San Antonio School District Vs. Rodriquez Essay -- essays research pa

San Antonio School District Vs. Rodriquez Rodriquez was started by parents whose children attended elementary and secondary schools in the Edgewood Indecent School District. About 90% of the students were Mexican American and 6% were African American. In Rodriquez, the Plaintiff's brought a class action on behalf of school children who were members of poor families who reside in school districts having a low property tax base. They claimed that the school's confidence on local property taxation favors the more well off and violates equal protection requirements. The Supreme Court examined the Texas school finance structure and rejected this claim. They ruled that education was not a fundamental right under the Federal Constitution and that students did not have the right to attend schools funded on the same level as a nearby wealthier district. This case shows the lack of equal educational opportunities for many poor and minority students, which was present in many states. School districts in America involved much of the funding for public schools to come from local property taxes. By doing this it affected the disadvantaged students who attended schools in the area that had low property taxes. This decision essentially placed the responsibility of equitable funding for public schools in the hands of the states, and since that time many states have faced law suits and court decisions based on their â€Å"formulas† for funding public schools (Verstegen, 1998). One pro surround...

Medea shows that seeking revenge undermines any hope of justice Essay

The brutal course of revenge which Medea exacts on Jason may suggest that in the pursuit of revenge, one render any prospect of attaining justice to be void. However in an indirect way, Medea’s course of revenge which implicates the lives of innocents, exerts a punishment on her. Ultimately, the fact that Medea is not directly subjected to a punishment for her extreme course of her revenge is attributable to her ancestry – she is the grand-daughter of the Sun-God. This nullifies any suggestion that seeking revenge overthrows the likelihood of justice, as Medea’s divine circumstances are an anomaly. Thereby, this outcome of her ploy of revenge is not representative of the outcome which an identical course of revenge would yield for an ordinary citizen in Ancient Greece. On a superficial and simplistic level, the success of Medea’s course of revenge suggests that justice has been attained, as we witness the rightful downfall of Jason. Jason’s betrayal of Medea in the form of his abandonment, results in the breaking of the oath he pledged to Medea and the Gods. Thus, in adherence to the notion of divine justice, that the Gods will exact justice on those who commit unnatural deeds, Jason deserves a calamitous punishment for the breaking of this oath to the Gods and Medea, who â€Å"never did him wrong†. Through achieving revenge on Jason in the most effective manner possible, via murdering their children and his wife, Medea inflicts this just punishment on Jason. However, on a more profound level, Medea’s immoderate course of revenge instills within the audience a sense that her course of revenge has been essentially counter-productive to achieving true justice. In her pursuit of revenge, Medea murders her innocent children, indicating that she has committed an indisputably barbaric injustice, while seeking to exert justice on Jason. To a lesser extent, this also applies to Glauce and Creon. Although they have been involved in Jason’s abandonment of Medea through implicitly condoning it, Medea’s murder of these two is also unwarranted and unjustifiable. Yet, despite committing these gross injustices, the play concludes without any direct form of divine justice being exerted on Medea. To the contrary, Medea receives assistance in fleeing Corinth. To a certain extent justice is indirectly inflicted on Medea for her excessive course of revenge, pertaining particularly to the murders of her children. It noticeable intensifies Medea’s plight, suggesting that a punishment is derived on Medea. Prior to committing these barbaric deeds, Medea recognises that they will cause her to â€Å"endure guilt, however horrible.† Medea’s desire for the continued presence of her children shows that she maintains a compassionate nature towards her children, affirming that Medea’s murder of her children will be to the detriment of her enduring quality of life. This is confirmed by Medea’s complete agreement with Jason’s view that the murders of their children cause Medea â€Å"to suffer too, my loss is yours [Medea’s] no less. â€Å"Medea’s association with the gods by her ancestry, refutes the widespread applicability of the notion that revenge cannot succeed in terms of forming true justice. Medea is the grand-daughter of the Sun-God. This is shown most emphatically in the manner in which Medea murders Glauce. Medea perpetrates the murder of Glauce through engulfing her in flames. Similarly, she exhibits an affiliation with the god Zeus, and the god of the underworld, â€Å"Queen Hecate †¦ my chosen accomplish.† This affiliation is pivotal to why a punishment is not directly exerted on Medea by the gods for the injustices she commits whilst perpetrating her ploy for revenge on Jason. Thus, informing us that for an ordinary citizen in Ancient Greece, such an unscathed outcome would not be possible. It forces us to realise that the outcome of Medea does not conclusively show that seeking revenge through immoderate means leads to a failure to achieve true justice. In many ways, Medea’s departure from Corinth within a chariot provided by the Gods, despite the callous deeds she has committed in exacting revenge on Jason, suggests that the pursuit of revenge occurs at the expense of the formation of genuine justice. However, we must be cautious to accept this misguided suggestion, due to Medea’s rare circumstance of divine attributes, which enables her to be vindicated by the Gods for her merciless deeds perpetrated whilst exerting justice on Jason. References:Euripides, Medea

