Expected Frequency even in dessert Research Paper

Expected Frequency even in dessert - Research Paper Example It has also been observed that families with children have higher rates of consumption as compared to those without children. Various flavors of ice cream are found in the market today and these include chocolate, vanilla, cookie dough/ cookies and cream, mint chocolate chip, butter pecan/ Swiss almond, strawberry, peanut butter, coffee, cherry vanilla and peach, among many others. According to a Harris Interactive poll conducted in 2013, chocolate and vanilla are the favorite flavors followed by cookie dough/cookies and cream. In terms of gender, a disparity exists in favorite flavor: for women, almost a third prefers chocolate flavor followed by mint chocolate chip and cookie dough/cookies and cream. However, for men, vanilla tops the list of favorite flavors followed by chocolate and cookie dough/cookies and cream. The dynamics of ice cream and frozen desserts consumption does not end with demographics and flavor, how the consumers actually eat their ice cream also varies from one group to another. Methods of consumption include eating it form a cup, cone, sundae, sandwich and others, including eating it as a topping on a cake. Disparities exist here too. It has been hypothesized that a relationship exists between gender and how they eat ice cream. For instance, according the aforementioned Harris Interactive poll, more men than women prefer eating ice cream in cups while more women than men prefer cone. This influence of gender on how a person eats their ice cream has not been well researched and this is the motivation for this research. The paper aims to investigate whether gender and ways of eating ice cream and other frozen foods are related, or whether the choice is independent of gender. For this study, data will be collected from students on how they eat their ice cream. Accordingly, data was collected from a sample of 40 students. To ensure that the data is not biased, efforts were be made so that the

Far from the Madding Crowd Essay Example for Free

Far from the Madding Crowd Essay He admits to Bathsheba at the beginning of the novel that, But I cant match you, I know, in mapping out my mind upon my tongue. He is not a man of words, unlike Troy and Boldwood, but proves that actions can speak louder than words. He is unable to speak the flattery that Troy can, or be as persistent and persuasive as Boldwood is, but in his devoted actions to Bathsheba, by being the hard and diligent worker that he is, he is rewarded in the end, by giving the opportunity to offer Bathsheba the love that he had talked of to her when he had first met her. In contrast to Gabriel, Francis Troy is a man who appears to understand only what he can get out of love. He does not believe in treating women fairly, and which is expressed as he says, treat them fairly and you are a lost man, when referring to women. Hardy also writes about his consistency when telling the truth; He was moderately truthful towards men, but to women he lied like a cretan. By lying to women he found it easy to get what he wanted, as Hardy describes him; he spoke fluently and unceasingly. At the beginning, Hardy remarks that a womans greatest fault is her Vanity. Troy, as he possesses such ease with the words he uses, has learnt that a womans weakness is her vanity, and knows that by flattering them he can get what he wants. This is precisely what he did with Bathsheba, and like her, he felt some sense of triumph when he saw that he had succeeded in weakening the women he flattered, as she did with the men she flirted with. However, instead of making the women he met feel confident, his flattery merely destroyed them, as they became dependent upon him to feed their vain needs. Troy did not have the emotional sense of love, but instead he felt the physical attraction to the women he met. This meant that he only got involved with beautiful women, as it was their beauty that attracted them to him. Even after having left Bathsheba for so long, when he saw her again at Greenhill Sheep Fair, it was her beauty that found unexpected chords of feeling, to be stirred again within him The way in which Troy judged by appearances was perhaps inevitably the cause of his failed marriage to Bathsheba, because he had not got to know Bathsheba as a person, but simply looked at her, as a symbol of beauty. In some ways it could be said that he looked at the women as trophies that he had won. Troy was also a man driven by wealth. Bathsheba, who had come into wealth after the inheritance of the lease of Weatherbury Farm, would have been even more attractive to him as she now had money. We know that he was driven by money, as he used to bet on the horses, which put considerable financial strain on Bathsheba. This was probably the reason why he did not marry Fanny, due to her financial instability. Money was also the reason why he did not return to Bathsheba initially after landing at Liverpool, as Hardy writes, what a life such a future of poverty would be. This, unlike the love felt by Gabriel, was a selfish form of love, because he only ever though of himself. He had a very superficial view of love, which required wealth in order to make him happy. Troys opinions of love did not include the idea of commitment, and another reason for the failure of his marriage could be due to his womanising and flirtatious behaviour. We learn near to the end of the novel that his opinion of marriage is negative and he sees it not as the beginning of two peoples lives