Preserving Water is Preserving Life Essay Example for Free

Preserving Water is Preserving Life Essay There are various resources that the Earth provides its inhabitants, but the most important natural resource is water. However, despite the fact that water is an irreplaceable natural resource, humans tend to abuse without knowing the implications. It is necessary to save water not only because it is a very manageable resource (Padmavathy Malarvizhi, 2006), but also because of the fact that water provides life to every living thing on Earth. Without it, life cannot be sustained: humans can survive weeks without food, but without water, they will only be able to survive for a few days. Apart from this, water also sustains the growth of life in forests, jungles which are the habitats of other species. Unfortunately, as much as the world would like to believe that natures resources would last forever, such is not possible. Water is a finite source, and only about 0. 024% of all the water resources in the world is accessible, while the rest of the worlds water supply consists of oceans and inaccessible freshwater in the deep earth (Dauvergne, 2005). Humans, animals, and plant life will not be able to subsist without water; plant life would not be able to grow, and animals which eat plants will not have any food supply. These animals will deplete in numbers, they will devastate the food chain and bigger animals which eat these animals will also lose their food supply. If animals continue to thin in numbers, they would eventually become endangered, and unfortunately, it is possible that they may become instinct. In order to preserve life on Earth, every individual should have the initiative to save water. There is a need to educate people of the implications of losing freshwater on Earth, for the first step to understanding would be education. If people pitch in and do their part for the preservation of water, life on Earth may have a chance in subsisting for generations. References Dauvergne, P. (2005). Handbook of global environmental politics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgas Publishing Limited. Padmavathy, S. Malarvizhi. (2006). Conservation of protected water resource in household. In G. Chandrakumar N. Mukundan, Water resource management: Thrust and

Examining The Mentor Relationship Between Students And Nurses Nursing Essay

Examining The Mentor Relationship Between Students And Nurses Nursing Essay   There are many faces to nursing. The nursing role includes various responsibilities, including more than nursing patients, all  having the same objectives with the aim to producing whatever might improve the development of nursing, which will eventually be of benefit to patients.   Patients do not realize that nurses need to prepare and guide students to help them become competent nurses. Student nurses have to go through a three year program to become a nurse, but the academic side of learning is not enough to become a good nurse. A nurse must practice to master all the skills required to be able to care for patients in a professional manner. The educational nursing process has continued to evolve and new challenges are being raised.   One of the great challenges in development is the process of mentorship and supervision of nursing students, where the main goal is to guide students through their clinical placement, to make sure that they become the most competent practitioners. This process is called mentoring. A mentor is a practitioner who facilitates learning by supervising and assessing the nursing students in their clinical practice area.(English National Board For Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting Department of Health (2001) Preparation for Teachers and Mentors: A New Framework of Guidance. ENB/DH, London.). Mentors helps to bridge the gap between the theory and practice, and so nursing students develop an understanding about their profession. There are clinical tutors available from  nursing universities who can guide students in clinical practice, but mentoring by the nurse working in the ward of practice has the most advantage since the latest techniques, tools and protocols are familiar and used continuously. Jarvis (1992) argued that teachers of nursing cannot be up to date with practice if they are not practicing. A mentor who is non active cannot give expertise guidance to real life scenarios. A  relationship needs to be formed between the nurse and the student, which should be motivated by the fact, that by sharing their knowledge, they are helping to improve the entire health system, through improving the quality and quantity of more competent newly qualified nurses, who will eventually become their own colleagues. Consequently, the more reliable new colleagues will be, the more responsibility and workload in the ward can be shared, and managing the ward can become straightforward. Managers should be more understanding and compliant to mentoring in the wards, as  lack of time is the biggest restriction that obstructs supervising. Time which nurses can dedicate to mentoring is very limited in the wards, as these have to perform their nursing duties as usual. In the past mentors did not exist and student nurses had to learn the hard way, many times through trial and error, which frequently could have been detrimental to the patients. There was no one delegated, with the duty to guide the student nurses, who were young, fragile and afraid when entering this real life scenario. Due to lack of staff, student nurses were used as an extra pair of hands, sometimes doing tasks which they had not mastered.  Some  were so naive,  even confessing to the patient this is the first time Im doing this procedure, and the patient already frightened from being in hospital, has to endure the knowledge that he is being used as a guinea pig. Nowadays patients are not going through these experiences anymore. Today nursing students are in hospital to learn and acquire experience under supervision and are not given tasks to practice on patients, unless a mentor is convinced the student has acquired the ability to perform such tasks. Procedures are explain ed to the mentee so that they can understand while observing their mentor and later bring forward any difficulties or suggestions.   Part of mentoring is being a role model, to be of inspiration to others. A role model does not need to be in the highest rank, just a qualified nurse who carries out a role in a manner that makes others desire to be just like him/her.   Gordon (2003) suggests that role modelling, has a very strong influence on forming how students perform. We are all inspired to become a role model and finding one, who fulfils our expectations, gives us a clear vision of what we want to achieve and what we want to become. Students who are well motivated and have a sound theoretical knowledge can learn a lot through observing a good nurse while practicing. It is easier for the student to retain practical knowledge when it is visualized than when it is thought in the classroom. Students will realize what has been learned from observing, only when given the opportunity to try out the procedure for themselves under supervision. Producing competent professionals, with all its complex combinations of knowledge, performance, skills and attitudes needs contribution from nurses, patients and managers. Without effective mentoring, and knowledge acquired through the professional education, it is difficult to achieve this state of competence   Beyond doubt mentors have a leading role in our profession; their importance is vital in the continued success of nursing and to make the student feel connected to the placement area. A mentor can be seen as an advisor, teacher, role model and counsellor, adapting to different situations. Allowing students to participate in patient care under supervision, while giving them opportunity to experience and practice a variety of skills, will surely result in better quality care delivered to patients.   To conclude Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction John C, Crosby (1859-1943). American politician

