Oil Spill Effect on Environment and Community Essay

Oil Spill Effect on Environment and Community - Essay Example This research paper examines one environmental factor that can have an adverse effect not only on the environment but also on the entire community. Talking about oil spills, it causes long term damages along with a lot of small damages which affect the entire environment. Some damages can also last for years. Oil which is spilled by tankers with damaged oil rigs and pipelines ends up in coating everything which is touched by it causing a bad affect on the entire ecosystem. Oil slick which is taken out of the large oil spills and is basically touching the beach along with the coats of oil and the entire sand and rocky area is touched by it as well. There are grasses and plants which will then absorb the oil marshes which are along the coastal area along with forests and wetlands are damaged and it will cause a lot of bad effects on the wildlife and the entire environment. When oil is not floating on the water surface and is basically sinking inside the marine environment the delicate ecosystem which is based underground is badly affected. Many fishes and also smaller organisms which are a very important part of the food chain are contaminated and are badly affected. Oil Spills end up in damaging the marshlands, marine ecosystem along with the entire beach area. There are many efforts and also remedies which end up in taking care of the environment however in spite of that many concerns and cases still exist. Sea mammals have to face a lot of problems and many of them end up in creating problems for the next generations.... oil is spilled near them and it can have deadly results for the birds, their feather are covered with oil which makes flying extremely difficult for them. The insulation process along with the water proofing is also affected badly and it ends up in giving rise to the hypothermia along with overheating. Oil is basically affected by the birds in the race of protecting their feathers which then badly damage the internal organs of the birds and it is also sometimes fatal for the birds (Effects of Oil Spills, 2012). Oil Spills are not only causing dreadful affects on the fish, forest, marine life and birds but it is also killing marine mammals badly. Whales, seals, sea otters and dolphins are few mammals which are badly affected. Holes of these animals are sometimes blown which ends up in making the breathing process extremely difficult for them along with badly damaging the communication process of these mammals. Hypothermia is caused to these mammals if their feather are fully covered a nd coated by the oil spill. Food supply of these mammals is badly affected and due to this oil spill the mammals can die and they also face extremely bad affects. The effects are not just for that particular time but they last for a longer time which causes death of many sea mammals later on as well (National Public Radio : News & Analysis, 2011) The growth rate of these mammals is affected badly along with some other smaller species being damaged badly as well. Eggs of the fish and larvae are exposed to the oil which ends up in increasing the death rate of the fishes which are an important part of the marine life. These fishes and the eggs which are covered with the oil die and even if some survive at that time their death is certain and the damaged fishes and the marine animals cannot be

When it comes to building relationships Essay Example for Free

When it comes to building relationships Essay When it comes to building relationships, it could sometimes be more of a task than a way of life for many and as a result many individuals miss great opportunities by not being able to connect with the people around them. While it’s almost natural for some to connect with others within a short space of time, it takes others much longer time to establish such and same connections. So is it then a talent or gift? I won’t exactly disagree but whichever the case might be, becoming a people person can be learned and mastered when certain principles are practised over time. So, I am going to share some important points with you right now. Things you can do to connect and relate with people more than ever. If you become consistent with these practices, you will find out that you will become a sort of person others want to be around. Here are the points: 1. Remember People’s Name One of the first things you need to master is to be able to remember the names of people you have met before. I know this can be sometimes overlooked but very important. Imagine this, how would you feel if someone you’ve met few times on different occasions tries to introduce you to a friend of hers without remembering your name? Immediately, the message sent to the third person is the idea that either you both don’t have an established relationship or that she knows little or nothing about you for her not to have remembered your name. Again, it is somehow embarrassing when this happens. It also shows that you haven’t placed any value on such relationships. So to avoid such instances, start remembering people’s name. Here are some of the ways you can remember people’s name: Identify or match people’s name to things, events, places, TV programs or other people’s name you can not forget. For example, I met a lady and she introduced herself to me as Hannah; knowing fully well I am going to forget the name, I immediately link the name to Hannah Montana, which is a name from the TV show. Make sure you don’t leave the person without immediately linking their name to something or someone you can not forget. If you leave it till later, you might find out that you can’t remember the name anymore and it will be a shame if you have to ask her name the next time you see her. It means one thing – you’ve assumed her to be just one of the crowd (people around you with no significance). 2. Touch Lives This is another key element of being a people person. I have often spoken at various engagements and attended many others as a guest and as a result established new relationships every now and then but I tend to forget how and where I established those relationships. I eventually found out that many people really want to be part of you especially when you add value to their lives and as a result tend to never forget the first time they met with you i. e. the first seminar they heard you speak, the conference you both attended or even the holiday they first saw you. All these are the reasons you need to touch people individually and not treat them as members of a big crowd. Try if possible to create time to mingle with people wherever you go and leave a bit of you and I mean in a positive way. Leave an indelible landmark by which you can be remembered. Put smiles on people’s faces. Help when and if possible. A simple handshake makes a lot of difference to people and makes them want to be around you the next time. You are basically sowing seed which many will remember you for. All these things can be learned without even going to school. Just keep at these points and eventually becomes a second nature. 