Sociology

Before the establishment of the Israeli state, the founding father of contemporary political Zionism, Herlz Theodor had in 1902 put Africa in mind and acknowledged existing analogies between the Jewish and black experiences (Golda, 1975). Just after the redemption of the Israelites, Theodors desire of helping African nations was adopted by the Jewish leaders. This was so because based on the similarities between Israel and Africa in the struggle for independence, Israel was seen to be better placed in providing better models for the emerging African states in the 1950- 1960s.

Israeli leadership has over the years had a humanitarian attitude towards Africa. Its other interests were motivated by the battle of supremacy between the U.S. and the Soviet Union and a similar cold war between Israel and Arab. 

Israel - Africa Relations During the Cold War
Israel and her African relations have been in a disturbing state from 1973. From the mid- 1950s to around 1965, Israel was doing its best to establish strong relations with African countries which were just gaining independence. These ties have since broken and efforts to repair them have been underway from 1976.
Before most African nations gained independence, Israel was motivated to develop strong relations with such nations so as to be associated with the independence process. As a result, Israel offered military and financial support in the independence struggle for most countries including Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. Israeli got attracted to African affairs basically due to political reasons coupled with idealistic and moral grounds. Politically, Israel wanted to establish a chain of global relations so as to get recognition from the emerging nations. Some African nations were however opposed to such relations due to doubts about the legitimacy of Israel as a nation, its culture, history and unclear Jewish religion.

In comparison to the more developed powers e.g. the Soviet Union and The United States which could offer financial support to Africa, Israeli could only offer their services in nation- building using appropriate technology, cooperative agriculture, giving foreign aid, revising existing education structures and offering affordable health care services. As Israeli continued to offer foreign aid, there was regular tension between nation- building aid and technological assistance since it was assumed that going deeper into African problems could end up interfering with socio-cultural practices.

In the 1960s, there was a cold war in The Horn of Africa. This is a region strategically located to attract international attention. It is made up of several nations namely Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Djibouti. These nations overlap the Indian Ocean and several oil rich Arabic states. Israels lifeline is wholly dependent on this region. Any political on goings draw a lot of attention in the international limelight (Lewis, 1976) since many nations including the U.S. and the Soviet Union has vested interests in the Horn of Africa.

The U.S. foreign policy on the Indian Ocean and the Horn of Africa allows a remarkable American presence in the ocean for reasons not limited to maintaining Western economic security, regional stability of the Middle East and the horn of Africa, prevention of any blockades of Western oil paths by the Soviets and finally to guarantee that the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea were to be left free for Israeli shopping activities. These policies by the Soviet and the U.S. resulted into numerous conflicts in the 1970s. The intention of the Soviet to widen its presence in the region was at a period when the U.S was concentrating on air missile and land based programs. This led to the 1960s battle of supremacy between the U.S and the Soviet on the Horn of Africa.

Reasons why some African countries broke ties with Israeli during the Cold War
Nearly all African countries except Swaziland, Malawi, Lesotho and Mauritius broke their relations with Israeli because of various reasons. One major reason for breaking ties was the open disagreement of Israels land treaties and many other unacceptable policies.

The other reason for breaking the relations was not associated in any way with Israel. Most African states were not satisfied with their own results after attaining political independence due to the high standards unattainable to most nations previously set by the industrialized nations. Israel was also categorised in this group of nations and thus greatly affected by the resentment.

Arab pressure and power politics coupled by incentives such as economic and financial grants also contributed to the breaking of the Israeli- African relations by diplomatic means between 1972 and 1973. The Israeli  Arab conflict during this period was a major hindrance to the newly formed Organisation of African Unions, The O.A.U since almost 70 percent of Arab land is found in Africa and about 62 percent of the Arab population lives in African countries e.g. Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Northern Sudan.  Most Arabic African states were supporting Pan- African movements and others e.g. Egypt wanted Israeli to be alienated from operating in Africa if it were to support the movement. Most heads of the black Sahara African states were allegedly promoting acts of aggression by Israel in the Middle East in the eyes of Arabs.

Israel was feared by many African nations for its unconfirmed participations in engineering many coups around the continent. Israel was even alleged to have participated in the toppling of Ugandas then president Milton Obote in 1971 due to its close ties with the then Chief of  General Staff, General Iddi Amin. Due to these unfounded allegations, most African countries opted to rupture their ties with Israel.
 Some countries such as Uganda under the then president Iddi Amin often made unrealistic and unjustifiable requests to Israel. In 1971, the ruptured relation between Uganda and Israel is suspected to be as a result of Israel failing to offer the then president with jet fighters and bombers and other military equipments to be used in attacking its enemies e.g. Tanzania in a calculated attempt to control the port of Tanga.
The maintained economic and diplomatic relations between Israel and the then apartheid government of South Africa could also have resulted in broken relations between Israeli and many other African governments which were very much against the apartheid regime. South Africa at this time had a comparatively large Jewish population whose welfare had to be taken care of by the Israeli government.

After reading chapter 1, take a moment to think about the kinds of questions sociologists should be researching. What is a social question that you feel needs to be answered (pick something that is relevant to the community in which you live) Why do you think this questionissue is important to research Who will benefit

    The question I feel should be solved by sociologists regard peaceful co-existence and how it could be achieved. The Functionalist perspective theory that tries to provide solutions to social structures that are to be used to maintain stability falls under the topic of political management and war. Controversy has covered the face of the globe over the issue of political and social guidance in regard to attaining superior economic and social order while safeguarding the rights of the people. Therefore I would like to see a sociological research that can define and set parameters that will include the most social and individually accepted form of governance that can bring peace to the whole world. Additionally, conflict perspective data is easily obtainable and could be used in the study to come up with better and practical leadership theories that can be used to integrate peace into the world instead of the day today beguiling social orders that keep fighting against each other.

This is a question that is of great benefit to all living being in the social setting. Peace is truth and truth can only be found in love. The quest to find the best form of governance is still being sought in vain due top divergent ides that conflict thus bringing about war.

    The greatest strength of a social-based research is in the five scientific step process of attaining the assumed truth through dedicated research methods that must define a problem, review literature, format hypothesis, collect and analyze data and a well formulated conclusion from the results of the research. The application of operational definitions is equally important in order to achieve specific results without bias. Personal interpretation of data collected from scientific study is usually inaccurate due to bias. Therefore Max Weber advises researchers to apply Value neutrality while engaging research to avoid personal feelings during the study.

    My culture appreciates individuals-my thought and my obligation are always welcomed to make a difference in the approach that everyday life should be based on. Therefore there is no frozen and contained kind of approach to life that forces a specific path. I appreciate my culture because of the freedom it grants for every soul to indulge in pursuance of all personal rights, believes and freedoms. Socialization and the right to association is well facilitated by the social setting of my culture hence appropriately making life simpler and eliminating unnecessary fears that exist in various countercultures. My cultures dominant ideology is democracy and freedom for all being despite the diverse individual and social affiliations of the peoples.
Part II - What do you think that Horace Miner was trying to teach us with his article about the Nacirema Who are the Nacirema Reaction papers are to approximately 1 and  pages in length, typed, double-spaced with a 12 pt. Times New Roman font (or Courier), and a 1  in. margin, in ms word format.

    Horace is exposing the ethos of his people that involves the belief that the body is a diseased and ugly component of life that has to be taken care of all the time. Consequently, the people are involved in severe and extreme cleansing rituals and ceremonies that are aimed at forestalling diseases, pain and negative psychological impacts that are deemed to be detrimental effects of mans unable body. In the light of these ceremonies, therefore every family dedicated much of their time and economic resources to the appreciation of having as many shrines as possible for private and secret rites. Usually children are introduced to the rites by a severe code of secrecy surrounding the shrines chest that contains magical charms that virtually control life. The Nacirema people believe that without the application of the ritual, man is no more this precludes the Naciremas belief about life being a direct consequence of the rituals separate form which life is no more. Personally I find the social orientation disturbing since it is not a universal truth but a conned social control measure that the herbalists, practitioners and medicine men use to potential control the closed economy of these people since s substantial amount of resources are given into the development of these charms. The people are wildly aware of the dangers and effects of these charms that sometimes they are afraid of using them due to various diseases and effects that each charm represents the inability and the forgetful nature of the people is plied on by the charm makers who attach fear of unknown in case one discarded these charms after use. The rituals have a religious connotation and meaning making ablution and other forms of rituals a basic psychological need for life to exist.

    My main concern is the beguiling rituals that are attached with supposed injurious effects in absence of practicing these rituals. Well, I believe the Water Temple and the Holy-Mouth-Men are some of the worst lies in this society where mouth rituals like, inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures are approved. The situation is made worse by the supposed personal and social implications like, teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, and their friends desert them and their lovers in case of deviance to the social order. Questions are raised concerning the credibility of these practices. The simple answer could be that this community lacks elaborate and scientifically approved mechanisms to deal with diseases thus the only option has been hijacked by sadistic temple agents and religious men who have internalized the barbaric acts with a social approach that if one negated their application he could be doomed and be rejected by the society. Evidently, fear and rejection sustains these sadistic and machismo practices. Therefore this is a society that is displaying a diverse form of a counterculture.