Street Art Legalization

â€Å"Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody drew whatever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall – it's wet. † (Banksy 85) Graffiti is a global form of expression that is untamed but uses similar methods as advertisements, yet is illegal in most cities.Street art is a way of spreading your name or message, just like a company puts up billboards to get their product to their demographics. Graffiti and Street art in general are just terms for the urban art form of scribing or painting on public space with a message or name. The culture of graffiti is very hard to control since all of the tools needed are in the average person’s home already. Street-Art should be legalized bec ause it is less destructive than advertisements and they are displayed in the same methods.Tagging is the first step in becoming a graffiti writer, It is an artist’s baby steps in to the urban art form known as graffiti. A tag in graffiti is an artist’s signature. It represents who you are, where you’re from, and why you write. As the graffiti writer â€Å"Earsnot† said, â€Å"Tagging is like a timeline† you can follow the tags and see where the person has been that day just by the color of their ink (‘Infamy’) â€Å"The term ‘graffiti’ derives from the greek graphien which means to write† The current meaning of graffiti came to being because that is what the drawings and â€Å"marks found on ancient Roman architecture†(Phillips Par 1).Writers for the majority will not sign their real names; they instead use nicknames, codes, or symbols within complicated lettering systems† (Phillips Par 4). Graffiti us ually gets a bad reputation because people see the beautiful murals and wonder why the same artists create ugly scrawl. Graffiti comes in many forms and people really need to understand that. Since there aren’t any two writers at the same level, and all writers are at different steps in the art form. You cannot simply pick up a paint can and created perfect typography and detailed illustrations, no matter what your level of art is in any medium. The grimy, dirty, dripping tag signature comes from the same hands as the enormous multicolored murals† (Gastman 127). Many people say why do graffiti artists tag when they can just do murals. â€Å"Some people want to make the world a better place. I just want to make the world a better-looking place. If you don’t like it, you can paint over it! † (Banksy par 15), in this quote the London street-artist Banksy is stating that he doesn’t care if you paint over or buff his work since he is just going to keep d oing it. So the government is just wasting paint and money.Street Art is a form of graffiti that uses the same way of portraying the artists work but with different tools and mediums. One of the most common means of getting street-art up is with the use of stencils. Where the artist will take cardboard or plastic and make a cutout into the material, usually displaying and icon or figure. Another common method of street-art is wheat pasting which where you create a poster sketched or printed on larger paper and then create a glue like substance using cornstarch and some form of an epoxy.Some street-artists and graffiti artists alike will â€Å"sticker-bomb† which is where the either print stickers with a message or use shipping labels with a hand drawn character or tag and they will put them on walls, signs, windows, etc. Since it is a much quicker way than using a marker or a can of spray paint where you might get caught in the act if you are not very quick or in a rather cro wded place. Graffiti is a cultural phenomenon that cannot be controlled. Every culture that currently exists or has existed has had its own form of graffiti.Modern graffiti is thought to have originated during the Greek empire with political ideas and criticism that people would scribe onto the walls since it would be a definite way that the government would see it. Graffiti cannot be pure vandalism because it can be traced to almost every known society. Also graffiti writers cannot be classified as a single type of person, people who write come from every background. â€Å"Graffiti is a cross-cultural phenomena common to every literate society.Within the variable contexts of their production, graffiti personalize de-personalized space, construct landscapes of identity, make public space into private space, and act as promoters of ethnic unity as well as diversity. Graffiti can be understood as concrete manifestations of personal and communal ideologies which are visually striking, insistent, and provocative; as such, they are worthy of the continued attention of art historians, social scientists, and policy makers alike. † (Phillips 9) Graffiti is going to occur whether it’s legal or not.If government legalized graffiti in public space, the overall crime rate would go down because it would not be added into the statistic of crimes that occurred and governments would not have to pay people to buff out the graffiti. Advertisers capitalized on graffiti strategies. Strategies that started to flourish in the early 1980’s in the New York where innovative writers such as â€Å"Cornbread† would do graffiti on subways and later busses. â€Å"You owe the companies nothing. You especially don't owe them any courtesy.They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don't even start asking for theirs. † (Banksy 160) As said by Claw â€Å"Im making my stamp and I want it everywhereà ¢â‚¬ ¦ † (‘Infamy') this is exactly what companies are saying when they purchase advertisement space. Advertising and graffiti function on a phenomenological element to arouse the viewer's curiosity. They rely on the sheer amount of coverage and penetration, just as brands do to grow.If you look into a crowd of people on almost every person you see you can recognize the company that created their clothing. They rely on the quality of the delivery to embed themselves into the viewer’s perception. â€Å"Brandalism; Any advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It belongs to you. It's yours to take, rearrange and re-use. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head† (Banksy 160). Society has an impact on artists.In popular culture where advertising is seen thousands of times a day it evokes a desire in people to make there mark on this world. The empty promises of ads get f lipped upside down when a writer realizes they possessed his or her own ‘brand'. The effect of advertising on young children may have been the catalyst for this global art movement. â€Å"The people who run the cities† do not recognize graffiti because they believe nothing has the right to exist unless it makes revenue. But if you just value capital then your belief is insignificant (Banksy 7). 1 year old Coda Explains, â€Å"Basically, when I look around, I see us living in a modern day Babylon, full of temptation, sin, distraction, corruption, injustice, and misguided fools being mentally enslaved. It seems to me the only way to wake people up from this kind of numbness is to destroy what they know: Their business, their places of commerce and their biggest place of gathering, the cities! Put it on their trains, on the lines they take to work, on their rooftops, on their highways, on anything just to make some people realize that culture isn't ost and that, at the ve ry least, a small group of kids is fighting to keep it alive† (Tucker 1). Graffiti should be legal because it is less destructive to people than advertisements and they are displayed in the very similar methods, yet people are shocked to see it. Graffiti approaching them not in a gallery, but on the streets.. One of the main point that I am trying to prove through this paper even though it isn’t mentioned is, why is the government persecuting people trying to create art and shape the way that modern history is unfolding.

