Discuss to what extent the role of Groupthink in the Challenger Space Essay

Discuss to what extent the role of Groupthink in the Challenger Space Shuttle was critical to the incident and suggest ways in which the situation might have been avoided - Essay Example Groupthink theory, and the model resulting from it, is one of the most prominent efforts to try and explain decision-making outcomes in organizations (Whyte, 1998). This theory is considered useful in the explanation of one of the most prominent disasters of modern time. In 1986, NASA launched a space mission in which the space shuttle Challenger was to deliver astronauts and a school teacher to space. This mission was supposed to be a bold statement that space travel was safe and NASA had made advances in space program that would be educationally beneficial to all Americans. This paper examines the decisional process that culminated to the fateful disaster that befell Challenger and its crew, sparking so many questions on NASA’s organization and its safety ethics. The paper particularly examines the role of groupthink theory in the disaster. After the introduction the paper provides a brief description of the Challenger disaster, it then discusses groupthink as was presented by Janis (1982). A big part of the paper is dedicated to examining the role of groupthink in the Challenger disaster after which suggestions are provided about how the disaster would have been avoided. The paper then ends with a brief conclusion summarising the key issue s discussed. In 1986 NASA launched what was to be its safest mission into space which was supposed to usher in an era of safe space travel. However, this was not to be as disaster struck shortly after the launching of the space shuttle Challenger. The shuttle exploded mid-air killing all crew and leaving NASA with the responsibility of explaining decisions leading to the accidents. Immediately after the shock of the disaster that befell Challenger, the public was demanding answers about how and why the accident took place (Solomon, 2006). Public investigations by a presidential commission set up for that purpose

Practicing the Backward Roll in the Gymnastics Term Paper

Practicing the Backward Roll in the Gymnastics - Term Paper Example Back rolling is usually a difficult rolling process because of the neck. This is more so for the young children. This is because a child’s head in comparison to the rest of the body is usually larger than that of an adult person. Therefore, a child requires a greater amount of push from the floor in order to perform the back rolling technique. This happens in order to help them clear their heads from the floor while preventing the unnecessary injuries to the neck. However, as an instructor, there is a need to ensure that the students have enough abdominal strength in helping them lift their hips over their heads. The students also need to have enough arm strength in order to help them push their heads from the mat. This will help them to relieve some stress from their necks. Rick Feeney (1990),   explains one of the skills of backrolling which involves the placing of the mats in a V-formation for the back rolling technique. It helps to serve several functions: 1. To protect the head from injuries 2. It teaches the students how to roll in an exact straight line 3. It teaches the students how to push using their hands and arms   However, as a rolling instructor, there is need not rush your students to perform the back rolling technique, especially on flat mats until when the students are ready to perform it. However, when they perform this skill, there is a need to help them lift their hips up an over their heads. Consciously keep the pressure from their necks. The back rolling skill is a great technique to master because it usually helps the students to develop strength and agility. It also assists the learners to grasp the technique of safe fall.   However, spotting a back roll in students takes a little more practicing than any other rolling. First, the students need to start in a squatting stance. Next, make sure that their chins tackle forward while their hands are by their shoulders. Their palms need to be facing the ceiling in this area. However, there is a need to stand slightly behind your students, as well as their sides.

Embedding Total Quality Management In Private Universities Management Essay

Embedding Total Quality Management In Private Universities Management Essay The previous chapter consisted of a literature review about TQM, the management approach that started in manufacturing and business and then extended over the service sector and particularly in higher education. Research shows that by adapting aspects of the TQM to fit their own needs, higher education organizations experienced a better ability to manage the process of quality, and maintain and enhance development. Vazzana.et al (2000), in their study about TQM in business colleges found that most PUs benefit from their attempt at using TQM to improve the quality of their universities. Similarly, Weller (2000) in his study of using the TQM tools to identify root causes of higher education attendance problems concluded that the application of TQMs tools and techniques to solve higher education problems as highly promising as it is in PUs areas. The purpose of chapter five was to give a general understanding of the subject. The present chapter is about how TQM has, and can be, adopted in the PUs, what benefits PUs can get from implementing TQM, concerns about, and case studies of some PUs which have implemented TQM and what problems and benefits have been encountered in this context. The chapter concludes with a proposed model for TQM in the PUs in Egypt. 