together, but as he says himself, all romances end at marriage. He also did not believe in the idea of equality, and shared responsibilities in a relationship, as he abandons Fanny with the great burden of an unborn child to deal with alone. This is probably due to his carefree opinion of sex, which he also valued as much as he did love. Troy did not value love as anything special, and this could be put down to the fact that he had a very unstable background, and an uncertain upbringing. His profession would also have something to do with his opinion of women, and as a soldier, he probably never had to deal with women and did not understand them. This is why he tried to possess them, and this destroyed them. Hardy has some very clear opinions that he wishes to get across to the reader in this novel. He uses the characters as tools, to create a picture for the readers, expressing his personal views on love. He rewards those characters that see love as a simple but precious thing, and he shows how much he admires Gabriel Oak for his powers of endurance, by rewarding him with Bathsheba in the end. In contrast, he punishes those characters that take love too lightly. An example of this is the attitude of Troy which end is death in the end. Hardy warns us of the great power of love and how dangerous it can be. The obsession that Boldwood felt for Bathsheba, is another feeling that he condemns, and shows how life can be ruined because of obsession. This is shown by the lifelong imprisonment of Boldwood. Hardys opinions of love are really exposed at the end of the novel, when he describes his own thoughts about how truelove can develop. He uses Bathsheba and Gabriel as an example of how true love can develop. They were tried friends who enjoyed good-fellowship and comraderie. The main message Hardy is trying to get across to us is that love cannot hide behind a fake face. He writes that in order for a successful relationship to take place, you must know the rougher sides of each others character. This is the love Hardy describes to be the only love which is as strong as death- that love which many waters cannot quench, nor the floods drown.

Analysis of Brazilian Health Care Context

Analysis of Brazilian Health Care Context Introduction More than over three decades of Alma Ata PHC declaration, the goal of health for all remain elusive in many countries of Sub – Saharan Africa and a wide gulf exist within and remain in countries such as South Africa. The 1978 Alma Ata declaration underlies the importance of PHC and informs the need for actions to be taken by governments so as to promote the health of the world population. The declaration expressly stated an overall philosophy, strategies for organizing and strengthening the health system, guided by the principles of equity, social justice and health as a right to all. South Africa like any other developing nation faces a wide variety of health-related challenges. The afflictions of waterborne illness and nutritional deficiency are some of the challenges affecting low income communities in the country. Vaccine-preventable diseases impact negatively on the lives of millions of people as well as infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV and AIDS. Thus, it is imperative that in order to improve the health outcomes of a country such as South Africa, social determinants of health should be improved coupled with the standard of living. The health system facing developing countries are not only great, the capacity and the wherewithal to address those challenges are lacking and not readily available in most cases. Efforts should be geared towards strengthening the health systems through the provision of adequate resources that should include both human and financial resources. In reality, resources would never be enough to strengthen the health systems, but there is a need to maximize the available resources to bolster the health systems so as to make them operate more efficiently. The only way to ensure that health systems work efficiently is to have a reliable data on its performance. In this way, interventions could be devised and executed based on the results of the data. It is pertinent to say that the data provided should be timely and accurate so that intervention provided could be measured. Since the advent of democracy in South Africa, efforts have been made to improve and strengthen district health system and primary health care. These efforts include structural and policy changes, removing access barriers through the delivery of free primary health care, the enactment of national health act and execution of priority health programmes. It is pertinent to say that these interventions have made access and care available to the majority of South Africans, the early giant stride have been compromised by South Africa’s burden of disease, lack of management skill, low morale among staff of the health department, and structural defect between policy intentions and outcomes. The commitment to overhaul the health system made the health minister undertook a visit to Brazil in 2010 with the intention to improve primary health care services. The aim is to address the South Africa’s disease burden, improve health outcome, access and affordability while ensuring responsiveness to the needs of the population. In the light of the visit made to Brazil, a comparative assessment of the health system in Brazil and South Africa will be conducted. The Brazilian Context In Brazil, health is a constitutional right and responsibility of the state. After the so called â€Å"Big