Buddhism and Christianity Essay

Thesis: While both Christianity and Buddhism were religions that encourages kindness and renunciation of wealth, Christianity caused a stir with Jesus’ hatred against the greedy rich and powerful and his alliance with the lower class, which eventually lead to his execution, whereas Buddhism’s leader, Buddha, spread a message that was not threatening to the high class, letting him live his life until his natural death at 80. This Venn diagram compares and contrasts Buddhism and Christianity. It represents my key knowledge and thinking skills by showing my ability to diagnose important similarities and differences between the two major religions, My Venn diagram is okay, but there is room for improvement. It lists some key similarities and differences, but they are worded in an awkward manner. Christianity Christianity * First Christians were persecuted by the Roman Empire (because of the Christians’ refusal to worship the roman polytheistic religion) * By the time Theodosius was Emperor, Christianity became the preferred official religion of the Roman Empire. * Women’s role in church slowly deteriorated * The Great Schism split Christianity into two religions, Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox. * Saint Paul spread the small religion  * First Christians were persecuted by the Roman Empire (because of the Christians’ refusal to worship the roman polytheistic religion) * By the time Theodosius was Emperor, Christianity became the preferred official religion of the Roman Empire. * Women’s role in church slowly deteriorated * The Great Schism split Christianity into two religions, Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox. * Saint Paul spread the small religion Changes Changes Continuities Continuities * Strong denial of gods of other Religions * The Bible stayed a constant Main religious text for Christianity * Extremely Monotheistic * * Went from worshipping Brahma to three deities (Vishnu, Siva and Brahma) * Women were not allowed to perform sacrifices anymore  * Went from having sacrifices of animals to personal sacrifices (fasting) * Changed from Brahmanism and lunar and solar lineages to Hinduism. * Went from worshipping Brahma to three deities (Vishnu, Siva and Brahma) * Women were not allowed to perform sacrifices anymore * Went from having sacrifices of animals to personal sacrifices (fasting) * Changed from Brahmanism and lunar and solar lineages to Hinduism. Changes Changes Continuities Continuities Hinduism Hinduism Open to everyone * Caste system * Intentional misinterpretation of Hindu texts To keep patriarchy Thesis: While Christianity and Hinduism both had continuities of (respectively) a strong sense of denial of other religions’ gods and a strong caste system, both had major changes such as going from a heavily persecuted religion to the Roman Empire’s official religion and switching from animal sacrifices to personal sacrifices. The two tables show changes and continuities for two  major religions, Christianity and Hinduism. The table shows my key thinking skills by being able to point out key continuities and changes. My Table is a little bit sparse on the continuities side, but the changes for Christianity are plentiful. I need to work on researching with more effort. Thesis: Although the four main religions, Buddhism, Brahmanism, Hinduism and Christianity affected the role of women, the poor social role of women outside of church was uniform in all the regions of these religions. Patriarchy is very much alive in all of them. My spoke diagram shows a variety of religions. The statements are also positive and negative towards patriarchy. It shows my key thinking skills by displaying quotes for all the statements. My spoke diagram could use more statements, five seems like enough, but more would be better. I think I did a great job on putting quotes for all the statements. Analyze similarities and differences in attitudes and treatment towards women in TWO of the following societies in the Classical period. Han China (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.) Mauryan/Gupta India (320 B.C.E.