Say Yes to Homosexual Marriage Essay Example for Free

Say Yes to Homosexual Marriage Essay Everyone can marry the person they love, the murderers, the corrupt official, the beggar , the thief , the old spinster can get married. Gay, however, cannot. marriage is the last process and expression of love. Traditionally, marriage is an institution and promise about a man and a woman to live forever and form a kinship under the law. Our city – Hong Kong thinks homosexuality is unacceptable. Homosexuality can be classified into two categories: gay and lesbian which a man loves a man and a woman loves a woman respectively. It is a sexual orientation that one can in love with others that share the same sex. Homosexuality marriage is a kind of marriage between two people in same sex or gender. Why homosexual marriage should not be encouraged? A marriage is simply about two people love each other and willing gives a commitment for the relationship. It shouldn’t be banned since gay marriage encourage people to build up a stronger family ties, love is first-rated in terms of marriage and it’s unrelated of gay marriage to trigger other improper forms of marriage .So same-sex couples should have the same legal right of marriage as different-sex couples. The biggest argument for people against same-sex marriage is that it will totally damage and spoil the value of family and affect society in some ways. However, it’s far beyond the truth. As for today, there are lots of sexual problems and sexually transmitted disease in our society such as AIDS. It is the result of improper, unprotected and careless sexual relation. To allow same-sex marriage can help people to build a strong family belief and minimize the problems of the improper sexual lifestyle in society. Marriage is an encouragement asking people to settle down for your partner and is a promise that two in loved people will work to build their own life. Strasser (2006) stated that homosexual marriage sometimes give a helping hand in rebuilding relationship between people. Due to the prohibited of homosexual marriage, thousands of gay people have unsteady relationship. What even worst is they, usually, are having unprotected sex with different partners. This distorts the value of relationship and love. The legalization of same-sex marriage pushes gay couples to build up their family and stop the frivolous life. Eskridge(2011) remarks that marriage can  be classified into private and social institution. For the social institution, marriage is a way to build kinship among two individuals. Thus, it can stabilize and keep society in a harmonic situation as it can group people into ‘us’ as a whole. Absolutely true, the point is that gay marriage would not affect the harmony of the society. More importantly, the prohibition of same-sex marriage have created lots of noise and demonstration in our society, it rather destroy the harmonious rather than stabilizing it. Therefore, why couldn’t approve homosexual marriage to attain a win-win situation? Those who against homosexual marriage stated that it would violate the meaning of marriage and does not respective to what marriage really means. However, do they really know what being married really means? Marriage is all about love. Love is everything its cracked up to be. Thats why people are so cynical about itIt really is worth fighting for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you dont risk everything, you risk even more. ( Jong, 2010, P.45) Love should not depends on its gender but feeling. Getting married is the last process of ending the long love journey. It is the one and the only way to show how much a couple loves each other. This is actually what marriage means and the thought behind. Marriage should not just limit to one man and one woman, instead, it should be available for two people no matter what their gender are. â€Å"Over time, people came to view marriage as a relationship between two individuals who were free to organize their partnership and their parenting on the basis of their personal inclinations rather than pre-assigned gender roles.† (cootnz, 2011). Gender, nowadays, become a less essential element of marriage because our feeling matter most. If society only allows different-sex marriage, isn’t it violating the principle of marriage – love and promise? There’s an argument stating that same-sex marriage would lead to the rise of another serious problem towards morality. It could have chain effect that increases the opportunity of other kinds of improper marriage and it distorts the original idea of marriage. The improper marriage includes polygamy: a marriage between a man and two or more wives, Bestiality: a sexual relations between a human and an animal, could be follow. Is same-sex  marriage provide a ‘ slippery slope’ for another forms of marriage? That is not true. The case of having multiple wives and having sexual relation with an animal is too extreme and totally unrelated. Even if there is none case of gay marriage, it couldn’t guarantee the improper marriage like polygamy and bestiality will not happen. Marriage is only about two human beings who are in loved with each other without considering the gender so marriage is just about loves. Wolfson (2003) noted that homosexual marriage sets a precedent for future cases of polygamy and bestiality. This is the weirdest argument because polygamy and bestiality is not just about two human beings. Thus, allowing gay marriage is not a slippery slope of other sort of marriage. Pinello (2006) noted that without true love, marriage cannot be maintained. The ultimate goal of love is getting married. And what’s marriage about is love. Banning homosexual marriage is a cruel way to avoid two loved people to stay with each other. Moreover, it’s not wrong because gay marriage encourage people to build up a stronger family ties, love is first-rated in terms of marriage and it’s unrelated that gay marriage will trigger polygamy and bestiality. Thus same-sex couples should have the same legal right of marriage as different-sex couples. APA referencing: 1) coontz, S.