Bang† legislative reform of the new Federal constitution in 1988, the National Health System and the Family health programme were implemented incrementally over the next 20 years (Pan American Health Organization; Health systems and services Profile Brazil. Brasà ­lia, D. F., Brazil: Pan American Health organization, February 2008). The Brazilian national health system (Sistema Unico de Saude or SUS) is organized on the principles of universal access, comprehensiveness, decentralization, hierarchization, and community participation. This encompasses public health in general and health care delivery services to individuals. To execute the lofty programme of the SUS, the Family Health Programme (Programa Saude da Familia, PSF) was created in 1994 and become the national strategy in 2006. The PSF follows a community concept while laying emphasis on the establishment of a close relationship between the health care providers and the community. It serves as a common portal of entry for all primary health programmes and is formed on the beliefs that will ensure continuity, total care and coordination of the health care services. Considerable improvement has been seen in Brazil’s public health in the past decade. These improvement are particularly noticeable in maternal and child health. There is also increase in life expectancy while infant and mortality rates are on the decline. There seems to a pointer that al health millennium development goals will be achieved. It is worth saying that effective steps have been taken to address poverty while improving social determinants of health in once the most u nequal country in the world. A brief description of the Brazilian health care context A health care reform aiming at achieving equity represented an extraordinary challenge for a country the size of Brazil, with a population of more than 180 million and significant social, economic, cultural, and environmental diversity. The federal constitution of 1988 was enacted after years of militarism. It defined three pillars of health care reform; health as a broad concept that goes beyond the absence of disease; health care as a right of citizens and a duty of the state; and the establishement of the National Health system, the SUS. (Paim JS, Health care reform in Brazil, contribution for comprehension and criticisms. Salvador, Rio de Janeiro. Brazil: Edufba/Editoria FIOCRUZ, 2008). In Brazil, while public health is provided exclusively by the public sub-sector, individual care is provided by a public-private mix. The public sub-sector has two segments: the SUS for the whole population and another segment whose access is restricted to public employees (civilian and military), and is financed by public resources and contributions from beneficiaries. Principles and development of the National Health System in Brazil In the last 20 years the Brazilian health care system has achieved outcomes in realizing its principles. At a glance, universal access and decentralization have been identified as the most implemented principles. Community [articipation has brought about important results. However, the expected social accountability of the health system remains doubtful. Hierarchization, in a nutshell regionalization and coordination among services, has been reinforced since early 2000 and emphasized by the present government. In terms of the universal access the public system offers health care services on a massive scale. In 2006, it provided nearly 2.3 billion outpatients procedures, 300 million medical consultations and 12 million hospitalizations. (Pan American Health Organization. Health systems and Services Profile Brazil. Brazilia, D.F, February 2008). The growth of a national primary care strategy, the Family Health Programme has demonstrated good outcomes in improving access expecially for the poor. (Rocha R, Soares R. Evaluating the impact of community Based Health interventions: evidence from Brazil’s Family Health Programme. Bonn, Germany: Institute for the study of Labour (IZA), April 2009. For instance, the last national household survey, done in 2008, showed that among an expected 57.6 million households, 27.5 million declared they were enrolled in the Family Health programme. (2008 National Household Survey: An overview of Health in Brazil. Access and utilization of services; population health status; risk factors and health protection) Rio de Janeiro2010). The development of PHC delivery model The Family Health programme was initially proposed as an addition to the community health workers programme that had been running in some states of Brazil. The FHP was first officially implemented in 1994 and was based on municipal experiences in experimenting with alternatives to traditional basic care. The establishment of the teams has been the responsibility of the municipalities. However, when the programme begun municipalities as providers received financial resources from the federal government for the maintenance of the team based on a fee for service compensation model. In 2006 the programme received an important upgrade. The National policy of primary care (PNAB) was published by the ministry of Health, amplifying the PHC concept and scope. (Ministry of Health B. National Primary Care Policy. In: care DoP.Vol. 4 ed. Brasilia, DF, 2007). The family health units (FHU) are under the responsibility of the municipalities. In order to ensre access the PNAB recommends that one family health units with three or four Family Health Teams (FHT) be responsible for PHC provision for a maximum of 12,000 inhabitants of the territory for which it has responsibity. However, in a high population density urban areas, this is not always a reality. For rural areas with low density, this number is smaller because teams are distributed in order to facilitate access for dispersed populations. Each FHU must be located within its territory or responsibility.