Certified to Live :: Graduate Admissions Essays

Certified to Live    The day had finally come, and now it was over. I had worked diligently for four years, and what did I have to show for it? One measly little degree. All that work just for a piece of paper.    That night, after the graduation ceremony, I tossed and turned thinking about the past four years and what this degree meant. According to the University of Southern Mississippi Honors College, I was now certified to be a filmmaker. But what did that mean? Sure, I knew how to work a camera, edit film; I even knew the format for writing a script. I could classify movies into genres, and decipher the most complicated plots. However, these things did not ensure me a career in film. I needed talent, creativity, and drive to really be successful. I was suddenly very nervous about what I was going to do if I failed, and even got out my old college bulletin to look at other possible majors. A few more years of school did not sound so bad.    Then, I started recalling the past few years of my life. I had had so much fun in college. Staying up all night and talking with my friends, people-watching on the campus lawn, all those midnight McDonald's runs. College had been my first time to really be away from my family and friends. It had given me a chance to really come into my own, to realize the kind of person I really wanted to be. I had been able to make mistakes freely, and learn from them.    Throughout the four years, some of my professors had been wonderful. There had been my Freshman Comp. Professor who had pushed me until I finally became a good writer. My film editing instructor had always liked my work, and said she would help me to get started in the business.    The more I thought about it, the more I realized I knew.

Han China and Imperial Rome Essay

Imperial Rome and Han China are both well recognized empires, known as strong and fairly successful. Although the empires had some differences they also had similarities in their methods of political control. Similarities between these empires include the belief that leaders had connections to God, religious tolerance, and public works provided to citizens. Along with the similarities in political control the differences include Rome having a democracy while China had a centralized bureaucracy, Rome had lesser domestic repercussions while China had harsh punishments, and Rome offered assimilation to become a citizen while China did not need to offer assimilation because it conquered states that were already chinese. Imperial Rome and Han Dynasty are similarly structured societies. Both empires believed that their leaders had some sort of connection with God. Rome believed that their emperors were to be viewed as â€Å"god-like† individuals and were to guide them unto the right path. China called their emperors â€Å"God of Heaven† and the emperors had to follow the â€Å"Mandate of Heaven† which states God would bless the authority as leader, and if an emperor did not provide adequately for their empire they could be replaced. Han China and Rome both also tolerated religion. Rome integrated Christianity into its culture while Han China allowed for Buddhism to become integrated. Neither empire persecuted due to religion. The last similarity between Han China and Imperial Rome is the fact that both empires decided public works were important enough to spend quite a bit of money on and to provide to the citizens. These public works included roads, bridges, canals, and aqueducts. All of these were an important part of society as they allowed for transportation, communication, and sanitation. The government in both societies decided how to view the leaders, what they would permit as far as religion, and what to spend government funding on. As well as these similarities, Rome and China had their differences. Imperial Rome differed from Han China in some aspects. For instance, Rome had divided the empire into smaller sections so it could be easier to manage, as each sector had a branch of government to control it. China did not have a Democratic approach, but a Bureaucratic approach. There was one emperor that controlled the entire empire, and the government was highly centralized. Another difference between the government in Rome and China were punishments. Imperial Rome had short and superficial domestic repercussions compared to the strict legalism society of China. Punishments in China were swift and harsh to persuade citizens to stay in order. The Chinese believed humans were dumb and short sighted and had clearly defined laws and rules that were strictly enforced. Rome did not focus so much on punishments as China did. The last difference between these two empires are their allowance or need for assimilation. Rome conquered Germanic tribes that refused to conform to society, even though Rome offered assimilation. This would eventually lead to the end of Rome. China, however, did not need to offer assimilation due to the fact that the conquered nearby states had already accepted chinese culture to be their own, therefore having one culture throughout the empire instead of a mixture of cultures. Han China and Imperial Rome are comparable in political standards in the means of the view of leaders, that they were closest to God, how they decided to spend political funding, on public works for citizens, and their tolerance for religions, Rome allowing Christianity and China allowing Buddhism. Rome and China are contrastable in the sense of Rome being Democratic while China was Bureaucratic, Rome being lenient with punishments compared to China’s strict legalism beliefs, and Rome offering assimilation to conquered Germanic tribes while China conquered already Chinese states and did not need assimilation. Both empires are valued respectively for their contributions to modern society, including their similarities and differences.