Week4  Chaper5, 6,  7
For this weeks discussion, pick the theory that you feel best explains deviant behavior. Provide a description of the theory, and state why you feel it is the best theory for explaining deviance. What are the theories greatest strength and limitations

    Every society is organized and cemented together by dominant ideologies that are approved of as social norms that define their social integration and behavior. In life, individuals have the power of will and so aptly exercise their right of association while at the same time referring to personal developed opinions that better fit and define that self. Subsequently, social control conformity and disobedience are two likely outcomes of an individual behavior towards the society. And in return the society condemns those who violate social norms calling them deviant to the set social controls rebels are stigmatized. 

    Crime is rated as the worst form of social order deviance. Crime can range from prostitution and drug abuse (victimless crime) to professional, organized, white collar and transnational crimes. Due to humans inadequacy to deal with crime, punishments have been administered to criminals in the hope to find a solution by altering the dominant crime stimuli.

    Personally I believe that crime occurs in accordance with the Routine activity theory that states that there must be a union of motivated offenders and suitable targets of crime for the deviant activity to occur. Generally speaking prostitution occurs mainly when two converge in order to satisfy a need. At the same time a robbery occurs if indeed there is a security leakage that can be determined to be risk free by a lacking or greedy individual before the actual crime is committed. Also for instance, if international trade was to subside immediately, then international crime will be no more.

    Stratification and economic policies have facilitated social inequities such as slavery, caste and estate systems that could be blamed for social deviant character. The society through its social order influences can drag individuals to a situation of that exposes them into accepting social deviance so as to live. Although routine activities theory can not adequately define the emergence of social deviance still other divergent factors are not well represented in the model the theory lack the ability to define psychological crimes like sexual immorality. As a result, cultural transmission theory can be applied since it appreciates the idea that people learn and adopt criminal activities while interacting with the society. Routine activities theory results can be merged with cultural transmission theory since the society must have learnt the social deviance from motivation offenders.  

With the advent of climate change, the natural processes of the Earth were adversely affected. The melting of polar ice caps is not just a warning but a catalyst for us to make a move to save the only planet that sustains all forms of life. The calamities that struck many areas in the world are messages from Mother Nature telling us to change our ways and be innovative in our daily activities. Much of the damage in our environments are accounted to the widespread use of non-renewable energy sources that gives off unprecedented amount of greenhouse gasses that cause global warming and eventually climate change. Now is the right time to harness natures resources that can be replenished in no time. These environmental-friendly energy sources include wind, solar and biofuels among others.

    On of the most abundant source of alternative energy is wind. Wind is abundant anywhere. The most common type of useful energy out of wind is electricity. Wind energy is generated from wind farms where wind turbines are assembled. Boyle (2003) explained that turbine blades in wind farms enable the turbine to create mechanical energy to run the electrical generators. These electrical generators will then produce electrical power that is being distributed to electric companies and into individual homes of consumers. Wind energy is definitely renewable making wind farms very viable. Wind farms can be constructed near seashores, off-shores or even in the shores where wind is constant in speed. There are many advantages of using wind power as it is a clean power that does not damage the environment. The wind turbines do not also cost a lot and the maintenance of the structures is just minimal. The only disadvantage of wind power is the fact that it creates a lot of noise and wind may not be constant. But further measures to minimize this hazard are being undertaken like putting up wind power structures in areas where people does not usually reside. Other forms of energy are also being used in case wind power is not enough to provide electricity to homes.

    Another alternative and the most abundant source of energy is the sun, hence, solar power. It is the most viable alternative to fossil fuel as it is readily available and can be replenish anytime. Through abundant, solar power still remains untapped. However, there are lots of reasons why solar power has to be mainstreamed as a major source of energy. Solar power is very friendly to the environment as it does not produce any waste materials or pollutants that can harm the atmosphere. It uses natural energy from the sun through the help of solar panels. These solar panels are also recyclable. Despite the fact that solar panels are expensive to manufacture, using it would still prove to be cost effective in the long run.

     According to Hester and Harrison (2003), the cost of manufacturing solar panels is really high but alternative materials are now available to make the production cost less. The use of CIGS instead of silicon has been widely researched. It is very important to make use of the suns power in these times of crisis and disasters given the suns constant energy supply wherever in the world. However, solar power also has its disadvantages. Aside from the costly production of solar panels, solar energy source is also dependent on the weather and can only work when the sun is shinning.  Nevertheless, the suns energy can be used freely thereby making solar power cost effective and sustainable.

    Along with solar and wind power, biofuels or biomass is also of great deal when we talk about alternative energy sources and sustainability. Biofuels are gaining much attention for the production of heat as well as power generation. Biofuels are renewable and clean energy source. It comes from wastes products of animals and humans in their various activities. It can be extracted from wastes caused by dying or decaying woods, wastes from agricultural crops, wastes collected from communities as well as in the industries. Corn is also a major source of biofuel which is the major source of renewable alcohol fuels. Henderson and Ikeda (2005) discussed the importance of biofuels for a sustainable future of energy sources. According to them, aside from the fact that biofuels came from wastes products, it also serves as a mechanism to collect wastes that are often the cause of drainage blockage, flooding, land and water pollution. They added that any source or waste can be used to produce biofuels. These sources can include animal manures, chips of wood, household wastes, seaweeds, corn stalks and other rubbish and wastes. Some sources are even found on rainforests that are hardly noticed and oftentimes taken for granted. The production of biofuels from waste products is very simple. Wastes are gathered and are fed into biomass plants. In the biomass plants, these wastes are burned and the heat created in burning these wastes is used to boil water. The steam produced by the boiling water then rotates the turbines and generators in the plant. The energy created will then be transported back to individual homes and consumers. Another method in producing biofuels is through the creation of a Landfill Gas. The wastes collected will be dumped in a landfill and left to decompose. The decomposing wastes gives off methane gas which are then collected through pipelines and distributed to power plants. All the three alternative sources of energy reduce global warming and help people reduce their wastes. Solar, Wind and Biofuels are great sources of energy that can sustain energy needs for many generations to come.

As I researched about the blind, I focused on their access to emergency facilities and classes in academic institutions. certainly, there is an urgent need to focus more on the blind community because of their peculiarity, hence, access to education and emergency facilities for the blind is truly important and requires improvement. Although all the policies and assistance to the access for the blind are established in official regulations, blind people still experience limited access. Such assistance involves alternative formats of written resources and Braille signs for certain cases. One of the reasons involved in the lack of general access for blind people is the problem of management. Since the necessities of accesses for safety and education are especially critical to the life of the blind, it is insufficient to easily assume that the need for the blind is fully and appropriately satisfied with the existences of such regulations. So, how the society manages the regulations in real life is essential for blind so that everything written in such regulations can be done for the benefit of an average blind individual.
    As I mentioned above, there are blind people who still experience the lack of access. Among all different kinds of access for the blind, the most important thing in routine for blind people would be literacy. Since people with visual impairment cannot read directly, they need to have proper assistances such as alternative formats or personal readers. However, blind people claim that they need more access to written word (Carl). According to an article by Carl Jacobsen, president of the National Federation of the Blind of New York, Although many of us read everything we can get our hands on, we cant get our hands on very much to read. There are services for us, of course. Government entities and nonprofit organizations convert books into Braille, audio or digital form for our use. But only 5 percent of all books published undergo such a conversion. Obviously, blind people have limited access to written word because of the small percentage of books that are actually converted to alternative formats.
    In addition to the lack of accessible books in alternative formats, there is another reason that makes blind people isolated from written resources. The prices for conversions of books are too expensive when compare to the cost of production of the normal print. (Carl)) Therefore, there is a pending problem as to the alternative formats of books for blind people, as well as the price for its conversion. However, Carl Jacobson emphasized the fact that an agreement is currently going on between Google, authors and publishers about making millions of title digitally available for a vast majority of people including those who cannot read printed materials (Carl). Carl Jacobsen informed that the settlement, if approved, will make life easy and provide printed words to as many people as possible. The Google settlement would support blind people to be able to search for books of their choice through the Google searching tools and read excerpts or purchase entire books in a format compatible with their known alternatives. Thus, this proposed Google settlement will give magnificent impact of access to written information for blind people.
    Without the Google settlement, the information that blind people can have access to become highly limited. Moreover, the devastating effect of lack of information has already meant that fewer percentage of blind people graduate from their high school, this has resulted into inability to precede their education to the college and university which in turn has reduced their employment rate. This indicates that there should be more effort to improve this situation for the blind society.
The Google settlement is something that blind people including people who cannot read printed materials look forward to having in future. Then, how about some of the other options that blind people have Are other aids for the blind working properly in real life According to Tasha Chemel who is blind student in Newton North High school, one year, someone forgot to order the ones (text book) I neededlast year, my history book took forever to come. In the interim, I had to listen to it on tape, which doesnt work very well, its been a pain. Sometimes, Tasha Chemel had to do math for three months without text because the Braille version of her textbook did not arrive until after school year began. The sixteen years old who has been blind from birth, must have all her text books converted to Braille, but most times, she does not get them on time. Tasha Chemel said, I should have books as accessible as anyone else, I should not have to waste my time chasing down materials. I want to focus on academics. This clearly indicates that she is facing unfairness as a blind student who is supposed to have equal opportunities like everyone else.
For blind students, it is really important to have text in Braille version on time to catch up work in class. However, this simple conversion of text is not even working well in real life. As an objection to this problem, Stephen Driesler, Executive Director of the school division of the American Association of Publisher said, The system has not worked well for the blind kids. It takes sometimes six months or longer into the school year to get their books Furthermore, converting printed textbooks into Braille is so elaborate that it takes about three months. It means textbooks have to be ordered far in advance of the schools year, but officials often have to wait until budgets are approved in the summer to order books. And sometimes teachers have not made their selections or change their mind at the last minute. (Eileen Curren) But still, I personally believe that this system should have been well developed so that blind people would not feel isolated and have equal access to academic materials. After the invention of the Braille code, there is no any wide-spread reading tool that is more superior to Braille code. If we consider how long it has been after the invention of Braille code, in 1821, it is enough time to have been quiet improved all the systems and tools for the literacy of the blind.
    As high technology meets with the necessary needs for the blind, there is a new portable handheld device called Reader that reads out the concerned text aloud. This high-technology device targets specifically people who are visually impaired. According to Ben Foss, researcher in assistive technologies in Intels Digital Health Group, Basically, the intel Reader is a handheld text-to-speech device meant for reading any text aloud and is powered by Intel Atom Chip. This Reader is available at a hefty price of 1499 and additional 400 for the Portable Capture Station. Although it might look little bit expensive,