3. Be Compassionate You must at all time show that you care when dealing with people. I don’t mean putting on a face that you care when you really don’t but with all sincerity offer the best help you can knowing fully well within you that couldn’t have done any better than that. The people around you needs you and waiting for the best you’ve got to offer. Although it is almost certain that you cannot please everyone and by no means am I suggesting that. All you need to do is to show that you care in whatever measure you can. Be careful at this point not to be taken advantage of by anyone during the course of showing how much you care. Just play your own role by contributing the little you can. To be compassionate is not to act without discretion or wisdom. Always be compassionate with your senses intact! I have fallen victim of this many times thinking I must burn myself out for someone which have often times been abused. So, be warned. Always try to find the balance between being compassionate and being taken for granted. When people see you as someone who acts on compassionate grounds, you will by no doubt have attracted hundreds or thousands if not millions of people to yourself without actually asking. It has always worked; it’s still working and will forever continue to work. It’s the law of attraction which can never be changed. 4. Be a Good Listener I cannot over-emphasize this particular point. This is true for everyone regardless of who you are, your occupation, age, sex, and race. Many people are the exact opposite of this attribute – a good talker! I have seen many people occupy the seat of a counsellor but doing most of the talking. So, â€Å"what happens to the person being counselled? † is always my next question. For people to see you as someone they can relate with, you must show to them that you are ready to listen to their issues, opinions and challenges. How are you supposed to know how to be of help if you do not give room for talking at the first instance? I get many calls from a lot of friends and teenagers wanting to pour out their minds to me. This happens almost all the time; but guess what, I sometimes don’t even have answers to their issues but I patiently listen attentively to their challenges. I give them the listening ears. The same approach you must take to make people flock or better still be your follower. You need to understand that they have only come to you because they think or believe that you might or will be of help. So, if all you do is do all the talking for them, then you have shattered their hopes and that will probably be the last time you hear from them. Whether you have solution(s) to their problems or not, always try to listen carefully. This character must always be exhibited if you are a leader or want to be a good leader in any sphere of life. How can you achieve this quality, just listen! No other way. The only time you’ve got to contribute on the matter is when the individual has finished talking and you have actually confirmed with the person by asking before you make your contributions. The only exception to this rule is when you do not understand or feel the person’s story is not coherent or you need clarity on a specific issue or statement, then you can pause the individual quickly and politely ask for clarity before the story continues. Always work hard on this quality as it is a great virtue to possess. 5. Increase Your Knowledge Base What sets people apart from others is what they know. So, in same fashion, you are only going to be distinguished based on what you know and by what you are able to offer. Until your knowledge vessel becomes full, people won’t see so much need to be around you. What makes an individual a specialist is the level of knowledge he possess. You must be able to increase your level of knowledge about certain subjects within your field. What is going to make you indispensable and a highly sought after person is the level of knowledge you have acquired. Until you are seen as a solution carrier, you cannot lead people. One of the best ways to increase knowledge is through learning and this can be achieved by personally working on you. Subscribe to various magazines, blogs, and newsletters and buy books in your field of interest. Keep on reading, keep on accumulating knowledge. A lot of people have acquired a wealth of knowledge on the subjects you want to know. Read different books and keep asking questions. Answers are only given to those who want to know by asking questions. It doesn’t matter how foolish they might seem, you will be better informed at the end than not asking. Don’t let ignorance deny you of being the kind of person you intend to be. Also, attend seminars, lectures and conferences whenever the opportunity arises. Strive to be the best and aim to have first hand information about topics in your world of interest. 6. Always See the Best in People Until you start to see and address people as the most important person you’ve ever met, you might not be getting the opportunity to establishing a relationship with them. Try at all times to relate with others not based on their negative personality or character but always find out what makes them stand above the rest and relate with them from such perspective. What you get is that they immediately buy into your kind of person. For example, I know it will be so difficult for someone to relate with me by looking for my faults, telling me why someone else is better than me. That won’t be possible. The right approach to relate with people is to raise them up to the top, highlighting what makes them a great person to be with. It is from this perspective you put across your message; and you can even at this juncture show them their shortcomings and possible solutions without any conflict. All these can be achieved by appreciating people over the tiniest little things they do, be a source of encouragement or by even making them feel greater than who they really are. By this approach, they will begin to rise to new challenges by taking bold steps. They will in turn sacrifice their time and resources for you. It’s all about putting on your spectacles to see what others aren’t seeing in people. 7. Decide To Understand People If you don’t take it upon yourself as a responsibility to understand who people are and what makes them, you might find yourselves having the wrong impression of people. You should be able to find out why a person acts in a certain way or the reason behind their reaction over a particular issue. Until you start to dive into others’ shoes, you might not be able to explain the ramifications behind their decisions. It takes a lot to actually understand people. To achieve this, here are some of the qualities you need to possess love, patience and perseverance. Love people unconditionally, learn to live at peace with all men and always give room for their mistakes. There are tendencies that people will learn from their mistakes when they realize them, so patience is a key quality when it comes to understanding people. The moment you master these principles and begin to live by them, you are set to experience change in your relationships with people whether in your marriage, school, home, place of work, church and society etc.