5.2 TQM in Private Universities Context Ever more, the implementation of TQM has extended over industrial organizations and has turned deteriorating companies into world leaders. Although the origins of TQM are grounded in statistical analysis of performance, with statistical quality control being the principal tool for verifying the success of TQM measures, TQM lays importance on the human element of an organization (Deming, 1986; Juran, 1988). This makes TQM suitable for service sectors in general and particularly education. Although educational organizations have been slower to see the value of TQM, many of them are now using TQM to improve their administration and to face internal and external challenges. As Mangan (1992) notes: Faced with soaring operating costs and persistent public demands for accountability, a growing number of colleges and universities are turning to TQM and its principles of customer satisfaction, teamwork, and employee empowerment as a tool to improve how institutions are managed. There are three generic approaches to TQM in higher education (Harris 1994), Firstly there is a customer focus where the idea of service to students is fostered through staff training and development, which promotes students choice and autonomy. The second approach has a staff focus and is concerned to value and enhance the contribution of all members of staff to the effectiveness of an institutions operation, to the setting of policies and priorities. This entails a flatter management structure and the acceptance of responsibility for action by defined working groups. The third approach focuses on service agreements stance and seeks to ensure conformity to specification at certain key measurable points of the educational processes. Evaluation of assignments by faculty within a specified timeframe is an example. Lawrence and Mc.Collough (2001) propose a system of guarantees designed to accommodate multiple stakeholders and the various and changing roles of students in the educational process. Durlabhji and Fusilier (1999) states that customer empowerment in education requires greater input from students as well as from business community that will eventually employ them and this in term will streamline education and eliminate any rest of the esoteric academic that exist in business coursework. In his model of distributed leadership for managing change in higher educational institutions, Gregory (1996) suggests four dimensions of institutional leadership symbolic, political, managerial and academic. In managing educational change there has been general criticism (Iven, 1995) that government initiatives are being pushed by a narrow, employer-driven strategy. Policy makers do have an obligation to set policy, establish standards and monitor performance. They must articulate important educational goals (Fullan, 1993). Roffe (1998) considers that due to open competition, students are becoming more customers as well as consumers and expected to pay a growing share of the costs of education. TQM implementation in PUs, Osseo-Asare and Long bottom (2002) proposes enabler criteria, which affect performance and help organizations achieve organizational excellence. These criteria are leadership, policy and strategy, people management, resources and partnerships and processes. The literature contains infinite cases of Total Quality Management principles incorporation in education. The application ranges from school stage (Weller and Hartley, 1994 and Schmoker and Wilson, 1993) to higher education stage (Sahney et.al, n2004 and Wiklund et.al, 2003). Some studies focus on the feasibility of implementing TQM in educational. Anderson (1995) reported the results of a case study to evaluate the effectiveness of a TQM programme at the University of Houston, College of Business Administration. He found that the implementation of TQM had some positive results such as increasing the student perceptions of service quality. Moreover, some studies show that TQM is also used to solve some specific issues. Weller (2000) reported that TQM principles can be used to identify root problem causes for absenteeism. It also can help in identifying realistic solutions which yield positive results in academic and non-academic areas. The TQM pedagogical concept applied to higher education embraces all fields and levels of education and has an effect on the following: Physical facilities (buildings, sport complexes, open field etc.), Academic infrastructure (laboratories, library, documentation, communication, information infrastructure etc.), Curriculums, Examinations and evaluation systems, Supplying academic and administrative personal and their improvement systems, Research and publication, Institutional development plans (strategic planning), University industry society relations, Deming claimed his production system can be applied to service organizations as well as to manufacturing organizations (Evans and Lindsay, 1999). Figure 4.3 with reference to TQM applies Demings production model to higher education. This system depends on the answers to these main questions. Who are the stakeholders (customers and suppliers)? What are the inputs and outputs? What are the key processes? Stockholders Suppliers Stockholders Customers Families High Schools Business Sector Vocational Institutes Input Government Business Families Students Outputs Design Redesign Teaching Program Customer research Where are we now and where do we want to be? Process Figure 5.1 TQM in Higher Education System In figure 5.1 the stakeholders are the customers and suppliers. The stakeholder groups can easily be extended beyond the members shown in the groups as customers and suppliers. Suppliers include families, high school, Vocational institutes, and business. The customers include the business community, graduate school, society, student, and families. Universities have a large number of different customers as shown in the figure 5.1. University management should consider the relative importance of each customer group and balance and reconcile the interests of these diverse groups. Students as consumers of knowledge and services are considered to be the main customer. Accepting students as an important group of customers can be taken as a revolutionary change in the management of quality in higher education. That group of students, as the consumers of education, should include potential students, existing students and graduate students. The university has different priorities and services for each group of students who make up the main customer group and attempts to satisfy their different needs. For example, introductory courses for potential students, student counselling for existing students and alumni associations for graduate students. Processes include all facets of