Identity on the Internet :: Technology Computers

Identity on the Internet Before the internet, there was only the computer, large ones that take up a whole room. The computer then was seen only as a tool, and then a few years later there was the personal computer which made it more accessible and more interactive. The PC was a kind of evolutionary step which enabled us to have wider relationships. But these relationships did not appear yet until PCs started to become interconnected. This is where internet comes in. At first it was only a military tool, used by the States to connect their military branches and easily share their data. That was until someone saw the commercial value and the great potential of the net. In the article of Sherry Turkle, she described a new world where we have started to populate over the years with several mirrors of ourselves. The cyberspace is exactly that strange new world people have inhabited with the help of technology like the personal computer. With our lives now inside the screen and our personal selves cannot be determined by the other end then the internet, we gain the ability to recreate ourselves virt ually in the new world. We now have the ability to create characters will may or may not reflect our own identity. With MUD or multi user domains the characters we play can even have emotions that can be conveyed to a large number of other players residing in the cyber world. Through the interactions we have with players around the world, our real life personas, Turkle pointed out, go to â€Å"sleep† and our characters materialize inside the virtual domain. Players often border between real life (RL), a term coined by several MUD enthusiast and their cyber worlds and as a result there are several analogies that will work for this topic. Let’s take Play by Email (PBeM) as an example; this will be discussed further later on. The author is the player in cyber world and the interaction in the game is in the form of writing and the computer is the converter of simple words into the character’s actions, thoughts and feelings. Anonymity is a window to a new character. The internet also gives a person a chance to explore his other desires. He may be a man in RL but plays a woman in the game. She maybe a lawyer but plays a bartender.

Descriptive Essay - The Football Practice Field -- Descriptive Essay, D

The Beauty of the Football Practice Field Imagine a small town with green trees and windy roads slowly fading into the "dobes" of the desert that surround its southern border. Along with the desert is a vast mountain range that snuggles against its northern and eastern borders. The heart of this small town is its high school, which resides on the outer edge of the town where the green stops and the dry "dobes" begin. The school is completely surrounded by dry plains that stretch as far as you can see except for a small oasis of green grass. This small oasis of grass is known to many as the practice field. To those who are merely passing by, it looks like a dying piece of land that has been forgotten. What they don't know is the reason behind its dreadful appearance. The abuse it takes is from the pounding of hard spikes and heavy bodies that fall on it day in and day out. These, along with the pungent pools of water, have contributed to the field's downfall. Although it is a great sight seeing a patch of green amongst such dry plains and rolling "dobes", the most exciting v...