–550 C.E.) Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E.–476 C.E.) or Analyze similarities and differences in methods of political control in TWO of the following empires in the Classical period. Han China (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.) Mauryan/Gupta India (320 B.C.E.–550 C.E.) Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E.–476 C.E.) cause of the cast system and its traditions, India had more of a social code of conduct instead of rigid laws. Tradition of having local princes also was a cause of the fall of the Maurya Empire, because they made it easier to rebel against the main government China During the HAN dynasty, Confucianism came back into government with high sights on education, the tradition of using the mandate of heaven ensured that the Han Empire fell by 3rd century CE. And the Qin Empire fell in a mere 20 years since he lost his mandate of heaven Confucianism taught orderly society with relationships. The tradition of bureaucracy in the Chinese government kept power in the wealthy class. * So they traveled on the Silk road and also traveled to Spain and France * All the provinces conquered by the Roman empire now were influenced to become Christians * So he wrote the gospels * So he used the Roman Roads and traveled all across the Empire, spreading the word of Christ * So they traveled on the Silk road and also traveled to Spain and France * All the provinces conquered by the Roman empire now were influenced to become Christians * So he wrote the gospels * So he used the Roman Roads and traveled all across the Empire, spreading the word of Christ Cause and Effect of the spread of Christianity Cause and Effect of the spread of Christianity Cause Effect * Christians were expelled from the Roman Empire * Theodosius made Christianity the  Roman Empire’s Official religion * St. Paul wished to make Christianity A major religion * St. Paul wanted to spread the Religion throughoutCause and Effect of the spread of Buddhism Cause and Effect of the spread of Buddhism Roman Empire Effect * His word was spread in India, but not much more than the Ganges River. * Buddhism spread even more in India, to northern India even. * The monks made the Chinese believe in Buddha * He promised himself to make up for it by spreading Buddhism by erecting stupas Effect * His word was spread in India, but not much more than the Ganges River. * Buddhism spread even more in India, to northern India even. * The monks made the Chinese believe in Buddha * He promised himself to make up for it by spreading Buddhism by erecting stupas Cause * Buddha traveled in India * After Buddha’s death monks also traveled in India * Monks traveled along the Silk Road * Asoka was appalled by the bloody Battle of Kalinga Thesis: Although both Christianity and Buddhism spread along the Silk Road, Christianity moved along this trade network because of exiled Christians who were seeking a home away from the Roman Empire, whereas Buddhism spread voluntarily, with monks successfully trying to convert the Chinese. The cause and effect table lists the causes and the effects of the spread of two major religions, Buddhism and Christianity. It displays my abilities to  make connections to major effects and their causes. The table is okay. It has four causes and effects for both religions, which is not great. For Buddhism, it seems a little too focused on monks traveling to spread Buddhism. Thesis: Although both China and India’s political systems were influenced by tradition, India’s caste system created no need for laws, while the qin dynasty’s legalistic system created very rigid ones. The two flowcharts show a continual effect of tradition or religion on India and China’s political systems. It displays my abilities to connect separate events into one continuous lineage of facts. The flowcharts do point out main ideas I was trying to display, but they seem a little bit incoherent at times.