teaching, student counselling, and scientific research. The first process is to assess the educational needs of students in terms of their existing knowledge, future career opportunities, and the needs of the community and its future development. Other processes to be followed are planning curriculum for courses, including allocating resources, arranging facilities, administration and support, and finally teaching and learning. The quality of all these processes must be effectively and visibly assured. Like manufacturing systems, educational systems can include a means by which costumer research can be conducted to evaluate and improve supply. For example, by observing students, analyzing test results, and using other resources from student feedback, instructors can assess their own effectiveness and develop strategies for improvement. Some colleges and universities survey their graduates and their graduates employers to assess consumer satisfaction wi th their product. Feedback such as that mentioned, helps colleges, departments, and individual faculty members to redesign curriculum, improve course content, and improve services such as academic advising. While industry usually has a product or service, educational institutions do not have perceived products in the generally accepted sense. Education has many outputs and inputs but the results from the process stage are often difficult to quantify in the short term. The inputs to the educational system are students, faculty, support staff, buildings and equipment and other facilities. Outputs include people with new knowledge and abilities and research findings as seen from the figure 5.1. 5. 3 Quality Control of Higher Education Vevere (2009) referred quality control to verification procedures (both formal and informal) used by institutions in order to monitor commitment level to quality standards. Vevere schemed quality control of higher education as interconnected system as shown below in figure (5.2). Figure 5.2 system of external and internal control of higher education. Source :Vevere , Nina (2009) According to figure (5.2) above, external control institutions verify the commitment to standards that higher education institutions claim. It is a fundamental principle of TQM to integrate TQM internally within the institution of higher education and externally with international organizations of education (Tang Zairi, 1998). The International Accreditation Organization (IAO, 2010) is an independent and private education accrediting seeks to the finest global educational standards. IAO is a member of the International Education Accreditation Commission (IEAC), which is concerned with establishment, maintenance and improvement of standards of accreditation agencies across the globe. In each country, there is a local bodybodies coordinate and cooperate with international bodies concerned with higher education quality. In England, as an example, the Department of Employment is concerned whether graduates can satisfy the needs of employers (Harvey et al., 1992). In Egypt, few universit ies got educational ISO and highly satisfied standards of National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation (NAQAA) for some specializations. 5.4 Benefits of TQM for Private Higher Education As the world is currently undergoing a dramatic change and education is considered the leading competitive change tool, so TQM as concluded in chapter four and explained in chapter five could be a reasonable approach for developing. The literature review of TQM is showing that many writers have encouraged the use of TQM in education. Sallis (1993) argues that an educational organization could benefit from applying the TQM approach both in human and financial terms. Sallis points out that some concepts of TQM like right first time cannot be directly implemented in educational organizations but educational organizations can still benefit from such a notion. He indicates that if an education organization applied TQM, mistakes will be minimized with clear systems and procedures, and good team work through careful and thoughtful planning. In this point, one can notice that although TQM originally started in manufacturing and it has somehow acquired business language, but it is still flexible enough to be adapted by PUs. Murgatroyd and Morgan (1993) highlight the benefit of holistic organization in applying TQM. They mention that TQM is not concerned just with the outcome of education, but with the whole nature of education as a process for all stakeholders. Howard (1996) states the following ways in which PUs can benefit from implementing TQM: 1. Stakeholder value through customer focus. 2. Employee commitment and development through involvement. 3. Goal achievement through strategic planning. 4. Services improvement through continuous process improvement. 5. Cost reduction through elimination of unnecessary tasks. Howard highlights the benefits of TQM for PUs from three different dimensions: human dimension, financial dimension and planning dimension. In the human dimension, the stakeholders are satisfied and employees are committed; in the financial dimension, money and other resources are saved; and in the planning dimension strategic planning leads to goal achievement. Therefore, the literature on TQM argues that implementing TQM in PUs would save time, money and efforts through doing things right first time. TQM will also help PUs to demonstrate values for all stakeholders, provide better quality provision and communication and continue seeking innovation and improvement. 