(2011,January 9), from http://www.stephaniecoontz.com/articles/article55.htm/ 2) jong, E (2004). What do women want (3rd ed.) Germany: HarperCollins 3)Eskridge, W.()Case for same sex marriage : from sexual liberty to civilized commitment, New York: free press. 4) strasser, M. (2006) Legally Wed: Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution, Ithaca: Cornell University Press 5) Wolfson, E. (2003, June 2), E-Journal: For Richer, For Poorer: Same-Sex Couples and the Freedom to Marry as a Civil Right , from http://www.drummajorinstitute.org/library/article.php?ID=5518 6) Pinello, D(2006) Americas Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage ,Cambridge , MA : Cambridge University Press

Concrete Stitches In Segmental Prestressed Concrete Bridges

Concrete Stitches In Segmental Prestressed Concrete Bridges The in-situ concrete stitches of a segmental prestressed concrete bridge are locations of potential weakness for the entire bridge deck but relatively little work has been carried out in this area. In the current practice, these in-situ stitches are usually designed to be capable of sustaining considerable sagging moment but only minimal hogging moment. Therefore, failure of these joints is possible under exceptional circumstances when the hogging moment is high, which may potentially trigger a progressive collapse. In the light of this, an extensive experimental study on the structural behaviour of the in-situ concrete stitch under different combinations of parameters has been carried out. Two types of specimens are tested in the study, namely the beam specimens and the shear specimens, which both consist of two precast units joined together by in-situ concrete stitch of variable widths. The beam specimens are internally prestressed and subject to different combinations of bending m oment, shear, and prestressing force; while the shear specimens are either internally or externally prestressed and subject to direct shear only. Shear keys are provided to the stitch of several shear specimens to examine the contribution of the keys to the shear strength. The effects of various parameters on the strength of the stitch and ductility of the specimens are investigated. Detailed coverage on the experimental programme and the results of the experimental analyses are presented in this paper. KEYWORDS Experimental study, joints, prestressed concrete, segmental bridges, in-situ stitches. INTRODUCTION Precast segmental concrete bridges have gained popularity over the past 40 years due to their efficiency in coping with difficult site conditions. One of the most commonly used method of constructing this type of bridges is the balanced cantilever method, which essentially involves sequentially extending precast segments outwards from each pier in a balanced manner. A gap of 100 to 200 mm in width is usually provided around the mid-span location between the last two approaching segments to facilitate erection. In-situ concrete is then cast to stitch the segments together, thus making the bridge deck continuous. Under the current practice, the in-situ concrete stitches are usually designed to be capable of sustaining considerable sagging moment but its hogging moment capacity and shear resistance are only nominal. Failure of these joints can only occur under exceptional scenarios when hogging moment is high. However if it really occurs, this could potentially trigger a progressive collapse mechanism because the concrete stitches are locations of potential weakness. Studies on the joints of segmental bridges have been conducted in the past (Buyukozturk et al., 1990; Hewson, 1992; Zhou et al., 2005; Issa and Abdalla, 2007) but the joints studied are either dry or epoxy joints that exists between precast segments and not the in-situ concrete stitching joint that is of interest. As relatively little research work on this area has been conducted, understanding of the actual behaviour of in-situ stitches is limited. In the light of this, an extensive experimental study has been carried out to investigate the behaviour of the in-situ concrete stitches. The study mainly involves a series of loading test on specimens that are comprised of precast units connected by in-situ concrete stitches. The stitch is subjected to different combinations of internal forces by applying loading at different locations along the specimen. Various parameters of the specimens are varied to examine their effect on the strength of the in-situ stitch and its failure mode. These parameters include the width of the stitch, the grade of concrete, the prestressing force, the provision of shear keys, the type of tendon (bonded or unbonded) and the type of prestressing (external or internal). Although the experimental programme is still ongoing, based on the analysis of the current experimental results, several preliminary conclusions have been drawn and are presented in this paper. The experimental programme is also covered i n detail in this paper. TESTING PROGRAMME The experimental study involves load testing on two types of specimens, namely (i) the beam specimens, and (ii) the shear specimens. The beam specimens are used to study the behaviour of the in-situ concrete stitches subjected to different combinations of bending moment and shear, while the shear specimens are used to study the behaviour of