(Ministry of Health B. National Primary Care Policy. In: care DoP. Vol. 4 ed. Brazilia, DF, 2007). All the team members in the programme are required to work full time, but this is not a reality throughout the whole country. According to Barbosa, (2009) only 62% of doctors and 82% of nurses confirmed the work full time nationally. These professionals often work in other settings of the public health care system as well, or sometimes in private practice. Additional profesionals may integrate with these teams according to the health needs of the local population and the decision of the municipal manager in agreement with the municipal council. In 2007 the federal heath ministry began financing a support group of 5 professionals for every 8 to 10 family health teams including psychologists, social workers, physiotherapist, speech therapist, paediatrician, gynaecologists, homeopathic doctors, psychiatrists, acupuncturists, and physical educators. (more health; a right for all 2008 – 2011. Brazilia; DF Brazil, 2008). The municipal government has to find a better match for the local level needs according to the availability of profesionals Outcomes and Impact of the Family Health Programme in Brazil The oucomes and the impact of any programme can be evaluated in several dimensions. The Brazilian health sysystem could be analysed based on starfield’s proposed dimensions: access and first contact, ensuring the principle of of universal care of the system; innovation in the health care provision, ensuring the comprehensiveness and longitudinal of care; and the promotion of equity in health indicators. The expansion of the programme has been remarkable in terms of meeting the ministry health’s goals. In December 2009, the programme got to 30328 teams and 234 767 community health workers covering over 100 million inhabitants in 5349 municipalities in all region of the country. (Ministry of Health B. Department of Primary Care Website Brazilia2012). It is worth saying that one of the key components of the Brazilian heal system is public support. Studies conducted in different part of the country comparing traditional basic units and Familiy health units shows higher user satisfaction with family health units.(Macinko J, Almeida C, de Sa PK. A rapid assessment methodology for the evaluation of primary care organization and performance in Brazil Health Policy Plan 2007). The coverage extension has moved closer to ensuring universal access to the health system as mandated by the Brazilian constitution. The changes to the teams’ work practices have enhanced comprehensiveness by putting together primary care, public health and health promotion activities. (Peres EM, Andrade AM, Dal Poz MR, Grande NR. The practice of physicians and nurses in the Brazilian Family Health Programme: Hum Resou Health 2006;4:25). Studies evaluating the family health programme using the infant mortality rate, with ecological designs have shown positive effects on reduction of infant mortality rate. (Aquino R, de Oliveira NF, Barreto ML. impact of the family health programme on infant mortality in Brazilian municipalities; AM J Public Health 2009 ;99(1):87-93). Even though the results are very promising at the national level, there are significant discrepancies between provinces and municipalities. These may suggest the need to better understand the keey components of the programme that are responsible for the results. Comparative assessment with the South African System South Africa health system has evolved over the past decade. From a 5 year planning frameworks since 1994 to consolidation of the health system while making substansive inputs to resolving the human resource issues. Although, capacity building programmes for managers were initiated, the bulk of the health professionals other than nurses works in the private sector. This is slightly different from the brazillian context in which majority of health care practitioners are fully involved in the Family health programme. Primary health care system has always been the focal point of the health system in South Africa over the past decade. A lot of efforts has gone into implementing the programmes in all the pronvinces of the country. Racial and gender bias had been largely eliminated coupled with the provision infrastructues to deal with the burden of the South African disease.Unlike the Brazilian model, sufficient attention has not been paid to its implementation. This includes provision of holistic comprehensive health care services to the communities, emphasizing disease prevention, health promotion and community participation. The Brazilian health programme had been population focussed unlike the South African model. Services has not been taken to the people. Adequate attention has not been given to health measurement outcomes. In other words there has been no basis for improvements coupled with the outbreak of HIV epidemic in the Sub-Saharan Africa. The district health sysystem has been the focal point through which Primary health care is delivered in South Africa. It comprises of the district hospital, community health centre and clinics with each of those set up having its own target population. The ideal scenario is for each clinic to have its own PHC