The work of this small device is incredible. It can store about 500,000 pages of text or 600 pages of scanned book pages. Foss said, I was able to scan a 262-pages book in a half hour and listen to the first chapter of the book while I was doing it. Also, there is a 5-megapixel digital camera in the Reader to take pictures of book pages and the device reads text in plain text as well as mp3 music files.
    Fortunately, this high-tech Reader just came out few weeks ago. The article about the Intel Reader was out on November 9, 2009. This invention has been needed for so long by the blind. However, if this great device should have come out earlier, it will have created more opportunities to have access to the written words. On the other hand, the cost of the device is too expensive for an average blind person, this will in a way limit the usefulness of such device as a means of proffering a permanent solution to the limited access of the blind people to written books. The issue about the price can be minimized if both government and non governmental organization subsidize this for the blind people. Thus, as long as the device, Intel Reader, gradually spread to lives of blind people, I am sure that blind people would face better access to written information. It might take sometime before it becomes popular and generally acceptable by the blind people. On the other hand, there is lack of access to the Braille sign. Sign is probably the most common way to grab attention of viewer, to alarm viewer in various cases, and to inform viewer on certain reasons. However, lack of Braille signs hinders accessibility of people with visual impairment. According to Cara Bollinger, newspaper staff in Truman State University, Handicap accessibility, including Braille signage, should be a priority not a last minute detail. Since the lack of Braille sign really put people who have visual impairment at a severe disadvantage, there should be enough Braille signs around the public areas. There is a standing regulation relating to Braille signs in public buildings. ADA (American Disabilities Act) states that all permanent rooms and spaces in public buildings must be designated with Braille Signs. However, this regulation by ADA is not actually met in the reality.
One of the reasons attributed to the lack of Braille signs in public places is space availability on walls. In many cases of public buildings, there are too many of paints and artworks hanging on the wall where the Braille sign are supposed to be. So, there is nowhere to put the Braille sign for blind people. Although there are specific regulations about the Braille sign in public buildings, it seems that the regulations just exist to make blind people feel equally-treated not to actually support them. In order to really help blind people, all the public places and organizations that control the residential facility should not stop at satisfying the minimum requirement. Rather, they should keep improving the aid for blind people and that would be the only way we can make a better public buildings as the true meaning of Public. Lending helping hands is more than offering proper information to blind people therefore, it is important to keep with the regulation according to the ADA and having proper Braille signage in public buildings would provide equal rights to people with visual impairments.
      While I was looking for the reason why there is Braille sign for the emergency in public places, I found it really ironical. I understood that blind people must have equal opportunity and having Braille signs in public places would satisfy the constitution of equal human rights. However, on the other side, I ask myself does these Braille sign really work Is having Braille sign effective to blind people in emergency how All this were running through me with no concrete answers.
       Having emergency Braille signs in public places might be just to meet the regulated requirements from official organizations and government. Since the main role of having emergency signs in public places are to alarm people in case of emergencies and dangerous situation, the best function that emergency Braille signs can do is simply to save the blind people from danger. However, awareness that they are under circumstance of emergency does not help that much for the blind in real life.
    From this reason, blind people are supposed to have something more than Braille sign which does only notify them of the dangerous situation that they are. Blind people need something that can actually lead them out of the place in emergency situation. Common tool that blind people can easily notice and follow to reach somewhere safe is by using tactile sense. On the streets of Japan, it is not difficult to notice the yellow raised tile. This yellow line is called  Braille Block  which is for person with visual impairments to indicate direction and prevent them from the accidents. This Braille Block is called  Tenjiburokku  (pW0000f00X0v00c0O0    in Japanese and it was invented by Japanese. The Braille Block is composed of many raised directional tiles or pavers.

    As it is on the right side of above pictures, there are two types of tiles, one with protruded rectangle patterns which means go. And the other type with protruded dots which means stop. The two types of tiles are supposed to be felt differently by the tactile sense of feet from blind people so that they can distinguish whether to go or stop. If you try to step on both of types, you can feel Q for the first tile and Q for the second tile. (Tommy Oshima) This Braille Block is certainly designed for blind people to reach out by themselves and it really works as guidance on the streets. The left picture above shows some, some phrases written in Japanese. Those phrases mean This is for blind people. Do not put anything here. In case of obstacle that places on the Braille Block, there are attached warning phrases on the yellow tiles.
    Like the Braille Block that Japan invented and accepted into their common streets, blind people need to have actual tool that directs the way out of danger in emergency. Since Braille sign for emergency in public places does not actually guide blind people out of the danger, applying the Braille Block to public places is a reasonable solution that will ensures that the blind people leave the dangerous vicinity by themselves. The Braille Block would certainly work for blind people in public places since the yellow raised tile works in normal streets.
Although the regulations by government must be maintained properly in every case of public places, not all of public buildings are following the minimum requirements for Braille signs. In order to increase the success of Braille signs in public places, it might be a good idea to have specific organization that controls the requirements by American Disabilities Act. The particular organization will have to be checking up the status of requirements regularly.
    In conclusion, general access for blind people such as Braille sign of emergency in public places and the education of the blind in classes should be more enhanced. Although there are official regulations regarding Braille signs in public places, what blind people really need is direct aid that can help them out of danger in emergency in which the Braille Block could be a good option. It is also important to keep track with the current regulations, so as to know if those requirements are met in all of public places. Specific organization or existing agency that can manage the requirements regularly could also be encouraged. Moreover, for the education of the blind, as technology improves, blind people have many options that are available for the access to written resources. Developing aids from high technology such as intel Reader seem to lead better access to written words. Moreover, the newly produced reader will serve better if the price is made affordable for everybody. It will also be more useful if its production can be speed up so as to cater for the good number of blind people in our community. It is also considerably critical to have special attention to blind students by qualified teachers. As I research about the education of the blind, all the current policies and aids for the education still have a lot of spaces to improve so that blind students would not feel isolated by academic resources.   
As I looked back to what I have been researching for several weeks, I noticed how important it is, to focus on area I never thought of. My brief interest on subject has become my initial observation paper and the topics relating to the access of the blind in the society has been one of my top interests during researching period. Since I never imagine myself to be a blind, this research was really meaningful to me and gave me opportunity to appreciate my sight. As I conclude my research about the access of the blind, I hope that more blind people can have more access to diverse areas such as education and general health. I am sure that there would be a moment that blind people and non-blind people have equal opportunity offered by the society.

