Texas Politics Essays - Bankruptcy In The United States,

Texas Politics Each one of us, as a citizen of Texas and of the United States of America, has certain responsibilities and tasks to accomplish. Included in such tasks are the roles we are given and those we choose: the role of a father, an aunt, a doctor, or an elected official. In the role of an elected official, one has minimum standards of conduct and performance to adhere to--they are the basis of what one is judged by when it comes down to election time. Texas State Representative One of the Texas state representatives is Roberto Gutierrez. Gutierrez represents district 41 in the state of Texas. This district consists of the southwest portion of Hidalgo count, representing such cities as McAllen, Mission, and Pharr. Gutierrez has been a state representative since January, 1991. He was born and raised in Mission, Texas and has spent a large part of his life living in the Rio Grande Valley. He attended the University of Texas Pan-American. Before being elected as a state representative, Gutierrez was a secondary school teacher. As a state representative, Gutierrez serves on the Committees of Apportionment, Local and Consent Calenders, and Public Safety. U.S. Representative One of the United States representatives from Texas is Ruben Hinojosa. Hinojosa, representative for Texas'15th district, has been in office since 1996. He was born in Edcouch, Texas and lives in Mercedes, TX. Hinojosa received his BBA from the University of Texas at Austin and his MBA from the University of Texas-- Pan American. Before being elected as a representative, he worked at the Chief Financial Officer of H&H Foods, his family's business. As United States Representative from Texas, Hinojosa has served on the Small Business Committee, and the Committee for Education and the Workforce. "Representative" A representative is a person elected by a group of people, such as a city or county, so that they (the group) will have a voice in the decisions that are going to be made that effect them. To be a representative, one must be close to their constituents. It helps to be from the same town, city, or state of the people that they hope to represent. A effective representative should have extensive experience within their district. This means living and working in the area that they represent. By doing this, they have a first hand knowledge of the area, the people, and the culture. This insures that the people's needs will not be ignored. Are they qualified? Roberto Gutierrez Roberto Gutierrez was born and raised in Mission, Texas, and he has spent his life in the Rio Grande Valley, the area that he represents. He is an effective representative because he is familiar with the people and their concerns. Gutierrez invests his time with civic entities such as Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. He has been a member of the McAllen Palm City Lions Club, the McAllen and Pharr Rotary Clubs, Parent Teacher Association, and he also served as former vice-president of the governing board of the McAllen Medical Center. His efforts as a member of these organizations has brought Gutierrez widespread recognition. He has been recognized by various public and private organizations, including The Friends of the UT-Pan American Library, and Amigos de Bomberos. Ruben Hinojosa Ruben Hinojosa was born in Edcouch, Texas. He also attended public school in the Rio Grande Valley. As an executive and owner of H&H Foods, Hinojosa has helped to provide his community over 300 jobs. He has served on the Board of Directors for the South Texas High School for Health Professions and was very instrumental in the success of that school. Hinojosa is an effective representative because he has been the Rio Grande Valley. He has grown up there and has been surrounded by its' people. Since being elected, Hinojosa has helped with the creation of The Women's Empowerment Business Center at UTPA. This center is accessible to all women who wish to start up a business and want information on different types of businesses, assistance with a business plan, or help with identifying financing alternatives. He has also helped increase access to capital and loans to small businesses as well as lessening the tax and regulatory burdens these businesses encounter. He has been a strong force in business growth promotion in the economically depressed areas of the Rio Grande Valley. Being involved in such programs has brought Hinojosa recognition from notable government agencies. In 1999, he was selected as the Minority Business Advocate of the Year by the Minority Business Development Agency and the Small Business

Dynasties of China essays

Dynasties of China essays Religion and philosophy embraced in 550 BC and continued to play an important role in China. Confucianism is the accepted philosophy of China 2000 years later. Daoism, Naturalism, and Buddhism are part of Chinese beliefs and customs. These philosophies are at the very core of Chinese life and society. During the Qin Dynasty China was ruled by Legalism. The Great Wall was built by the forced obedience of all the people for the emperor. The people of China were treated poorly and the advancement was not achieved do to the philosophy inacted. However, during the Han Dynasty they thought the government should be to serve the people and legalism lost support and the Han Dynasty replaced it with Confucianism. There were dramatic cultural and scientific advances during the Han Dynasty. Poetry was written and the first Chinese dictionary was compiled. Chinese history was written and modeled for the late historians. Inventions of the sundials, water clocks, water mills and the first seismograph advanced the society. Paper was invented during this dynasty. Steel was being a produced as well as farming tools . Irrigation systems were developed and new inventions of spinning, weaving, and dying silk were invented. After the collapse of the Han Dynasty came 359 years of disunity. Many people migrated to the south and contributed to its development. As a result there were major improvements in the cultivation of rice. Buddhism was introduced to China from merchants and missionaries. Buddhism was a calming force during this period of upheaval. Buddhism inspired many artists to create works of art. The Sui Dynasty followed this period of difficulty. Wendi united the North and the South of China into the empire. He stated the great building program. An entire empire was rebuilt and became a model for other cities. Canal systems were built that linked rice region that provided food during famine. However, the Sui Dy ...