The Productivity of Canada

Canada†s productivity is not in really good shape now. Among its G-7 partners (Britain, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and the U. S. ) , it has the lowest rate of growth in economic productivity over the past 25 years while it ranked second in productivity only to the U. S. two decades ago. What was the problem? Why was the situation getting worse and worse? While the problem seems to be getting more serious as the new millennium approaches, Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister, and Paul Martin, the Finance Minster, have played down the productivity issue, saying there is no clear-cut evidence that it is a significant problem. In fact, the high income tax rate compared to the U. S. causes lower salary for those highly skilled workers, which leads to their departure for better pay and more opportunities in the U. S. Also, the Canadian federal government spends too much money on themselves such as building political empires and providing services that duplicate those delivered by other provincial or municipal governments. Besides, Canada has a poor performance particularly in areas related to technology and communication industries. We certainly need a lot more to be done to improve productivity from various sources. Before we can come up with effective solutions for this controversial issue, we need to know how does productivity affect our economy and the standard of living in our country. Productivity measures the capacity of the economy to increase its output while costs are controlled. As economic efficiency increases, the overall wealth produced by the economy also goes up. It also determines the purchasing power that Canadians have. The greater productivity, the greater the potential for economic growth. With the decrease in productivity, our standard of living may go down as well. Canadians† living standard grew by an average of 3. 1 percent a year from 1961 to 1980. Since then, growth has averaged only 1. 1 percent annually. The major reason for this shutdown can be criticized on slower productivity growth. Lower labour productivity has explained 96% on average of the Canada-U. S. standard of living gap over the last decade. The atrophy of Canada†s productivity causes damages to the country†s living standard. Stronger productivity growth is essential for higher living standards in a country. One possible solution is tax cut, particularly on income tax. High tax rates hurt Canada in many different ways. Most of the Canadian companies cannot afford to hire an American executive to come north because the U. S. wage rates are significantly higher and the tax rate is different. If they do so, they should expect to pay an American executive the double salary compare to the outgoing Canadian executive earned. In that case, it would be too expensive. Although larger companies can probably afford it, while some smaller companies can†t afford to bring in talent that they need to expand their business. Moreover, the growing tax gap makes the situation even worse. This is also one of the reasons why Canada†s poor economy performance during recent years. Also, the Canadian dollar is weaker than the U. S. dollar, therefore income tax rate turns out to be around 50% for top earners compared to Canada with about 35% in the U. S. The other problem with over taxation is, when governments have too much of our money by collecting tax, which is in the case of Canada, the federal government spend too much on themselves, on building political empires and providing services that duplicate those delivered by other provincial or municipal governments. If taxpayers have this money left over to spend, they will probably either spend it or invest which will have a positive impact on our economy. But one exceptional case is high-tech industries in Montreal. Tax credits those companies, which allure them to invest more money. Eventually, the government provides up to $15,000 for new jobs in tax credits for each employee†s annual salary in future ten years. Those subsidies convinced Illinois-based Motorola to locate a new software center in Montreal. However, the critics argued that the government is buying jobs by using other taxpayer†s money and causing higher taxes for others. But in general, higher tax rate in Canada is a non-questionable fact. Another improvement that should be made is to put more money on education and provide a stable and attractive working environment for highly trained graduates. The loss of these highly trained graduates, estimated in the thousands annually to the U. S. The more opportunities, higher salaries and lower taxes are the main reason to draw their attention. Besides, there are not enough well trained and highly educated people to teach at universities and specialized schools, skilled Canadians who leave because of better pay and more job opportunities elsewhere. Besides, numbers of Canadians are willing to study in the U. S every year. In 1997, 23,000 of them enrolled in American colleges and universities. But there were only 18,000 Canadians enrolled in U. S. universities about 10 years ago. This number has been increased over the past decade and it certainly is going to increase if we don†t do anything about it. Another thing is, the American companies spend large amounts of money on re-training and development on executives. The average company spent about $10 million on both internal and external executive development in 1998. Especially when technology is becoming more and more involving business, the ability to get up to date information and knowledge is the key to success. In a recent survey that is done by Business Week, the best in management education, ranked according to this survey. U. S. has 17 universities in the top 20 for non-degree study. Although this was not an official ranking, it still shows that the U. S has most of the top business schools in the world, such as Harvard, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. That†s also why many students around the world, not just Canadians, like to go to those universities, because they can have a better education and a brighter future. Technology is crucial for productivity too, since Canada has done a poor job in technology and to support those technological talents. Just like Anand Bahl and Kim Cameron, they decided to be part of high-tech talent to the U. S and they sold their privately owned software company, Zoomit Corp. of Toronto, to Microsoft. Anand Bahl and Kim Cameron actually didn†t look for a buyer; somewhat Microsoft approached them as they found their company has potential in market. Anand Bahl and Kim Cameron created a software program, which from the e-mail system called the â€Å"meta-directory† which allows companies to integrate and manage a variety of related computer files, images and applications from different suppliers. They couldn†t get any finance help in Canada and not many people could understand the technology and expected their company to get beaten by a bigger player and wiped out. In fact, their product works and even Microsoft hire them along with 11 of 30 Zoomit†s employees to work on integrating meta-directory software into Windows 2000. They were very happy to be accepted from the world†s largest and most powerful firm because they had such a struggle to try to prove their product. They criticized the attitude that they encountered in Canada which Canadian companies assumed the product wasn†t good enough and they forced to focus on the U. S. which right now about 90% of their sales revenue come from large American companies. The comment that they gave was Canada has world class programming talent, but they have to have a chance and somehow recognize by others, and talent is one of the few things Canada will have left if we let this situation gets worse. In the case of Ford Canada, they have increased the wages for the workers because they are doing great business. But some economists worry that the raise of wages will lead to an increase in the unit price of cars and trucks, which is unlikely the case. In fact, the increase in Ford†s hourly labour cost will certainly lag behind the ongoing growth of productivity. Productivity in auto assembly grew 80% between 1991 and the first quarter of 1999, almost 10 times as fast as the total economy. In general, productivity in car industry has been increased 20% since 1991 . The amazing thing is that auto assembly average productivity even exceeds the level in the U. S. According to the bible of automotive productivity studies, it takes about 25 hours of labour to assemble a vehicle in Canada, which is 10% less than in the U. S. Moreover, this superb productivity performance produced 34,000 new jobs in the industry since 1992. The key for their success is they put huge investment in fixed capital that have been made by the auto assemblers and their parts suppliers. They are investing more than $4 billion on new equipment every year. As a result so far, new equipment with new technology makes greater productivity and better quality. From what has been mentioned above, the fact that Canada†s productivity needs to be improved, and the government should put more effort on it. Canada must solve the productivity problem through massive tax cuts and increase budgets on both education and technology development or continue to lose talents to the U. S. while we†ll have poorer productivity and competition in the market.