the stitches under direct shear. Both the beam and shear specimens consist of two precast units joined together by the in-situ concrete stitches. Control beam specimens have also been fabricated where the entire beam is continuously cast without any stitch along the beam. Typically, the stitch is cast one week after the casting of the precast units. Loading test on the specimens is performed using a testing frame after 28 days from the day of casting of the stitch. Linear variable displacement transducers (LVDTs) are mounted on the specimens at various locations of interest to measure the displacements at these locations. Configuration of the Beam Specimens The length of the beam specimen is 1400 mm with the in-situ concrete stitch at either the mid-span of the beam or offset from the mid-span depending on the internal force that the stitch is subjected to. An actual beam specimen is illustrated in Figure 1. Three cases of internal force at the stitch are examined, namely (i) pure bending moment, (ii) pure shear, and (iii) both moment and shear. The loading test setup to induce the three cases of internal force condition is illustrated in Figure 2. Tendon (a) Case of pure bending moment (b) Case of pure shear (c) Case of moment and shear The section of the beam has an overall depth of 200 mm and a width of 150 mm. A 7-wire steel strand with a nominal area of 100 mm2 is used as the prestressing tendon. The tendon is placed at a depth of 133 mm for Case (i) and Case (ii), and 100 mm for Case (iii). For all beam specimens, Grade 60 concrete is used for both the precast units and the stitch. No shear key is provided to the stitch. Unbonded tendon with an effective prestressing force of 100 kN is applied to all beam specimens. Since the precast units and the in-situ concrete stitch are cast at different time, construction joints exist in the specimen. Prior to casting the in-situ concrete stitch, the laitance at the construction joint area on the surface of the precast unit is removed and the area is roughened by a needle gun until the aggregates are exposed. The construction joint is then wetted for at least 12 hours before casting by laying towels that are completely saturated with water over the joint area. Configuration of the Shear Specimens The shear specimens consist of two L-shaped precast units with the in-situ concrete stitch joining the two units as illustrated in Figure 3. The out-of-plane dimension of the specimen is 200 mm. The specimens are either made of Grade 60 or Grade 45 concrete and both the precast units and the stitch are made of the same grade of concrete. The stitch is subject to a prestress of either 1 MPa or 5 MPa, and stitch widths of 100 mm and 200 mm are examined. The shear specimens are designed in such a way that they are capable of simulating the shear behaviour of box girders of different web configurations. The web of a box girder may or may not be provided with shear keys and some parts of the web may or may not have prestressing tendon running through. Therefore, the specimens are either internally prestressed by bonded tendon or externally prestressed by a clamping device to provide the prestressing force acting on the stitch, while the stitch is either plain or provided with shear keys. For those specimens with shear keys, either one large key with a depth of 50 mm or two smaller keys with a depth of 30 mm are provided. Examples of an externally prestressed specimen with two shear keys and an internally prestressed specimen without shear key are illustrated in Figures 3(a) and 3(b) respectively. For the case where the specimen is internally prestressed, a 7-wire steel strand is used. Prior to casting of the stitch, light roughening is provided at the construction joint area on the precast units to remove the laitance. Similar to the beam specimens, the joint area is wetted for at least 12 hours before casting the stitch. (a) Stitch with shear keys; externally prestressed (b) Stitch without shear key; internally prestressed Figure 4. Examples of setup for shear specimen RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Beam Specimens The load-displacement relationships of the beam specimens tested are plotted in Figures 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) for the case of the in-situ concrete stitch subjected to pure bending moment (Case (i)), pure shear (Case (ii)), and a combination of moment and shear (Case (iii)), respectively. For the specimens of Cases (b) and (c), only the results of the specimens with 50 mm stitch and 100 mm stitch are available to date. Ductile behaviour is observed for the beam specimens of Case (i). Opening of the construction joints occurs at a load of between 70 kN and 80 kN, while the final mode of failure is concrete crushing in the compression zone at mid-span, as illustrated in Figure 6(a). From Figure 5(a), it is evident that the peak strength of the specimens without stitch (i.e. the control specimen) and those with stitch are approximately the same. The difference in the peak strength between the specimen with a 50 mm stitch and that with a 100 mm stitch is marginal. When the stitch is subject to pure shear, the behaviour of the specimen is brittle. As the peak strength is reached, a large diagonal crack suddenly forms across the stitch (Figure 6(b)) and the strength drops abruptly. It can be seen from Figure 5(b) that regardless of the size of the stitch, the peak strengths of the specimens are nearly the same. (a) Case (i) (b) Case (ii) (c) Case (iii) From Figure 5(c), it is evident that the behaviour of the specimens of Case (c) is ductile. Failure of the specimens is localized at the point of loading where there is significant cracking and crushing of