Infection Control Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Infection Control - Research Paper Example The essay will explore some of the infections, their related causes and how as a medical facility can arrive at prevention of the infection. Infection control has been a topic in discussion for many years. It has been identified that infants and patients under surgical procedures suffers the highest risk of infection hence making surgical wound infection the second largest category of hospital-related infections. For example, Craven et al. found out that in most of Surgical Intensive Care Units (SICU), urinary tract infection, bacteremias and wound infections were major infections around patients. This is due to the antibiotics therapies given to patients, endotrachea tubes, arterial lines, central venous lines, and catheters they are attached to while still in SICU. Many experiments have been conducted to establish causes and magnitude of infections in hospital related infections. The studies have estimated that a quarter of the hospital-acquired infections involve ICU patients and about three quarters are related to microorganisms resistant to antibiotics. Depending on the type of infection, their frequencies, which are directly related to the effects it has on patients, differ. This difference is highly associated with mortality rate, cost of treatment and danger posed on the practitioners and the patients. Burke (2003) found that, urinary tract infections have the highest frequency of occurrence, lowest mortality rate, and lowest cost. This is followed by surgical sites infections in frequencies but third in cost, and finally pneumonia and bloodstream infections take the lowest frequency with the highest cost and mortality rate. However, frequencies and the magnitude of effect on mortality and cost keep on changing with time. For example, different studies have proved that urinary tract and surgical- site infections have been on decline. This could be due to increased surveillance and reduced stay in hospitals for the patients. Such studies gives a reason as to why the topic on infection control should be looked at more seriously if the world is to acquire minimum hospital-acquired infections. According to Burke (2003), infection control is a significant part of ensuring patient safety. This is because it ensures surveillance in the programs that are directly linked with the infections. The type of surveillance involved has been known to help medical practitioners as well as the patients to be aware of some of the dangers around them. This is attainable when policies on best practice in the medical field are changed to meet the demands of each exposure to infections. For example, policies like patient isolation to prevent nosocomial transmission need to be put in place if a minimum level of hospital related infections would be arrived at. Educating and protecting nurses, preventing transmissions of blood borne disease-causing organisms, ensuring the highest level of hand hygiene and providing practitioners with protective equipments also serves as part of the protective practices. It is important to look at th e environment around which the patients receive treatment; they should be free from any infections through regular disinfection of patient care items. Empirical Review Among the infections that have been widely discovered, bloodstream infections (BSI), urinary tract infections (UTI), surgical wound infection (SWI), nosocomial pneumonia, nosocomial bacteremia and surgical sites infection (SSI) take the lead in the order mentioned. They all occur in different frequencies and symptoms though there are some that occur without observable symptoms. For

Siemens Social Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Siemens Social Performance - Essay Example Siemens’ network has involved in different social and environmental aspects and the always act as a rich asset to different stakeholders in the business. They are socially committed and always remain the frontrunner in keeping the society safe and the environment hazard free. This international firm has put their investments in the ecological shelter and the industrial protection to preserve their potential feasibility and the extensive period of prosperity. They have also developed their pioneering machinery and tools for the management of wastewater to relieve the public of the problems associated with scarcity of water. â€Å"Siemens has developed alternating-current drive systems for the heavy trucks that transport the material at opencast mines. They ensure that diesel engines run within their optimal speed ranges. Compared with conventional diesel drives, these diesel-electric drive systems not only have a lower environmental impact, but also save fuel and cut operating costs. Gearless drive systems (GD) also help to reduce energy consumption.† (Environmental Issues and Social Aspects Make New Investments Necessary in Mining Area 2010). Currently, they have new programs like Siemens Generation21 and Siemens Caring Hands intended to serve the community in different ways. Siemens Generation21 is targeted for the education of youth all over the world to provide them a bright future. With these, they are helping the students with learning materials, research funds, and other training programs. Siemens have developed the Caring Hands program to help the public when they require it most through the contributions and social supports. â€Å"It covers a wide scope of activities including volunteering, disaster relief, social sponsorship, and supporting or donating funds to good causes.† (Corporate Social Responsibility