5.5 Obstacles about TQM in Private Universities According to Srivanci (2004) and critical issues in implementing TQM in PUs includes leadership, customer identification, cultural and organizational transformation. Deans and head of departments cannot eliminate unethical employment practices of lecturers like what is applied in public universities where rigid rules is deployed. Hence they do not enjoy ultimate authority in hiring and firing of personnel and allocating resources. Owlia and Aspinwall (1997) conclude that customer orientation is a more problematic principle of TQM when applied to PUs because of special nature of many academics whose motivation to work is often independent of market issues. Education consider as a provider of services. Its services include advice, tuition, assessment and guidance to pupils and students, their parents and sponsors. The customers and the stakeholders of the service are a very diverse group and need identifying. If quality is about meeting and exceeding customer needs and wants, it is important to be clear whose needs and wants we should be satisfying. The diversity of customers makes it all the more important for educational institutions to focus on customer wants and to develop mechanisms for responding to them. In PUs where the education process depends totally on the customers fees to run, a funding cut may lead to a reduction in service that may not accord with what customers are feeding back. This is not much important in public universities where it is supported from government. This is a very difficult issue to resolve and TQM does not provide ready answers to it in private universities. Cultural and organizational transformation in PUs main issue is under the frustrates the introduction of conventional TQM procedures is the principle of academic freedom as it plays out in individual professorial classrooms and their professional lives. Another important issues is that faculty members tend to work alone more often the together in projects since they gain more managerial and financial advantage at the opposite in public universities. The obstacles that cause unsuccessful adopting and implementing TQM in PUs academia are (but not limited to): The nature of the academia world, which makes the change process slow. The resistance of academicians to change, so to learn about the new method of doing things. The nature of some institutions as non-profit organization, which reduce the motivation to adopt new management methodology. The concentration of the academicians (in their readings and researches) on their narrow specializations. The TQM methodology and tools are relatively new especially in the developing countries. High turnover rate of staff, which prevents accumulation of experience and sustain the momentum of change. The absence of employees (units) who are specialized in TQM. The common administration problem, is putting a high rank and qualified personnel in the leading position depending on their previous experience not on their specialization i.e. the leaders of the institution could be specialized in art, physics, anatomy or any other field but not in management and specifically in higher education management. 5.6 Case Studies of TQM Implementation in Private Universities To review the experiences of some educational organizations with TQM, in order to gain appreciation from their experiences in proposing the TQM model for PUs in Egypt and in developing the implementation framework. As with benchmarking, it is better to learn from the experiences of others than starting from scratch. The literature covers PUs which have adopted TQM. For this study the case studies will be examined from the perspective of US and UK experiences where the two countries are well reputable in higher education. 5.6.1 US experience The first attempt to implement TQM in US higher education began in 1985. The movement spread quickly and in 1990, 78 higher education institutions were reported to be exploring or attempting to implement TQM. The common factor in US higher education is that it is being driven toward commercial competition imposed by economic forces. Competition is the result of the development of the global education market on the one hand, and the reduction of governmental funding that forces public organizations to seek other financial sources, on the other hand. For example, at Oregon State University the government cut funds by 35 percent. Some universities, such as Virginia Commonwealth University responded by decreasing staff salaries and increasing tuition fees. North Dakota University responded to such cuts by increasing the number of students without increasing quality. Competitive factors between universities did not allow for lower quality, so many institutions are looking to industry for ideas. Considering the similarities between experiences met in the commercial world and those faced in higher education, the TQM approach can be a solution for the do more with less. Today more than 200 private institutions of higher education are involved in TQM throughout the USA. There are many success stories in the US. The experiences of some US higher educational institutions prove that the effect of using TQM in private higher education is positive. 5.6.1.1 Oregon State University One of the most publicized success stories is that of Oregon State University (OSU). For a number of reasons the first pilot study was conducted at OSU. First, quality was considered a high-priority issue. Second, it has high probability of success. Third, management agreed that it was important. Fourth, no one else was working on it. Fifth, it was also important to the customers of the organizations. OSU, as leader of TQM in higher education movement, has had a real success; time has been saved, costs have been reduced, people have been empowered at all levels, and morale has skyrocketed. Oregon State University followed the following steps as a planning stage to implement TQM: Exploring Total Quality Management through visiting companies with TQM programs, inviting Deming to visit and explain TQM, reading key resources and attending TQM classes. Forming a pilot study team which was seen as a learning experience for the OSUs staff and a model for future teams. It consisted of 10 managers and front-line workers, a team leader, and a training officer/ facilitator. After the first pilot team experience, they began implementing TQM by focusing top management on strategic planning, including the following steps: defining the mission, understanding customers, identifying the critical processes of the president, developing the vision and identifying breakthrough items. Developing a training program, a quality manual and a recognition system. Establishing daily management system. Establishing standing cross-functional teams. 