International Legal Position on Software Patents

International Legal Position on Software Patents Title ‘Discuss critically the current international legal position on the patentability of software and business method inventions’. Introduction As a general proposition, the speed at which a true global economy has been assembled over the past 20 years has been the dominant element in the re-ordering of international legal regulations concerning software and business method patents. The central premise of this paper is the that ability to regulate by patent the speed of scientific progress is akin to attempting to score a direct hit on a moving target. This paper will examine the relationship between global economic forces and patentability, first from the United Kingdom perspective as an example of a national intellectual property protection system. The analysis will then be directed to the European Patent Convention and its regulatory framework, with a comparison drawn between the EPC and other regimes. The supranational patent enforcement structure provided by way of the World Trade Organisation is the final international aspect of the review. These selected legal frameworks are not intended as an exhaustive summary of international patent law; they establish a useful basis against which the present question may be considered from commercial and public perspectives. As the following review illustrates, international software and business method patent law is a mixture of legal theory, economic factors, and philosophical preferences regarding the control of ideas and related technologies. The international intellectual property legal order is not so much a finite system as it is a still-evolving organism where certainty of result and clarity of legal purpose are not settled. Patents, software and business method inventions generally The term ‘business method invention’ is a very broad and circumstance driven notion; it is often defined by what it is not, as opposed to what in fact it represents. As a general rule, business method inventions are any design that encompasses economic activities such as buying and selling items, marketing techniques, financial schemes (e.g. pension plan organisations) and gaming strategies.[1] In the European Union, the historical distinction between patentable and non-patentable inventions was the presence of a technical component in the design or system; business method inventions were therefore inherently non-patentable concepts in Europe.[2] Software is a similarly broad term that is capable of bearing several meanings. For the purpose of the present review, system software is any software required to support the production or execution of application programs but which is not specific to any particular application[3]. Examples of system software would include a computer operating system[4]. By contrast, application programs include Microsoft Excel © or computer assisted drawing (CAD) programmes; this software includes source code written by humans and executable machine code[5]. Software does not usually include the data processed by programs unless the desired format depends on the use of computers for its presentation, such as multimedia[6]. Patents and intellectual property protection turns on two fundamental principles, the territorial nature of the protection, and the extent to which a patent holder may permit others through licenses or other agreements to use the protected property. Given that patent law is not harmonised to any significant degree, patent protection is at best a variable and imperfect tool to promote rights associated with software and business inventions. [7] As this analysis progresses, it is important to distinguish between the characteristics of patents and those of copyright. Copyright is the protection afforded to intellectual property regarding how an idea may be expressed or controlled. While copyright does not safeguard the idea itself, software copyright usually extends its coverage to the reproduction of software source codes. Patents are the legal protection granted by a country over an invention, its underlying methodology, or its function. Patent law provides more comprehension protection that that available by copyright, licensing, or other any other safeguards that may be created by a contract over intellectual property. A patent is commercially desirable because as it establishes a legal monopoly over the protected property for the patent holder, adding value to the protected concept. The American influence A critical discussion of international software patent law that does not touch upon the American legal position is akin to not mentioning the proverbial white elephant seated at one’s dinner table. The United States Patent Office historically has been the busiest such institution in the world; American based companies initiate more patents world wide that any other business sector. The United States Supreme Court was the first to legalise software patents[8] and the first major jurisdiction to give explicit recognition to the concept of the business method patent.[9] American influence has been important but not determinative in these areas; however, the American test for a business method invention patent as whether the subject concept leads to a ‘useful, concrete and tangible result’ is very influential.[10] The American approach may be borne in mind as the UK, European, and World Trade Organisation positions are considered. UK patents Reflecting the biases of the first English patent law[11], there was a long held reluctance in the UK to permit computer innovation patents. In the 1970s, as computer technology experienced incredible global growth, UK patents were restricted to industrial innovations, machinery, manufactured products, and tangible items. Patents were not granted in the UK where the subject involved the mathematical expression of a scientific truth such as an algorithm. Three recent UK patent law decisions are instructive in this regard. The most current and arguably the most important articulation of UK software patent law principles is Aerotel Ltd. v Telco Holdings Ltd.