Case of Genie Essay Example for Free

Case of Genie Essay 1.Describe the case of Genie. What happened to her? Why is this case important? Genie was left in extreme isolation. She was kept in a back bedroom,tied to a toilet. She received little stimulation of any kind and was fed baby food.She was given no visual or other sensory stimulation.This case shows that infancy and childhood are critical times for brain development. 2.What have scientists learned about the way that the brain develops in children? Describe how this development happens. They have learned that there are critical periods for brain development. They discovered that parents fill a vital role in the development of their child’s brain through their interactions with the child.Parents and caregivers must provide proper stimulation to help develop connections. Scientists believed that childrens brains were predetermined to a great extent in terms of how they would develop. However, scientists now know that an infants experiences help determine how connections are formed and which pathways will develop in the brain. Thus, rather than being predetermined, an infants brain is a work in progress, influenced not only by his or her genetics, but also the surrounding world. 3.Describe how speech generating devices work. Explain the importance of augmentive communication. Speech generating devices are electronic devices that help individuals communicate verbally. Augmentive communication is important because it helps individuals produce or comprehend written or spoken language.These communication devices can be important tools to help children with speech difficulties communicate with parents, teachers, friends, and others in their lives Critical Thinking Questions 1.What do scientists mean when they say that there are critical periods for brain development? Why are these periods important? When scientist say that there are critical periods for brain development they  mean that if a child misses that period theyll be noticeably different from others in the same age group. These periods are important because they’ll need them all throughout life.

The 1886 Mount Tarawera Eruption :: volcano, Mount Tarawera

In this essay I will tell you about the 1886 Tarawera Eruption. More specifically I will tell you about the effects the 1886 eruption had on the natural environment and ton the local communities of the region. 10th of June 1886, soon after midnight. Mt Tarawera light up like fireworks. BOOM! Molten rock came flying out of the crater, with a cloud of ash rising 9.5km into the sky. People as far as Blenheim could hear the thunder like noises but had no idea what it could be. Although the people of Rotorua knew exactly what was happening Mount Tarawera was erupting! The Mt. Tarawera eruption was the largest eruption in New Zealand for 800 years. Before the eruption, many people claimed to see a ghostly canoe on Lake Rotomahana. Maori say it was warning them that death is coming. The lake temperatures were also changing as well as more waves. Sadly nobody linked those back to Mt. Tarawera. The eruption caused the land to dramatically change. In my mind I think the biggest loss would have to be the pink and white terraces. The loss of pink and white terraces was a huge blow to New Zealand's tourist industry. People around the world came to bathe in these marvels which covered a 3 ha (hectares) area and descending 30 metres, they were massive. The pink and white terraces were about to be named one of the seven wonders of the world. No tourists would want to come and see the ash over the terraces. Millions of dollars lost. After the eruption, the region of Tarawera was covered by infertile ash. The eruption layered the volcanic ash which is very poor in nutrients. This meant that the people could no longer grow their food or graze animals. Maori used to call the central North Island â€Å"Kaingaora† Meaning Lean and hungry land. The native bushes and scrub land close to Tarawera's eruption was burnt and a lot of vegetation have never recovered. This resulted in another source of food and building materials was destroyed, making it an even harder area to live in. For one village, Te Wairoa, was covered in ash. This meant that the people had to move and start a new village and life. Around Tarawera the lakes and rivers became heavily polluted with ash.