5.6.1.2 Northwest Missouri State University Northwest Missouri State University is another leader in TQM in higher education. It defines its success as: enrolment is now at capacity: the budget is balanced; faculty salaries are higher than average; and about 10% of budget has been shifted from administration to instructions. The implementation of TQM followed the following steps (Waller, L. D., 2000): Senior management began to learn about quality management. Developing internal expertise that was required rather than obtain some ready improvement methodology and rely on outsiders to provide the expertise. The management of the transformation became a full-time enterprise for those school district employees who were involved. The introduction of leadership training and development for principals-to-be. This was to provide this critical group with continuous improvement skills needed in the schools. A decision making process at the school level was introduced. Classroom Learning System was introduced based on Demings problem solving Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle. 5.6.1.3 The University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania is committed to TQM in the Wharton School MBA; curriculum has been developed using TQM principles. Moreover this University has improved the method of recouping corporate research changes and reduced charges from $ 18 to $ 13 million. The university proposed an eleven-step model for implementing TQM The president adopts quality as the core of institutional value system and communicates this value, and works to develop commitment to it throughout the institution. The president promotes the value through frequent symbolic and substantive actions. Educate administrators and academic deans in TQM and customer orientation, in team/participative management. Identify customers needs and set performance objectives. Train and designate internal resource persons who provide technical assistance to the rest of the institution. Train faculty, staff, and employees in appropriate statistical techniques, process analysis, decision making, and customer orientation. Form quality teams to seek continual improvement in the process and identify individual quality champions. Define/delegate authority throughout the institution. Develop performance measurement systems to continuously monitor the progress of the institution; the measurement should focus on the stakeholders needs satisfaction. Institute incentives and reward systems and relate them to TQM objectives. Work continuously to reduce the resistance to change. 5.6.2 UK Experience The first TQM initiatives in UK higher education were later than in the USA; the first attempts were in the early 1990. 5.6.2.1 De Monfort University De Monfort University (DMU) has some successful results in implementing TQM. The Faculty of Design and Manufacture at DMU completely reviewed and revised traditional teaching menthols and courses, which were no longer appropriate for the end of twentieth century. Teaching staff became 30 percent more efficient with double the number of student, and effectiveness of the revised course content was widely reorganized by industry, student and other design faculties. In Leicester Business School at DMU, with the application of TQM, higher participation rates and increase in staff productivity achieved. The strategic plan for the implementation was rooted with the concepts of identifying the customers, understanding their needs and serving them well. The plan focused on the following steps: The establishment of a quality council comprising the universitys most senior academic and non-academic managers. The purpose of the council is to review the universitys processes and critical success factors in order to identify key issues for improvement. Raising quality awareness through a series of awareness courses. These courses provide early education and training for actual and potential council members. In addition to the awareness courses, there is specific training in quality management tools and techniques. Using quality function deployment to ensure the customer satisfaction. This method was applied in the Department of Vision Sciences. There were eight essential areas to consider: students wants and needs, skills necessary to meet the wants and needs, programme and course content to deliver the skills, organization and assessment of the programme, resources, implementation of the programme, monitoring discrepancies between goals and outcomes, and control of the system in changing circumstances. However, the experience of quality function deployment showed it to be a complex tool. De Monfort University did not use a particular TQM model but instead only used the TQM principles, tools and techniques whenever appropriate and possible, because was difficult to provide an objective assessment to its success or of its cost over the years. 5.6.2.2 South Bank University Total quality management initiative was launched in 1992 at South Bank University. This has involved a thorough and ongoing review both of the quality of service it provides for its students and the wider community and of its academic quality, particularly in the area of teaching and learning. South Bank University, decided at an early stage that it should reflect more accurately the principle that real quality issues involved the ongoing commitment of all staff, support and academic, at all levels. Students are rightly encouraged to be involved more actively in the learning process, to be critical and imaginative about their own learning. Within five years, linking TQM into the strategic planning process, South Bank started to establish a competitive advantage by achieving differentiation (of its courses) through the quality of the learning experience, if a way can be found of advertising this to potential customers. It is expected that up to ten significant quality improvement measures (for example in academic staff time saved by increased efficiency in validation procedures or in improved feedback from student course board representatives) will have been achieved at the cross-university level in response to common problems identified through the quality service agreements. Most importantly, there will have been a change in the culture of the institution where all staff accepts their personal responsibility for quality improvement as a natural part of