Technology in the Courts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Technology in the Courts - Essay Example The same year, Video Conferencing System was assessed in the South Dakota Unified Judicial System and also the Existing Case Processing Systems was analyzed for bringing into being the Unified Case Management System in the Puerto Rico Courts. In 2005, one major leap was the implementation of the Electronic Document Management System for the Iowa Judicial Branch. The year 2006 saw a lot of activity in terms of reassessment of court needs. The Case Management Systems were assessed in several courts including the Montgomery County, Ohio and Washington Administrative Office of the Courts. The Chatham County, Georgia made a review of its Information Technology needs. The Travis County, Texas reviewed its Assess Document Management System. In the year 2007 also there was a lot of hectic activity with regards to review and implementation of technology in courts. Firstly, there was the review of Court technology in the Appellate Courts for the Indiana Supreme Court. There was also the assess ment of the effect of new Automation on Guardianship Cases in the Probate Division of the eleventh Judicial Circuit, Florida 2007. Alongside, information technology security was also planned for these courts. In the year 2008, the Automated Management System came to be developed in the Massachusetts Courts. Another major event during 2008 was the feasibility study for the Electronic Warrant Process for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the analysis of the Justice Information Exchange Model for the Juvenile Docket for the State of Vermont Judiciary. In the same year, the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands updated its e-filing technology software. Technology and Business Reviews of the case management system for Palm Beach County, Florida and Technology system for Eugene, Oregon Municipal Court were also conducted in 2008. Let us now briefly try to understand all the different kinds of technology that are being implemented in courtrooms nowadays. â€Å"A basic trial tec hnology kit includes a laptop(w/Pentium mobile chip, 2 Ghz processor, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, XP Professional & DVD player/burner); Microsoft PowerPoint; a computer light projector(w/ 2000+lumens) & screen; a visual presenter/document camera; a multi-plug power adapter with extension cord; and 3 â€Å"key† foam core board blow-ups. Trial presentation software can also be made use of like Sancion or Trial Director. And the ones who are big-time into the use of technology can even consider using the Blackberry or other text messaging handheld device.† (Use of Technology in the Courtroom) But then there are factors to be borne in mind when using technology in courtrooms particularly with respect to its flexibility of usage and redundancy. In courtrooms, the focus is on the work to be done. A single activity may be composed of sub-activities that are dependent on each other. How they interact and what result they will throw up can vary depending on the inputs. What ca se management software does is that it serializes the outputs of the sub activities so that the user is presented with the final output in quick time. Furthermore, users can add new tasks, data objects, documents and even new processes to the case while the case is being analyzed. A common feature of case management software is the electronic case folder which includes activities, data and documents for the case. A case

Meaning of life - Religion Essay Example for Free

Meaning of life Religion Essay In my opinion, there is no specific meaning of life. There also is a part of me that thinks that life really doesn’t have a meaning at all. But, since I have to try to define life, I would have to say it’s a combination of things in your life that you are living for, or the purpose of you being on this earth. Everyone most likely has a different purpose for being alive. Whether it is family, school, or your career; those things have a lot of impact on your life and also decisions that you make throughout life. In our society, many families instill faith and morals early into their children’s lives by continuing traditions or practices of religious faith. The idea of faith and moral beliefs are instilled in a person by attending or participating in church activities and reading the Bible or other religious texts. When there is a sound moral foundation in a person’s life it may give them the motivation through faith to build a sound structure for their life or to achieve personal goals. Simply put, a person may believe through faith that it is possible to achieve an education, start a family, or to have a successful business or career because of their foundation in faith. The reason why I somewhat think that life really doesn’t have a meaning, is because no matter what anyone does or how well or righteous someone lives their life, in the end they still die. What happens after that? Nothing, you never come back nor will you have any recollection of what went on during your lifetime here on earth. A person can bust their behind in working doing good for the community and everything else and in the end you still end up in the same place as everyone else, good people or bad people, you die. Another reason why I believe life doesn’t have a meaning is because all of the people in this world have to suffer, they still go through pain, they have to watch loved ones die, they still have to go through heartache, and rough times. Being poor, homeless, and not having food for as single meal in the day. Where is the meaning in life when people have to wake up hungry or worry about where they will lay their head that night? I’d say there is none when you look at it from that perspective. In my opinion, the meaning of life is too complex for the human brain to comprehend. People tend to say that they know what the meaning of life is, but who really knows the answer. There are various opinions and schools of thought, however, most people can never and will never reach a clear understanding of what the meaning of life is. If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering. †? Viktor E. Frankl. Frankl could not have said this quote any better, most people can say that they have found meaning in their life but at the same time, there are some people wondering if the only reason they are on this earth is to suffer on a daily basis throughout their entire lives.