Home Schooling is Seldom Done at Home! :: Personal Narrative Essay Example

My Home Schooling is Seldom Done at Home! I am writing this essay in the hope of answering two questions that you might have for anyone who studies at home: why do I homeschool and how do I do it? Â   After graduating from the Antioch School, a private alternative school connected with Antioch College, I decided to spend my seventh grade year at Ridgewood, a private prep school. This was instead of going on the the Yellow Springs Junior High like most of my friends. I chose Ridgewood primarily for one reason: the students. They were happy, lively, accepting, and seemed very interested in their work. Â   Although I received very good grades, and did very well academically at Ridgewood, I found that my learning was very controlled and prescribed. At the Antioch School I had always been encouraged to take charge of my own learning. But at Ridgewood everyone was expected to move along with everyone else, plodding at a universal pace that was too fast for some and infinitely too slow for others. It was expected that we would accommodate our learning for the good of the class; no one was allowed to move out of the mundane rhythm and learn for themselves. Our minds were not our property, they belonged to a communal brain bank and no one could make a withdrawal without their other classmates taking out the exact same amount. For example, although grammar had always been very easy for me, I was still often expected to complete four grammar assignments per night along with everyone else in the class, whether or not I needed them. I often found I did not have the time for my own interests or m y own learning. Â   I left Ridgewood with a firm idea in my head: I was not going back the next year; I was going to homeschool. My parents and I had discussed this at length during the second half of my seventh grade year. There was so much I wanted to do, so many things I wanted to accomplish that I knew would not be possible if I remained at Ridgewood. So, that last day, after saying farewell to my friends and telling them I would not be returning the next year, I finally started to live my life. Â   That first year of homeschool was filled with such an incredible sense of elation.

Future Competitive Threats of China and India for Industries Essay

Discuss the future competitive threats of China and India for industries in developed countries. The emergence of China as the mass manufacturing pioneer in the world has lead to the concern that China will soon be competing with the industries in the developed nations. India, at the same time, is emerging as the centre of IT enabled services including software development, and poses significant threat to the developed countries in high-skill goods and services. Today, the main competitive threat that China and India pose to the developed nations is their cheap labour. They are able to produce basically anything at a much lower price compare to those in the western developed nations. Therefore, they signify threats to these countries. However, on the future prospects, China and India would acquire competitive threat that is different from what they were before. For instance, the education rate in China and India are both increasing, and they produce about half a million of scientists and engineers a year comparing to mere 60,000 in the US. Therefore, these skilled labours will take over the current low skilled labours in these two countries and further exploit the opportunities that they have, and compete better in the high skill sectors. In addition, many companies from the developed nations have shifted their R&D centre to the China and India, therefore, China and India are able to learn and gain experience through these foreign R&D centre and excel in innovations in the future. This makes the developed nations to lose their competitive advantage, and signifies competitive threat from China and India.