Make Spanish Your Browser Preference

Make Spanish Your Browser Preference Are there are some websites that are made in more than one language. Is there a way you can make them automatically appear in Spanish rather than English when you go to them? How to Set up Your Browser to a Spanish Default It is usually fairly easy, especially if your system is less than three or four years old. Here are the methods you can use with the most popular browsers. All of these have been tested with Microsoft Windows 7 and/or the Maverick Meerkat (10.10) Ubuntu distribution of Linux. Approaches here are likely to be similar with earlier versions of the software or with other operating systems: Microsoft Internet Explorer: Select the Tools menu on the upper-right of the page. Under the General tab, click on the Languages button near the bottom. Add Spanish, and move it to the top of the list. Mozilla Firefox: Click on Edit near the top of the screen and select Preferences. Select Content from the menu, then pick Choose next to Languages. Add Spanish and move it to the top of the list. Google Chrome: Click on the tools icon (a wrench) on the upper-right of the page, then select Preferences. Select the Under the Hood tab, then Change font and language settings under Web Content. Select the Languages tab, then add Spanish to the list and move it to the top. Apple Safari: Safari is designed to use the language that the operating system has as its preference, so to change the browsers preferred language you end up changing the language of your computer menus and possibly the menus of other applications as well. An explanation of this is beyond the scope of this article; various hacks of Safari also are possible. Opera: Click on the Tools menu and then Preferences. Then go to Select your preferred language at the bottom of the General tab. Add Spanish to the list and move it to the top. Other browsers: If youre using a browser not listed above on a desktop system, you generally can find a language setting by selecting Preferences and/or Tools. Mobile browsers, however, generally rely on the system settings, and you may not be able to change the preferred language of the browser without also changing the preferred language of your entire system. Try Your Preferences To see if your change in language preferences has worked, simply go to a site that offers content in multiple languages based on browser settings. Popular ones include the Google and Bing search engines. If your changes worked, the home page (and search results if youre testing on a search engine) should appear in Spanish. Note that this change works only with sites that recognize your browser configuration and act accordingly. For other multilanguage sites, which usually display in English or the main language of the home country by default, youll have to pick the Spanish-language version from the menus on the site.