Herbal Medicines: Helpful Aids or Harmful Injuries

Herbal Medicines: Helpful Aids or Harmful Injuries Anna Pham   Abstract Despite using plants for medicinal purposes for over 5,000 years, not much is known about the efficacy, mechanism, or safety of herbs pharmacological activity. Although herbal medicines are not a new threat, they are becoming an increasing concern due to their growing popularity around the world. Introduction Use of traditional medicine has expanded globally and has gained popularity. Not only is it used for primary health care of the poor in developing countries, it is also used in countries where conventional medicine is predominant in the national health care system. Three quarters of the world population is estimated to rely on herbal and traditional medicine as a basis for primary health care1. With this increase in popularity, an awareness of the efficacy, quality control, and safety of herbal medicines have become important concerns. Plants have been recorded as being used for medicinal purposes over 5,000 years2. For most of history, herbal medicine was the only treatment. As early as 1890, 59% of the listings in the US Pharmacopeia were from herbal products, and it is estimated that one third to one half of currently used drugs were derived from plants1. Today, thousands of herbal products are available over the counter and are commonly used by patients globally. Public dissatisfaction with the cost of prescription medications, combined with an interest in returning to natural or organic remedies, has led to an increase in herbal medicine consumption1. This is particularly true in individuals with chronic or incurable diseases. Herbal medicines are not a new threat, but they are an important and misunderstood threat. According to the World Health Organization, an herb is any form of a plant or plant product, including leaves, flowers, fruit, seed, stems, roots, and seeds2. These plants can either be sold raw or as extracts, where the plant is softened with water, alcohol, or other solvents to extract some of the chemicals. The resulting products contain dozens of chemicals, including fatty acids, sterols, flavonoids, alkaloids, and glycosides3. Efficacy Echinacea plant is widely used primarily for treatment of the common cold. Assessing the effectiveness of different Echinacea preparations is complicated because of the many extraneous variables. There are three different species of Echinacea in medical use, which include Echinacea purpurea, Echinacea pallida, and Echinacea angustifolia4. As well, not only are different parts of the plant are used (root, herb, flower, or whole plant), different methods of extraction are used. Lastly, other plant extracts or homeopathic components are added in some preparations. Making comparisons and pooling data of different preparations of Echinacea is methodologically questionable, so interpreting the plants effectiveness needs caution due to the heterogeneity of the preparations. Furthermore, the exact mechanisms of action for the immunomodulating effects of Echinacea preparations are unclear. There are four classes of compounds that are known to contribute to the immunomodulatory activity of Echinacea extracts: alkamides, glycoproteins, polysaccharides, and caffeic acid derivatives4. Different concentrations of different compounds are found in the three species of Echinacea. Subsequently, the pharmacologic effects associated with the elements in Echinacea may result from independent or synergistic interactions with single or multiple elements. As well, even if Echinacea extracts and constituents have demonstrated pharmacological activities in various biological assays, there is no evidence-based conceptual framework to explain how Echinacea might effectively prevent or treat acute respiratory infections4. Karsch-Volk et al. investigated in a systemic review the effectiveness of different Echinacea preparations for preventing and treating common colds or induced rhinovirus infections4. Different preparations were compared to a placebo in twenty-four double-blind randomized control trials with 4631 participants. It was not possible to apply a standard definition of the common cold across the trials, so the participants included in this study were individuals with non-specific viral upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) with a clinical diagnosis of common cold, influenza-like syndrome, or viral URTI; volunteers without acute URTIs but treated for preventative purposes; or volunteers without acute URTIs but challenged with rhinovirus treated for preventative and/or therapeutic purposes. The researchers only included trials of oral Echinacea with one preparation versus a placebo and excluded trials of combinations of Echinacea with other herbs and trials comparing Echinacea with no tr eatment or a treatment other than placebo. A large proportion of the preparations used in the trials were pressed juices (stabilized with alcohol), alcohol tinctures or tablets made from dried extracts. The heterogeneity of the preparations tested did not allow a strong conclusion. The different preparations of Echinacea contained different amounts of bioactive components; therefore, the different preparations were not comparable. Karsch-Volk et al did conclude that some Echinacea products were more effective than a placebo for treating the common cold, but the overall evidence for clinically relevant treatment effects was weak. In general, Echinacea preventing colds did not show statistically significant reductions in illness occurrence; however, nearly all prevention trials suggested small preventative effects. Studies investigating the effects of herbs cannot draw strong conclusions unless heterogeneity and reproducibility are controlled. Regulation Herbal medicines are often promoted as natural and therefore harmless; however, these remedies are not free from adverse effects. Much of the United States botanical industrys products are unlicensed and are not required to demonstrate efficacy, quality, or safety1. Lack of regulation and loose distribution channels may attribute to poor quality of herbal products which will result in adverse reactions. Regulation is difficult since different cultures in different regions of the world have developed various practices of traditional medicine without a parallel international standard and appropriate method for evaluating traditional medicine. Safety Pharmacologically Active Ingredients       Natural products contain pharmacologically active molecules which can potentially cause danger to human health. Examples of toxicity associated with herbal use include the hepatotoxicity due to pyrrolizidine alkaloids-containing plants, acting by a characteristic veno-occlusive disease that may be rapidly progressive and fatal, Aconitum poisoning due to Aconitum alkaloids, which are highly toxic cardiotoxins and neurotoxins, and the severe and lethal cardiovascular side effects associated with Ephedra sinica6. However, other studies have clearly shown that adverse events due to herbal remedies are