team the will render services to both the clinic and the community. Faclities should be supported by specialist support teams to cater for the needs of the population. As part of delivering health care, it has been recommended that the district health management team purchse the services of some private health providers where these services are not available to the public sector. It is a known fact that there has been success stories of the primary health care system. Brazil has been a success story. There has been dramatic improvement in the health oucomes of Brazil compare to that of South Africa. There is a poor health indicators outcomes in the South African health system compared to the resources been invested. This may be due to the overwhelming impact of HIV and AIDS. Brazil health care system in a three tieir federation comprising of the federal government, state and municipalities. The unified health system is founded on the principles that health is a right and state duty. It is founded on the basis of universal coverage, care and equity which allows most of the population to be covered. The Brazilian health system in not all smooth sailing. Issues such as high cost, scarcity or resources heve bedevilled the system. (Celia R. P. and Ana C. P. G., Human resources for health and decentralization policy in the Brazilian health system, Human Resources for Health, 9(12) (2011). While South Africa is one of the most developed economies in Africa, its primary health care programme has followed a traditional approach from top to bottom. Unlike Brazil, there are two policies implementation by PHC. There is universal access to health by all South Africans and provision of free health care for pregnant women and children. There are gaps in the implementation of the South Africa Primary health care programme. This gap include migration of health care professionals, lack of resources, the skewed distribution of personnel in public and private sector, lack skill and low morale among staffs coupled with the absence of managerial expertize. (Heunis J. C., Van Rensburg H. C. and Claasens D. L., Assessment of the implementation of the implementation of the primary health care package at selected sites in South Africa. CurationSIS, 29, 37-46 (2006). In most rural areas of South Africa, health system are not readily availavailable and where it is available, it is purchased at high exhorbitant cost. (De Jager J. and Du Plooy T., Service quality assurance and tangibility for public health care in South Africa, Acta Commercii, 7, 96-117, (2007). One of the challenges facing South Africa health system includes lack of financial resources, dedication of staff implementing the programme, lack of material commitment, How to change management practices, community participation and munltisectoral collaboration. In view of this, there is a need for health system re-engineering

Holocaust and Rwanda Genocides Essay -- World History

Propaganda was an elaborate and essential tool used extensively by Hitler and the Nazi's as well as the Hutu's during their terrorizing reign of Germany and throughout Europe and the Hutu's horrific acts of genocide that happened because of a culmination of deep ethnic tensions brewing over a century and intense political corruption. Not only was it used to promote and endorse the party and its leader's extreme racist values but also to mask the horrifying truths of what was to become known as the Holocaust and the Rwanda Genocides. Anti-Jewish measures and pogroms have taken place numerous times throughout history, but never to the extent and successfulness attained by the Third Reich. A clear reason for this level of success can be attributed significantly to the abundant amounts of misinformation released by the Nazis prior to and during World War II. The degree of importance these public-swaying devices were to Hitler became particularly evident when he created the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, announcing a man by the name of Joseph Goebbels as the head. According to Doris Bergen author of War and Genocide Joseph Goebbels was responsible for and "organized public book burnings which presented intimidating spectacles of Nazi force" (Bergen, 66). In 1938 Herschel Grynszpan, 17 year old student, was thrown out of Germany. His parents were out raged and shot a German official. "This provided a perfect excuse for a violent assault against Jews within Germany" (Bergen, 87). One of the many forms of racist ideology that happened during the holocaust was the Kristallnacht. This name was also given by Joseph Goebbels. (Bergen, 90). During the Kristallnacht, Nazi's were granted "permission-and... ... living, just like the Nazi's did to the Jews. It is so sad the other countries did not intervene with the preventable genocide. When the massacres started, President Clinton did not convene a singe meeting of his senior foreign policy advisers to discuss U. S. options for Rwanda. The U. S. did not deploy its technical assets to jam Rwandan hate radio and it did not lobby to have the genocidal Rwandan government's expelled from the UN. Instead Washington demanded the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers from Rwanda and then refused to authorize the deployment of UN reinforcements. (Power, 334). Only justice can make peace and stability possible. But justice only prevails when the truth is known. So it is up to each of us to make justice prevail by spreading knowledge and making the Rwanda Genocide known, so that atrocities like this can truly "never again" occur.