[12] The Court of Appeal considered the deficiencies of both UK and European patent legislation in light of modern global commercial developments. The Court, through Jacobs LJ stated that it had no concern for the intense current political debates concerning software patents[13], a statement that is difficult to accept at face value given the multinational nature of the case. However, the Court described the fundamental purpose for modern patent protection in clear and unambiguous language: The patent system is there to provide a research and investment incentive but it has a price. That price (what economists call transaction costs) is paid in a host of ways: the costs of patenting, the impediment to competition, the compliance cost of ensuring non-infringement, the cost of uncertainty, litigation costs and so on. There is, so far as we know, no really hard empirical data showing that the liberalisation of what is patentable in the USA has resulted in a greater rate of innovation or investment in the excluded categories. Innovation in computer programs, for instance, proceeded at an immense speed for years before anyone thought of granting patents for them as such[14]. The Court held that all (emphasis added) potential UK patents should be validated by a two part test expressed in the following terms: First, determine what the inventor has contributed to the art over and above a computer operating in a new way as a matter of substance and, second, determine whether this contribution lies in excluded matter or, on the contrary, whether it consists in a technical contribution or effect.[15] Menashe Business Mercantile Ltd v. Hill [16]is an equally instructive 2002 decision of the Court of Appeal, as the reasons for judgement underscore the fluidity of modern computer based commercial applications and the difficulty to apply traditional enforcement methods, in the context of the relationship between UK and European community patent law. The plaintiff Menashe commenced an action seeking UK enforcement of a patent issued by the European Patent Office regarding his interactive gambling software. The defendant Hill claimed that as the host computer required to operate the software system was located outside of the UK, there could be no breach of the Menache patent. The Court held that in this case, jurisdiction over the patent ‘lay with the punter’[17] – where gambling activities occurred by means of UK computer access, Hill violated the patent and the UK courts could enforce the patent. The decision referenced as CFPHs Applications, 2005[18] is a useful summary of how the UK and European Patent offices approach both software patents and business inventions; the Court strikes a blow for pragmatism in its conclusion that there will likely never to be a comprehensive definition of ‘invention’.[19] Accordingly, the court suggested that difference in the approaches of the UK and European patent offices should have little effect on how patents are enforced in most cases.[20] The complexity of each of the noted cases underscores an important barrier to enforcement the current patent system serves only those who can afford to litigate a patent claim. European Patent Convention (EPC) The European Union is the second most active patent registration regime in the world. EPC Article 52(1) sets out the general rule: European patents will be granted for any inventions that include a ‘technical character’.[21] Conversely, the patentability exclusions described in Article 52(2) include traditional business methods that have no invention or technical component. However, a number of concepts that combine technical and non-technical components have been approved for European patent, including an x-ray machine with a software component[22] and other computer related devices.[23] The language of EPC Articles 52 and 53 when taken together has resulted in significant confusion with respect to the availability of software patents.[24] The articles stated that ‘as such’ computer programmes are excluded from patentability, yet as of 2005 over 40,000 software –related patents had been granted by the EPO in a host of technology fields. When coupled with differing rules enacted in each of the EU member nations, software patent laws in Europe are decidedly ambiguous.[25] Europe has been an ideological battleground pitting commercial software developers against the advocates of Open Source Software (OSS)[26] over the question of whether software should be patented at all. The OSS proponents (a world wide constituency) regard software patent laws as an inhibition to true technological progress. In July, 2005 the European Parliament rejected a legislative proposal that would have expanded the ability of software developers to obtain patent protection for their inventions. Given the size and influence of the European market, the European rejection of tighter software patents may be an indicator of a larger global trend to make software generally more accessible and conversely, less amenable to patent protection.. Since 1977, patents issued by the European Patent Office have enforceable through the patent legislation of member countries; Menashe[27] is an example. EPC Article 64 provides that the national law is the only enforcement mechanism for an alleged patent violation. It is submitted that without harmonised European enforcement, a truly effective patent system is impossible; given the importance