relatively infrequent if assessed for causality and that although the number of severe clinical reactions was small, fatalities have been described7. The objective of this review was to collect available data on the following: (i) adverse effects observed in humans from the intake of  plant food supplements or botanical preparations; (ii) the misidentification of poisonous plants; and (iii) interactions between plant  food supplements/botanicals and conventional drugs or nutrients. Contamination Biological contamination and chemical contamination of medicinal herbs and herbal products are very common. Impurities in medicinal herbs and their preparations and products refer to biological contamination8. They may involve living microbes such as bacteria and their spores, yeasts and molds, viruses, protozoa, insects (their eggs and larvae), and other organisms. Microbial contamination of herbs may result from improper handling during production and packaging. Sources of contamination are microbes from the ground and processing facilities (contaminated air, microbes of human origin). Cross contamination is also a possibility from extraneous materials such as glass, plastic, and other materials which contact the herbs, herbal preparations, or products. Human excrement, animal manure and feces used as fertilizers are other sources of biological contamination. As well, contamination of herbs with bacterial strains resistant to known antibiotics poses human health risks and infection . Additionally, because molds are widespread in the atmosphere, they are a natural contaminant of medicinal herbs. Molds are potent allergens and producers of mycotoxins. Products of microbial metabolism, such as toxic, low-molecular-weight metabolites from molds, are chemical contaminants. Furthermore, herbal products can be contaminated by heavy metals and pesticides as well. Drug  Interactions Case reports, case series, and pharmacokinetic trials have highlighted that herbal medicines can interact with prescribed medicines6. Interactions can have either a pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics basis or both, and herbal medicines may interact with prescribed drugs at the intestine, liver, kidneys, and targets of action. Herbal remedies involved in drug interactions have been shown to up-regulate or down-regulate cytochrome P450s and/or P-glycoprotein6. The roles of drug transporters, including the organic anion and cation transporters and the nuclear pregnane-X receptor, are apparent9. However, most of the evidence for herb-drug interactions come from case reports; therefore, it is difficult to establish a cause and effect relationship. Izzo reviewed the clinical data regarding the interactions between herbal remedies and prescribed drugs. Since herbal medicines are a mixture of more than one bioactive ingredient, such combinations of many substances increase the likelihood of interactions taking place; therefore, theoretically, the likelihood of herb-to-drug interactions is higher than drug-to-drug interactions, if only because synthetic drugs usually contain single chemical entitities10. Therefore, it is difficult to rule out what causes the interaction. The review investigated the clinical data for 27 herbal remedies known to interact with conventional medicines, such as Aloe vera, Echinacea, and St Johns Wort. Also examined in the review were characteristics of the patient. Age, frailty, infrequent genotypes, ethnicity, gender, and comorbidity should be accounted for when considering herb-to-drug interactions. This is important since polymorphisms in the genes for drug-metabolizing enzymes or transporters may influence herb-to-drug interactions. As well, the concomitant use of prescription medications and herbal products by older adults is a common situation in western countries10. Since older adults typically have multiple health problems, they are at particular risk for herb-to-drug interactions. Despite this gravity, clinical studies investigating the potential of drug interactions in elderly patients are rare. Additionally, it is well established that the pharmacokinetics of many drugs vary between men and women. Gender differences in herb-to-drug interactions have been reported both experimentally and in clinical trials10. Izzos review article had many limitations. Only clinical reports were considered, and preclinical studies, including human in vitro experiments, were excluded. This and other unpublished articles could lead to underestimation. As well, most of the evidence on herb-to-drug interactions discussed in the article was based on case reports, which are sometimes incomplete and do not allow inferences for a causal relationship. However, it should be noted that even documented case reports can never establish a causal relationship between drug administration and an adverse event since there are so many extraneous variables. Also, the extract type, standardization of extract, part of the plant used and the scientific name of the plant were not specified in the papers reviewed. This is important because preparations obtained from the same plant may have different chemical compositions and therefore different biological actions, as previously highlighted. This leads to uncertainty as to what cau ses the adverse effects. Furthermore, herbal preparations are not subject to the same regulations as prescription drugs, so the content of active ingredients may vary among manufacturers, potentially causing a large variation in efficacy and safety. The under-regulated quality of herbal medicines is another limitation and safety issue since contamination or adulteration of herbal medicines, including adulteration with synthetic drugs, may cause drug interactions. Therefore, a contaminant/adulterant, and not an herbal ingredient, can theoretically cause the drug interactions. Lastly, it is difficult to identify most herb-to-drug interactions because many countries do not have a central mechanism for mandatory reporting, and many people conceal their use of herbal medicines to their physicians or pharmacists, believing that herbal products are natural and therefore safe10. Izzo concluded that clinical reports clearly indicate that herbal medicines can interact with conventional drugs. While most of these interactions have a negligible clinical significance, some may pose a serious threat to public health. Herbal medicines may be used by patients concomitantly receiving conventional drugs, which can result in misunderstood adverse events. Future  Directions Important changes to the regulation of herbs are needed to improve the safety and appropriate use of herbal products. These include requiring manufacturers to register with the FDA, requiring safety tests like those required for over-the-counter drugs, requiring all health claims to be supported by data approved by the FDA, and ensuring that product labels provide an accurate list of all ingredients1. These changes will help the safety of herbal products, but additional changes are needed to improve and promote high-quality research. Defining