Henri Cartier-Bresson :: History

Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson has been called "equivocal, ambivalent and accidental"1 since his debut as a photojournalist. Amplified and enriched, the work of the photographer is revealed in all its grandeur. While he may appear to "be a hurried man or a traveler without luggage"2, to quote a few of his titles, he is a poet, attentive to the act of love made with each photograph, and this is where the genius is revealed. From a desired distance, we discover simultaneously the geographer, who analyses the permanence or vulnerability of cultures; the ethnographer, who captures gestures of work and rituals of religion; the anthropologist, who reflects the spectrum of emotions; and the sociologist, who reveals the development of destinies and histories.3 Cartier-Bresson's dependence and uncompromising view of photography; to rely solely on the moment in time, is why he will always be remembered. Born in 1908, Cartier-Bresson studied painting with Andre Lhote in Paris, then painting and literature at Cambridge University in 1928 and developed a serious interest in photography in 1931. His work was first exhibited at the Julien Levy Gallery, New York, and first published in Vu magazine in 1932. He has been involved in numerous films, such as La Vie est a nous (1936), Le Regle du jeu (1939), his documentary film on the hospitals of Republican Spain in 1937 and his film on the liberation of the concentration camps with Richard Banks called Le Retour (1945). His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1946, and in 1947 he became co-founder of The Magnum photographic agency. He has published over a dozen books and has had his photographs printed in hundreds of magazines. Cartier-Bresson traveled the world so that he may document and present to others the human condition. His photographs transcend any particular time or place. Instead, they capture the very essence of life, be it Harlem, Madrid, Shanghai or the Paris rue Mouffetard (Ill. 2)4. In rural Europe, silent in the absence of the engine, and where everything was still done by animals and human beings, he portrays, unaltered, a society's captivating traits. At times his poetic intention towards subject matter is inadvertently socially charged, which makes his work all the more intriguing5. Each of Cartier-Bresson's photographs presents itself not as part of a series, an archive selected among others, but as a singular work of art which, with its own formal qualities and unique meanings, exists in itself. Henri Cartier-Bresson :: History Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson has been called "equivocal, ambivalent and accidental"1 since his debut as a photojournalist. Amplified and enriched, the work of the photographer is revealed in all its grandeur. While he may appear to "be a hurried man or a traveler without luggage"2, to quote a few of his titles, he is a poet, attentive to the act of love made with each photograph, and this is where the genius is revealed. From a desired distance, we discover simultaneously the geographer, who analyses the permanence or vulnerability of cultures; the ethnographer, who captures gestures of work and rituals of religion; the anthropologist, who reflects the spectrum of emotions; and the sociologist, who reveals the development of destinies and histories.3 Cartier-Bresson's dependence and uncompromising view of photography; to rely solely on the moment in time, is why he will always be remembered. Born in 1908, Cartier-Bresson studied painting with Andre Lhote in Paris, then painting and literature at Cambridge University in 1928 and developed a serious interest in photography in 1931. His work was first exhibited at the Julien Levy Gallery, New York, and first published in Vu magazine in 1932. He has been involved in numerous films, such as La Vie est a nous (1936), Le Regle du jeu (1939), his documentary film on the hospitals of Republican Spain in 1937 and his film on the liberation of the concentration camps with Richard Banks called Le Retour (1945). His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1946, and in 1947 he became co-founder of The Magnum photographic agency. He has published over a dozen books and has had his photographs printed in hundreds of magazines. Cartier-Bresson traveled the world so that he may document and present to others the human condition. His photographs transcend any particular time or place. Instead, they capture the very essence of life, be it Harlem, Madrid, Shanghai or the Paris rue Mouffetard (Ill. 2)4. In rural Europe, silent in the absence of the engine, and where everything was still done by animals and human beings, he portrays, unaltered, a society's captivating traits. At times his poetic intention towards subject matter is inadvertently socially charged, which makes his work all the more intriguing5. Each of Cartier-Bresson's photographs presents itself not as part of a series, an archive selected among others, but as a singular work of art which, with its own formal qualities and unique meanings, exists in itself.