Meaning of Life and Socrates Essay

Socrates was considered by many to be the wisest man in ancient Greece. While he was eventually condemned for his wisdom, his spoken words are still listened to and followed today. When, during his trial, Socrates stated that, â€Å"the unexamined life is not worth living† (Plato 45), people began to question his theory. They began to wonder what Socrates meant with his statement, why he would feel that a life would not be worth living. To them, life was above all else, and choosing to give up life would be out of the picture. They did not understand how one would choose not to live life just because he would be unable to examine it. Socrates felt that if he was unable to examine life, he would not be really living. To Socrates, living meant being able to question the world around him. Examining life gives one freedom. Once one examines himself and understands who he is, he can take control of his life. Socrates believed that the ability to ask, to examine, and to understand would make a life whole. He believed that the purpose of life was to grow, both physically and spiritually. Being able to explore and understand would lead to a deeper understanding of the world around us as well as a deeper understanding of ourselves. (Plato 46) Socrates felt that, above all, one should be a good citizen and always do the right thing (Plato 18). However, many in his time did not worry about doing what was correct. Socrates realized this, and understood that they did not care to look into their actions and beliefs. Their first thoughts were on the goals that they had, such as money and pleasure, rather than the thought of whether or not the goals they held were actually what should have been considered important and right (Plato 26). Socrates knew that, unless they took the time to question their lifestyles, they would never do the right thing. By living a life that was being examined, the citizens would be living a life that was, for the most part, also right. Socrates†¦ Personally, I have found great value in examining the wisdom of many acts in my life, yet there are many types of people in this world, and if some do not ponder the wisdom of their actions much at all, must we (or particularly they) conclude their life is less worth living? It seems awfully condescending. The people who don’t examine their lives much probably aren’t examining Socrates statement. If they did, they might object to the interpretation with which it is adopted by philosophers. The live in which I let other people tell me what the questions of life are, the life in which I let other people give me their answers without my thinking through to my own answers, is the unexamined life. Socrates is saying that the life in which I ask my own questions and answer them for myself in a reasonable manner is a more valuable life than the unexamined life. The examined life is so much better than an unexamined life that Socrates is willing to die for that value. Through out generations, mankind has been asking themselves what is the purpose of life. And obviously, it would not easy for one alone to answer or explain what the meaning of life is. Nevertheless, one’s life is monotonous if it is meaningless, and it is not monotonous if it has a purpose, a target to go. Thus, the question here is how one knows that his life is worth living or not? Socrates, the father of ancient philosophy, once stated, â€Å"An unexamined life is not worth living. † In order to make one life becomes worth to live, this famous statement strongly addresses that one must exanimate himself first and then others in the society to find the meaning and happiness of life. After reading Plato’s account of Socrates defense, the Apology, I was completely blown away by the power of Socrates words and ideas. The reading left me thinking about how I felt regarding what he had said about virtue, truth and the quest for both. In class, we discussed Socrates search for virtue and we touched on the topic of this paper: the reasons Socrates believed that â€Å"the unexamined life is not worth living for man†. It is my opinion that he is correct in that view and in this paper I intend to show you why. Like many philosophers alive in his time, it was Socrates belief that virtue could only be attained through examination. Only through exploration can you really understand what virtue is, and begin to act virtuously. Understanding, as well as sharing, this information was very important goal to Socrates. The significance of examining and understanding our lives is far greater than one might think. Understanding and comprehending the behavior of friends, as well as of ourselves, enables us to have empathy and compassion for them. And, allows us not to stand in judgment, which, in turn, allows us to live the moral, noble lives that Socrates spoke of. As one analyzes the â€Å"Apology† by Plato, one is able to analyze and contrast and most people would agree with Socrates when he claims that â€Å"†¦the unexamined life is not worth living†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . From a more personal standpoint I would completely agree with Socrates point of view, due to the fact most of us in society have chosen to live the â€Å"unexamined life† for centuries and as a result we live in a society where one has to live segregated from our freewill as human beings as well as a society that is restrained by rules and other types of social â€Å"walls†. When one reads and is able to contrast Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave† it clearly shows a great and perhaps the most clear example of the point that Socrates was attempting to make to the jury, in the â€Å"Apology†. For example in Plato’s â€Å"Allegory of the Cave†, Plato makes the reader visualize a cave where there are a great number of prisoners who are restrained and are faced staring at the wall where all they can see is shadow movements that are projected from a fire that is placed right behind these prisoners, and this fire is displaying false images from what appears to be images of the outside world. As the story proceeds, one of the prisoners manages to pe the cave and he walks outside into the â€Å"real† world and is able to see a completely different view of the real world and this prisoner is able to see a completely different image of the outside world, different from the images that the shadows inside the cave were exposing to the prisoners. What Socrates is implying is that if one decides not to discover thyself and attempts to focus more on material interest and the acquisition of personal power, one is capable of abusing this power to an extent where it may result in havoc and possibly the destruction of those who occupy the state, either emotionally or physically and all as a result of decisions that were not taken into consideration before being applied. † What I was able to grasp from this quote that Socrates phrased is that one has the wisdom to accomplish anything in one’s personal life, but one should able to find our soul and locate the wisdom that one contains inside the mind before one attempts to reach personal obstacles in life. the greatest good of all man is daily to converse about virtue. When the time for the exam came along I decided not cheat in the exam simply because I was going to have to live with a guilty conscious for quite sometime and although cheating