Reading David Byrnes Wall Street Journal article Perfect City is like watching the Talking Heads member play a game of SimCity, the popular simulation game that allows players to build and design a city according to his or her liking, on the computer (Lew 11). Having this god-like ability proves quite irresistible, as evidenced by the games popularity, and I cant help but make my own perfect city. Like Byrnes vision, mine is also a collage of various cities of the world
Size. Byrne says that its good to have a large city because its generous attitude towards failure creates less embarrassment for someone who commits a mistake (Byrne 1). For me, however, a small, cozy city gives you the best of both worlds friends and family who will pat you in the back for a job well done, and the very same people who will not mince their words if you mess up. Call it tough love and yes, you may end up getting more than your healthy dose of scrutiny, but I think everyone deserves to experience this familiarity and honesty. It builds character.
Density. Keller, TX, with its 38, 100 population size, is the no.7 best place to live in 2008 according to Money Magazine. The population density of 1, 483 people per sq. mile (Money Magazine 23) sounds just about right for one to maintain some privacy in life.
Sensibility and Attitude. Despite a very high poverty rate, Filipinos have continually been ranked as one of the happiest people of the world. They are said to find something amusing even in the direst of situations, a coping mechanism perhaps. (Jimenez-David 7) Whether they are braving a tropical storm or the wrath of an earthquake, Filipinos still manage to stay true to their sense of resiliency and optimism. Coupled by the comforts that make Copenhagen, Denmark the city with the happiest people on earth, this will be the perfect attitude for my perfect city. Copenhagen residents maintain their happiness by being environmentally conscious, enjoying free healthcare for all, and allowing government to pay for 90 of a workers salary for four years when someone loses his or her job (Business Week 5).
Security. The City of Luxembourg, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is the safest city in the world in the 2008 Quality of Living Survey of Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Based on personal safety, internal stability, crime and effectiveness of law enforcement, it is very rare for residents to worry about security in the area (Mercer). My perfect city must make its people feel and see that law and order is at work.  
Chaos and Danger. Order is good, but if one is not even allowed to chew gum because law and order prevents you from doing so, as in Singapore, it takes away something as essential your freedom. I will still stick to United States cities in terms of this criterion. Americans cant question their freedom to do as they choose, but they also know they cant court danger when the long arm of justice is at work. 
Human Scale. German cities know their human scale. A visit to the city of Cologne or Gummersbach in the Northern Westphalia proves this. Houses, buildings and other establishments stand respectfully beside each other, their height and hue in close dimension and feel to each other.
Parking. When it comes to parking, I cannot compete with Byrnes choice Japan. It makes perfect sense why Japanese parking and traffic is nothing like the nightmare that is San Francisco traffic. Besides Byrnes mention of underground parking, Japan also has the most precise and efficient subway system, and of course, a lot of bike riders, making parking anon-stressful issue for its residents.
Boulevards. Champs Elyses in Paris still comes to mind when the word boulevard crops up. My perfect city must a boulevard as this broad, tree-lined, scenic, busy and charming.
Mixed Use. The Latin Quarter, also in Paris is a perfect example of how to use a space in a multitude of ways. It is known for its dynamic atmosphere, thanks to its closeness to higher education establishments, eclectic bistros, and unique shops. One never runs out of things to do while at the Latin Quarter, as in all of Paris. 
Public Spaces. I love cities with public spaces of rich history. The Green in New Haven, for example, is a central square that dates back to 1638. It was originally used as a farm, a graveyard and a religious center, and became central to the life of New Haven, having hosted so many personalities from Gen. George Washington to musician Ray Charles in the course of its existence (Benton A3). Public spaces must have a story to tell, and the longer, the better.
Socio-Economic Make-up. In terms of socio-economic make-up, Singapore is my archetype. Since its early history, Singapore has been home to a multi-racial population. Today, majority of Chinese linguistic groups reside in Singapore, along with Malays, Indians, Eurasians and Arabs. (8) Diversity is good, as there is much learning in the exchange of cultures, beliefs and experiences. It also builds tolerance, which is an essential trait for humanity. Adding to it is Singapores ability to unite despite its variety, and work towards maintaining its very robust market economy.

    The elderly in society play a very critical role and ought to be given the kind of treatment and approach that they desire and deserve. A closer look at the various ethnic and minority groups in the country will attest to this the trend fairly pointing to their general neglect. To better illustrate this assertion and trend, this paper is devoted to the analysis of the African American ethnic group, with an emphasis on the elderly within this group and how they relate with other people within and outside of the group. This is with a view to bring to the fore the matters that are critical to the elderly, and how they view their treatment from society at large. More specifically, the paper gives a comprehensive description of the African American ethnic group, focusing on their cultural characteristics, their current social, political, and economic status, and the major historical events that have affected the elderly of this group. The paper also provides the responses to an oral interview with a 69 year-old African American woman who details what she has gone through and gives other key information regarding the elderly in this group. Finally, the paper analyses the group on more specific areas and aspects, including the implication of the changing times on their way of life.
African Americans Key Issues
    Although the proportion of African Americans in the country is one of the largest compared to other minority groups, an exact figure has not been arrived at. However, it is approximated that the African American population is around 12.5, indicating that the group is the largest among minority groups in the country. African Americans reside mostly in states founds in the south of the country, and most can be found in cities and other urban areas. African Americans have never had a real taste of affluence as is with most other ethnic groups in the country. The group has always lagged behind in matters of economic development, and the group represents one of the least affluent in the country. In fact, poverty, disease, natural disasters, and illiteracy have become almost synonymous with this group (Belgrave, 2009).
    Matters critical to social life like security have also been greatly affected among members of African American communities, with the highest proportion of reported incidences of violent crime, armed conflicts, domestic violence, drug abuse, and drug trafficking associated with  black or African Americans people. The group, however, has had issues that range from cultural differences and even racial discrimination. These have greatly affected the way the people go about their daily lives. The elderly African Americans have had their share of historical injustices too. As the oldest surviving members of the group, some of the elderly have a real vivid memory of what they have experienced or what their parents before them went through in the past (Cantor, 2000).
    The most common historical event for most is the encounter with racism. The elderly still find it hard to believe that the American society has changed so much to such a level where a black or colored person could be the president. Racist ideologies still cloud the minds of many, while others are grappling with rapid cultural shifts. The days of slavery that marked the migration of most of the current elderly people from other native homelands mostly in Africa are also still affecting some to this day because it has shaped the way they relate to others and perceive issues in life. On a general scope, African Americans are perceived as a cultural group that is associated with negative social issues, and who are less likely to make it in life as far as development is concerned (David, 2006).
Oral Interview a Reflection of the Entire Group
    The untold story of the elderly among the wider African American ethnic group provided a deeper insight into the real life people of this group in general and the elderly in particular experience. The first thing needed to find out from the interviewee whom I called up was what the most memorable event in her life was. In response, the lady, who identified herself as Mercy, almost chocked over the line but with more encouragement from me, she managed to give me a detailed story of her encounter with racism after having found her way into the country in the late 1940s in the company of her family. As a very young child of about eight, she can still recall how it was like having to move from her native home in Ivory Coast together with her farther and mother only to come face to face with slavery and racism. She could stop from time to time amid her agonizing narrative to sob, and had I not been on the other side of the line I would have been tempted to join her. This pointed to her painful experience then.
    After prodding her on, she went on to explain how her father had just come from the War, and was now hoping for a better life abroad. They were made to work under conditions which no-one even in Africa could agree to do. They received harsher treatment than dogs, and their lives were pathetic. As a young child, she had to do domestic chores to supplement their meager income. Daily, her father would tell her never to despair, but to remain focused. However, her mother could not endure the mistreatment from her boss. The tragic moment that changed the interviewees life forever was the day when her mothers mistress set her dogs on her mother for touching the mistresss white baby boys playing toy. The dogs tore her to pieces in the full view of Mercy who could do nothing to help. By the time the dogs were done, Mercys mother lay helpless on the floor and at the point of death. When an ambulance was called in by another Black worker, the medical staff in it refused to take her to hospital because she was black.
    On family matters, Mercy pointed out to me that her family was close-knit, except for occasional fallouts concerning petty issues which she described as normal. In fact, she added, it was the very nature of their oneness as a family that they had managed to steer through hard times. Although she has been in the country for over half a century now, she still maintains close ties with her extended family back in Ivory Coast. The family in the United States comprises her five children and two distant cousins. They also stay with two of their grandchildren who lost their parents. They relate well with other African Americans, having gone as far as establishing welfare groups, worship services, and other social events which they hold and take part in together. Mercy said that although she loves her African culture, she has been somewhat taken aback by some of the practices some Africans still engage in. She differs with them on matters such as remarriage, herself having refused to remarry after the death of her husband. However, she believes most African Americans are going too far in letting go of their cultural practices as they hastily emulate Western ways.
Emerging Trends
    What is revealed in this interview is essentially what the other members of the group experience, feel, and aspire for. Most African Americans have been witnesses to slavery and racism, and this has made many to often to have a tendency to seek the comfort of one another. They live almost as though they were a family, and maintain close ties with their extended families, friends, and other Africans in the country and elsewhere. They are wary of other ethnic groups, especially the whites who enslaved their forefathers (Cantor, 2000). Many changes are indeed taking place in the African American community. As people usually wont to adhering strictly to their cultural ways, many African Americans are now turning to Western culture and generally embracing modernity. They are realizing that some cultural practices are not beneficial at all, and are fast letting go of them. As modernity catches up with the group, they are likely to take on habits like use of hard drugs and excessive drinking (Cantor, 2000).
    To add to these, general social delinquency is likely to increase. That aside, there are trends that are likely to emerge, although others have already been witnessed. Although in the past discrimination has hampered the access of most Africa Americans to basic services like education, healthcare, and employment, the trend now is that a lot more African Americans are getting advanced education, and some are even performing better than their white counterparts (Cantor, 2000). More people from this group, both men and women, are playing a more substantial role in the political process. Rights movements have come to have a lot more participation from African Americas. Most African Americans are adopting western religious practices, with Protestants comprising the largest proportion of the group. Employment opportunities for African Americans have become more readily available as racial and sexual discrimination has ended and the cause of the black person given more attention. Generally, African Americans are finding easier access to better facilities just like any other American (Dorrien, 2003).
Future Implications to the Elderly
    Given such changes, the elderly in the coming days are likely to grapple with matters of pension and healthcare insurance which are not so much of a concern presently. In the future, more African Americans will be retiring from jobs, and many will be having access to healthcare insurance. The elderly will also have to develop the culture of saving for their own future because pension schemes are becoming more readily available to them. With more young people adopting Western ways of life, the elderly will have increased instances of family conflict and tumultuous relations that ever before (Cantor, 2000).