specific standards for herbal products to ensure consistency between studies is critical. Once a well-established standard of the chemical fingerprint exists for herbs, the formulation of the herbal product can become clear. Additionally, symptoms of illnesses are subjective. Operational definitions need to be addressed to make strong comparisons. Ideally, a robust study design would be able to show all preparations of a plant showing either positive or negative effects. Because of the current regulatory structure and limited available data on safety and efficacy, there is high risk using herbal medicine, including severe side effects from pharmacologically active ingredients, contaminants, or drug interactions. On the other hand, the benefits using herbal medicine lack evidence or have inconsistent evidence, so more high-quality research needs to be conducted, especially regarding high-risk patients such as older adults. Conclusion/Summary Assessing the efficacy, quality, and safety of herbal medicines is problematic because of inadequate or inconsistent study methods being used. Herbal research should be conducted with the same meticulous care as any other medical research, and all herbal products administered to patients should ideally be chemically characterized, standardized, and of known quality. Extraneous variables from different herbal preparations do not allow for generalizations about the efficacy and safety of herbal remedies, and findings of clinical studies must be interpreted cautiously because many studies were performed without sufficient rigor and recorded detail. Additionally, the current regulation of herbs does not ensure that available products are safe, and false and illegal marketing claims are common. Changes to the regulation of herbal products could dramatically improve the appropriate use of herbs. High quality research in this field is needed to firmly establish the efficacy and safety of many herbal products. The biggest threat regarding herbal medicines is that it continues to be misunderstood. It is unknown which exact chemical, or combination of chemicals, in an herb produces a biological effect. Hence, it is difficult to create the ideal herbal product that is precise, controlled, and standardized. Also, it is not known if a single chemical component of the herb or the synergistic combination of chemicals in the plant would produce the desired effect. Which constituent of the herb produces an herb-to-drug interaction is not understood either, allowing for adverse reactions. These ambiguous fallouts result from the many different preparations of herbal products. Standardized, robust study designs are required to address the uncertainty of these findings. References Efferth T, Kaina B. Toxicities by Herbal Medicines with Emphasis to Traditional Chinese Medicine: United States, 2011. World Health Organization. General Guidelines for Methodologies on Research and Evaluation of Traditional Medicine: Geneva, 2000. Rotblatt M, Ziment I. Evidence-based herbal medicine. Philadelphia, PA: Hanley Belfus; 2002. Karsch-Và ¶lk M, Barrett B, Kiefer D, Bauer R, Ardjomand-Woelkart K, Linde K. 2014. Echinacea for preventing and treating the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2: CD000530. Gauthier S, Schlaefke S. 2014. Efficacy and tolerability of Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761 ® in dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials. Clin Interv Aging 9: 2065-77. Izzo A, Hoon-Kim S, Radhakrishnan R, Williamson EM. A Critical Approach to Evaluating Clinical Efficacy, Adverse Events and Drug Interactions of Herbal Remedies: 2016. Di Lorenzo C, Ceschi A, Kupferschmidt H, et al. 2015. Adverse effects of plant food supplements and botanical preparations: a systematic review with critical evaluation of causality. Br J Clin Pharmacol 79: 578-92. Kosalec I, Cvek J, and Tomic S. Contaminants of medicinal herbs and herbal products: Croatia, 2009. Cho HJ, Yoon IS. 2015. Pharmacokinetic interactions of herbs with cytochrome p450 and p-glycoprotein. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2015: 736431. Izzo AA. 2012. Interactions between herbs and conventional drugs: overview of the clinical data. Med Princ Prac 21: 404-28.

Early Cold War :: essays research papers

Major Sources of Discord between the Bolsheviks and European States: 1917 to 1921   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There were several major sources that created discord between the Bolsheviks and western states in Europe from 1917 to 1921. Conflicting ideologies that each attacked the very fabric of the other’s respective society led to the notion that capitalism and communism could not coexist. The attempts of both actors to hold control of their own political system and to expand their political ideas internationally led to major conflicts between them. Also, the lack of respect for the upstart Bolshevik government by the west led to misperceptions concerning the actions of the Soviets. Russia’s unsatisfactory involvement in World War I and their abrupt departure from the war which affected the western Allies war effort created much disenchantment between the two sides. The imperial and expansionist nature of both groups of actors led to conflict as the creation of both communist and non-communist blocs began with the independence of Poland as a free state in 1 919. By using the Communist party as a vehicle to inject Communism into societies abroad, the Bolsheviks began to make free countries take notice of the threat that the â€Å"worker’s party† presented and began to act in strong opposition of Communism. The actions of both sides began a race for an expansion of two different ideologies which created conflict so strong that in due time another World War seemed inevitable. The â€Å"Cold War† had begun.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The fundamental difference between Russia and Europe was extremely contrasting views in ideology. The modernization of politics in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s had created similar political movements in both Europe and Russia meant to increase the authority of the masses over their own government. These movements replaced authoritarian regimes with political systems that were created to better the lives of the common people (Harris). Leading states of Europe such as France and Britain began to take the path of â€Å"social democracy† in which the working class would be given a voice through parliamentary elections (Harris). Also by organizing the proletariat through trade unions, social democracy allowed for collective bargaining to lead to improvements in working conditions, pay, benefits, and other factors that helped to limit the exploitation of lower class labor (Harris). On the other hand, the Bolshevik model for serving in the best i nterests of the common people was not to raise the level of the proletariat by giving them more rights and a stronger political voice, but to bring down the upper class that was exploiting them by destroying the caste system altogether.