of software development, the persistence of the present system suggests that the software industry is not entirely troubled by the patchwork European law in this regard. This European legislative deficiency mirrors those of the global software and business method patent arena. World Trade Organisation (WTO) With more than 150 member countries and a host of trade agreements and protocols that touch upon wide areas of international commerce, the WTO occupies a position of apparent importance in international software patent regulation. The foundation WTO initiative is TRIPS[28], the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, ratified January 1, 1995. TRIPS is an initiative that represents the culmination of a series of multi-lateral intellectual property agreements concluded by the WTO membership. TRIPS has been heralded as the blueprint for handling international intellectual property disputes. In light of the European developments noted above, coupled with the resounding failure of earlier WTO initiatives[29], it is exceedingly doubtful that TRIPS will become an accepted software patent legislation standard. The ability of the WTO to enforce TRIPS must also be considered in light of how modern international commercial forces are often transnational entities and not the traditional nation state.[30] No significant enforcement action has been successfully undertaken pursuant to the TRIPS protocols since its enactment. What the future holds It is submitted that the current state of international software and business method patents is a natural consequence of the speed that underlies both the function of the global economy and technological development. A coherent and enforceable international patent structure may be laudable, but the speed and inherent flexibility of innovation operating independent of any government restriction appears to have spawned a new world order where rules exist as guidelines only. As Europe and the WTO struggle to resolve the patentability of â€Å"simple† computer software applications, science is relentlessly forged ahead with biotechnical and genetic software questions[31] that will pose even more perplexing regulatory issues. Bibliography Beresford, Keith â€Å"Patenting Software under the European Patent Convention† (London: Sweet Maxwell, 2003) Boyle, James â€Å"Fencing off ideas: enclosure the disappearance of the public domain† (2002) Daedalus Vol. 131, Cahill, Lisa Sowle â€Å"Biotech Justice: Catching up with the New World Order† (2003) The Hastings Center Report Vol. 33, 1 Caulder, Isis E. â€Å"Patenting Software – The Standards in U.S., Europe, Japan and Canada† http://www.bereskinparr.com/English/publications/pdf/Patent-Six-Minute-IP.pdf (Accessed January 28, 2007) FOLDOC (Free On-Line Dictionary of Computers), Imperial College http://foldoc.org/index.cgi?query=software (Accessed January 28, 2007) Guadamusz, Andres â€Å"Open Science: Open Source Software Licenses and Scientific Research† BILETA April, 2005 Ius Mentis http://www.iusmentis.com/patents/businessmethods/epc/ (Accessed January 28, 2007) Lerner, Paul and Alexander Poltorak â€Å"Essentials of Intellectual Property† (New York: Wiley, 2002) Raymond, Eric â€Å"The New Hackers Dictionary† (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1991) World Trade Organisation / Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/trips_e.htm (accessed January 28, 2007) Table of Cases Aerotel Ltd. v Telco Holdings Ltd. [2006] EWCA Civ 1371 CFPHs Appns [2005] EWHC 1589 (Pat) Commissioner of Patents v. Harvard College [2002] SCC 77 (S.C.C.), Computer-Related Invention/Vicom, Decision T 208/84 EPO (OJ 1987, 14) Diamind v Diehr (1981) 450 U.S. 175 Koch Sterzel, Decision T 26/86 EPO (OJ 1988, 19) Menashe Business Mercantile Ltd v Hill [2002] EWCA Civ 1702 State Street Bank and Trust v Signature Financial Group (1998)149 F.3d 1368 (Fed. C. A.) Table of Statutes European Patent Convention UK Patent Rules, 1995 UK Patent Act, 1977 WTO / Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property 1 [1] Ius Mentis http://www.iusmentis.com/patents/businessmethods/epc/, 1 [2] See the European Patent Convention Art. 52, 53, infra [3] Software definition by FOLDOC, http://foldoc.org/index.cgi?query=software [4] FOLDOC, ibid [5] FOLDOC (Free On-Line Dictionary of Computers), supported by Imperial College (Department of Computing), London [6] FOLDOC, ibid [7] See Pt. 5 (EPC) and Pt. 6 (WTO), infra [8] Diamind v Diehr (1981) 450 U.S. 175 [9] State Street Bank and Trust v Signature Financial Group (1998)149 F.3d 1368 (Fed. C. A.) [10] Caulder, Isis E. â€Å"Patenting Software – The Standards in U.S., Europe, Japan and Canada†, 4, 5 [11] Statute of Monopolies, 1623 [12] [2006] EWCA Civ 1371 [13] Aerotel, supra, 7 [14] Ibid, 8 [15] Ibid, 9 [16] [2002] EWCA Civ 1702 [17] Ibid, 1707 [18] [2005] EWHC 1589 (Pat). [19] ibid [20] ibid [21] See also Rule 27, European Patent rules [22] Koch Sterzel, Decision T 26/86 EPO (OJ 1988, 19 [23] Computer-Related Invention/Vicom, Decision T 208/84 EPO (OJ 1987, 14) [24] Beresford, Keith â€Å"Patenting Software under the European Patent Convention† (London: Sweet Maxwell, 2003), c 3,4 [25] Caulder, 5 [26] The Open Source debate is one beyond the scope of this paper. See Raymond, Eric The New Hackers Dictionary (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1991); also Guadamusz, Andres ‘Open Science: Open Source Software Licenses and Scientific Research’ BILETA April, 2005 [27] (n 14) [28] World Trade Organization http://www.wto.org> [29] E.g. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade [30] E.g. Microsoft; Cahill, Lisa Sowle â€Å"Biotech Justice: Catching up with the New World Order† (2003) The Hastings Center Report Vol. 33, 1 [31] Commissioner of Patents v. Harvard College [2002] SCC 77 (S.C.C.)