First Amendment to the United States constitution Essay

Do videogames really need to be censored by the United States’ Government? Over the past several years there has been a controversial court case under discussion to censor videogames. This case is trying to get the United States’ Government to prohibit the selling of all videogames that may include graphic violence, virtual sex, violent and gory scenes, partial or full nudity, portrayal of criminal behavior or other provocative and objectionable material (Mears, Para 1). There are numerous arguments why videogames should or should not be censored. Videogames should not be censored because parents should show responsibility in raising their children, it is unconstitutional, videogame companies take enough steps to already censor their products already, and censorship would impact the videogame industry tremendously. During the past years there has been the first ever videogame court case called Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association, trying to pass a law against selling or renting violent games to minors (Scholssman, Para 1). This case has been going on for several years and has recently escalated all the way to the Supreme Court. The morning of November 2, 2010, the United States Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments for this case. During the oral arguments; both sides gave their reasons of why they thought the bill should be approved or thrown out. During the oral arguments of the Californian Representative; Justice Scalia brought up the point that even Grimm’s Fairy Tales, a series of German household and children fairy tales, are violent and could these be excluded by the law. This brought up instant argument weather or not could this be broadened to just video games or all sources of entertainment that could be considered violent that minors have access to (Attack of the Show, 2010). This case goes all the way back six years to 2004, with the Grand Theft Auto San Andreas: Hot Coffee scandal where players could download a mod that allowed characters to have sex with each other. This case could result in videogames being classified in the same way as extreme pornographic material. Another game that is used to support the court case it Postal 2. This game is a horrible example to represent the videogaming industry, because of the fact this it is arguably the most violent and intense videogame. Postal 2 is a first person shooter released in 2003, which brought up an enormous amount of controversy. Mears says, â€Å"Postal 2 features the adventures of the ‘Postal Dude,’†¦must confront everyday tasks. But how he handles these errands—with the power to behead girls, shoot police and urinate on victims† (Para 1). Due to the amount of graphic violence in the gameplay Postal 2 has been banned in several countries. The Californian State Senator Leeland Yee targeted the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) for not putting an adult only rating on the game. Yee’s comment on the scandal brought back up the controversial topic of censoring certain videogames. Yee introduced a bill that will criminalize the sale of â€Å"ultraviolent† videogames to minors. This bill will result in videogame retailers to keep adult title games separate from other games on the market. The bill would fine retailers as much as one-thousand dollars per-sale for any game they sold to minors. In 2004 Yee’s bill was signed by Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger into law and prohibiting selling games containing adult content to any minor. This law was fought in court and ruled unconstitutional (Ishimoto, Attack of the Show). Banning the rights to a consumer to purchase and play specific types of videogames violates the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution. This court case is still ongoing and the Supreme Court can go either way with their final decision. Adam Sessler from Attack of the Show says that the opposing argument of this bill is that this is a very broad law. In the California State Government’s own words, â€Å"ultraviolent entertainment† is what a huge piece a content that is has brought up controversy, but in this bill they are very vague of what that constitutes. They have listed â€Å"killing, maiming, torturing of human beings†, but does not specify if a game like Call of Duty or a more violent game like Postal 2 is the problem. To counteract this Yee, says that this bill is not directed towards all violent videogames, but only the â€Å"interactive ultraviolent† types of games. This brought up the point that all games are interactive in some way. As of now Yee does not think his bill will pass in the way it is written because it is not specific enough (Attack of the Show, 2010). After the oral arguments, almost all of the justices thought this bill was too vague and can be broadly applied. They said that it would put too much of a restriction on game publishers and writers with their First Amendment Rights. One of the biggest arguments against this case is that it is none of the government’s business what children can and cannot watch. From the CATO Institute Adam Thiere says, â€Å"In a free society parents should decide what their children see, hear, or play; Uncle Sam should not serve as a surrogate parent† (Para 7). Thiere is saying that parents can and should be able to decide what their children do. Thiere believes that the government already regulates enough in society and that parent should be able to choose what their children can do in their own personal time. Under the Representative Democracy form of government parents should be allowed to set their own limitations on their own children. If the government regulated how parents raised their own children, it would mirror a communist dictatorship. All children should be raised differently under their parent’s standards. Thiere says, â€Å"All ‘one-size-fits-all’ forms of content regulation are unlikely to recognize that different parents have different definitions of what constitutes acceptable for their children. The eye of the beholder makes a difference and in a free society it is the eyes (and ears) of parents that should decide what is in the best interests of their children† (Para 7). Parents should be able to mold and bring their child up the way they want. This law would put limitations on what parents can and cannot do with their very own children. Videogames are what children do for fun as a hobby. Videogame censorship is a topic serious enough to require a written law for parents to monitor their children. Even if the bill is passed, parents that do not mind their kids playing these games will just purchase the games for their children anyways. The