzymes and water. This is called stroma and is important as the site of the dark reactions, more properly called the Calvin cycle. Within in the stroma is a network of stacked sacs. Each stack is called a granum and each of the flattened sacs which make up the granum is called a thylakoid. Each thylakoid has a series of photosystems and associated proteins. The photosystems contain chlorophyll and other pigments and all these associated structures in the thylakoid membrane are the site for the light reactions in which light energy is converted to chemical energy needed for the Calvin cycle in the dark reaction. Chloroplasts are believed to have arisen as free living bacteria that became endosymbiont with the ancestors of photosynthetic eukaryotes. An endosymbiont is any organism that lives within the body or cells of another organism. Briefly describe the experiment performed by Ruben and Kamen and describe what this experiment helped to prove. Ruben and Kamen bombarded graphite in the cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator,in hopes of producing a radioactive isotope of carbon that could be used as a tracer in investigating chemical reactions in photosynthesis. Their experiment resulted in production of carbon-14. What is the photosynthetic role of the light-harvesting antenna pigments? In photosynthetic systems a variable number of pigments act as light-harvesting antenna to absorb and direct solar energy to photochemical reaction centers. The effectiveness of the reaction centers depends on the efficient transfer of excitation energy from these antenna molecules. In plants, what are photosystems, what is the significance of the primary P680 and P700 pigments, and how do these fit into the Z scheme arrangement depicted in Figure 6.10 of your text? Photosystems are protein complexes that are found in the thylakoid membranes of plants. They are involved in photosynthesis as enzymes which use light to reduce molecules. There are two families of photosystems. Within photosystem type 1 is the P700 reaction center. Its absorption spectrum peaks at 700 nm. When photosystem I absorbs light, an electron is excited to a higher energy level in the P700 chlorophyll. These electrons are moved in pairs in an oxidation/reduction process from P700 to electron acceptors. Within photosystem type II is the P680 reaction center. Its absorption spectrum peaks at 680nm. What is photolysis and what is its significance during photosynthesis? Photolysis is defind as the splitting or decomposition of a chemical compound by means of light energy or photons. Photolysis is the part of photosynthesis that occurs in the granum of a chloroplast where light is absorbed by chlorophyll, turned into chemical energy, and used to split apart the oxygen and hydrogen in water. The oxygen is released as a byproduct while the reduced hydrogen acceptor makes its way to the second stage of photosynthesis, the Calvin cycle. What is photophosphorylation and how is this accomplished by PSII and PSI? Photophosphorylation is the production of ATP using the energy of sunlight. In photophosphorylation, light energy is used to create a high-energy electron donor and a lower-energy electron acceptor. Electrons then move spontaneously from donor to acceptor through an electron transport chain. When a special chlorophyll molecule of PSII absorbs a photon, an electron in this molecule attains a higher energy level. Because this state of an electron is very unstable, the electron is transferred from one to another molecule creating a chain of redox reactions, called an electron transport chain (ETC). The electron flow goes from PSII to cytochrome b6f to PSI. In PSI the electron gets the energy from another photon. The final electron acceptor is NADP. Cytochrome b6f and ATP synthase are working together to create ATP. This process is called photophosphorylation What is the function of Rubisco? In the Calvin Cycle of photosynthesis, the enzyme rubisco grabs CO2 and incorporates it into RuBP (commonly called carbon fixation). The cycle continues until one G3P is made; a precursor to glucose. What is the usefulness or function of the the 12 GAP molecules produced by the fixation of 6 CO2 molecules via the Calvin cycle? The function is for the manufacturing of carbohydrates What is the function of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and what advantage is given to plants that contain this enzyme? Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase is an enzyme in the family of carboxy-lyases that catalyzes the addition of CO2 to phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to form the four-carbon compound oxaloacetate. Carbon fixation via PEP carboxylase assimilates the available CO2 into a four-carbon compound (oxaloacetate, which is further converted to malate) that can be stored or shuttled between plant cells. This allows for a separation of initial CO2 fixation by contact with air and secondary CO2 fixation into sugars by RuBisCO during the light-independent reactions of photosynthesis. In succulent CAM plants adapted for growth in very dry conditions, PEP carboxylase fixes CO2 during the night when the plant opens its stomata to allow for gas exchange. During the day time, the plant closes the stomata to preserve water and releases CO2 inside the leaf from the storage compounds produced during the night. This allows the plants to thrive in dry climates by conducting photosynthesis without losing water through open stomata during the day.

For the Love of High Heels Essay -- Shoes Fashion Essays

For the Love of High Heels As I watch a fellow student teeter down the stairs in the campus center, her normally flamboyant bounce is no where to be seen as she tensely grips the guardrail. She lowers herself delicately down, each step carefully calculated. Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot- and she makes it to the bottom without mishap. The culprits encumbering her normally wild grace are easily discerned; her shoes. Her feet are wrapped up in four inch- plus a one inch platform to make for a total of five inches- fire engine red heels. They're strappy sandals that lace half way up her calves with a silk ribbon and have effectively made walking an ordeal. Why do we do this? Well darling, because "Shoes are hot!" (Benstock & Ferriss p1) That's right, shoes are hot, and the hottest ones of all are high heels. They're collected, worn, and loved by women across the globe. They're everywhere. They run rampant in books, calendars, photographs, album and movie covers, dangling in miniature precious metal versions from earlobes and chains, and let's not forget the most important place- women's closets. Shoes are no longer something one simply wears on their feet, but a passion, a hobby, one's personal statement, a source of authority, sexual independence and joy. They're a constant obsession in pop culture, endlessly talked about and fetishized in television, movies, song lyrics, and seem to be worn without fail by glamorous celebrities no matter the occasion. The most notorious of the shoe loving pop culture media is of the smash HBO series Sex in the City, in which shoes are one it's main themes. Physically high heel shoes, and specifically the stiletto, are the source of much debate. More and more studies... ...and Benstock write that there is "...satisfaction we take in having purchased a pair of shoes that 'is us,' that represents us... The fashionable dress of the Western world is one means whereby an always fragmentary self is glued together into a semblance of unified identity. Shoes serve as markers of gender, class, race, ethnicity, and even sexuality." (p4) The idea of piecing ourselves together with our things can be applied to any accessory or article of clothing, but I argue that shoes are more than that. Power, sexuality and sheer aesthetic pleasure contribute to a love of shoes. Janet Lyon reflects upon the mystery of the love of shoes writing, "How is one to account for this hypnotic allure, for so many generations of modernity's women, of the impractical, foot-deforming, outrageous shoe?....For fabulous shoes are indeed a joy." (Benstock & Ferriss p273)