Stella Ting-Tommeys Toward a Theory of Conflict and Culture Essay

Stella Ting-Tommey's "Toward a Theory of Conflict and Culture" Introduction This research report is based on the article "Toward a Theory of Conflict and Culture" taken from the book Communication, Culture, and Organizational Processes. In this article, Stella Ting-Toomey talks about culture and conflict and its relation to low- and high-context cultures. Summary Ting-Toomey starts the article by addressing conflict. Conflict is part of human nature. It stems from many things. An example of a possible conflict could stem from differences in culture. She lists several other examples of possible conflict. She breaks the article up into three sections to better understand the idea of conflict versus culture. The first section deals with defining culture and conflict. Ting-Toomey defines conflict as "a form of interpersonal or intrapersonal tension between two or more parties based on goals, needs, desires, values, beliefs, and/or attitudes"(Ting-Toomey 72). She defines culture as "a patterned system of symbols and meanings"(Ting-Toomey 72). Conflict is an important par...

A Year in the South: Four Lives in 1865 Essay

Prompt: How did the different backgrounds of John, Cornelia, Lou, and Samuel affect their abilities to adjust to the end of the war? How did the end of the war affect their daily lives? Explain, making sure to support your answer with evidence and quotes from the text. A Year in the South: Four Lives in 1865 The background of an individual allows the individual to adapt to new circumstances no matter how radical the change may be. It is very apparent that in the book, A Year in the South: Four Lives in 1865, that people whether they were black or white suffered different hardships, however their background was what enabled them to succeed or fail after the war. There were four people which this book was focused upon: Louis Hughes, who was an educated slave in the Deep South, in Tombigbee, Alabama; Cornelia McDonald, who was the wife of a Confederate soldier, and the mother of 7 children in Lexington, Virginia; Samuel Agnew, who was a priest exempted from military service due to his position in the church, in Tippah County, Mississippi, and John Robertson, who was an ex-confederate soldier looking to settle down and live a religious life accepting defeat as a Confederate soldier, in East Tennessee. Although the backgrounds of each of these individuals were different, their skills gained f rom their background is what led them to be able to adapt or fail to adapt to the end of the war. Louis Hughes was an educated slave who was taught many skills by his master whom he refers to as boss, and skills he learned from various jobs but not limited to nursing, working in the fields, and working the salt works. Louis Hughes was very highly skilled for a slave. â€Å"Nursing was only one of many skills Lou acquired in the McGehee household. He could drive a carriage, cultivate an ornamental garden, and even operate a sewing machine, not to mention serve expertly as butler and body servant.† (Ash 25) This shows how well rounded Lou was as a slave and as an individual. Lou was also of an entrepreneurial mindset and is shown when he was in the salt works, where he borrowed money from the other slaves and bought tobacco plugs to sell. Having discerned that the area could only produce salt, he was highly successful and procured a fifty dollar profit from the sales which granted attention from N.S. Brooks. Brooks then obtained five hundred plugs for Lou  to sell in which he made a huge profit from. Lou had noticed that â€Å"it was all rebel money† but was sharp enough and â€Å"bought up all the silver† he could get his hands on. (Ash 21) This lead to believe that Lou would buy something that will retain its value if the confederacy were to lose or win. That way he could keep his assets safe. As soon as the first sign of invasion was near Madam had sent for all her slaves. Lou had been sent out to the fields for the remainder of the time of the invasion was upon arrival, even though there was hardly a presence in the remote area he was in. During the time he was working in the field he remembered how his master had shown two sides of his master. On one side, his master had been seen as a benevolent and would go out and cure people. On the other hand, there was one where he was seen as temperamental and aggressive. Lou has held much resentment towards this side, and recalls a time where Boss gave him a whipping. This made Lou’s yearning for freedom even greater than it was before. Eventually in the summer, Lou and another slave named George had decided to escape, not knowing that the war had ended and they were granter freedom. The two unknowing freedmen then made their way to Memphis, mostly by foot with fear that they might be caught and sent back. The last bit, after they felt more secure was by train, Lou had purchased using his earnings from the plugs. There they were turned down by the official in charge, found that the war had ended in the Union victory and traveled back Senatobia. On their way there, with a rented wagon and two bottles of whiskey presumably bought with the silver that Lou had obtained by selling plugs, ran into two union soldiers. He bartered to have the Union soldiers go to Madam’s house to announce the confederate defeat in exchange for a whisky bottle. The union soldiers did exactly that. After doing so the freedmen and their wives along with other freedmen headed to Memphis, escorted some of the way by the same soldiers. There they made a living, or idled about enjoying their new freedom. However, Lou and his company had decided to go to Cincinnati to see if they could find Matilda’s mother which eventually they did. Lou was able adapt and succeed in almost any job he was given due to his background of working with similar jobs he had held before. Lou was able to adapt in such a way to where it is believed he was successful after the war in the terms of the new freedom he had attained. Lou was able to supersede adversity of the changing political and economic  crisis of the south after the war. Samuel Agnew was a priest in Tippah County, Mississippi. His family were avid supporters of the Confederate cause, running and hiding at the alarm of Yankee invasion. Sam was exempted from the war because he was a minister, although accosted he was a few times under the presumption that he was avoiding the draft. He had heard of the devastation that the confederate soldiers had endured, and kept a keen interest in news about the war, and the policies that the Confederacy was putting in his free time. He tried to cultivate opium and tobacco, as a hobby and to sell to make money to use to buy provisions. In times of heavy depression, and where prices kept going up and money and supply were scarce. Even though the war was over and Sam had accepted that fact he still had a strong sense of confederacy patriotism