Social Work Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Social Work Theory - Essay Example Justification for and against why used chosen theories   A. Praxis approach is suitable to establish context B. Cognitive therapy approach is suitable to address problems VII. Research   VIII. Conclusion   Abstract This report will analyze and evaluate the usefulness of functionalism. Based on the case of Mrs. Lucian, the concept of functionalism will be applied together with the assessment stage of ASPIRE modelled when developing social work intervention. Aside from the use of cognitive therapy intervention, this report highly recommends the need for social worker to educate Mrs. Lucian regarding her rights and privileges under the law in domestic violence situations or visit the nearby law enforcement group to discuss the problem with the police to protect Mrs. Lucian and her children from abusive husband. Functionalist Analysis and Cognitive Therapy In the Context of an ASPIRE Model Assessment Student’s Name Student Number Course Name and Number Name of Professor Date of Submission Number of Words: 1,505 Introduction Mrs. Lucian decided to seek professional help from the social service. In relation to the case of Mrs. Lucian, this report will focus on exploring the strengths and weaknesses of functionalism. ... Based on the assessment phase of the ASPIRE model, this report will critically analyze how the theory of functionalism can be useful in enabling the social care workers to assess and interpret the given case study. Brief Introduction about the Theory of Functionalism Functionalism is a structural theory which serves as a basis for asking a client to objectify the situation they are currently facing (Holmwood 2005, pp. 87 – 109). According to Jones (2003, p. 38), functionalism analyzes and study the society as a whole based on different structure that works as a system. Under common values, functionalism would normally give emphasis on objective observation of social relationships between the client and other people that surrounds the client (Brym and Lie 2007, p. 13). One of the strengths of a functionalist intervention model is that the use of this theory focuses on searching for ways on how the social care workers could reach social equilibrium (Brym and Lie 2007, p. 14). To maintain a healthy and harmonious family life, the personal interests of each of the family members should be well integrated and in equilibrium. As an active member of the society, the ability of the family members to stabilize their familial relationship could make the family as a whole function well. The theory of functionalism focuses on analyzing how people functions within a society based on social structure like family, education, and religion among others. In line with this, Isajiw (2002, p. 10) explained that it is important to solve familial dysfunction because of the interdependent phenomena that could arise from family-related problems. Since problems within