Analysis of Major Characters Hannah Jarvis

In the struggle between emotion and reason in Arcadia, Hannah Jarvis acts as the voice of reason. Hannah is the academic, feminist researcher who prides herself on thorough and well-thought research and sacrifices human contact for it. Hannah, like Thomasina's description of Queen Elizabeth, is able to separate sex from intellectual power and, in her case, push sex from view. Hannah resists carnal knowledge with effort: she doesn't like the idea of having her picture taken or submitting to a kiss, she refuses Valentine's idea of calling her his fiancee, and she scorns Gus's flirtation. Most of all, Hannah rejects Bernard's proposal that Lord Byron would have been silly enough to kill someone out of love. It seems that Hannah did, at one point, know love but has decided to pursue better things (â€Å"I don't know a worse bargain. Available sex against not being allowed to fart in bed†). Hannah's rejection of love or knowledge of love has left her unaware of her own self. It appears as though she has deluded herself into academic sterility. Bernard tells Hannah that, if she understood herself a little better, she wouldn't have written her first book about Caroline Lamb, a romantic â€Å"waffle. When Hannah storms into Bernard's lecture and interrupts his speech about Lord Byron killing someone for love, Chloe turns psychologist for Hannah and politely asks her if she has been deeply wounded in the past. Hannah cannot, however, reject the love of the shy Gus. The mute boy and mystery of the modern Croom household is able to crack Hannah, he is able to get her to dance with her. Gus's genius qualities, much like Thomasina before him, make him not only mentally like the subject of Hannah's studies, but give him an intuitive sense of history. Read also Analysis of Characters in Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"The Life You Save May Be Your Own† As a silent messenger and connection to the past of Sidley Park, Gus gives Hannah the apple Septimus will eat and whose leaf Thomasina will describe. Gus also dresses Augustus in Regency wear, finds the foundation for the destroyed outbuilding, reveals the identity of the Sidley Park Hermit and asks Hannah for a much needed dance and embrace. Hannah accepts Gus's invitation for unknown reasons, but possibly his relevance and help with her own research play into the mix and certainly a real need for carnal embrace. ThomasinaThomasina is the girl genius of epic proportions. Thomasina intuitively knows the second law of thermodynamics and can refute determinism based on her ideas. Thomasina is a typical thirteen and then sixteen-year-old girl, except for the fact that she is unusually privileged and is given unusual educational opportunities. Although Lady Croom tells Thomasina that she must wed before she is overeducated, Lady Croom seems unconcerned at the intensity of her child's work until Thomasina nears the age of seventeen. Thomasina is clearly driven not only by academic zeal but also by a desire for sexual knowledge. In the first scene, during her lesson with Septimus, Thomasina asks Septimus to tell her what a â€Å"carnal embrace† is. From the first pages of the book, Stoppard makes clear a duel purpose within Thomasina's character—to discover the rules of life and love while also working out the rules of mathematics. Thomasina's approach, including both carnal and academic knowledge, leads her to great success because she understands the principles of heat. Heat, which becomes equated with sexual knowledge, is the key to Thomasina's theory. Specifically articulated by Chloe, Thomasina's modern day counterpart, Thomasina's theory holds that sex messes up the Newtonian Universe because it is completely random. Thomasina is ironically engulfed in the flame that she once seemed to understand better than anyone. Her tragic death, at the eve of her womanhood, drives Septimus to spend his lifetime tragically attempting to prove Thomasina's hypothesis. The final waltz that Thomasina and Septimus share at the end of play reveals a necessary urgency for sexual knowledge between all people. While the two talk about the end of the Earth, it seems Thomasina knows her end will be near. There is an understanding between tutor and student in the conclusion of the play; Thomasina and Septimus both understand the limits of and the ultimately unfulfilling nature of academic knowledge. Septimus and Thomasina dance and embrace to revel in the mystery they will never solve. Bernard NightingaleBernard, the modern and foppish academic, reveals the danger of allowing present motivations to leap ahead of historic truths. Bernard's theory, that Lord Byron killed Mr. Chater in a lover's duel, is the product of his lust for fame and recognition. The evidence that Bernard puts together seems sketchy at best and the result of his theory and publication of his results is clear from the outset. Bernard never brings the platonic, third letter on stage, and it remains unclear how Byron got a hold of Septimus's book. Nevertheless, Bernard can't restrain himself. Undoubtedly reflecting Stoppard' s own commentary on academic eagerness, Bernard ignores Hannah's objections to his theory in favor of quick fame. Bernard has little interest in the Croom family besides an opportunity to bring him recognition. But Bernard, despite his mistakes, is essential to Hannah finding the identity of the hermit. While seducing Chloe in the library stacks, Bernard notices â€Å"something between her legs,† a contemporary account of the hermit's identity that describes the hermit's turtle, Plautus. This is Bernard at his best, his sole constructive contribution into the Croom mystery. Bernard is one character who is not aided by his sexual knowledge, despite his discovery while supposedly having sex (the modern day account of the hermit). Bernard's forthright proposal to Hannah and seduction of Chloe do no more than win him a loyal teenage fan. Bernard does, however, seem to know a bit more than Hannah because of his supposed knowledge. Bernard tells Hannah that she wouldn't have written a book about Caroline Lamb if she had known herself better. Yet, it remains unclear why Bernard didn't know himself better than to publish his results about Lord Byron before having more concrete proof of the theory. It is evident that neither academic nor canal knowledge alone will