The Function and Structure of Proteins

The Function and Structure of Proteins Proteins are very important molecules in our cells  and are essential for all living organisms.  By weight, proteins are collectively the major component of the dry weight of cells and are involved in virtually all cell functions. Key Takeaways Proteins are involved in just about all cell functions and are key molecules in living cells.The typical protein is constructed from one set of twenty amino acids and a particular proteins design helps with its specific function in the cell.Antibodies, contractile proteins, and enzymes are three important types of specialized proteins found in living organisms.Occurring in the cytoplasm, translation is the process through which proteins are synthesized. Each protein within the body has a specific function,  from cellular support to cell signaling and cellular locomotion. In total, there are seven types of proteins, including antibodies, enzymes, and some types of  hormones, such as insulin. While proteins have many diverse functions, all are typically constructed from one set of 20  amino acids. The structure of a protein may be globular or fibrous, and the design helps each protein with their particular  function. In all, proteins are absolutely fascinating and a complex subject. Lets explore the basics of these essential molecules and discover what they do for us. Antibodies Antibodies are specialized proteins involved in defending the body from antigens (foreign invaders). They can travel through the bloodstream and are utilized by the immune system to identify and defend against bacteria, viruses, and other foreign intruders. One way antibodies counteract antigens is by immobilizing them so they can be destroyed by white blood cells. Contractile Proteins Contractile proteins are responsible for muscle  contraction and movement. Examples of these proteins include actin and myosin. Enzymes Enzymes are proteins that facilitate biochemical reactions. They are often referred to as catalysts because they speed up chemical reactions. Enzymes include lactase and pepsin, which you might hear of often when learning about specialty diets or digestive medical conditions. Lactase breaks down the sugar lactose found in milk. Pepsin is a digestive enzyme that works in the stomach to break down proteins in food. Other examples of digestive enzymes are the enzymes present in saliva. Salivary amylase, salivary kallikrein, and lingual lipase all perform important biological functions. Salivary amylase is the primary enzyme found in saliva and it helps to break down starch into sugar. Hormonal Proteins Hormonal proteins are messenger proteins which help to coordinate certain bodily activities. Examples include insulin, oxytocin, and somatotropin. Insulin regulates glucose metabolism by controlling the blood-sugar concentration. Oxytocin stimulates contractions during childbirth. Somatotropin is a growth hormone that stimulates protein production in muscle cells. Structural Proteins Structural proteins are fibrous and stringy and because of this formation, they provide support for various body parts. Examples include keratin, collagen, and elastin. Keratins strengthen protective coverings such as skin, hair, quills, feathers, horns, and beaks. Collagens and elastin provide support for connective tissues such as tendons and ligaments. Storage Proteins Storage proteins store amino acids for the body to use later. Examples include ovalbumin, which is found in egg whites, and casein,  a milk-based protein. Ferritin is another protein that stores iron in the transport protein, hemoglobin. Transport Proteins Transport proteins are carrier proteins which move molecules from one place to another around the body. Hemoglobin is one of these and is responsible for transporting oxygen through the blood  via red blood cells. Cytochromes are another that operate in the electron transport chain as electron carrier proteins. Amino Acids and Polypeptide Chains Amino acids are the building blocks of all proteins, no matter their function. Most  amino acids  follow a particular structural property in which a carbon (the alpha carbon) is bonded to four different groups: A hydrogen atom (H)A Carboxyl group (-COOH)An Amino group (-NH2)A variable group Of the 20 amino acids that typically make up proteins, the variable group determines the differences among the amino acids. All amino acids have the hydrogen atom, carboxyl group,  and amino group bonds. Amino acids are joined together through dehydration synthesis to form a peptide bond. When a number of amino acids are linked together by peptide bonds, a polypeptide chain is formed. One or more polypeptide chains twisted into a 3-D shape forms a protein. Protein Structure We can divide the structure of protein molecules into two general classes: globular proteins and fibrous proteins. Globular proteins are generally compact, soluble, and spherical in shape. Fibrous proteins are typically elongated and insoluble. Globular and fibrous proteins may exhibit one or more types of  protein structure.   There are four levels of protein structure: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. These levels are distinguished from one another by the degree of complexity in the polypeptide chain. A single protein molecule may contain one or more of these protein structure types. The structure of a protein determines its function. For example, collagen has a super-coiled helical shape. It is long, stringy, strong, and resembles a rope, which is great for providing support. Hemoglobin, on the other hand, is a globular protein that is folded and compact. Its spherical shape is useful for maneuvering through blood vessels. In some cases, a protein may contain a non-peptide group. These are called cofactors and some, such as coenzymes, are organic. Others are an inorganic group, such as a metal ion or iron-sulfur cluster. Protein Synthesis Proteins are synthesized in the body through a process called translation. Translation occurs in the cytoplasm and involves the translation of genetic codes into proteins. The gene codes are assembled during DNA transcription, where DNA is transcribed into an RNA transcript. Cell structures called ribosomes help translate the gene codes in RNA into polypeptide chains that undergo several modifications before becoming fully functioning proteins.