their job. The quality management plan can be summarized as follows The vice-chancellor and senior executive take direct responsibility for leadership of the universitys quality plan. Quality commitment to all university elements. Continuous improvement is everyones responsibility. Deployment of resources to support quality management. Quality management responsibility is best handed by operational levels. Encouragement of the diversification of quality management forms. Development of staff. From the quality principles and mission statement, critical factors of strategic importance are identified: teaching and learning, research, community service, institutional management, priority resource allocation, enhancing technical and information support, and quality advancement procedures. These factors formed a framework for further actions in the quality plan. In implementing TQM, each faculty formed its own quality committee to provide leadership and to increase quality improvement at faculty level. Responsible officers (e.g. deans) are charged with ensuring that performance targets are achieved within the specified time. As a part of staff development, brainstorming is used to identify strengths and weaknesses. South Bank University learned that the commitment of the staff to the quality initiatives and staff development, in addition to the stakeholders involvement and empowerment are essential to the strengthening of a quality culture. The purpose of presenting case studies is to learn how they applied TQM and propose a model that suits the PUs in Egypt. All of the five educational organizations began to apply TQM as a means to respond to the great demand for change and improvement. Some used TQM to face the reduction of funding or the challenge of competitiveness. This is the case in the PUs; it faces challenges and needs to encourage improvement, as discussed in chapter four. In Implementing TQM, universities get used different TQM models according to their needs. TQM requires creativity, responsibility and participation from managers and staffing in an environment of collaboration and open communication. It requires commitment at the top level. It needs strong visionary leadership that will facilitate the cultural change toward continuous development. TQM also demands the establishment of an environment of teamwork. Another important issue about implementing TQM is that the top management play a major role in planning the organizations processes. The PUs as an educational organization should aim at satisfying stakeholders needs. Nevertheless, TQM demands time, effort and a willingness to change. It creates a learning organization where education, training and re-education are essential for TQM success. TQM requires staff at all levels to be motivated to do not only what is better but what is best by the involvement and empowerment of all staff. TQM is about believing that there is always a better way of doing the services of the organization. So, involvement and empowerment, training and education, and continuous improvement are characters of the TQM organization. The implementation of TQM seems to be more effective if it is steady and well-planned. It also needs appraisal using quality tools and techniques. This is a very difficult task but not impossible. It just needs time and patience and a view point. From the previously discussed case studies, it seems that TQM approach succeeded in educational settings and this success can be translated into the following results: Saving time. Saving effort in the long term. Saving money and resources. Establishing a quality culture. Identification of strong and weak points. Stakeholder empowerment and involvement. Communication empowerment. Better understanding of stakeholders and their needs. Building a positive teamwork environment. Raising authority delegation.

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†¢ O Insulin: O In T1D, the body does not produce insulin. O Insulin is a hormone, needed for converting sugar, starches, and other food into energy. O Insulin is a polypeptide hormone, made by the beta cells in the pancreas. These regulate the metabolism of glucose and other nutrients in the body. O Insulin causes cells in the liver, skeletal muscles, and fat tissue to absorb glucose from the blood. O Only 5% of people with diabetes have this form of the disease. O Inheritance: O Inheritance patterns in T1D are not clearly known, although they are passed down through generations in families. O Its is not known if it is dominant or recessive, because of too many variables. O T1D is both considered pleiotropic and mitochondrial. O This is a polygenetic disease; any of a group of genes that each produce a small quantitative effect on a particular characteristic of the phenotype. O Although it can be inherited, some environmental factors can lead to T1D. O Genotypes: O Certain risk factors are not known specifically, but certain variants can be identified. O Three main genes have been identified: HLA-DQA1, HLA-DQB1, and HLA-DRB1. O These genes belong to the human leukocyte antigen family, or HLA. O HLA genes separate good proteins made by the body, from bad proteins such as those made by viruses and bacteria. O Commonality: O Previously known as juvenile diabetes, Type 1 diabetes can occur at any age, but is typically diagnosed in children, teens, and young adults. O 1 in every 500 children or adolescents are diagnosed with T1D. O By age 18, 1 in 300 people develop T1D in the United states. O About 285 million people world wide suffer from diabetes. O By 2030, it is estimated that 435 million people will have been diagnosed wit... ...y injections and insulin pump therapy. O Pricking the finger several times a day monitors blood-glucose levels. O T1D patients are encouraged to eat healthy and stay active. O Food is most concerning because of how fast glucose levels can rise and fall, considering sugar content in food. O Life with Diabetes Type 1: O â€Å"Both children and adults like me who live with type 1 diabetes need to be mathematicians, physicians, personal trainers, and dietitians all rolled into one. We need to be constantly factoring and adjusting, making frequent finger sticks to check blood sugars, and giving ourselves multiple daily insulin injections just to stay alive.† O Limitations: O Food consumption! O Calories and carbs. Are calculated every day, just to try and keep vital organs from failing. O Others: Cold, sunburn, stress, and too much or too little excersize. O Organizations:

Review of “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: A Review Harriet Jacobs wrote Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl to show Northern free people what was actually happening to slaves. She hoped her eyewitness stories would convince them that they should speak up against slavery and unite in the effort to end it. She was especially interested in showing free white women the difference between her life and theirs. She wanted them to see that many things they took for granted were denied slave girls and women.Jacobs was asking free people to look at slavery through her eyes and imagine the pain, both physical and emotional, that she and other slaves were forced to endure. Even though she was a slave, her first six years were happy ones. Her father had skills that made him valuable to the white people so he was allowed more freedom than the average slave. Her grandmother was the daughter of a slave holder. She was granted freedom but then recaptured. She was allowed to make money by selling crack ers after her slave duties were done.An injustice Jacobs describes early in her book is the pain suffered by slave families who are separated when one member is auctioned off to the highest bidder. She tells about this happening to her grandmother who helplessly watched as her son was auctioned off at the age of ten for $720. Jacobs knew the pain of a family being torn apart would weaken a free woman’s stand on slavery. Males were auctioned off more than females because owners were more likely to keep females as sex partners and to father children by them.Slave owners made promises to slaves but never felt obligated to keep those promises. Jacobs’ grandmother had been promised freedom when her mistress died. The executor of the 2 estate, Dr. Flint, instead sold her for $70. In spite of what the will said, he got away with selling her because she was property and no one held him responsible for this unlawful act. She also was never repaid when she lent her life savings to her mistress. Two of the most chilling events Jacobs reports witnessing are on pages 15 and 16.She tells of a male slave who was savagely beaten by Dr. Flint because the slave argued with his wife after finding out their child was really the son of Dr. Flint. She goes on to tell the story of a young slave girl in labor delivering her master’s child. The master’s wife stood by mocking the young girl as the newborn died. The slave girl’s mother watched as her only child also died during child birth. Jacobs wrote, â€Å"The poor black woman had but the one child, whose eyes she saw closing in death, while she thanked God for taking her away from the greater bitterness of life. Much of the book explains Harriet’s attempts to avoid Dr. Flint’s sexual advances. When she reached the age of 15 he began a relentless pursuit of her. She was disgusted by his attention. She did not want to lose her virginity to her master as she saw many other slave girls do. She prayed for a way to get away from him. She endured the jealousy of Dr. Flint’s wife who recognized what was going on. She was in love with a free black man but her master forbid her to have any contact with him. After she convinced her lover to go away, Harriet met Mr. Sands.She became intimate with him in another effort to escape the unwanted advances of Dr. Flint. She had children with Sands but still was not able to get free. Eventually she ran away. She hid for 7 years in a cramped crawl space at her grandmother’s house. Jacob’s goes into detail about her escape to the North and the people who were kind enough to help her in her efforts to stay in contact with her family and to stay hidden from Dr. Flint. He continued his search for her until he died. Jacobs then hid from his family who began a search for her. Harriet learned she couldn’t depend on Mr.Sands for help in getting their children 3 freed. She lived for a time with Isaac and Amy P ost who were activists working for the Underground Railroad. Eventually a woman named Mrs. Bruce bought Harriet Jacobs from Flint’s children for $300 and she gave her her freedom. Her grandmother got to see Harriet free but died shortly after that. Harriet found out that her children, Emily and William, already knew things like who their real father was and where she had been hiding for all those years.Jacobs is very graphic when she describes slavery and the terrible treatment of slaves. She is very good at detailing her thoughts and reactions to the horrible things she saw and experienced. She reminds free women that most women have the same dream of a loving husband, children and a happy home. She also makes it clear that only free women can live their dream. She often expresses the belief that slavery is worse than death. On page 47 she challenges doubtful readers to visit the South and witness the injustice of slavery for themselves.I’m sure that the book does not include all the events that made Harriet Jacobs who she was. There were probably some good memories she could have shared but that would not have supported her argument or fulfilled her purpose. It is not clear to me why Dr. Flint was constantly asking for Harriet’s affection and never forced her to have sex with him. He did with other slave girls. I wonder if he actually loved her and wanted her to submit to him willingly. He also searched for her for many years until his death. Why didn’t he just rape her as he believed he had a right to?This book is easy to read, interesting, and well written. I don’t really believe a slave could write that well though. I also doubt she could have lived in a crawl space for seven years without more serious physical and mental harm. Some things might have been exaggerated to accomplish the author’s goal. She succeeds in showing readers how unjust slavery was. It’s a good book because, even today, we need to be r eminded about how ignorant, cruel and evil people can be. Not all of America’s history is good. We should never forget how the slaves suffered.