do. Themes, Motifs, and SymbolsThemesEmotion versus IntellectThere are two sorts of knowledge in Arcadia: the knowledge of love and academic knowledge. These two types of knowledge are in constant conflict throughout the text. It is only the proposition of marriage, the intellectual justification for sex, which allows a resolution between the two forces. The theme of love vs. intellect is touched upon in the first pages of the play. Thomasina interrupts her lesson with Septimus by asking what carnal knowledge is. Sexual knowledge always acts in conflict with intellectual knowledge, and here it gets in the way of the lesson. Thomasina also remarks on the conflict between emotion and intellect in her history lesson. Her question is prompted by Septimus himself who was found having sex with Mrs. Chater in the gazebo the day before. Thomasina describes Cleopatra as making â€Å"noodles of our sex† because Cleopatra was weakened by love. Thomasina heralds Queen Elizabeth who would not have been tempted by love to give away land or power. The great Hannah Jarvis is, like Thomasina's Queen Elizabeth, unswayed by romantic passions. She believes, as does Thomasina, that romantic inclinations would destroy or distract her from her work. Hannah refuses warmth or emotion: she refuses a kiss, denies Bernard's propositions, laughs at Valentine's proposal, and brushes off Gus's flirtation. Nonetheless, Hannah, like Thomasina, Septimus, and Gus all waltz at the conclusion of the play. Hannah cannot refuse emotion or the bashful Gus by the end of the play and is drawn into an uncomfortable and uneasy dance. The conflict between emotion and intellect is resolved because Hannah suddenly understands that the two are inseparable. Hannah is unlike Thomasina, who unconsciously understands this, driven forcefully by the mystery of both. The Mystery of SexSex remains the final mystery of Arcadia. Septimus, in the conclusion of the play, reveals the final sadness and emptiness of an academic life: â€Å"When we have found all the mysteries and lost all the meaning, we will be alone, on an empty shore. † Septimus implies that the mysteries of mathematics will someday be solved. As if knowing his own fate, Septimus embraces and kisses Thomasina in earnest, finally indulging in the mystery of his attraction and love. Septimus will not go to Thomasina's room, although she asks him, but he is restrained for a reason that remains unknown. Septimus realizes the ultimately unfulfilling nature of academic progress but will only tragically experience the fulfilling nature of love for a brief moment in a waltz and kiss with Thomasina. In the same manner, Hannah Jarvis submits to a dance with Gus. She, like Septimus, has solved her mystery and now looks to Gus for fulfillment and new mysteries. The Path of KnowledgeSeptimus describes to Thomasina the path of knowledge, a humanity that drops knowledge and learning as it picks up new ideas and developments. Septimus tells Thomasina she should not be upset at the loss of the library of Alexandria because such discoveries will be had again, in another time and possibly in another language. This story is ironic to the fate of Thomasina's own discoveries that aren't unearthed until 1993 by Valentine. Thomasina's discoveries are made again: chaos theory and thermodynamics are formal concepts by the time her primer is found and analyzed. Arcadia works as a description of humanity's own progression of knowledge. While Thomasina and Septimus make new discoveries, Hannah and Valentine work to find their discoveries. The work of Thomasina and Septimus is lost but later found again. MotifsFireFire takes on multiple meanings in the play, but it most strongly symbolizes death and the eventual and inevitable end of the human species. Like Thomasina's diagram of heat exchange, as exemplified by Mr. Noakes's steam engine, all will eventually end. As the law of thermodynamics prescribes, we will all eventually burn up. Fire is destruction and death happening over and over again. Septimus burns Lord Byron's letter, unread, a rare and valuable piece of historical literature. Fire is also sexual, the burn that keeps bodies in motion. Septimus observes that Mrs. Chater is in a state of â€Å"tropical humidity as would grown orchids in her drawers in January†. Thomasina and Valentine wish to describe and analyze the universal laws of heat and destruction. The final scene is the greatest culmination of the fire motif. While Valentine and Hannah discuss the meaning of Thomasina's heat-exchange diagram, Thomasina holds the flame that will eventually cause her own destruction. As Thomasina and Septimus waltz, the audience is aware of Thomasina's fate. We can see the workings and progress of the heat diagram before our eyes. SexSex persists as the anti-academic driving force in Arcadia. Academic knowledge is never separated far from carnal knowledge—academic knowledge somehow equating sexual prowess. For example, when Bernard makes his great discovery he immediately propositions Hannah, indicating how academic knowledge gives Bernard sexual confidence. Sex is also equated with heat, making it the eventual objective and need of all humans. The relationship between Thomasina's theory of heat exchange and sex is clearly articulated by Chloe who tells Valentine that Newton forgot to account for sex in his deterministic universe. Heat, like sex, is unchangeable, persistent, and random. MathematicsMathematics and â€Å"Simple English Algebra† is the foundation ofArcadia. The mysteries of math reveal greater truths about humanity and the family as a whole. Mathematics is also a source of pride within the play. Valentine, as a chaos mathematician himself, is reluctant to share Thomasina's theory and fractal with Hannah. Thomasina's algebra and geometry lessons culminate into her genius understanding of the laws of thermodynamics and chaos theory. The laws of thermodynamics dictate the fate of all the characters on stage, and the realization of such fate eventually conclude the play (most tragically, Thomasina's own ironic death by fire). Septimus and Thomasina, along with Gus and Hannah, succumb to the law of thermodynamics by coming together in a waltz. The couples know their mathematical, unstoppable fate and embrace each other in spite of it. SymbolsGardenThe Gardens of Sidley Park symbolize the transformation and transition between romanticism and