concrete; while at the stitch, slight opening of the construction joint is observed and several diagonal cracks are found propagating from the construction joint towards the point of loading. The condition of the beam at failure is illustrated in Figure 6(c). For the specimen with a 50 mm stitch, the peak strength is approximately 100 kN, while that for the specimen with a 100 mm stitch is approximately 110 kN. The peak strengths of the two specimens are relatively close to each other. The results suggest that the width of the stitch has minimal effect on the strength of the stitch within the maximum width of stitch studied. The ductility of the specimens is also not affected by the width of the stitch but rather by how the specimen is loaded. (a) Case (i) (b) Case (ii) (c) Case (iii) Shear Specimens The load-displacement relationships of the five shear specimens tested are plotted in Figure 7. The shear displacement is the relative vertical displacement between the two precast units. All shear specimens are identified as explained below. Using E-K(M)-100-60-2 as an example, the first field represents the type of prestressing used, with E indicating external prestressing; the second field represents whether the stitch is plain or with shear keys, with K(M) indicating stitch with two shear keys, K(S) indicating stitch with single shear keys, and P indicating plain stitch with no shear key; the third field indicates the width of the stitch in mm; the fourth field indicates the grade of concrete in MPa; and the fifth field indicates the prestress applied to the stitch in MPa. Therefore, a specimen identified as E-K(M)-100-60-2 is composed of Grade 60 concrete with external prestress of 2 MPa applied and two shear keys are provided to the stitch that has a width of 100 mm. The specimens with plain stitch are first discussed. From Figure 7, it can be seen that the behaviour is largely the same for both specimens E-P-100-60-1 and E-P-200-60-1. The peak strengths of the two specimens are between 50 to 60 kN, which once again demonstrates that the width of a plain stitch has little effect on its strength. It is evident that as the prestressing level is increased to 5 MPa (E-P-100-60-5), the peak load-carrying capacity is significantly increased to approximately 220 kN. Therefore, the level of prestressing has marked influence on the load-carrying capacity of the stitch. For specimens with plain stitch, the failure mode is characterized by sudden occurrence of sliding along one or more of the construction joints. Upon failure, the strength of the stitch is mainly contributed by friction from sliding between the surfaces of precast unit and in-situ stitch. As observed from the load-displacement curves, a long smooth plateau is evident in the post peak range for specimens E-P-100-60-1 and E-P-200-60-1, which can be modelled as Coulomb friction. For specimen E-P-100-60-5, the post-peak behaviour as shown in Figure 7 is not as smoothed. Since the prestressing force is substantially higher, the resistance against sliding by the aggregates along the construction joint becomes very large. As the applied load is large enough to overcome that resistance, sudden slippage along the construction joint occurs and the load drops. Subsequently the resistance builds up again and sudden slippage occurs again when the resistance is overcome by the applied load. Therefore the post-peak branch of specimen E-P-100-60-5 has a zig-zag shape. This observation also implies that the roughness of the construction joint should have strong effect on the post-peak strength of plain stitches, which will be examined in due course. Since the post-peak strength of the stitch is mainly contributed by frictional forces, ductility can only be maintained if sufficient pre stressing force is provided. Therefore the presence of adequate prestressing force beyond the peak strength of the stitch is crucial in preventing sudden loss of strength in the stitch. Up to this stage, only two shear specimens with shear keys have been tested. However, the results from the test have already given indication that the behaviour of the stitches with shear keys is quite different from the behaviour of those without shear keys. Upon reaching the peak strength, the stitch of specimen E-K(M)-100-60-1 fails suddenly in a brittle manner by cracking diagonally across the stitch as illustrated in Figure 8 and an abrupt drop in load can be seen in Figure 7. This behaviour is much different from that of the specimens with plain stitches in which the post-peak behaviour is characterized by a long plateau in the load-displacement relationship. This type of stitch has little reserve strength upon reaching the peak load-carrying capacity. No brittle failure is observed for the specimen with one large key and a wider stitch, i.e. specimen E-K(S)-200-60-1. In fact, the specimen was not loaded to failure during the experiment but was stopped at a load of approximately 190 kN because at that load, the prestressing force was increased to a level that had almost reached the capacity of the load cell used to measure the prestressing force. However, at a load of 190 kN, continuous crack had already formed along the construction joint and there was sliding between the precast unit and the stitch along the joint but the stitch still remained intact. From Figure 7, it can be seen that the peak load-carrying capacity of specimens E-K(M)-100-60-2 and E-P-100-60-5 are approximately the same. This observation seems to imply same level of load-carrying capacity can be achieved yet less amount of prestressing can be applied by adding shear keys to the stitch. As aforementioned, there is an increase in prestressing force as load is applied