which came from his family holding a small plantation, and using slave hands to tend to it. His father, â€Å"Enoch had listed the value of his plantation as $23,500,† whic h he Union via President Johnson had declared that along with the generals and officials of the Confederacy, any citizen with more than twenty thousand dollars in assets. â€Å"That provision was clearly aimed at the planters, a class whom Johnson despised and whom he blamed for the breakup of the Union. This was something the Agnews would have to reckon with†. (Ash 145) This was one of the hardships that could not be avoided by Sam as to see that living with his father and his small plantation would be greatly affected by this. Eventually, Sam had to gather the slaves and announce that they were freedmen, however none of them left immediately, they stayed and did only the necessary work, but did not work as efficiently as they did when they were slaves. Sam dictates that the freedmen were â€Å"‘doing as they please: they go off in daylight on their own business and are not giving their master’s concerns any attention.’ As a consequence, Sam found himself taking on unaccustomed chores around the plantation: making a new rope for the well bucket, gathering and cleaning the loose bits of cotton scattered around the floor of the gin house.† (Ash 151) This shows that even though he had little practice cultivating, he was ill prepared for the jobs that he had his slaves at the time do. Sam could not adapt to the end of the war. He had no experience in the work that the slaves did thus was struggling to meet ends meet, which is also displayed in their dying livestock. Later on  he would hire the freedmen to work in the fields and pay them to do so. Disgusted at the level he was at negotiating with what used to be his family’s property. Eventually this disdain, and losing assets would leave him with no freedmen come New Year’s Day of the following year after the war. This would leave his family in ruins and unable to cope with the post war times ahead. Thus Sam Agnew was not prepared for the end of the war economically, and with the lack of skills seeing as how they were ruined with no workers or livestock that would help them with the plantation that his father had owned. Sam after having lost everything had failed to change with the ending of the war and the new policies of the United States and had suffered economically. John Robertson was a young ex-confederate soldier whom after being captured in the war and forced to surrender to get out of prison, was looking for a religious revival and to have a normal life. He planned to become a minister as he professed to Tennie, and â€Å"John was an old hand† at raising â€Å"wheat during the years John was growing up in Greene County.† (Ash 172) Showing he had some skills to go upon and would have self-sufficiency. Even though he had surrendered and allowed to go back home he remains bitter and still harbors hate towards the union after the confederate loss. As soon as the Unionist established dominance in East Tennessee, he realized that he hated the native unionist more than the Unionist that came from other states. This is mainly due to the fact that he was a Confederate from Tennessee and saw the native unionists as traitors. This played a giant role in making his daily life really difficult especially in the church due to governor Brownlow, who had resented all of the confederates that imprisoned him. Later on, John would pay the price for his war acts. The Lincolnites â€Å"were determined to kill him, there was nothing he could do to stop them—nothing, that is, except go where they could not find him. Through the waning days of August, he agonized over his plight. By September, he had decided he must leave.† (Ash 180) This shows that John’s past would dictate how he would live his future and that he would have to evade the Unionists that were looking for revenge for his past sins, thus pressured him to leave Tennessee and retreat to Springfield. He settled down and immersed himself in education and religion. Although he had settled there with an uncle he was  determined to go back, thus John’s background is preventing him from having a successfully way to cope with the end of the war emotionally due to his inability to see his love, Tennie. Cornelia McDonald was the wife of a wealthy confederate army officer. Cornelia had relied heavily on her husband’s salary thus when she died everything went downhill very fast. She had no basic house skills except for sewing and mending clothes. She lacked basic skill so she â€Å"had to hire someone to do the cooking for the same reason she had to pay for carding, spinning, and weaving: as a well-bred woman who had always had money and slaves, she had never learned those skills because she never had to perform those chores.† (Ash 38) This will play into account when the war comes around as those are necessities and will affect and drain the money from Cornelia in the latter half of the year. She would have to pay someone else for these essential skills. As for the skill she did have was to tutor for painting and foreign languages, these seem more of a luxury than a necessity as will be seen in at the end of the book. She is barely able to support herself and her family after her husband dies and the meager earning she gets goes to food and not enough is left over rent and she engrossed in debt and eventually becomes ruined financially. Cornelia is struggling emotionally as well and claims to see her â€Å"‘noble sons, little daughter, and pretty little boys dragged down so low.’† (Ash 158) This was one of her greater struggles as she could not believe that just a few years ago they were so prosperous and now doing jobs that were so â€Å"beneath them†. This is just a clear indicator that she was not able to adapt to the circumstances of a changing political climate and her lack of ability to adapt is shown very clearly financially and emotional ly. All in all most of the Southerners had a tough time coping with the end of the war because of their inability, and lack of essential self-sustaining skills. Lou and John were the only ones to see progress in their life although not in significant amount but they were better off than those of the rich white plantation and slave owners. The reason was their ability to cope with hardships way before the end of the war and these times of hardships helped them transition into the post war era, whereas Cornelia and  Sam were ruined, because they lived a life where they had enough money to sustain themselves, and did not need to worry about the skills until it was too late. The background of each of the southerner, and their essential skills or lack thereof have left them in in the state they were in either with stability or instability financially, or emotionally. Bibliography Ash, Stephen V. A Year in the South: Four Lives in 1865. New York City: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.