on the exam appeared tempting at the time I still needed some time to myself and ponder about the decision that I had to make that was probably going to damage my personal morality as an individual. † The part of the phrase that really caught my attention is when Socrates says â€Å". † What Socrates is trying to make us see is that the more one speaks about virtue the more a person is able to learn about the â€Å"virtues† of one’s personal life, or in other words we are able to acquire more knowledge of the human mind and its capabilities. I did not go where I could do no good to you or to myself; but where I could do the greatest good privately to everyone of you , thither I went, and sought to persuade every man among you that he must look to himself , and seek virtue and wisdom before he looks to his private interests, and look to the state before he looks to the interests of the state; and that this should be the order which he observes in all his actions. In my third semester in Santa Monica College I was taking a math class and during the first month of the semester I had already taken two exams and had failed on both, as a result before the day of the third exam arrived I was feeling somewhat nervous due to the fact that I was not prepared to take this exam. So as the moment was arriving for this exam, I began to ponder about idea of cheating in order for the results to go my way. When the escaped prisoner decides to go into the cave and attempts to explain to the other prisoners about what is really occurring in the outside world, the other prisoners decide to gain up on the â€Å"liberated† prisoner, because they were not prepared to see reality for what it really is, so they decided to chose to somewhat live the life of a â€Å"social slave† and not the life of a person who lives a life of freedom nor freewill. Another quote that Socrates applies in this story is when he quotes â€Å". The same thing goes for the â€Å"unexamined life†, sometimes we as a human being attempt to achieve a certain level of success in life and sometimes at the expense of others and although we may acquire success, we will always live with the conscious of such guilt that later on in life it is going to comeback and hunt us. â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living. † (Apology, p. 41) Socrates held him self up to this standard by allowing the courts to take his life because they would not allow him to continue his quest set forth by the Oracle. An unexamined life would be just coasting through and not making any decisions or asking any questions. Socrates could not see a point in living if you were unable to ask questions and challenge your way of thinking. An examined life would be trying to understand your purpose and the current state of things. By examining your life, therefor understanding yourself, you will not be subject to actions motivated by passion or instinct. Socrates demonstrated this when Crito arrived at his jail cell with news that he could help Socrates escape. This was an event where they had to act quickly, however Socrates said â€Å"Let us examine the question together, my dear friend, and if you can make any objection while I am speaking, make it and I will listen to you, but if you have no objection to make, my dear Crito, then stop now from saying the same thing so often, that I must leave here against the will of the Athenians. I think it important to persuade you before I act, and not to act against your wishes. See whether the start of our enquiry is adequately stated, and try to answer what I ask you in the way you think best. † (Crito, p. 51) Socrates examines the situation with Crito instead of acting hastily. This example displays how dedicated Socrates was to his way of thinking, and helps explain Socrates actions in court. Meletus was the catalyst of this case brought against Socrates. Meletus’s affidavit said â€Å"Socrates is guilty of wrongdoing in that he busies himself studying things in the sky and below the earth; he makes the worse into the stronger argument, and he teaches these same things to others. † (Apology, p. 25) Socrates says all these claims are false and challenges anyone in the court to speak up if they are true. Socrates was also accused of corrupting the young and of not believing in the gods the city believed in but believing in his own gods. Socrates attacked each of these accusations point by point. To disprove the accusation that he corrupts the young he says â€Å"They say: That man Socrates is a pestilential fellow who corrupts the young. If one ask them what he does and what he teaches to corrupt them, they are silent, as they do not know. † (Apology, p. 29) To disprove the statement that he does not believe in the gods the city believes in, he starts to question the jury. Socrates states â€Å"Does any man, Meletus, believe in human activities who does not believe in humans? † â€Å"Or in flue-playing activities but not in flute-players? † (Apology, p. 32) Socrates sets up these analogies so he can compare them to the statements that he does not believe in any gods. Socrates then applies this analogy to himself by saying. â€Å"Then since I do believe in spirits, as you admit, if spirits are gods, this is what I mean when I say you speak in riddles and in jest, as you state that I do not believe in gods and then again that I do, since I do believe in spirits†. (Apology, p. 32) Socrates in his defense is trying to prove that Meletus’s charges are blown out of proportion and they are wasting the courts time. Socrates is posed with the question â€Å"Are you not ashamed, Socrates, to have followed the kind of occupation that has led to your being now in danger of death? † (Apology, p. 33) Socrates replies â€Å"Whenever a man has taken a position that he believes to be best, or has been placed by his commander, there he must I think remain and face danger, without a thought for death or anything else, rather than disgrace. † (Apology, p. 33) Socrates is saying when you dedicate your life or you strongly believe in a belief or subject no matter what the danger, you should still stand behind your beliefs. By doing this, you live an examined life. In Socrates case, if he were to accept the punishment of never practicing philosophy he would be living an unexamined life because he could just set aside his beliefs and move on through life. Socrates explains his passion for philosophy by saying â€Å"Gentlemen of the jury, I am grateful and I am your friend, but I will obey the god rather than you, and as long as I draw breath and am able, I shall not cease to practise philosophy, to exhort you and in my usual way to point out to any one of you whom I happen to meet. † (Apology, p. 34) The way Socrates explains himself to the jury, I see a man who truly believes in what he preaches. He demonstrates that he has lived an examined life, and even with the threat of death and an opportunity to escape death, he sticks with what he truly believes is right. He questions everything and will not accept ignorance. However I feel that since Socrates was at the age of 70 his fear of death was dramatically reduced. I think if he were younger he would have taken the opportunity Crito presented to escape, so he could continue his quest. â€Å"Now the hour to part has come. I go to die, you go to live. Which of us goes to the better lot is know to no one, except the god. † (Apology, p. 44).