to the specimens with shear keys. This behaviour is caused by dilation in the stitch as the shearing load is applied. Dilation is taken as the displacement between the precast units measured along the horizontal centreline of the stitch. The effect of dilation is much more pronounced for specimens with keyed stitches than those with plain stitches. The relationships between shear displacement and dilation of the various specimens are plotted in Figure 9. For the specimens with plain stitch, dilation is relatively insignificant compared to the dilation in the specimens with keyed stitch. The stress in the tendon can be increased due to dilation. The effect of dilation on tendon stress is rather insignificant for a segmental bridge with unbonded tendon because the strain increase due to dilation will be averaged along the entire length of tendon between end anchorages. However, for segmental bridges prestr essed by bonded tendon, dilation may cause substantial increase in strain at the location of the stitch, which can potentially overstress the tendon. Specimens with stitch prestressed by bonded tendon will be tested in the near future and the effect of dilation on tendon stress will be investigated in due course. CONCLUSIONS Extensive experimental studies have been carried out to investigate the behaviour of in-situ concrete stitches subject to a combination of internal forces and subject to direct shear by conducting a series of loading tests on the beam specimens and shear specimens respectively. Detailed coverage on the setup of the specimens and load testing has been included in this paper. Based on the results of the tests conducted so far, several preliminary conclusions can be drawn: The width of plain in-situ concrete stitch does not appear to have significant effect on the peak-load carrying capacity of the stitch regardless of the combination of internal forces that it is subjected to. The strength of the in-situ concrete stitch is strongly influenced by the level of prestressing applied and the strength of the stitch increases as the level of prestressing increases. For plain in-situ concrete stitches, failure occurs along the construction joint. Strength in the stitch is still present beyond the peak strength and it is mainly contributed by the frictional force from the sliding between the surfaces of precast unit and stitch. By providing shear keys to the concrete stitch, the level of prestressing can be reduced to achieve the same strength as those stitches without key. However, this may result in a brittle failure. For keyed concrete stitches, the amount of dilation is significantly higher than that of plain stitches. For segmental bridges prestressed by bonded tendon, this may have marked effect on the stresses of the tendons. With further testing on the specimens being carried out in the near future, it is expected that more definitive conclusions can be drawn on the behaviour of the in-situ concrete stitches. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The study undertaken is supported by Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (RGC Project No. HKU 710207E).

The Aral Sea Disaster Essay example -- Policies Environment Essays

The Aral Sea Disaster Abstract The Aral Sea and the entire Aral Sea basin area have achieved worldwide notoriety due to the environmental disaster. The example of the Aral Sea disaster has sent a signal to the entire international community demonstrating how fast and irrevocable the environmental system can be ruined if there is no long-term thinking and planning in place. This paper gives a broad overview of the policies that have resulted in dying of the forth-largest inland body of water. It concentrates on the policies and approaches of the international organizations towards the problem, describes examples of the projects and presents a conclusion on effectiveness of such policies. Introduction The Aral sea used to be the forth largest inland body of water. It had a fishing industry that employed 60,000 people and it attracted thousands of tourists. Today the Aral Sea is biologically dead and has shrunk by approximately 75-80% in volume and 50-60% in area. (See Attachment 1. The chronology of the desiccation of the Aral Sea). Fishing towns such as Muinak are now 60 kilometers inland. Approximately 75 million tons per year of toxic salt from the exposed seabed are blown over thousands of kilometers of inhabited land increasing the already high level of salinity and worsening the environmental situation. Where is the Aral Sea located? The Aral Sea is in the very heart of the Central Asia. Central Asia, an area of 1.7 millions km2 in total, lies in the middle of the Eurasian continent. It is at the crossroads of the old caravan routes that ran from Europe to Asia and the Middle East to the Far East. The whole region consists of vast deserts and semi-arid lands (See Attachment 2. Geographical ... .../aralsea/asa_dis.htm Operational Research http://www.msf.org/aralsea/op_res.htm Tuberculosis Pilot Program http://msf.org/aralsea/tb_pilot.htm 3. UNOPS web site http://unops.org/5 proin/5pi2001.html 4. International Aral Sea Rehabilitation Fund web site http://ifas-almaty.kz/ENG/Consequesnces.html 5. Soros Foundation ¡Ã‚ ¦s Office in Tashkent web site www.soros.org 6. German Remote Data Center Geographical location of the Aral Sea http://www.dfd.dlr.de/app/land/aralsee/aralregion.html Chronology of the desiccation of the Aral Sea http://www.dfd.dlf.de/app/land/aralsee/chronology.html Picture 1. Chronology of the dessication of the Aral Sea The series of images were derived by satellite remote sensing data and conventional data (WDB II for the mask of 1960, bathymetry for the year of 2010).