Cultural Competence and Clinical Expertise

To identify the link between cultural competence and clinical expertise, their meanings should first be defined. Cultural competence is defined by the US Department of Health and Human Services, as â€Å"the level of knowledge based skills required to provide effective clinical care to patients from a particular ethnic or racial group†. Furthermore, it has been qualified and classified as: â€Å"†¦behaviors, attitudes, and policies that can come together on a continuum: that will ensure that a system, agency, program, or individual can function effectively and appropriately in diverse cultural interaction and settings†¦.† (US Department of Health and Human Services website). Although there has not been one single exact definition of cultural competence in the practice of medicine in general, each institution that has sought to define it did so within the premise of identifying ethnic differences in the general population that the medical community seeks to ser ve.The growing ethnic diversity in the US population now currently at 15% averages in major urban centers (Elliott) and by 2050, at least a quarter of the elderly population (Elliott), the importance of cultural competence as it relates to clinical expertise and medical service efficiency cannot be denied. As such, if a health professional is not well versed in communicating or interpreting reactions of the patient (either the patient is the one belonging to the minority group or vice versa), the impact on diagnosis and prognosis could be substantial enough to affect the outcome of medical service provision.Different ethnic groups have their varying interpretation with regards their interpretation of certain illnesses or diseases and how it impacts their family and well being. Thus, if a health professional aims to be well rounded and claim to be efficient in clinical applications, a degree of understanding all the varied cultural differences among his/her patient population should be reached. 2. Discuss a difficult interaction you have experienced or observed that may have resulted from intercultural differences (consider that every form of interaction between 2 people can be considered intercultural in some sense of the word).Define the interaction and an optimal approach to resolve it. One particular experience that I can easily recall is an encounter with an elderly Filipino couple while on duty at the local community clinic. I wasn’t privy or aware of Filipino customs and traditions with regards to care for the elderly in general but I assumed that like most of Caucasian elderly or senior communities, anybody 65 and above would be living in a senior community, or at least living independently of their adult children.When discussing the prognosis for the care of the husband’s post operative needs (he had colorectal cancer) and early symptoms of dementia, I assumed that he would be place in an elderly care skilled nursing facility. The couple, particularly the wife was livid even at the suggestion (or assumption) that her husband would be put away in a facility. After a lengthy discussion with the wife, and a succeeding session with an adult daughter, it was only then that I came to know that Filipinos are like most South East Asians. They have an extended family household setting.They take care of their elderly at home and expect everybody to participate in the care of the elderly. They cannot fathom or even begin to think of putting one of their elders in a group home or skilled nursing facility no matter how difficult the post operative care requirement is. The encounter with the Filipino couple and their extended family was an eye opener for me. When I made the assumption that the husband will presumably be transferred from the hospital after corrective surgery, I just assumed wrong and simply offended the sensibilities of the wife and even the daughter.It is a lesson that I will not make again in the future. I shoul d have put into consideration their profile more closely rather than just go over the clinical and medical aspects of the patient’s profile. In conclusion, because of our growing diversity in the US, clinicians should not only be aware of one or two ethno-cultural group but be more â€Å"culturally competent† in dealing with each minority culture’s differences and how they would possibly interpret certain prognosis and care for each patient in the family. References: Cultural Competence in Action: Retrieved on May 28, 2007 from: http://convention. asha.org/2006/handouts/855_1440Mahendra_Nidhi_091029_101806104800. pdf â€Å"Cultural Competence†. (2001). Mental Health Information. Friday's Progress Notes – March 16, 2001. Vol. 5 Issue 6. Retrieved on May 28, 2007 from: http://www. athealth. com/practitioner/newsletter/FPN_5_6. html Elliott, V. S. (2001). Cultural competency critical in elder care. Health & Science. AMNews. Retrieved on May 28, 2007 f rom: http://www. ama-assn. org/amednews/2001/08/06/hll20806. htm US Department of Health and Human Services website (1994): HRSA, Bureau of Health Professions. Retrieved on May 28, 2007 from: http://bhpr. hrsa. gov/diversity/cultcomp. htm