Issue of medicalization, the social construction of difference through Essay

Issue of medicalization, the social construction of difference through science and medicine and power - Essay Example Several differences are medicalized. Due to scientific conquest and development of new knowledge, several aspects of society are affected. With this, what are aspects are medicalized in the first place? The most affected in this case are the cultural beliefs and value systems that are embedded in an individual. Since there is cultural diversity, it is really problematic to impose a certain a cultural ideology towards a certain group of people that have a different cultural grassroots. There should be a thorough understanding of the culture from both sides of the spectrum. However, in the case of Lia, from the work of Anna Fadiman entitled The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, the doctors of Merced Community Medical Center have not taken into consideration the spiritual culture of the Hmong people about childbirth. In her work, there is a quote that deals about the frustration of the parent due to cultural indifference. â€Å"It took all the autonomy of being a parent away, even for folks who have had a lot of medical experience. It would be that much harder if you were from another culture and didn’t understand the purpose of these things.† (Fadiman, 1997) This quote manifests the clear problem about medicalization. Modern medical science and its practitioners have the tendency to bypass the concern of the people they are dealing with since they always exercise their expertise. Even if the concerns are valid for the Hmong people because of their culture, the medical professionals did not comply and understood the necessity of such cultural practices for the Hmong. Cultural Indifference has indeed occurred and has yielded several detrimental effects. On the second level, what seems to be the theoretical framework used by the authors to discuss the issue of medicalization? In the essay entitled Of Gender and Genitals: Use and Abuse of Modern Intersexual from the book Sexing

Learning about legal aspects of contract practice and procedure Assignment

Learning about legal aspects of contract practice and procedure - Assignment Example In some countries, a valid substitute can satisfy the element attention. The law can also terminate contracts. The law tends to provide remedies in case of breaching of the promise. The law also recognizes the commitment’s performance as a duty. Existence of duty gives rise to contracts due to the promise that one of the parties makes. For a contract to be legally bound, the promise has to be exchanged so that it may be adequately considered. Mainly, the governance of contracts lies on the hands of common law, state statutory and the private law. Private law primarily concentrates on agreement terms made between the parties involved exchange (Chen-Wishart, 2007). The case of Barry is tricky since there are no written documents to show that they had entered into a contract with Iva. It is clear and evident that the offer is a key element which provides a definition of the contract’s relevant issues. For an offer to be legally valid, it must be first communicated efficiently. This gives the receiving party the ability to either accept or reject because a contract is only entered into voluntarily. It does not of importance on whether the receiving party reads the contract or not, but he or she has no bearing when it comes to determination of the offer’s clarity. The offer should only provide a clear opportunity to the recipient of rejecting or accepting the contract. However, in case of someone enters into a contract without reading or understanding it, it is for his or her risk (Chen 2007, p 130). In addition, particular and definite terms must be in place for an offer to be considered valid. The contract’s terms are considered definite when a reasonable person has a capability understanding readily the terms. In the case of Barry, he was given an offer by Iva and clearly understood the terms in that contract. However, review by the courts on whether the terms are definite is usually done with the help of primary elements agreement.