Academic electronic medical record system usability testing Coursework

Academic electronic medical record system usability testing - Coursework Example Some researchers suggest that the main reasons for the backlog in new technology applications are the following: a large number of end-users (e.g. physicians, nurses, and other medical technical personnel) are still strong followers of traditional pen-and-paper methods of information retrieval and storage; high costs of implementation and maintenance of the systems; the usability of the programs are highly variable amongst the software developers and the end-users, with those not having enough computer technical know-hows end up not using the system to their advantage; the use of computer-based records interfere with the time allotted to interact with the patient; and because future nurses are not taught how to use electronic health records (EHR) as early as possible during their studying years (McBride, 2011; Master of Technical and Scientific Communication Program Students, 2004; Moody, et al., 2004; Natarajan, et al., 2010). ... Common EHR Usage in Hospitals Using HER’s in hospitals provide improvements in health care delivery mainly due to the reduction of inaccuracies in patient health and medicine records. There is considerably less misinterpretation of information handled from the reduced use of handwriting which often leads to inaccuracies in patient records or from missing information due to illegibility (Garrido, et al., 2005; Simon, et al., 2007). But EHR is not limited to the storage and retrieval of patient health information, as it also functions as a database for other kinds of data such as drug dosage and actions, disease symptoms, and physician information which many identified users can access in order to synchronise patient medical information and history from (Wang, et al., 2008). At the same time, EHR can also function as an alarm or reminder notification system for regular users in their work duties, such as patient check-up times or administration of drugs, creation of electronic m emos such as patient health progress, among others (Bonnel & Smith, 2010; Moody, et al., 2004; Simon, et al., 2007). This makes for the EHR's contribution in enhancing care delivery for end-users and other stakeholders, and it is expected that the number of agencies putting EHR in effect will also increase in proportion to the improvements made in the program user interfaces. Impact of Teaching EHR in Schools Due to the costs of EHR instalment and maintenance, it can be expected that the bulk of end-users of such programs would be large health facilities such as hospitals or other medical institutions, or individual practitioners tied to these facilities. This is mainly from the high volume of patients or clients that enter regularly or intermittently and have their health records

International Business - Starbucks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Business - Starbucks - Essay Example This has been the key reason, according to the case study, that managers in Starbucks decided to use alternative internationalization strategies that could protect the firm’s interests more effectively. The inappropriateness of licensing, as the core internationalization strategy of Starbucks, can be understood by referring to the characteristics of licensing. Licensing, as a strategy for expanding internationally, can offer a series of advantages. In fact, licensing is considered as one of the most popular internationalization strategies (Czinkota et al. 2009). In the context of licensing ‘a party can uses intellectual property of another party paying compensation in the form of royalty’ (Czinkota et al. 2009, p.244). The intellectual property the use of which can be allowed to third parties, under compensation, can vary, incorporating ‘patents, trademarks and business skills’ (Czinkota et al. 2009, p.244). In general, licensing has related to the fo llowing benefits: there is no need for capital investment, compared to other internationalization agreements (Czinkota et al. 2009). ... The licensing agreement is considered as an ideal strategy for testing foreign markets as of their potential to offer high profits (Cherunilam 2010). After testing a foreign market using the licensing agreement the licensor may decide to proceed to a full-entry in the particular market, in case that prospects for high growth are identified (Cherunilam 2010). In other words, the licensing agreement can be used as a means for checking a market’s prospects in regard to a specific product/ services before proceeding to the further promotion of this product/ service in the particular market (Stonehouse et al. 2007). Managers in Starbucks probably used initially the licensing agreement as a first tool for checking the perspectives of markets worldwide. It seems that the firm would prefer to avoid investing funds on internationalization agreements in regard to markets the potentials of which were unknown. After testing these markets, the firm’s managers were ready to proceed t o the next phase, i.e. to develop internationalization strategies that could offer full control over the firm’s intellectual property. At this point, reference should be made to the following fact: the company had used licensing only in Asia, probably aiming to explore the local markets’ potentials in terms of the firm’s products. In Canada, the expansion of the firm was arranged differently: the owners of Starbucks bought the stores in Canada so that a full control is secured. Of course, the use, directly, of another internationalization strategy in Canada was feasible, since the firm’s owners could have a better view of the particular market’s prospects, meaning that there was no need for testing the Canadian market in regard to its responses to