Help Ever, Hurt Never Essay

Everyone should act up to the motto: Help Ever, Hurt Never. Every educated person should engage himself or herself in selfless service to society with humility and a pure heart. All academic distinctions or even observance of spiritual practices are of no use if there is no love in the heart. Love and compassion are inherent in every person. Each has to share this love with others. Failure to share one’s love is gross ingratitude to society, to which one owes everything. One should give one’s love freely to others and receive love in return. This is the deep significance of human life. To purify the mind, one should nurture noble and sacred thoughts of service to others. One who does not hurt anybody and has feelings of love and compassion to fellow beings is the greatest of men. That is why sage Vyasa gave the essence of the eighteen Puranas (scriptures) in the aphorism: Help Ever, Hurt Never. Help rendered, however small, if it comes from the deeper urges of service welling in the heart is as good as the offer of life itself. Look about for chances to relieve, rescue or resuscitate. Train yourselves that you may render help quickly and well. Seva is the most paying form of austerity, the most satisfying and the most pleasurable. It springs out of Love and scatters Love in profusion. To help the helpless is the only way to please Him, to follow and reach Him. Serve people with no thought of high or low; no Seva is high, no Seva is low, each act of Seva is equal in the eye of the Lord. It is the readiness, the joy, the efficiency, the skill with which you rush to do it that matters. Train yourselves to serve God by serving man, in whom there is God installed in the heart. Convince yourself that the seva of man is worship of God. Efforts to serve must spring from agony at the suffering of others and the service must be genuine effort to get rid of that anguish. Do not worry about the result. Help as much as you can, as efficiently as you can, as silently as you can, as lovingly as you can, leave the rest to God, who gave you the chance to server. You should make every effort to avoid harming others in any circumstance. You are only hurting yourself when you hurt others. You should not use harsh words. When you develop human values, you can be free from diseases and even enjoy good health with God’s Grace. Ahimsa, the virtue of non-violence involves much more than abstention from injuring living beings. One should desist from causing pain to any living being not only by his deeds but even by his words and even in his thoughts. One should not entertain any idea of hurting or humiliating another. Service to man will help your divinity to bloom, for it will gladden your heart and make you feel that life has been worthwhile. Service to man is service to God. For He is in every man and every living being and in every stone and stump. Offer your talents at the Feet of God; let every act be a flower, free from creeping worms of envy and egoism and full of fragrance of love and sacrifice. If you have the talent, use it for the glorification of God and do it by uplifting man. A manishi (ordinary man) gets transformed into Maharishi (sage) by engaging in selfless service. You have to transform your life through service. You should give no room for arrogance or self-interest to the slightest extent in your service activities. Install in your heart the feeling that the service you render to anyone is service to God. Only then does service to man become service to Madhava. Hence you should scrupulously follow the maxim: HELP EVER, HURT NEVER.

Learn the Parts of the Roman Name

Learn the Parts of the Roman Name In todays international world, you may come across: people who have what we would call the last name before the first namepeople known by a singular name (like Madonna or Lady Gaga, since Lady is a title)people who lack a middle name (George Washington)people with extra middle (saints names)people with the requisite number to fill out most contemporary forms in the U.S.: a first, middle, and last name Ancient Roman Names During the Republic, Roman male citizens might be referred to by the tria nomina 3 names. The first of these 3 names was the praenomen, which was followed by the nomen, and then the cognomen. This wasnt a hard and fast rule. There might also be an agnomen. Praenomina were waning by the 2nd century A.D. Although not shown on this page, there were sometimes additional names, especially on inscriptions, often abbreviated, that gave further indications of social groupings like tribes, and, in the case of slaves and freedmen, their social status. Praenomen The praenomen was a first name or personal name. Females, who didnt have praenomina until late, were called by the name of their gens. If further distinction were necessary, one would be called the older (maior) and the other the younger (minor), or by number (tertia, quarta, etc.) The praenomen was usually abbreviated [See Roman Abbreviations on Inscriptions]. Here are some of the common praenomina with their abbreviations: Aulus A.Appius App.Gaius C.Gnaeus Cn.Decimus D.Kaeso K.Lucius L.Marcus M.Numerius Num.Publius P.Quintus Q.Servius Ser.Sextus Sex.Spurius Sp.Titus Ti.Tiberius Ti. Tib. Latin Grammar Romans could have more than one praenomen. Foreigners granted Roman citizenship by imperial decree took the emperors nomen gentile as a praenomen. This made the praenomen less useful as a way to distinguish men, so by the end of the third century, the praenomen had virtually vanished except to confer high social status [Fishwick]. The basic name became the nomen cognomen. Nomen The Roman nomen or nomen gentile (nomen gentilicum) indicated the gens from which a Roman came. The nomen would end in -ius. In the case of adoption into a new gens, the new gens was indicated by the -ianus ending. Cognomen + Agnomen Depending on the time period, the cognomen part of the Roman name could indicate the familia within the gens that the Roman belonged to. The cognomen is a surname. Agnomen also refers to a second cognomen. This is what you see when you see a Roman general awarded the name of a country he conquered like Africanus. By the first century B.C. women and the lower classes began to have cognomina (pl. cognomen). These were not inherited names, but personal ones, which began to take the place of the praenomina. These might come from a part of the womans fathers or mothers name. Sources Names and Identities: Onomastics and Prosopography, by Olli Salomies, Epigraphic Evidence, edited by John Bodel.Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law, by Adolf Berger; Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (1953), pp. 333-809.Latin Funerary Epigraphy and Family Life in the Later Roman Empire, by Brent D. Shaw; Historia: Zeitschrift fà ¼r Alte Geschichte (1984), pp. 457-497.Hastiferi, by Duncan Fishwick; The Journal of Roman Studies(1967), pp. 142-160.J.P.V.D. Balsdon, ; 1962.