Rugby is Better than Sex :: Personal Narrative Sports Athletics Papers

Rugby is Better than Sex An imitation of â€Å"Surfing is better than sex† I USED TO LOOK AT THE SENIOR BOYS PLAYING ‘THAT ROUGH’ GAME rugby and just wonder at the courage that they possessed. Never in my mind did I see myself as a rugby player. It is true I was bigger than many of the people on the team but that did not mean I had half the courage. That was way back in my first years at Budo high school. Then one day, a rugger by the name of Yustus reached out to me. â€Å"KESA†, he called out my nickname. â€Å"You should try out rugby with us one of these days†, he added. Rugby is a very small club sport at Lafayette and has a lot of challenges. During orientation, I accidentally met up with a team member called Mike who told me about Lafayette rugby. He told me that the team did not have a coach and â€Å"we are trying to get in as many freshmen as possible†. I replied that I had a lot of experience, having played rugby for about 5 years, and I would love to join. When we had our first rugby meet, it was on a small quad in front of one of the nine fraternities. This quad was the antithesis of the real big fields I was used to; one could hardly run a forty-yard dash on it. Well, after a couple of weeks playing on the quad, we were able to head out to Metzgar fields. These are a set of fields for lacrosse, soccer, baseball, and football practice and there is also provision for rugby. In the middle of all other sports grounds, our rugby team found a somewhat full size field. The first engagement we had for the season was a home match against Lehigh University and this was one of best games for the entire season. We went into this game as the underdogs, but that did not inhibit my team from maneuvering well. We were not expected to win, so all we did is have fun giving Lehigh a decent challenge. On many occasions, I would run with the ball and stop just a couple of yards away from the goal line. My teammates were always there to support me whenever I went with the ball. I remember one time when a Lehigh player broke through the scrum and was heading towards our goal.

Altruism Essay

The statement â€Å"People never intentionally act to benefit others except only to obtain some good for themselves† is often described as Altruism or an Altruistic act. This statement is not entirely true. It is possible for someone to intentionally act to benefit others, but this is something that does not happen very often. There are multiple theories as to why people do and do not perform altruistic acts. If someone is a member of your family you are more likely to help a person in need, if you feel sympathetic towards someone you are likely to help a person in need or if it is a social norm you are likely to help them. If in a certain situation helping someone is not a social norm then you are less likely to help this person. Even if someone wanted to perform an altruistic act it is very difficult to do so in our society because we reward people who we perceive to be good, or to have done good things. If you perform an Altruistic act towards a member of your family would be acting within Hamilton’s kin selection theory (1960s). The kin selection theory which states that you are much more likely to perform an altruistic act if the person you are helping is a member of your family. An example of this is recently in Melbourne there was a wall collapse. Three people died as a result of this incident; a woman in her thirties and an eighteen and nineteen-year-old siblings, the older brother and his sister. The older woman died upon impact, as did the brother, but only after he shielded his sister from the collapsing wall. His sister also died later in hospital. (ABC News, 1st April 2013) This is an example of the kin selection theory. Instead of doing what benefited himself, he tried to save his sister, despite it having dire consequences. This would be considered an act of altruism as it did not benefit him, and in this case even had negative consequences, especially as his sister later died in hospital. Another reason people perform altruistic acts is out of sympathy. Sympathy is a natural feeling of concern for a person. Even if you can’t relate to the person you feel bad for them, or concerned for them. An example of someone feeling sympathetic is Julio Diaz, who when a mugger came up to him one night with a knife he handed over his wallet without complaint. When the mugger went to walk away he stopped him and offered him his coat as well, saying he didn’t want the mugger to get cold. He then continued to offer to buy the mugger dinner. (Huffington Post, 17th November 2011). Diaz obviously felt sympathy towards the mugger, or he wouldn’t have given over his wallet, jacket and paid for his dinner. Diaz ended up