Eleanor Roosevelt Essay example -- essays research papers fc

Eleanor Roosevelt was a honest person who had responsibility and compassion towards her husband , family and her fellow man, whatever their social status. She used great citizenship and initiative actions in dealing with anyone who was fortunate enough to make her acquaintance. Eleanor Roosevelt is an outspoken advocate of social justice. During the years she has taken over a lot of responsibility. For someone who spent thefirst third of her life as shy and timid, she showed great courage once she was thrust into the presidential â€Å"spotlight†. Most Americans considered her a true â€Å"American Hero†. â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press, I now announce the presence of our first lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt†, is something similar to what you would hear when being addressed at a press conference or important meetings. She was a well respected human being, achieving great duties and responsibility in life. She was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to be on the first peace corps advisory board. She was such an active lady while her husband was in office that she was no longer willing to stay quietly in the background of her husband. She took a job as an editor and advertising manager of a monthly publication â€Å" The Women’s Democratic News† where she became more independent towards herself and work. Eleanor Roosevelt became very involved in women issues, being that she also joined the newly organized Women’s division of the New York State Democratic party and moved swiftly into positions of leadership. Not only was she responsible among organizations and people, she later became her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s eyes and ears, dedicating her life to his purposes, being a trusted and tireless reporter. One of the reasons she did become so helpful towards her husbands career was besides the fact that she was the first lady, Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with a disease called polio and caused him to be permanently crippled in August of 1921. She then became even more loyal to him and our country having to deal with people from different nations, organizations and positions. While the President struggled to regain the use of his legs, Eleanor Roosevelt and Louis Howe joined forces to keep his political and business contacts alive. She became a powerful voice for youth employment and civil right... ...u can remember how she showed great compassion to her work and life. How loyal she was to the people of our nation. What great responsibility’s she consummated and what respect she gave and received from and to so many. Works Cited Diller, Daniel C. & Robertson, Stephen .L â€Å" The Presidents, First Ladies and Vice Presidents. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 1959. Collier Encyclopedia: Copyright 1989 Cook, Blanche Wiesen : Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume One New York: Vikking 1992 Eleanor Roosevelt: This is My Story New York: Harper & Bros., 1937 On My Own New York: Harper & Bros., 1949 Http://personalweb.smcvt.edu/smahady/ercover.html Lash, Joseph P. : Eleanor and Franklin: The Story of Their Relationship Based on Eleanor Roosevelt’s Private Papers. New York: W.W. Norton, 1971 Lash, Joseph P. : Eleanor Roosevelt: A friend’s Memoir. Garden City, N.Y Lorena Hickok : Eleanor Roosevelt: Reluctan First Lady New York: Dodd, Mead 1962 WWW.whitehouse.gov/WH/glimpse/firstladies/html/ar32.html WWW.geocites.com/collegepark/library/4142/childhood.html Young’s , J. Williams T. : Eleanor Roosevelt: A Personal a Public Life Boston: Little, Brown, 1985

Adolescents Happiness and Academic Success Essay

Adolescents’ happiness and academic success; How it is affected by Divorce Abstract The challenges faced when a family is going through divorce can have a large impact on a teenagers overall ability to succeed in every day activities such as school or extracurricular activities. This may be caused by feelings of overwhelming stress and pressure to take full responsibility of other siblings or distraught parents, therefore taking time away from school work. On page 362 in the sixth edition of Psychology themes and Variations, it shows the results of Holmes’ and Rahe’s theory of life-changing events and their connection with stress levels. On a scale of one to one-hundred, divorce rated a seventy-three. We decided to study how students at Mountain Crest are academically affected by divorced parents. We found that a slightly higher number of students with married parents participated in healthy extracurricular activities and obtained better grades than students with divorced or separated parents. But the results were not as drastic as we expected. Introduction â€Å"Life changes are any noticeable alterations in one’s living circumstances that require readjustment. † (Pg 362, sixth edition of Psychology themes and variations). There are many different events that cause change in one’s life, a common alteration being divorce. We wanted to study how the performance of high school students is affected by family situations, such as divorced or married parents. We predicted that students who come from broken families (divorced and/or remarried parents, step-siblings, ect. ) have a lower level of peace and a higher level of contention in their home. We hypothesized that this would affect their scholastic accomplishments and they will have lower grade point averages and less involvement in healthy extracurricular activities such as school sports and clubs. Method We conducted our survey at Mountain