Implications for Service Delivery to the Elderly
    With increased educational opportunities, more African Americans will be in a position to get education. Even he elderly will not be hindered or limited. Medically, the increased economic welfare of the elderly due to increased incomes from pensions and part-time work will enable them to have access to better health facilities and better services. Socially, all African Americans have been known to be a close-knit group, preferring to live together with each other and working together for the benefit of the entire group (Zastrow, 2009). With the emerging trends, however, service delivery is going to be affected. With these present and anticipated changes in the way of life of African Americans, the elderly will need to find ways to rely a lot more on themselves and on their own efforts and not on help from family members. They will have to find part time work even after retirement to augment what social security offers them. The care for the elderly is likely to reduce drastically or end altogether as those who traditionally care for them find themselves with other more important matters to attend to. Today, the elderly are learning how to care for and rely more on themselves (Zastrow, 2009).
Political Implications
    Politically, the place of the elderly African American has for a long time been that of sitting by and watching events unfold, having no power to take part in active politics. Elderly African American women have especially experienced a lot of discrimination in matters of politics in the past. For many years, African Americans could not as much as take part in an electoral process even after the historical amendments to the US constitution in 1965 to allow every American to take part in local, national, and state elections. This trend, however, is changing and most elderly African Americans are seeking election to high offices, and some have secured them (Zastrow, 2009).
    In recent times, the elderly members of the group have worked jointly to seek better rights for their people, and in the recent past great achievements have been realized. With the new order of life, the elderly are expected to take part in more political advocating than ever before. They are to participate in election processes and actively participate in elections at all levels. Coalition building is more likely to expand considering that the African American elderly have such an ability to bind people together in a community system. As their participation in the political process is enhanced, they are to cause enhanced coalition building. As the largest minority group in the country, African Americans are bound to benefit politically from such political coalitions with other ethnic groups (Zastrow, 2009).
Conclusion
    The elderly among the African American communities, regardless of how advanced in years they might be, have been a part of the social fabric and their value can never be assumed or guessed. Just like any other age group or in the society, the elderly need to be made to feel they belong not as a result of proxy or compulsion but from freewill. Over the years, this group of people has been faced with different issues that have made their life both favorable and difficult. For such people, it would have been expected that all in society would treat them well and ensure their peaceful existence as their sunset days drag by. The elderly have been affected with emerging trends and changes in the way of life. They have had to grapple with healthcare insurance maters, pensions, and cultural shifts. On the whole, the African American elderly have been impacted greatly by events both in history and those that caretaking place now. Future trends are also expected to have such impacts.

The AIDS pandemic is a scourge that has characterized many nations, straining economies as they redirect resources that could otherwise be diverted into resourceful income generating activities in methodologies that could reverse its devastating trend. India is a case in mind that bears the brunt of the perilous effects of the AIDS scourge with its slums that are adversely affected. One such epicenter is Mumbais red-light district where Population Services International (PSI) India, a non-profit organization under the leadership of Sanjay Chaganti has relentlessly committed itself in reversing the trend.  As Andreasen (1985, 176) posits Successful research is designed to lead to actionable conclusions. By working backward and ascertaining results before the research actually hits the field, managers are more likely to get results they can work with. Managers must tell researchers the answers they need to accomplish company goals. By determining where they want to go, and then figuring out how to get there, both managers and researchers can expect successful research. As such PSI India needs to establish the needs on the ground before it implements its programs to fight AIDS.
Problem 1
There were approximately twenty to thirty thousand commercial sex workers, simply defined in the Indian society as prostitutes within a ten block radius of the red-light district. This was of utmost concern for PSI as an estimated three quarters of infections was attributed to sex with the commercial sex workers.
Proposed Solution
The best approach in this situation is to establish Voluntary Counseling and Testing centers (VCTs) that operate at night around bars, brothels, notorious prostitute streets, and lodging premises around Mumbais Red-Light district. The Testing centers should be located in places with less traffic but secure to enable the individual who want to be tested not to be discouraged by insecurity. Necessary personnel like security officers who lent premises to the prostitutes with their clients at night for sexual encounters should also be used to identify commercial sex workers.
Assumptions
Assuming that the VCTs staff cooperates with the security personnel many prostitutes will be identified, tested and counseled. By knowing their status and armed with the right information, commercial sex workers will be able to make the right decisions in sexual encounters for instance, insisting on wearing a condom. This will curb the pandemic to a very large extent.
Assuming that the VCTs centers are run at night, many commercial sex workers are likely to participate in the program as they will be safeguarded from the risk of stigmatization. This is absolutely critical as the prevalent view that is hypothesized to be held in the population of the red-light district in Mumbai is preempted to be all those who visit the VCTs are infected with AIDS.
Assuming that the VCT centers are located near brothels, bars, night clubs or notorious prostitute streets, they are likely to target the epicenters of the high risk groups thus leading to many of the most critical segment of the population being empowered with necessary information about AIDS as well as their status. This will be a success as those that are infected will not engage in unprotected sexual encounters thus spreading the disease even more. Moreover those that will be found to be HIV-negative will take necessary precautions to avoid infection.
Problem 2
Perhaps the most complex aspect that PSI India realized was the multiplicity of stakeholders with regard to the pandemic ranging from men who sought sex and commercial sex workers to brothel madams as well as pimps. This called for a relatively high amount of money so as to formulate and implement sound communication outreach programs that span through the whole range of variables as stated above.
Proposed Solution
As a result of the convergent points of these groups being mainly bars, brothels as well as night clubs, videos, pamphlets and other mass media based high-risk cessation programmes should be aired in these epicenters basing their formulation on communication theory. As such the messages engendered in these various media should appeal to the intended audience. They should not appear to be teaching but employ humorous scenes yet still underpinning the seriousness that pandemic deserves. The messages should draw conclusions that both address the importance of taking precaution and the detriment of engaging in high risk behavior for instance, sex without a condom. The media messages should also avoid a patronizing attitude.
Enough IPCs (Interpersonal communicators) should also be hired to offer advice and discuss the message in the media played in the brothels, bars and nightclubs (in silent-mode). In addition the IPCs should also sell condoms at a subsidized and affordable rate to the men as well as sex workers.
Assumptions
Assuming that the communication models employed in the operation lighthouse are viable, engaging numerous IPCs as a result of the funding Operation lighthouse received from USAID would enlighten the sex workers, men, brothel madams as well as pimps in taking necessary precautions by wearing condoms when engaging in high-risk sexual encounters. As such the programs viability would be ascertained by dint of addressing all the necessary stakeholders avoiding exclusion of critical variables engendered in the men as Chaganti found out from Meera, a commercial sex worker. Moreover, the critical funds will enable PSI to employ many IPCs from a vast array of the numerous languages that India exhibits. This would go a long way towards enhancing awareness of the pandemic as the problem of language barrier would be alleviated. 
Assuming that condoms were sold at a reasonable price this effort was likely to succeed because by pricing the condoms within the financial capability of the rural folk, they were bound to acquire the condoms without financial strain. More importantly was the pricing of the condom in itself as the advantage. This was likely to succeed assuming that if PSI would award the condoms for free to the local community, they would reflect on them as a worthless commodity and thus they would not use them. As such, by assigning value to the condoms they were likely to be used in sexual encounters and thus combat AIDS infection ultimately meeting the goal of Operation Lighthouse. Secondly, assigning value to the condoms was absolutely critical assuming that through such endeavor the locals would presume they were gaining and benefiting something in exchange of their money. This was likely to inspire change.
Problem
Another problem that meditated against PSIs efforts to control infection of AIDS through sexual encounters was the view that was shared among most of the population of India that AIDS was a disease limited within the circle of commercial sex workers. As such the general population believed that those who operated outside this circle were not at risk of acquiring the disease.
Proposed Solution
PSI should link up with a local advertising program and formulate billboard advertising campaigns in vernacular languages in the rural areas. This will enable the rural population to access knowledge about AIDS and thus grasp the reality of the disease.
PSI should also liaise with the local leadership in the villages to organize outreach programs endeared towards HIV AIDS Knowledge dissemination.
In addition, PSI should also liaise with the local radio stations that are significantly popular among the rural folk and formulate programs that discourage extra marital sex like Avoid the aside plan, and avoid AIDS.