classicism. Mr. Noakes wishes to alter the gardens into the picturesque and thoroughly romantic style and means to tear out the gazebo in favor of a hermitage and drain the lake with a newly improved steam engine. Lady Croom accuses Mr. Noakes of reading too many novels by Radcliff, such as The Castle of Otranto (actually written by Horace Walpole, as Mr. Chater points out), and The Mysteries of Udolpho. Mr. Noakes means to transform the green, lush perfect Englishman's garden into an â€Å"eruption of gloomy forest and towering crag,† Lady Croom describes it as a haunt of â€Å"hobgoblins. As Hannah describes it, the garden is a classical painting imposed on landscape or â€Å"untamed nature in the style of Salvatore Rosa †¦ everything but vampires†. The garden represents romanticism, (for Hannah) a decline from thinking to emotion, and the need for â€Å"false emotion† and â€Å"cheap thrills. † Regency ClothesThe modern day characters wear the Regency Clothes or clothes that would be worn to a fancy dress ball in Thomasina's time. Regency Clothes symbolize high society and privilege. The dress not only links the two generations and time periods, but it reve als the hay day of the English aristocratic family. Chloe, Gus, and Valentine wear the outfits to have their pictures taken and dress for the annual dance. The dress reestablishes their power as a family and role in the community, seemingly diminished in modern times. PrimerThe Primer is the symbol of learning and academia. Thomasina is the first to use the primer, which once belonged to Septimas; however, at the conclusion of the play, Septimus has taken back his primer. Septimus's use of his the primer once again symbolizes his return to being a student; this time he is a student of Thomasina, who has surpassed his knowledge and teachings Scene OneSummarySeptimas Hodge and Thomasina Coverly sit in the front room of an old estate in Derbyshire, England. The house is surrounded by beautiful, traditional park-like landscape, which is lush and green. Thomasina, a curious and rather impetuous girl of thirteen, is the student of Septimas, who is twenty-two. Each is working on separate problems when Thomasina asks Septimas what â€Å"carnal embrace† might be. Thomasina overheard Jellaby, a servant at the estate, telling the cook that Mrs. Chater, wife of the poet Ezra Chater, had been found in carnal embrace in the gazebo. Jellaby had heard the story from Mr. Noakes, gardener of the estate, who had actually witnessed the event. Septimas tells Thomasina that the act of â€Å"carnal embrace† is throwing ones arms around a side of beef. Thomasina, quite perceptive, tells Septimas that a gazebo is not a â€Å"meat larder† and asks if carnal embrace is kissing. Thomasina demands that Septimas tells her the tr uth, and so Septimas gives her the true scientific meaning: the insertion of the male genital into the female. Uncomfortable with this disclosure, Septimas quickly returns to work. Thomasina pesters Septimas to tell her more about sexual intercourse. Jellaby, the butler, interrupts the conversation. Jellaby brings a letter to Septimas from Mr. Chater. Septimas reads the letter and tells Jellaby to tell Mr. Chater that he will have to wait until the lesson is finished. After Jellaby leaves, Thomasina asks Septimas if he thinks it is odd that when one stirs jam in his or her rice pudding into swirls in one direction, the jam will not come together again if they swirl the pudding in the opposite direction. In other words, she asks why one cannot stir things apart. Thomasina's question leads to a discussion about Newton's Law of Motion. Thomasina believes that if one could stop every atom in motion, a person could write a formula for the future. Mr. Chater suddenly swings the door to the room open. Septimas bids Thomasina to leave the room. Chater accuses Septimas of â€Å"insulting† his wife in the gazebo. Septimas tells Chater that he is wrong and that he made love to Mrs. Chater in the gazebo the day before at Mrs. Chater's request. Chater challenges Septimas to a duel, but Septimas declines. Septimas tells Chater that he cannot shoot him because there are only two or three first rank poets living, Chater apparently one of them. Septimas distracts Mr. Chater by complementing him on his new poem, â€Å"The Couch of Eros,† and tells Chater he will write a good review of the work. Chater, flattered, forgives Septimas for his indiscretion and even offers to sign Septimas's copy of â€Å"The Couch of Eros. † Septimas only means to distract Chater. Noakes enters the room, soon followed by Lady Croom, mistress of the estate, and Captain Edward Brice. Lady Croom is very upset by Noakes's plans for the landscaping of Sidley Park. Lady Croom thinks that Noakes's plans are too modern, Sidley park is beautiful and an â€Å"Arcadia† as it is. The sound of hunting fire outside the window precedes Lady Croom's exit. Lady Croom, in the style of a grand general, orders Noakes, Brice, and Chater to follow her. As Mr. Chater leaves, he shakes Septimas's hand in friendship. Thomasina and Septimas are again alone. Thomasina remarks that she has grown up with the sound of hunting guns and that her father's life is recorded in the game book by the game he has shot. Thomasina delivers a secret note to Septimas from Mrs. Chater. AnalysisIt has been suggested that one of Tom Stoppard's favorite ideas is â€Å"all men desire to know. † This seems particularly evident in Arcadia, a play obsessed with knowledge of many kinds. The characters in Arcadia seek three different sorts of knowledge: mathematical knowledge, historical knowledge and sexual knowledge. The play opens with the problem (quite literally) of mathematical knowledge. Septimus has given Thomasina the challenge of finding a proof for Fermat's Last Theorem (more to keep her occupied than in hopes of her solving it). At the time the play was written Fermat's Last Theorem was, indeed, a great mathematical task. Thomasina proposes her own original solution to the theorem: Fermat's marginal note was an eternally tormenting joke to drive posterity mad. It is ironic that in real life, shortly after the play opened, Andrew Wiles announced a proof of Fermat's theorem that has, after subsequent amendments, been accepted as correct. But the quest for mathematical knowledge persists within the play. Thomasina is the genius girl who can miraculously understand the