Crest High School in Hyrum, Utah in April of 2008. First, we asked people if they would take a survey for us. In larger groups such as full classes, we asked for the teacher’s permission to conduct a survey in their class. We took our surveys in general/required classes such as computer technology and history creating a widespread mix of students. Before passing out the survey’s we instructed the sample to hold the survey in the air when they were completed, and ensured them that no one would know what they had marked. This was to attempt to eliminate distortions in self-report caused by peer pressure. When the sample group agreed to take our survey we passed them to the volunteers. When each person was finished with their survey we went around personally and collected their survey. We surveyed a total of sixty students, ranging in ages 15-18. We selected random classes with a variety of students of different races and gender. After collecting the surveys, we divided them according to their parents’ marital status. We then tallied the results of the students’ grades and involvement in extracurricular activities in each pile. Results ResultsExtracurricular activitiesGrade Point Average YesNo3. 0 or higher2. 9 or lower Married 28173213 Divorced/separated7887 †¢We found that 62. 2% of adolescents with married parents were involved in healthy extracurricular activities, while 53. 3% of students with divorced or separated parents were not. †¢71. 1% of students with married parents maintain a grade point average of 3. 0 or above. 46. 6% of students with divorced or separated parents obtained a lesser GPA of 2. 9 or lower. Discussion Our data didn’t turn out to be as drastically contrasting as we expected, in fact some of our statistics argued against our hypothesis. This has a lot to do with the place that the experiment was performed. Because we are in Utah, we experienced a large sample bias considering Utah (especially Cache Valley) is a highly religious community. If we conducted the same experiment at a different high school or somewhere outside of Utah, our results would be dissimilar. This being because Mountain Crest is a predominantly high achieving school in the area of academics, and also because most students at MC come from LDS families with strong belief in family unity. This resulted in a low number of students from broken families to survey, and a high number of students from functional families to survey. If we were to do this experiment again, we would survey an even number of students with divorced parents and students with married parents, so our results would be more accurate. We might also consider surveying students from other schools to get a broader variety of students. We believe that the reason kids from broken families aren’t as successful in academic activities is because they don’t have the same amount of support from home that other students with happily married parents have. We assume that the students may have more stress from heightened contention at home. Students coming from functional families are more capable of maintaining a higher GPA because of higher support levels from family members. They also have less stress because they don’t have the worry of dealing with issue of balancing separated parents and siblings.

Marketing Project (Jeans) Essay

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Paige Premium Denim is one of the world’s leading denim brands with its signature â€Å"perfect fit† and unmatched variety of styles that flatter the body. Paige Premium Denim was founded in 2004 by fit model Paige Adams-Geller on the principle that you don’t have to be a size zero to look great and feel great in a pair of designer jeans. Committed to using the highest quality materials, the denim line infuses considered, unexpected details into each and every design, combines Southern California casual with pure sophistication. Since the fit model known for having â€Å"the best butt in the business†, soon became known as the designer who makes â€Å"the best butt jeans† in the business. She used her expertise and unique values to create the â€Å"perfect fitting jean.†1 Promising its clientele style they can make all their own, the brand has become a favorite among fashion influencers due to its impeccable styling, exceptional fit and fabric innovation. In constant development, Paige Denim has successfully created an inclusive, complete, and quality label; Paige products are sold in select, high-end retailers and specialty boutiques throughout the world.2 This report will analyze how Paige Premium Denim uses the 4 P’s of product, price, place, and promotion to deliver a quality product to its target market. Target Market The target market can be classified as simply as celebrity style. Geographic Segmentation: Paige Premium Denim brand of jeans was created in the US and is focused around women who are located in California and surrounding area, and where jean trends are highly changing. The market numbers for this area are quite high as the climate doesn’t change with the seasons. With innovated technology and the ability to ship products worldwide, Paige Premium Denim is sold in 80 countries where jeans trends are highly sought after, such as London, England, and Pairs, France. Demographic Segmentation: Paige Premium Denim targets women between the ages of 18-50 with a healthy lifestyle and an above average income. Generally these women have purchasing power with dominate careers and driven oriented in the fashion industry. Women who are still highly involved in family values are a prime target for this brand of jeans, especially North American women who value