Assumptions
Assuming that PSI dominated the billboards bearing the AIDS message in vernacular, It was likely to work as the local community was able to associate with the disease more in their local language as opposed to conveying the information in English or another language that though predominant in India was foreign to the locals. As such, the reality of the disease would dawn on them and thus inspire behavior change.
Assuming that PSI promoted prohibition of extramarital behavior to be a major factor in spreading HIV infections, it was likely to work because it would break the tension that often existed among couples with women wanting to discuss mens extramarital sexual behavior but limited in the platform upon which they were supposed to introduce the subject. As such, the radio programs would act as a conduit for airing the womens concerns
Problem
Another problem that PSI faced was the prevalent of the disease among migrant workers and port workers.
Proposed Solution
PSI proposed a television campaign ad branded Abandon the spare tyre .primarily the spare tyre was symbolic of the other partner that the migrant workers and port workers had in addition to their wives mainly living in rural areas. It was to use an Indian man on TV who was warning men not to switch to another channel because he was speaking about their extra marital affair. Another man in the background would be behaving uncomfortably as a result of the talk. The woman would then look at him questionably astonished with his behavior as it was suspicious.
Assumptions
This campaign was bound to succeed assuming that the intervention sought to change behavior. As such, the model the ad campaign embraced enabled behavior change as it was formulated in a way that it was able to realize measurable behavioral objectives engendered in sexual decisions.
Assuming that the ad campaign put in mind the fundamental concept of the marketing mix, it was bound to succeed. This is because it considered the message in the ad as the product. AS such it was formulated well, modeling the characters from the compact majority of Indians thus positing it favorably in its reception as most of the population identified with it.
Assuming that the cost of the campaign, despite the fact that it was dear, it was sustainable for PSI as a result of USAIDs funding and thus enabling the campaign to run for an adequate amount of time which eventually ensured that it was integrated among the high-risk groups.
Assuming that the place of the campaign was a high risk area as it was previously assessed by PSI twinning Maharastra with Tamil as the most affected epicenters of AIDS, the ad campaign was likely to succeed as the message was matched with the intended audience who would find it important to them.

Conclusion
    Overall, it is worth noting that social marketing approaches as intervention procedures to societys problems are based on strategies as stressed by Kim and Mauborgne (009) with their statement that When executives develop corporate strategy, they nearly always begin by analyzing the industry or environmental conditions in which they operate.

Every video game lover knows that there is always something to achieve in each of these games. Every adventure lover, will be familiar to games like Super Mario, Tomb Raider, Diablo, Castlevania, Every game has a central figure around which the action revolves. The hero represents the player who is playing the game. In this essay, I attempt to look onto the philosophical and psychological side of gaming. I have taken five references to support my argument at each point.
The first reference is Chapter Three of the book Why Video Games are Good for Your Soul by James Paul Lee. It talks about the game Castlevania. The essay starts with a description of the game and how psychologists think this game has deeper impact and underlying meaning. It gives some thought on why people love to play the game, which is because the childhood love for solving problems, coming out with bright solutions is still active in many minds.
The author takes examples from day to day life, taking interesting facts into account but nowhere has he dealt with the exact realm of the topic.  The research is extensive as well but somewhere he fails to give examples which are very strong.
The essay is undoubtedly something which provides with a deep insight but it fails to come to a certain conclusion. Its method of rendition is not exactly interesting and one feels like reading a philosophical piece. In fact, in giving out other tit-bits, he completely misses out on giving out strong instances from the game, as in how the levels are differently designed and how this affects the human mind. It misses out on many key points.
The second source I have taken is, Chapter Four of the book, Vintage Games by Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton. The chapter is extensively detailed and cornered around the game. It gives out each and everything one would want to know, about the game. However, it gets a bit heavy and technical. But nonetheless, it is quite good a read.
The book doesnt however relate to real life, as in why anyone would want to play the game. It otherwise is extensive on the levels, but again the essence is missing as to what symbolism do these levels have on our daily life The place where the author could have had immense discussions about the psychoanalysis of the game is left blank.
This chapter is again a good read but the researcher has to draw examples and derive conclusions himself. It is so because the chapter gives out complete details about the game and how it is like the journey of a hero, but again your own conclusions need to be derived. Sometimes, it does hint on the games story being a greater one but still it never gives it out directly.
My third source is an essay written by MIT Professor, Henry Jenkins, Reality Bytes Eight Myths about Video Games Debunked. In this essay he gives out strong evidence to support the arguments he has given to completely shun the myths regarding gaming and addiction. Though it is not directly related to the research topic, it still provides with a good measure of reference for the topic.
He uses strong examples and also inferences from day to day life to support his article. It is quite evident that he uses strong and valid references and his work is extremely well researched. Also it is quite an interesting read because many a times the reader is inferring his own conclusion.
Why this helps as an effective study material for the research topic is because it has very strong references on how playing games is related to us psychologically. It states how the need for completion is necessary which we let go and fulfill it by playing games, because everyones motive is to win, that is, to finish the heros journey.
The fourth source is an article on Video Games Addiction. It is basically an article meant for parents but it does have interesting facts and points which will help researchers on this topic. It finds a reason as to why gaming tends to become so addictive and how parents can intervene to stop their children.
The examples and references are not very good. In fact, in some cases the need of exemplifying the point is felt but is missed. Also, there isnt any extensive research on why children are addicted to gaming.
How it helps the research, is simple. It tries to find out what is it that attracts children to these games. More often than not it is the love for adventure and curiosity of knowing what is going to happen. This again co-relates to how the journey of the hero is unknown and unpredicted which again heightens the excitement of gaming.
My fifth source is a news piece which reports how libraries are hoping that historical games will increase curiosity about history in the masses. It goes on to talk about some history based games and their fame and throws an open question to the readers as to how the curiosity about the past makes games like this famous.
It just takes references from a few games and doesnt delve much into depth about them. The whole content is quite trimmed with not much room expanding psychological or analytical referencesconclusions.
We all know that every ancient heros journey was a difficult yet celebrated one. Thus this article is helpful as it establishes that curiosity about our past leads us to play such games. Again, this curiosity is also to know what the heromythical figure encountered in his journey and how he overcame it. By playing the game, one can liken himself to that hero facing the evils bravely.

Biddle (2001) defines poverty as a state of lack of effective means to obtain basic needs such as food, shelter, basic health care, education, and clothing among others. It can be classified as absolute and relative. Absolute poverty is a situation where there is total lack of means available to access basic needs while relative poverty is a scenario where one lives under a certain threshold such as below a dollar a day (Biddle , 2001, p. 96). Poverty is aggravated by factors such as population explosions, corruption and inequitable distribution of resources. It is a point of worth to mention that, poverty is a serious social issue in the sense that its negative impact if felt in societal social aspects such as economic, culture and mostly education.
Education, one of the essential needs in life today encompasses instilling relevant knowledge, skills as well as capacity building and empowering individuals in societies to become better citizens and therefore contribute to the general growth of a countrys economy (Biddle, 2001). Despite its introduction as a solution to fighting poverty, the provision of education has faced immense drawbacks influenced by effects of poverty. According to Europa Publications (2004), The United Nations Environment, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) advocates for provision of education to all individuals as a mechanism to reducing poverty and inequalities in societies by increasing access at all levels with special reference to gender.
Facts about poverty and education
Access to water, fuel wood and food.
Effects of Poverty on self esteem.
Poverty, education and the girl child.
Access to education resources
Geographic disparities in access to education.