getting his wallet back from the boy who handed it over after they had eaten. Diaz felt sympathy towards the boy due to the fact that the boy had almost nothing, where as Diaz had enough money to comfortably live. Sympathy makes people feel like they have a moral obligation to help someone in need – the person they feel sympathetic towards. – Sometimes people help others because it is considered a social norm. An example of this is saying please and thank you. This is considered normal in most societies and it is often frowned upon if you don’t use these. A social norm is something people often take for granted and a lot of people are shocked when someone doesn’t follow what they consider to be normal. Another example of a social norm in our society is to wear clothes in public. If you were walking down the street and you say someone walking towards you naked you would not think this was normal. You would wonder why they were naked and often avoid walking to close to, making eye contact with, or speaking to this person. If you were in some traditional aboriginal culture you would wear nothing but animal skin, or even walk around naked. This is/was considered a social norm within that society. There are some internationally recognized social norms, like not engaging in cannibalism, and dressing modestly. While not all societies, past or present, follow these social norms most of the world does. There are also norms within society, religion and individual families. A social norm in our society is mate-ship, not letting down your friends, family, or community. There are plenty of social norms in religion, such as in Christianity it is not exactable to love someone of the same sex. This is an example of a social norm that is slowly changing over time, as do most social norms. It was a social norm in Britain in the 1800’s that you attended church, where as in 2002 only 18. 6% of people in the United Kingdom attended church regularly. (Tearfund report, 2007) This is an example of how social norms change over time, and what we consider to be social norms at the moment may not be considered normal in 40,50,60,70 or more years. These things cannot be considered an altruistic act because you would benefit poorly from not doing these things, so it is good for you to say please and thank you, bringing it back to the first example. There are also plenty of things people do not do to help others because it is considered outside of the social norms. If you saw a drunk person on the street you probably wouldn’t help them because society has shaped us to think that these people brought the state they are in on themselves, therefore it is not our problem to help them once they are in this situation. Social norms can be beneficial, but they can also detrimental. Another instance where helping someone is not considered an altruistic act is if the act is mutually beneficial. This can cover a range of things, from the benefit to you being a smile from someone, to a bravery award. If you see a child drowning and you swim out and save them and when you get back their mother says thank you and buys you an ice cream then you are benefiting, the ice cream being the benefit. If while trying to save this child you drown you do not benefit in anyway, and this even has a negative affect on you. This would be an act of altruism because there is no mutual benefit. A benefit for you may be something as small as a good feeling inside, or a smile, but these are benefits of saving the child, there for there is mutual benefit. You walk away with a good feeling and maybe an ice cream and the child walks away with his life. A real life example of this is Don Richie, who lived just across the road from one of Australia’s most notorious suicide locations. It is estimated that Richie saved more than 160 lives in his lifetime. He received the title of Australia’s local hero in 2011(ABC Radio, 14th May 2012). This is something he got out of stopping these people commit suicide. Despite the fact that he had no knowledge he was going to receive this award when he started saving people, because he received this award it is not an act of altruism. Some would argue that even if he hadn’t received this award these would still not be acts of altruism, as he felt good about saving these people, and it made him a happier person. This is his benefit, making it mutually beneficial and not an act of altruism. People do act to benefit others, without obtaining good for themselves, but this is a rare situation. Whether the person wanted to obtain some good for themselves or not they almost always do, as acts of kindness are rewarded in most societies. While people can intentionally act to benefit others without obtaining good for themselves this almost never happens, simply because of the way our society is shaped.