foundations of thermodynamics and chaos theory a century before their formal definition. Thomasina's algebra lesson is interrupted by her own search for another type of knowledge. Thomasina asks Septimus what â€Å"carnal embrace† is. Septimus's characteristically witty reply, that it is the act of throwing one's arms around a side of beef, does not deter Thomasina from her desire to know about sex. Chloe, Thomasina's modern counterpart, has less desire for formal, mathematical, or book knowledge but craves sexual knowledge. For Thomasina, the desire for sexual knowledge is a juvenile curiosity;emdash more a means to marriage and a first waltz. On the other hand, for the modern hormonal Chloe, sex is real sex; Chloe persuades Bernard to go up into the library stacks with her for what may be real sex. Until Thomasina is sixteen, she only desires the waltz and kiss. While Thomasina asks Septimus to come to her room after they waltz in the conclusion of the book, he refuses, and she is content. Thomasina studies history with disdain and boredom. As she tells Septimus, she is bored with and hates Cleopatra. Thomasina abhors Cleopatra's weakness for men and sex, as she complains Cleopatra makes â€Å"noodles of our sex. † Thomasina has seemingly distinguished between sex that is exciting and sex that weakens women and destroys knowledge and progress. Thomasina, herself, seeks sexual knowledge and mathematical knowledge but does not sacrifice one for the other. Historical knowledge is also sought after more urgently in the present. In scenes depicting modern-day Sidley Park, historical knowledge is rewarded by great fame and possibly sexual prowess. The modern characters value historical knowledge foremost. Bernard, of course, lusts after historical knowledge most of all, intent on receiving any and all fame it may bring. Hannah, with more reserve, also looks among the books of Sidley Park for a glimpse into the past and writes bestsellers on her findings. The intertwining past and present of Sidley Park provides commentary on the progression of knowledge or quest for knowledge in modern times. The modern day characters are concerned with the workings and findings of the past, while Thomasina and Septimus work to make new discoveries. The quest of all of the scholars thus forms a sort of loop; what is undervalued in one generation is greatly revered in the next. The state of inquiry revolves and evolves from an interest in the future to that of the past. And, like Septimus's apt description of humanity's quest for knowledge, the modern day continues to pick up what has been lost in the past, while simultaneously finding new ideas and formulas.

Status Quo Essays - Youth, Students Union, Secondary School

Status Quo Essays - Youth, Students Union, Secondary School Status Quo Status Quo 1776, The American colonies rebelled against their oppressive, imperialistic mother country Great Britain. They challenged the traditions of an ancient mother country to become an independent nation that would eventually lead the free world. Critical review of established laws, attitudes and beliefs are what this country was forged from. The United States exemplifies the idea that it is necessary to challenge practiced policies when they have become obsolete and ineffective. When governments are out of touch with the bodies they govern then they have become ineffective. This holds true for any situation where one group has control over another from the United States Congress, to state and local governments, and even school boards and administrators. Student life is fully regulated by those who are in noway subject to their own rules. Many examples of this are present in the hallways of schools across America. Most of the hypocrisies are not major travesties of justice, but they do lead to a feeling of second class citizenship among the student body. Little things like not being able to drink a cup of coffee in the hallway degrades students by questioning their ability to perform a simple task without causing problems or difficulties. Unbalanced legislation such as this, where there is a double standard, should be replaced to insure that regulations are to protect the welfare of a population. Not merely to oppress it. Another oppression in schools is the use of a permit pass system for movement from room to room. This practice of total documentation of a students movement throughout the school day is not only unnecessary, but also impractical. And can again lead to the feeling in students that they cannot be trusted because they are inferior to their older counterparts. An idea which is not cohesive to a learning environment by installing an attitude of failure before an attempt is even made. This unfair policy should be replaced with an honor system based on the students verbally informing those who are liable where they are going to be. Changes like this are often needed to transform a non-working system of regulation into a constructive guide for coexistence. Administrations control needs to be changed as well because in most cases it is comprised of professionals with the highest degree in their fields. This in turn means that a great deal of time and with it change has occurred between their actual experience of their first twelve years of education and their present state in life. This change makes for a ruling body which has no first hand experience into the psyche of those it controls. In short high school administration is totally disconnected from the student body because of its lack of experience in the positions students are in. This situation leaves students without their needs for control met because those imposing the restrictions do not understand the circumstances surrounding undesirable behavior. Even the allocation of power must be constantly reviewed. The idea of reviewing the control of those in power and their legislative decisions is where the United States found its beginnings. To follow the doctrine of a ruling body without evaluating its need and its effects is foolish. To simply continue in a set path because it is what has always been done leads to many problems. As time changes so must laws and regulations or they will become obsolete and potentially harmful. Wether it be school rules or the antique practice of imperialism by a nation, policy must undergo constant scrutiny to assure its applicability to those it affects.