Access to water, fuel and food
Essential commodities such as water, fuel and food have affected in one way or another accessibility of individuals to education. This is widely evidenced in developing countries such as Asia, Africa and some parts of Europe where water scarcity is prone in most regions (Europa Publications, 2004). Students have to walk for a long distance to obtain water for domestic use which takes up a substantial amount of their school hours, therefore, affecting quality.
Effects of Poverty on self esteem
Poverty affects the self esteem of students due to social status difference in their classrooms, where individuals from poor families are unable to access quality educative materials and are therefore sidelined by their classmates resulting in isolation. A student from a poor social status feels left out as they cannot interact with those from well founded backgrounds. These lowers their interaction levels as well as their participation in class work, hence further affecting their overall performance. Biddle (2001) emphasizes that the occupation of the parent and family income affects the students outcome in school based activities.
Poverty, Education and the girl child
Poverty has played an active role in affecting the accessibility levels to education by the girl child. As Benedicta Egbo (2000) states, Structural Adjustment Programs introduced by the World Bank as a mechanism to counter poverty through free market economies, the girl child was affected in that there has been an overall reduction in per capita expenditure and enrollments which threatens girls education as well as the gains made in gender based development. Moreover, Egbo (2000) says that due to inadequate resources in poor families, the girl child in these families faces the brunt of lack of education as parents prefer to educate the male child mainly attributed to cultural biases.
Access to education resources
Education resources are an essential key to better education. Such resources include reading materials, teachers and facilities such as classrooms. Any inadequacy in accessing such resources therefore affects the quality of education in general. Poverty plays a big role in the inability to access quality educational resources. In the sense that, learners and educational institutional found within poor stratum in society may not be able to access quality and updated resources that require high amount of resources and skills such as online libraries like Questia and other journals. As a result, such individual remain to recycle old sources and materials that do not give new skills that are at per with society advancement. As Biddle (2001) reports, poor societies and individuals are unable to provide such facilities for their children hence compromising the quality of education as a whole.
Geographic disparities
Geographic regions affect the access to basic resources, education being one of them. Societies residing in marginal areas are worst hit as these resources do not trickle down to them due to their regional placement. It is far more affected by poor families that occupy these fragile lands such as polar, arid and semi arid areas. Students in these areas find it difficult to access education resources, even those available are quite expensive, and thus, they are inaccessible and compromise the quality of education (Europa Publications, 2004). 
Recommendations
    In order to minimize and finally eradicate poverty worldwide, education remains a key instrument. Therefore, the way forward I propose is by first, promoting gender equality in the provision of education to ensure both boy and girl child have equal opportunity to access education. However, various world cultures may prove impediment as their value for girl child may be distorted. Second, there should be a proper mechanism for enhancing equitable distribution of economic resources in low potential areas especially developing nations to curb education inequalities resulting from regional disparity, by adding level and amount of grants and donations. Though, there is a challenge in implementation of donor funds in most cases due to misappropriation and corruption.
Third, encouraging affirmative action to advocate for improved access to education by the girl child can play a critical role in this social issue. And lastly, is though encouraging community education where the community plays a fundamental role in the provision of education facilities and resources. In this way, the communities own and actively participate in provision of education to their population. Foe it to be successful, there is need to have attitude and behavior change that is education supportive.

In conclusion, education plays a very big role in the reduction of poverty in global population through both direct and indirect perceived benefits of education. However, a compromise in its quality is effected by poverty in terms of lack of basic housing, healthcare, clean and safe water, food that poor stratum faces. As a result, this interlocking aspect between poverty effects on education creates a vicious cycle. It is therefore essential to capture the above recommendations to ensure that education works towards eradicating poverty since poverty is global epidemic.

There as been a wrong perception that there is something like British nationality. In the reality there is no British nationality, what we have are several British nationalities which include English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh.This make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Merriam Webster dictionary defines nationality as a status of belonging to a given or specific nation through a process which can either by birth or naturalization. It is a group of people who are united by several factors which include a common language, culture, geographical territory and history. According to this definition it is clear that a British nationality is non existence since the groups represented in the United Kingdom have different cultures, different languages, history and live in different territories. The English have own culture and history which is totally different form the Irish and Scottish. All citizens in the United Kingdom have a British citizenship but they belong to different nationalities.

People have been educated that English is the same as British something which actually is wrong. England is one of the countries that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The people in this part of the kingdom are referred to as English, they have an English nationality. On the other hand British refer to the people who live in the four constituent countries of United Kingdom. The people in these constituent countries may speak in a common language which in this case is English but they belong to different countries where they have their own culture, language and a common history. There are usually distinct differences between groups who live in the constituents countries of United Kingdom. This is because each group has developed their own ways of life and customs which have unique characteristics. (Hastings, A.1997 23)

National identity and citizenship are different things in United Kingdom. All the people in British have a common citizenship but have different national identities. The Welsh and Scottish people usually get angry when they are referred to as English. They have their own culture, parliament and other characteristics which are totally different from England. They have an identity which is distance apart from that of English people. Most of the white people who have acquired British citizenship through birth usually do not regard themselves as British although they are British citizens. They prefer to be identified with their nations. There are several people who have blood connections which cut across the different nations, therefore a question arises how they would be described in terms of their national identities. For example we have a large percentage of people who have parents from two different nationalities within the United Kingdom. Sometimes it becomes difficult to classify them as one given nationality. The decision to chose one own identity falls on the individual as they have a choice either to identified as  English or Irish depending on their circumstances. (Woodward, Kath.2004 142)

To understand this concept clearly it is important to look at the background of each constituent country in United Kingdom. England is the largest of the four countries in terms of size and population. This is the region which is occupied by people who are referred as English .They have an English identity as they share a common history, have similar history and ways of life. This nationality is the most dominant of the four and this may explain the reason why people confuse English for the British. These are totally different words as each has a different meaning. English refers to the people who have n English identity and belong to England through birth. On the other hand British refer to the four nations which make up the Great Britain. Therefore describing English as British will be a disservice to the other nationals in the United Kingdom. They have a different national identity which is totally different from that of England. (Happit, Julian.2003 3)

The Welsh people are associated with the Welsh language and the Wales region. This is a group which has suffered most as far as their national identity is concerned. They are usually thought to be part of English nation but they have a different identity. The Welsh prefer to be identified through their own nation as opposed to the British nationality which in reality is non existence. This emerged during the 2000 national census when a controversy emerged due to the absence of a box for the Welsh where they were supposed to state their identity or ethnic background. Though most of them choose the option which was close, that is white British, this was not their choice as seventy eight percent of them preferred to be identified as a group on its own as was the case with the Scotts and Irish people. In this census despite the fact that the option was not available they went ahead and indicated that they belong to Welsh ethnic group. According to the labour survey which was carried out in 2001 it was found out that eighty seven percent of the people who were born in Wales claimed to be welsh nationals while those who resided in the area but were not born here were factored it was found that sixty seven percent of them claimed to be welsh or welsh British. This greatly indicated that they prefer to be identified through their national identity rather than being conglomerated as British nationals. (Nairn Tom.2003 81)

    Most people who live in Scotland say they are Scottish rather than British. They have an identity which they would like to retain despite being citizens of the larger United Kingdom. The same applies to the Irish nationals. These two nationals are the most independent compared to the other two constituent countries in the Great Britain Empire. They have their own governance system which is to some extent independent form the main United Kingdom system. They enjoy some level of autonomy. When it comes to the population census the two groups are given the leeway to indicate their own nationalities or ethnic background. This is an indication that even within the planning circles there is a clear distinction that people from different constituent countries have their own identity which should be respected by all standards. (Hachey, Thomas, Herman Joseph and McCaffrey Lawrence.1996 56)

    Studies conducted over a period of time indicate that the issue of national identity in Great Britain is highly valued. People tend to choose their national identity in relation to their place of birth. They have a strong feeling about their backgrounds this is more common to the people who reside in Scotland and Ireland who see themselves as different nationals form their counterparts in Wales and England. This is proof that there is nothing like British nationality what we have are different nationalities within the Great Britain (Berrington.Hugh.1998 143)

    England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland are different nations within the United Kingdom of Great Britain .Each nation has its own distinct history and culture. The people in these constituent nations have a sense of belonging and owe allegiance to their give national identity although they are British citizens. Nationality and citizenship may be related terms but in British they have different meanings. All the people who reside within the boundaries of the United Kingdom and the law allows them to be citizens of this larger country have a British citizenship but they belong to different nationalities. To them British is an umbrella which covers them all but have different homes where they belong. These are their nations which define their identity and origin.