government does not need to have laws to censor what minors buy and play since videogame producers look out for what happens to the children that play their games. Joe Sapp from the International Game Developers Association says that, â€Å"The IGDA stands behind informing parents about their media decisions and allowing them, rather than governmental bodies, to decide for their children† (Para 6). The Entertainment Software Rating Board helps parents monitor what their children play. One of the last steps that’s taken before a game is released is, â€Å"Game publishers submit responses to a detailed written ESRB questionnaire (often supplementing such responses with lyric sheets scripts, etc. ), specifying exactly what pertinent content will be in the game. Along with the written submission materials, publishers must provide a DVD which captures all pertinent content† (Para 1). Both the game producers and the ESRB take these steps to inform the public of the content of their games. After the questionnaire has been submitted, staff members from the ESRB play a version of the game and the game material and DVD are reviewed by at least three professional game raters. The ESRB says that â€Å"game raters must be adults and typically have experience with children, whether through prior work experience, education or by being parents or caregivers themselves† (Para 2). This qualification for being a game rater is so that they generally know what children at different age groups can experience under the common standards in society. After reviewing the DVD, the raters recommend a potential rating. Raters can look at similar games’ previous ratings. The raters all deliberate until they all reach an agreement. After the agreement an official rating certificate is presented to game producer to be accepted or appealed. The Appeal Board is a group of publishers, retailer, and other professionals. Once the game is completely finished it is sent to the ESRB to be reviewed again and to make sure it is given the proper rating (ESRB, Para 3). The possible ratings are: Early Childhood, Everyone, Everyone 10+, Teen, Mature, Adults Only, and? Rating Pending. The ESRB is responsible for the enforcement of the ratings. I disagree with videogames being censored because they are unconstitutional. Adam Sessler says, â€Å"As a gamer you have the right to buy and play violent videogames. They are covered by the First Amendment just like R-Rated movies, controversial books, or obscene music† (Attack of the Show). The First Amendment prohibits any law that restricts the establishment of religion, interfere the freedom of press, speech, petition, or assembly. By this law buyers can and should be able to purchase and play videogames as they please. The First Amendment not only protects spoken speech but symbolic speech as well. The only kind of speech that is not protected by the First Amendment is speech that harms another person’s reputation, obscene speech, and speech that violates criminal laws. In the Washington Post, Justice Scalia said, â€Å"I am concerned with the First Amendment which says Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, and it was always understood that freedom of speech did not include obscenity. It has never been understood that the freedom of speech did not include portrayals of violence† (2010, Para 13, 14). In this situation a videogame is considered speech that is protected by the First Amendment. The rating system, partnerships with retailers and warnings do a good enough job censoring videogames. All of the steps that the ESRB take to rate the games and give ratings should be all that is needed in censoring videogames. Just about every game retailer has a partnership with the ESRB. This partnership controls and regulates which games are sold to specific age groups. All of these partners have a policy of being 18 or older to purchase games that are rated Mature or higher. After purchasing a game that contains adult content, there are warning labels informing the gamer before the game play begins. There are several myths and theories that state violent videogames are linked with aggressive and violent youth. These theories are what brought this whole case up. This science in the case has already been up for debate. Many doctors have said there is not enough sufficient data to prove a direct correlation between aggressive videogames and making kids aggressive. Adam Thierer says that, â€Å"While the videogame industry was exploding between 1994 and 2000, juvenile violent crime arrest dropped by 44% and you adult arrests dropped by 24% according to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention†¦Further a major study on youth violence by the U. S. Surgeon General’s office in 2001 also confirmed that youth violence has declined significantly nationwide and noted that academic research had not shown any significant correlation between videogames and youth violence† (Para 4). This does not mean that there is no connection between violent children and teenagers with violent videogames because; violent people are attracted to violent things. This just means that violent videogames do not make people violent. If this bill is passed then it will tremendously affect the videogame industry. The International Game Developers Association has criticized California’s bill. Trent Nouveau quoted the IGDA by saying, â€Å"Limiting forms of expression in video games limits the expression of game creators, which violates their constitutional rights to free speech in the United States abroad as specified by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from the United Nations† (2010, Para 2). The IGDA is arguing that singling out videogame from other forms of media is unconstitutional and puts unnecessary limitations on one of the largest industries in our economy (2010, Nouveau). The Video Game Votes Network say â€Å"government regulation based on games’ content will stifle creativity, and will have a chilling effect on game publishers who may feel the need to dilute content due to the threat of government action and fines† (2010, Para 2). These regulations will put vast limitations on videogame producers that producers of other forms of media don’t face. This case is still going on and under dispute in the Supreme Court. The fact that Entertainment Merchants Association has won all of the cases in the lower courts gives them a huge advantage in the Supreme Court ruling. They are expecting to hear a ruling in late February or early March of 2011, but in June at the latest because that is when this term of the Supreme Court ends. When a ruling is made there will be no warnings and once the ruling is dropped everyone will have to go from there.