their health, career and family. Psychographic Segmentation: Paige Premium Denim is an advocate of healthy and positive self-image. It focuses on a status that allows women to feel like a celebrity. Trend setting actresses such as: Blake Lively, Katie Holmes, and Sarah Jessica Parker wear Paige jeans and allows for them to set trends to their followers.3 This product gives women the opportunity to wear celebrity clothing and in turn have a sense of status. Benefit Segmentation: The idea of making such a high quality product for women gives them the sense of purpose; and that by purchasing Paige jeans the benefit they will receive is a sense of being a part of a celebrity trend setting genre. It gives a sense a power and confidence that each pair of jeans is designed with the customer in mind and fulfills that sense of purpose by feeling great once wearing them.4 Usage-Rate Segmentation: Jeans are a top article of clothing found in any person’s wardrobe not just women; however when it comes to clothing the market adapts to women’s needs in terms of usage and purchasing power. Once a new product is developed by Paige Premium Denim; loyal brand followers tend to purchase the product as soon as it comes available.† It is delivered as a ‘must have’ new item† says Marc, the owner of â€Å"The Art of Denim† clothing store in downtown Guelph, Ontario. Product Strategy As the first woman to break into the male-dominated denim world, the â€Å"jeanius† of fit-model-turned-designer; the brand founder, Paige Adams-Geller, designs Paige Denim with her uniquely feminine perspective and fifteen years of â€Å"behind the seams† experience to create a denim brand that is designed by a woman that focused specifically on the desires of a woman. The product promises that every style delivers a drop dead fit and each style is designed with the customer in mind. Fabrics used include: denim/ twill, fencel/ knit, corduroy, and coated leather.5 Paige uses only the finest fabrics and materials while each design is infused with thought and considered elements of women’s bodies. Styles include: ultra-skinny fit, skinny, straight leg, cropped, boot cut, flare, wide leg, curvy, petite, extra-long, and maternity fits. Paige jean’s goal is for women to have a tighter thigh area to create the look of a lifted backside, and while it is effective; it isn’t always the most comfortable. Paige Denim is committed to using the highest quality materials and infusing, unexpected details into each and every design. For example, in the skinny leg style the back right pocket has a tiny pocket sewn into it that a credit card or ID card fits perfectly into. This allows women who are tend not to carry hand bags the opportunity to have a pair of jeans that will fit their needs. Colour is never just navy blue for Paige denim. It is, however; washed in dark, medium, and light denim, as well as non-traditional colours for denim such as red. Paige is from Alaska, and during her time when she visits, that when her inspiration takes place.6 The culture brings in different colours to experiment with as well as texture and materials. Size range from 23 to 34 waistband size or some labels can be read as, XS (extra small), S (small), M (medium), and L (large). Paige jeans do come in a more extended range of sizes, such as its maternity fits with elastic waistbands. The length of each pair is also important; they range from 30 to 34 in length or from petite to tall. 7 Labelling is another important aspect for Paige jeans as they have re-launched its design to fit the growth of the company, as shown in Figure 1. Labelling is the one element of those changes. Here is the labels and tags in comparison to the original ones. Old Paige Tag New Paige Tag

Jessica Swindle Essay

In this time and age, a lot of people are struggling for their lives. We can never deny the fact how tough it is to deal with the circumstances that come along our way and it is imperative for us to weigh our capabilities in order to make our best and live our lives to the best of our abilities. As Merwin epitomized his thoughts on his â€Å"Eskimo Poem†, he freely exemplify the perception of what it entails to live in this world and at the same time possess the grip to what is in store for you in the future. At the beginning of the poem, the tender emotion shoot in as one wonders what life could bring each and every single of his life. But along the way, to some extent there is bit scepticism as the challenges hinders the happiness of a person. â€Å"But I am leaving the shore in my skin boat, it came to me that I was in danger and now the small troubles look big† (Mervin), during the moments that we feel we are alone with our predicament and that we can no longer bear the confrontation of life we tend to look for another way wherein we can build our lives again. Indeed, as the poem utters â€Å"and the ache that comes from the things I have to do every day big† (Merwin), it only means one thing, and that is to find alternative measures to make our lives better. In this regard, it was thoroughly elucidated how trials expands and it is only our hope that can uplift our spirit. â€Å"But only one thing is great only one, this in the hut by the path to see the day coming out of its mother and the light filling the world† (Merwin), positively, at the end of the day there is always a light that will shed our fears and will shelter our minds and hearts. Like the poem, we should find contentment with our lives even if it will take to some place and to different level of maturity. Acceptance of dare could be a proliferating factor in order for us to be great in the paths that we are taking.