Nationality defines a group of people who possess a common identity based on a common language, culture, geographical territory and history. Considering this definition then, can we say that there is something like a British nationality  For Britain to qualify to have a common nationality for all those within its territory, all the people must have a reasonable combination of these factors. The British national can have four different identities namely English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh. Any of these identities is recognised as British, which makes one question the validity of a single British nationality. Merriam Webster dictionary defines nationality as a status belonging to a given or specific nation through a process, which can be by either birth or naturalisation, and the British nationality fails to meet this definition.
    To address this question, one needs to individually look at each of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom using the different aspects of nationality as we have specified above.  The purpose this is to get rid of the perception that has always equated the British to English. This is a wrong perception because the people referred to as English come from England, which is one of the countries that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
On the other hand, British refer to the people who live in the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom. Hence, the question that needs to be addressed is whether the people who live in these four countries and are referred to as British meet the criteria of a common nationality.
    Of the four England is the largest of the four. The occupants of this country are called English. They are the most dominant of the four groups and that perhaps explains the fact that they always dominate other groups. The terms English and British are used interchangeably and in a confusing manner. The English are better known as a nation that loves football with some of Europes top clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal, and Nottingham Forest being found here. However, the English have had a hard time trying to curve out their own identities distinct from the other four groups because of the confusion between the terms English and British (Kumar, 20032). Yet the English have their own way of speaking (accents) and culture that differentiates them from the rest. However, this ethnic group forms the core of the British empire and that probably explains the reason as to why they have always be mistaken as British (Kumar, 20039).
    The other constituent nation that makes up the United Kingdom is Scottland. It joined the British empire in the 18th century and its people are easily identified from their accents (all have their accents) and their dress also known as the tartan. Scottland has its own legal, education, banking, language, church and even its own trade union congress  (Hanham, 1969). All these instituitions inform national culture and that is why the scottish have always managed to curve out a disticnt identity.
    Wales joined the United Kingdom in 1536 and was thereafter administered from the British empire (Moll-Gymnasium, 2009). Compared to other three members, the welsh have the least conspicous identity. They are probably known as a rugby playing nation but other than that the country has not curved a distinct identity from England. The country has been under the complete rule of Britain for so many years but is now trying to manage its own affairs. The country passed the Welsh language act in 1993 and thereafer in 1997 the country voted in favor of more devolution of power to its new assembly (Moll-Gymnasium, 2009).
    Ireland is home to Irish commuity, a part of the British empire that has always been associated with catholic and protestant movement. In other words, Irish nationalism is mainly based on religion because this is the factor that has for long defined this population. The native language of the Irish is the irish language also known as Gailge. According to  (yourIrish.com, 2009) a third of the population have a degree of fluency in Irish.
Where is the British nationality
    Having looked at the countries and cultures that comprise the British Empire we then want to locate the idea of a British nationality from it. The noticeable thing from this analysis is that scotland and Ireland have always maintained distinct identinties from England. In other words, their national identinties as Irish or Scottish have always been preserved. England on the other hand has found it hard to distinguish itself from the larger british identity because the line between British and English has remained blurred.
    From our definition of nationality, British nationality cannot be said to exist if the word is considered in its truest sense. We have four groups of people who have different histories, cultures and live in different territories. According to (Hastings, 199723) the constituent groups or countries that live within the UK have evolved their own unique characteristics out of their unique customs and ways of life that have developed over the years.
    It is worth noting that the British Empire moved from England outwards and pulled in the other groups, which means that the groups were brought in together in the interest of expanding the empire and not as a way of bringing together people with common cultures. As a result, the groups are still distinct from each other and now they are even growing more distinct. A good example is the citizenry of Wales. They voted to have more devolved powers and enacted a legislation to promote their native language. That is a sign that they want to identify more as Welsh. (Nairn, 200381) cites a survey done in a national census where a majority of the Welsh identified preferred to identify themselves more as Welsh as opposed to British as a sign that they like their Welsh identity more. This is indicative of the fact that the citizens in the four countries identify more with their individual nationalities than they do with the British nationality. In sum, the common British identity is just artificial and was only useful for the administration of the former British Empire and beyond that, the groups have different nationalities and cultures to match.

Indeed, scientists are objective, this is essential to maintain integrity in their field of work. Nonetheless, science also has a human side, although the individual scientists might look as if they are working alone or detached from the rest of society, they are still part of the society and are specifically included in a scientific community (Cotgrove, 1970). According to Anderson and Buck (1980), it is the human side that forms scientific communities. This could be reflected on the manner in which scientists treat science. The interpersonal relationships between scientists are reflected in their discourse more particularly in the way they convey a judgment. Lewin (2005) highlighted how scientists make use of polite remarks when giving comments to other scientists works. This undermines what Fagan (2009) stressed about Flecks theory regarding the shared values among scientists. Thus, science as a field of study may not be as objective as it was thought to be, especially since there is a dynamic interaction among the scientists, researchers, academicians and even corporations or research sponsors.
It is inevitable that a particular product of science could be made without the collective help of other scientists or other people (Cotgrove, 1970). Scientific inquiry is made through the connection established by the scientist to the surroundings, which includes other people and the environment (Mcgin  Roth, 1999). To this end, seeing science as something that is only socially derived rather than objectively discovered implies the importance of community or the social structures for science to be effective.
Lewin (2005), Cotgrove (1970), Anderson and Buck (1980), Mcgin and Roth (1999), and Fagan (2009), explicitly mentioned the fact that science is affected and is derived from the society. However, they did not try to dwell deeper on how social structures affected the scientific discourse. Lewin talked about how scientific discourse is an institutionalized genre for expressing criticism (723). Lewin focused on how criticisms are made, not about how criticisms worked as a reflection of the scientific discourse. Anderson and Buck looked into the Third World scenarios which reflected the scientific development not on the scientific discourse involved. Fagan stressed how values were shared in the society but did not address the impact of the shared value to the context of scientific discourse.
In order to examine this relationship, I would use Lewins study of comments and judgments in scientific discourse to analyze how the tension between interpersonal considerations and objectivity in science may affect how science is construed (Lewin, 2005 724). This could help reveal how the norms in science are derived on organizational structures. I would also like to include the review made by Anderson and Buck (1980) regarding how science is treated and perceived in Third World countries, to clarify and examine how the development of science is dependent on the society. My objective would be to find the difference between the discourse used by scientists in Third World countries and in developed countries to show how social structure affects scientific discourse.

In his book Global Warming The complete briefing, John Houghton essentially provides us with a detailed account of the bits and pieces regarding the subject of global warming which has become an issue of concern for the entire globe. Human activity over the years has remained unchecked and consequently, it has taken its toll over the environment.  This brief report will attempt to shed light upon the issue of global warming, remarking as well on the awareness of the issue amongst the public as well as discussing various methods that have been proposed in order to curb global warming ending with a critical analysis of the entire topic.
John Houghton, in his book, has essentially identified the entire issue of global warming by firstly, outlining its causes while also remarking upon its historical significance as well as discussing some of the potential solutions that have been proposed. Newspapers have basically, over the past, inherently told the story of global warming by displaying various articles. Articles that have been published till today signify the diverse theories that people and scientists have regarding the issue of global warming. Starting from the industrial revolution and moving onwards to the Kyoto treaty as well as the creation of the innovative hybrid technology, in order to reduce carbon emissions, has been published in newspapers all over the world. The fact that the impacts of global warming are not apparently obvious has essentially created a situation in which most people think that the theories explaining global warming are not valid while some have stated that global warming is indeed a by product of increased human activity. This debate has been portrayed by newspapers diligently over the course of history by writing about the slowly changing climate and the things that have led to such a change. Resultantly, people are completely aware of the issue of global warming in almost all of its aspects.
Global warming has basically been set in motion after the industrial revolution which resulted in the creation of by products which have significantly affected the environment over the course of the past years. Gases like carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide etc have been excessively released into the atmosphere because of various industrial manufacturing activities as well as the emissions from vehicles. Such emissions have basically due to chemical reactions within the atmosphere depleted the ozone layer which protects the earth from the dangerous rays of the sun. In accordance with the depletion of the ozone layer, the mean global temperature has risen considerably over the years and will continue to rise if specific actions are not taken to counteract the impacts.
 Over the years, after the identification of the causes of global warming, scientists have worked diligently in order to discover a way to reduce the amount of emissions of these dangerous gases. The result has been a concerted global effort which has led to research into new technologies which will reduce the amount of emissions. One of the major infant inventions has been the creation of hydrogen fuel which basically has only one by product water. However, the hybrid technology that needs to be installed in cars in order to make them run on hydrogen fuel is still in its preliminary stages and is very expensive for the common man. Another recent advancement has been the Kyoto protocol which basically is an agreement between various nations for the purpose of bringing down emission levels to that of the year 1990. The agreement basically involves the use of emissions trading which means that there is an overall limit set on total global emissions and consequently, countries can buy and sell the annual quota of emissions that they posses under the Kyoto protocol.
The basic solution behind the global warming issues lies within a structural change that is required all over the world but at a very micro level in the sense that nations need to change their entire production methods into procedures that are environmental friendly. However, such a change will required the installation of technology which is extremely costly hence application all over the world would be impossible because every nation does not posses the financial means to buy such contraceptives especially developing countries. Therefore, that is why agreements like the Kyoto protocol which have set an overall cap upon global emissions as well as the facilitation of technology and financial assistance to its less fortunate members will inherently show fruitful results.
Nevertheless, one of the most important things to note is that we need to shift our energy production processes towards renewable sources such as solar energy, wind energy etc. Nuclear energy is also a good alternative because it does not result in emissions however, it does produce toxic and radioactive which in turn does affect the environment. Thus solar energy seems like an extremely good option because it is completely renewable and does not have any harmful by products. Scientists are working towards developing vehicles which can be powered by sunlight. Therefore, there are a lot of potential solutions to the issue of global warming however, a lot of work still needs to be done in order to completely negate its effects.